Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541592
76 M PS E . O R G times—in nature and also, for example, from a skyscraper in Tokyo—and apart from the visual spectacle, it is also data that can be analysed. Therefore, why can't I filter a sound using an algorithm that mimics the shifting spectrum of light as the sun sets? Or the spectral shift of dawn? While digital algorithms are interesting, it is the complexity and beauty of real organic sounds that inspires me. And, taking the same approach to natural phenomena, it is organic data that inspires me. So, it becomes a marriage of high-resolution sounds (the corpus) presented in such a way that a human can collaborate with nature to 'play' the corpus and create new organic sounds. Being an avid reader of your Music of Sound website, I know you are also a keen photographer, gardener, and drone flyer. Are these some of the things you do to decompress between projects? With regards to relaxing, I've always loved this quote by Aldous Huxley: "My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing." When I need some time out, I tend to combine it with creative work. I research and explore locations around NZ, Japan. and the Pacific Islands, to relax, go for hikes or drive off road in my 4WD and be in nature. But I always have my field recording gear, my XPAN camera, and my drone with me. That's my idea of a relaxing holiday. I also consider playing music as a form of meditation and really noticed this during one particular film project. It was my first time working with this particular director who likes to improvise, right up until the last day of the mix. At first, it frustrated me as we'd spent many months collaborating and building the soundtrack, and yet they were treating the mix like it was a spotting session. So, at the end of each day, I would go home in a grumpy mood. At the time, a friend had left their drum kit at my studio, and I discovered if I sat down and played the drums for 10 minutes, it would quieten my mind; I'd relax and my bad mood would evaporate. I soon rationalised that it was the director's right to do whatever they needed to, and I adapted my approach accordingly. But that drum kit was therapeutic. I haven't tested the theory, but I think the same applies when someone mows their lawn—they meditate with sympathetic resonance to the lawnmower's engine. Another way I like to relax is in my darkroom. I am learning to make prints of my XPan photos the old school way. Similarly, NZ has a number of 'dark sky' reserves, and I plan my travel to spend time with the night sky and learn astrophotography. They are relaxing hobbies to me, but they also feel like creative research. I aim to live an 'artist's life,' where every waking moment is contributing to my creative work and life. I've also learned by observing and monitoring myself, the impact that the end of a project has on me, and how to leverage it. When film was my primary work, at most I would finish two or three projects a year. With HISSandaROAR, I finish two or three projects a month, some of which I may have been working on for years. What I noticed is that the only way I ever finish a project is to obsess about it. If you think of the last days of the final mix on a film, the sole focus is fully realising and completing the mix. The stakes are very high and nothing else matters. So, when those weeks and months of focus suddenly end, I noticed that, after some high-quality sleep, I am swamped with new ideas. It's like all the ideas and projects I have had to suppress until that moment suddenly re-present themselves. I've learned to be ready to listen to them. I make sure I am not exhausted toward the end of a project, as that final work is so important. But so is being ready to welcome what comes next. Speaking of which, what is your next project? What are you looking forward to about it? I've just started work on a film project which is my first in more than a decade as I have been completely focused on HISSandaROAR. I always knew I would 'un-retire' from film sound design but I didn't know what the film would be, and an opportunity came up that I simply could not say no to. It's the sequel to a horror film I did back in 2006 called Black Sheep (Dir: Jonathan King), where sheep have started mutating into monsters, also known as 'weresheep,' due to some diabolical lab work. The new film will be the third project I've collaborated with director Jonathan King, the sixth with composer Victoria Kelly, the eighth project with dialogue supervisor Ray Beentjes, and I think the 20th with re- recording mixer Mike Hedges at Park Road Post. It's a relatively small team and one of the benefits of being brought on to a project early is that I have also started recording for it, before they have even started the shoot! It is currently lambing season in NZ, so I am recording lambs on the farm my nephew manages and will capture farm ambiences throughout the coming seasons. The film has a lot of new sound design challenges for creatures, so I am also going to spend time over the six months, before we officially start work, developing new creature vocal techniques including modelling— physically, and via software. Other than that, I currently have 55 new library projects in development for HISSandaROAR. And I am also nearing the release of a new HISSandaROAR 'Edition' which combines an album of Industrial Dub Techno, an XPan photobook of industrial landscapes, and a sample library. My aim with the 'Editions' is to