Ahead of our upcoming online workshops exploring New Soundscapes, we spoke with sound artist Kate Carr and talked lockdown, cereal and changing soundscapes.
What has been your experience of lockdown life so far?
It has been quite mixed really. I was very worried in the early period, in the week before the lockdown I was sick myself and so was my partner, so we were worried about our own health. It was also really difficult with shopping, and the government appeared to not really be doing much. It is four weeks in now, so I guess I have gotten used to it. I am lucky as my apartment gets a lot of sun so being home isn't all bad, but on a broader level it is obviously an extremely difficult and sad time.
What is helping you get through each week?
The biggest thing that has helped me remain a little positive during this time has been making a radio show called Interiorities, which features sonic experiments and field recordings taken by artists during lockdown. In making that I have been listening to a lot of new works people have been making in response to the pandemic crisis; some very serious and angry, and others taking a lighter more escapist approach, and I've found this all very interesting and quite inspiring in many ways. I am not actually a huge consumer of culture, but there have been some nice new albums out, in particular I have liked Olli Aarni's new album, and I just started listening to Edward Sol's new one which has the amazing title of Big Fat Moth.
Listen to Kate’s radio show Interiorities here
How has social distancing and lock down affected your ways of listening?
I taught a class on this recently, and this is exactly the sort of question we were asking ourselves. It was really interesting to hear the range of answers to this, depending where people lived and their particular concerns during this period. In my case I live in a pretty high density area near a major hospital so I am certainly hearing more sirens – there have always been a lot but a week or two ago they were really relentless. On the streets it is in general a lot quieter, and of course one of the sounds we are all much more alert to is the sound of coughing. A cough now rings out in ways which have really changed.
What’s been the best meal you’ve cooked in self-isolation, and the worst?
I eat, in general really well, and we have been pretty lucky with never running too low on things. I made roasted pumpkin and feta pasta with my own roasted pumpkin seeds on top which was surprisingly delicious, and I was kind of proud because I'd never roasted my own seeds before, so that was probably a lockdown culinary highlight! I've eaten a lot of nice food actually – on the low side, I did have breakfast cereal for lunch [for] a few days because we got an overload of milk. [It was] part of a box delivery for caterers who were asking for support because they usually supplied cafes which were all closed. So for a week there was a lot of milk and also eggs happening.
What are three of your essential isolation items?
Kindle, internet and my plants.
More from Kate
Listen to Kate’s track Highway Bridge Drain Pipes, available on Fieldwave, our release with field recording at its heart.
This recording was taken on a cold Autumn day during a residency in Saskatoon, Canada. This prairie city is located on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River and because of this Saskatoon is a city of many bridges. This recording was taken underneath one of the city's busiest bridges, the thud of the passing cars echoed and vibrated through the highway drainage pipes; a tiny yet dramatic sonic enclave.
Listen to an excerpt from Kate’s upcoming release Where to Begin: a single 20 minute piece made from fragments of love letters. Out on 28 Apr, you can pre-order the full release here.
More on Fieldwave
Fieldwave, Vol. 2 is the second release in our compilation series created by broadcaster, sound collector and Nonclassical A&R consultant, Nick Luscombe, bringing together artists with field recording at the heart of their work.