COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
The United Isolation Ensemble
I’m a big fan of electronic experimental music made famous by the likes of Stockhausen and our own Delia Derbyshire.
Imagine my surprise and pleasure to hear some superb contemporary sounds, only to discover it was created by one of my colleagues from the Music Museum – my good friend Tony Seaton.
His creation as part of The United Isolation Ensemble in collaboration with Andy Atyeo, Chris Phinney, P Anthony Fowler and Walt Shaw are a beautiful use of the electronic medium, dynamically haunting true ethereal journeys in sound, joyous, stimulating and disturbing all at the same time.
Tony, a master musician and sound technician is part of The United Isolation Ensemble [UIE], Tony explained how it worked.
He said: “UIE is a collaboration of 15 or so musicians from various places in the UK and USA.
“UIE was started during Lockdown in 2020, when musicians who wanted to make strange noises together could no longer meet to do so.
“The way UIE works is that each creator makes up to three recordings of their own sonic art each month and submits them to Jim (an American in Leicester) who then pieces them together like a musical jigsaw or collage of sounds, organising and layering them together to make new, finished works.
“It’s very rewarding to be able to contribute.
“It’s also exciting to hear what happens to my contributions each month.
“The fun part is not only creating new ideas each month, but also never knowing what each piece is going to end up being part of.
“I started contributing earlier this year and have something on each of the last three compilations.”
I asked Tony how he got his ideas.
He said: “Well, sometimes (when the composer is lucky) an idea just kind of ‘arrives’.
“Sometimes you get an abstract sound or two you want to do something with – Alto Sonar Anew uses both some sheep in a truck at a filling station where I stopped off for petrol, and the slow rhythmic ‘bong’ of the timer or warning monitor on a ‘fridge or freezer in a supermarket.
“The ‘conversation’ and reversed PA announcement were just extras that snuck into that one.
“Sound for both was grabbed very low quality on an old Blackberry ‘phone and manipulated in studio.
“Sometimes I am inspired just by trying a new synth sound that gives idea.
“Sometimes it’s something someone has said – or – to paraphrase Dire Straits – ‘ A line in the news’.“
E.On
Keep your eyes out for the new E.On online adverts and you may just spot yours truly in the museum adding a few words of wisdom to the latest very Coventry driven advert for the energy company.
One day, a ten-man film crew turned up in the museum and I went through my lines impeccably (their words not mine) and now I am one of the online faces of E.On.
It talks about 2-Tone, it talks about the cycle and the car industry and it talks about E.On’s commitment to green energy in Coventry and even the good old ‘Batch’ gets a mention.
