Sometimes We Wake

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Context:

I had never thought about creating a sound walk until I visited the Whitechapel Gallery in London and made an impromptu decision to borrow an iPod containing Janet Cardiff’s sound walk The Missing Voice: Case Study B. Whilst being immersed in a fictional crime story set in the surrounding streets of East London, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the places it made me pay attention to, places I had walked past before and never noticed. It inspired a desire to create my own sound walk.  

Thinking of possible subjects, the Palm House in Botanic Gardens sprung to mind. In 2009 I had performed an acoustic gig there with another band called Albrecht’s Pencil. (You can see clips from that event on the video page). It was an unusual event; one of those great shows you never forget and remembering it made me reflect on the songs I was writing at that time with their hidden queer expression. 

In 2017 I was interviewed by BBC Radio Ulster for a programme about LGBT musicians in Northern Ireland. In the interview I spoke about how music was the only way I found I could express and articulate my queer experiences. It was the first time I had spoke publicly about the gay themes in my song writing and I felt ready to speak about those songs more openly.

I began to visit the Palm House regularly to let the ideas grow, to pay attention to those details it is easy to walk past. One of those days I noticed a hanging frame containing writing by Forrest Reid, a local author born in 1875. In the text he recalled his experiences of the Palm House as a child. The excerpt is taken from his first autobiography Apostate in which he also writes about discovering and dealing with his homosexuality. Although nearly a hundred years apart, his experiences felt so familiar and helped the sound walk to take shape. 

This sound walk invites you to walk with me through the Palm House and listen to my experience of being and performing in the venue in 2009, reflecting on the songs I was writing at that time and merging my memories with the writings of a local queer author almost a hundred years before. 

[The sound walk link will be available here during Sonorities Festival between 6th – 10th April 2022]

The sound walk is intended to be listened to as you walk around the Palm House in Botanic Gardens, Belfast and lasts 14 minutes. Begin the sound walk while standing outside the main entrance to the conservatory and let my voice guide you.

Sound Walk Credits
Narration and vocals by Richard Davis 
Cello by Laura McFadden 
Forrest Reid excerpts are taken from his 1926 autobiography ‘Apostate’ and read by Maurice Macartney 

Thanks to Laura McFadden and Chris McCorry for their conversations in remembering the 2009 performance and to all members of Albrecht’s Pencil and Heliopause for their instrumentation on Just this Once. All songs featured in the sound walk are from the album Walk into the Sea.

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Sometimes We Wake (live performance)

The performance that took place on the preview day of the sound walk in September 2019 was a new rendition of my song Mon Peu Rimbaud. Collaborating with HIVE Choir, the performance was inspired by the song Parallelograms by Linda Perhacs, the work of Trevor Wishart and the cut-up technique of William S. Burroughs. Using muscle and motion sensors to control and manipulate sampled vocals of the lyrics, I performed this extended, experimental version of the song in the beautiful resonant setting of the Palm House conservatory.

You can watch the 360 video documentation of the performance below.

Note: This video is best viewed within the YouTube app on your mobile device. Set the video quality to full and wear headphones to experience the subtle spatial audio.

Performance credits

Thanks to Hive Choir for their collaboration and voices. Thanks to Miguel Ortiz, Javier Jaimovich and Francisca Morand for their technical and performative knowledge that informed the interactions and thanks to David Bird and Pavlína Horvátová at Sonic Arts Research Centre for their practical support. Thanks to Belfast City Council and the team at Botanic Gardens for hosting the event.