The Sound Portrait Podcast
The Sound Portrait Podcast is a lifelong project funded by my followers.
My aim is to record real stories, told by real people. The goal is to create a lifelong body of work that archives and amplifies peoples voices and their stories.
If you're joining me on this journey and would like to support this work, I hope you will consider becoming a patron. The practice of patronage is almost as old as the practice of art itself. Patrons contribute to relieving the financial stress on an artist and therefore contribute to improving the quality of the artists work. Patronage funds travel to meet my subjects, keeps equipment in service, and buys me time to press record, to edit, and to share.
The Project
The inspiration for this project came from a man called Huw Evans. In early 2019 I was commissioned by Huw to record and sound design his one man show Not Long Now, a poetic response to his diagnosis with terminal cancer and the drastic shortening of his life expectancy. Shortly before my work on the project was complete, Huw died on March 27th 2019. Being able to create a permanent record of Huw's voice reading his poems and the stories behind them was incredibly moving and powerful.
I realised that I don't often stop and listen to someone talk about themselves for an extended period of time. I also realised that when I do, I remember those moments for the profound impact they had on me.
Telling stories and listening to each other is a fundamental part of being human. From the spread of world views to the over-egged family holiday story, humans love to tell stories and there is something incredibly powerful in stopping and listening.
My aim as a sound designer is to take real stories by real people, record those stories, and make them accessible to be heard. When you listen through your headphones or play the podcast over your sound system, I want you to feel like you're there with me, in that place with that person, listening.
Why I value your support
As an artist, a lot of my time is spent worrying about finances. I spend hours researching opportunities, writing emails, applying for grants, bursaries and commissions. This leaves very little capacity for actually creating my work. This is true of artists today and throughout history.
This is where you come in. To allow artists to create and grow requires a village of followers, appreciating and supporting.
I need the support of patrons in order to create this ambitious archive of oral history.
A fellow creator on Patreon wrote this blog post to better help everyone understand what goes into creating a project of this scale. I found his post and project hugely inspiring, and I hope you do too.
Huw Evans | 05/09/60 - 27/03/19 | Poet and Writer
This episode contains a Sound Portrait of Huw Evans and explains how Huw has inspired this project.
The poem 'Eggs' is copyright of the Huw Evans estate.
Huw's voice, likeness, name and poetry are used with the kind permission and support of the Evans Family, to whom I am very grateful.