Dean Hurley is a sound designer, musician, producer, engineer, and more. He does all things sound, and for the past decade and a half, he’s done them with David Lynch, as the operator of Lynch’s Asymmetrical Studios. From the streets of LA in Inland Empire to the depths of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks: The Return, Dean’s been responsible for immersing you in the Lynchian world. His work on Twin Peaks: The Return earned him two Emmy nominations. This sound design work on The Return was released as its own album on 2017’s Anthology Resource Volume I on Sacred Bones Records. Since then, Dean’s also released Anthology Resource Volume II: Philosophy of Beyond, a sonic foray into ideas beyond physical reality.

Dean hopped on the call with us here at the Ion Pack, and we talked about working with Lynch, the role of sound in general, and the sublime. We discuss four tracks, reverse engineering, shadow recording, plugging things in, Lynch’s recording process, Trent Reznor, interpreting the Twin Peaks script, Walter Hill, Angelo Badalamenti, and MORE. And of course, we try to answer the question, “What do our souls remember?”

Music throughout from Twin Peaks: The Return / Dean Hurley's "Anthology Resource Volume I"