Wind Is the Original Radio

Interview: Andy Martin pt. 1


Listen Later

In this episode of Earth.fm’s Earth Is the Original Radio podcast - the first of a two-parter! - the site’s curator, Melissa Pons has a wide-ranging conversation with sound designer and field recordist Andy Martin.

The insightful and granular conversation explored the following topics:

  • Andy’s relationship with sound throughout his life and career, and what paths led to him dedicating himself to nature field recordings - taking in childhood illness, a love of the Star Wars score, involuntary mimicking of the sounds around him, and a desire for escape 
  • Flirtations with piano, violin, and saxophone, which led to music school - where Andy experienced a shift from sound being something he played and listened to actively thinking about it as something with the power to affect the world via feelings and emotions
  • Stumbling from film sound design into video games - different ways of using sound to tell a story 
  • How being a stay-at-home father for three years allowed him to experiencing the world via his young daughter's curiosity, and how his desire to learn about the place of sound grew alongside his daughter
  • Starting to record wildlife for computer games, but initially seeing these sounds as “assets”
  • ‘Quietness’ and ‘silence’ and what people really mean when they search for places that offer these things. And what sites without industrial noise, inhabited by more-than-human life, have brought to Andy
  • A nature field recordist's identity and its contradictions in a capitalistic system and in the context of ‘content creation’.
  • How ADHD feels to Andy, and how his experience of the disorder affects his practice and his life - maybe chaotically, maybe beautifully
  • Also: crows!
  • Listen out for part two of the conversation, which will be released soon!

    Also, below are all of the references mentioned during this episode:

    • Bernie Krause's acoustic niche hypothesis: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269278107_The_Niche_Hypothesis_A_virtual_symphony_of_animal_sounds_the_origins_of_musical_expression_and_the_health_of_habitats
    • Bernie Krause's book, The Great Animal Orchestra: https://eshop.fondationcartier.com/en/products/bernie-krause-and-united-visual-artists-the-great-animal-orchestra 
    • Martyn Stewart: https://www.thelisteningplanet.com/alifeinsoundpodcast 
    • Gordon Hempton's One Square Inch of Silence: https://onesquareinch.org/ 
    • Andy’s official website: https://soundeziner.com/ 
    • Andy's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/soundeziner 
    • And you can connect with Andy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymartinnaturesound/ and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andymartinnaturesound/.

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      Wind Is the Original RadioBy earth.fm

      • 5
      • 5
      • 5
      • 5
      • 5

      5

      22 ratings


      More shows like Wind Is the Original Radio

      View all
      This American Life by This American Life

      This American Life

      90,830 Listeners

      Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and PRX

      Snap Judgment

      11,517 Listeners

      Sound School Podcast by Rob Rosenthal/PRX/Transom.org

      Sound School Podcast

      285 Listeners

      Tonebenders Podcast by Tonebenders Podcast

      Tonebenders Podcast

      83 Listeners

      Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

      Hidden Brain

      43,409 Listeners

      Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend by Team Coco & Earwolf

      Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

      59,281 Listeners

      North Georgia Life Podcast by North Georgia Life Podcast

      North Georgia Life Podcast

      10 Listeners

      The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

      The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

      10,493 Listeners