Jez Riley-French. Interview

Jez Riley-French is an artist whose work explores a wide range of sonic nuances and experiences, incorporating a variety of approaches to capturing sound. His recent work has included commissions in the UK (Tate Modern), USA, Italy, Iceland, Japan and Spain.

In his own words, he is involved with intuitive composition, field recording, improvisation and photography, exploring his enjoyment of and interest in detail, simplicity and his emotive response to places and situations'.

We caught up with Jez to ask him a few questions.

Jez Riley-French Artist / Field Recordist

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B&W Photography: Pheobe riley Law

When did you realise you had a passion for field recording? I was given a cassette recorder as a present from my mother when I was 12, and at some point shortly after that I managed (unintentionally) to record the sound of our back garden. Instead of re-recording over the cassette, I listened back to it and perceived the sound as equal to the music I was becoming interested in at the time.

At that young age, and in the midst of the musical chaos that was new wave, this was my way to accept sound as a creative element. Prior to this, I had been a choirboy when I was younger, and the choirmaster used to get us to listen to the church space before practice. At the time it seemed boring; but I realise it was important, as was the quiet, peaceful home my mother created for me. There, I could hear the sounds of floors and roofs creaking, the washing line attached to the outside wall Everyday sounds became soundtrack' to me: to be listened to and not simply heard.

I wasn't aware of field recording' as such when I was younger, and indeed I didn't try to engage with the wider practice of it at all until I was well into my thirties. I wasn't really interested in being told by others what field recording was or how to do it. I was simply doing it for the pleasure and to feed my interest in sound as a plastic material.

To be totally honest, as I've said elsewhere I think over-emphasis on the technology is problematic.

What are some of the items in your field-recording kit-bag'? To be totally honest, as I've said elsewhere I think over-emphasis on the technology is problematic. Field recording is fairly democratic now what with lower cost options for getting started but one of the barriers that is still there is the rather male obsession with technology being the answer. It might be in terms of location recording to some extent, but when it comes to the other creative uses of field recording and extended listening then the technology is a mere tool that means very little compared to who's using it.

That said, given the context of this article, I know readers will want to know what I use. Basically, when I have my full kit with me it includes standard' equipment such as a Sound Devices 7-series recorder, DPA 4060s, a Sanken CUW-180, Rycote Cyclone and Sennheiser headphones. However the equipment I use most includes contact microphones, hydrophones, coils (all JrF of course!), geophones and ultrasonic detectors.

Photo: Jez Riley-French

Do you have any particular favourite piece (or pieces) of sound recording kit that you are particularly attached to? Not really I'm more interested in them as tools than as possessions, if you see what I mean. I guess I have more of a personal connection with the mics I build, simply because they've allowed me to go elsewhere' in my work, and indeed in my life in general.

I have more of a personal connection with the mics I build, simply because they've allowed me to go elsewhere' in my work, and indeed in my life in general.' Jez Riley-French

Part of my practice, as an artist, has involved durational listening to specific places, often for several hours or repeatedly over weeks, months or years.

In terms of your extended recording techniques, what has been the most technically/or physically challenging project or recording you have experienced? Physically is an interesting question: I've had a year or so of health issues that have meant I've been unable to wander around as much as I usually do, and this has been frustrating; but it has also allowed me to re-focus my attention on what I'm really interested in. It's also given me the chance to reassess how being so active in the field recording' community (by chance) shapes how people think of me as a person and I need to address that!

In a wider sense, I would say that the most challenging part of my work (it's about process rather than a specific project) is the constant need to balance one's experience with the practice with remaining open to intuitive responses to places, spaces and situations. Part of my practice, as an artist, has involved durational listening to specific places, often for several hours or repeatedly over weeks, months or years. I find that a challenge at times, simply because it can be so enjoyable that when it isn't, for whatever reason, it can be like walking up a mountain wearing every piece of clothing one owns.

Photo: John Grzinich

How did you overcome this challenge? Well, given my answer to the previous question I would have to answer that it is overcome by continuation of the practice and then it becomes a challenge again. It's constant. I think if field recording was only a series of challenges that could be overcome by technological skill alone, I would have become bored with it a long time ago.

I'm perhaps not what one might call a conventional recordist, in that I tend to work intuitively and I'm not as interested in spending lots of time setting up microphones.

Wind noise' vs. the sound of the wind'. How tricky is it to balance the management of the former with the capture of the latter? It can be difficult, especi

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