Issue 05 Side B
/Queer Out Here Issue 05 Side B
As the world went into lockdown, the sounds around us changed. Some of us were treated to soundscapes of birds, beaches and backyards without interruptions from road and air traffic. But the restrictions placed on human movement meant that our experiences of “the outdoors” also changed - from international journeys to walks in nearby parks, from meeting up with friends to sitting alone on balconies or beside windows hoping to catch the breeze. Side B is a more reflective, slower paced exploration of local environments at a strange moment in history.
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Information about Issue 05 Side B
Length: 1:03:00
Transcript: Google Docs / PDF
File size: 121MB
High quality audio version: Google Drive (954MB, .wav file)
Cover art: Emily Doyle. Emily also has a piece in this issue. She writes, “I took this photo of a bluestone alleyway near my home, on one of my lockdown daily wanderings. The slow pace of hand embroidering something means you're forced to spend a lot of time reflecting on and considering the work. The experience of making this art piece mirrored the themes of my audio piece, Bluestone: a forced focus on the environment that you don't get when simply snapping a photo or glancing as you pass by, and a forced reflection on its details, history and meanings.”
Content notes: The pieces in Queer Out Here talk about many things related to being queer and the outdoors. Issue 05 Side B contains several discussions of COVID-19/Coronavirus, being in lockdown and other related issues. There is also mention of colonial violence in Australia in Bluestone (starts at 45:40); description of feeling unable to breathe underwater in Caught Within the Fisher’s Net (starts at 52:01); a few sudden, loud sounds; and wind distortion in many of the field recordings. If you have specific anxieties or triggers, check the transcript (linked above) or ask a trusted friend to listen and give you feedback. Please let us know if there is something we’ve missed and we will add it here.
Running order:
A South London Stroll - Emma Charleston
Lockdown Walks - Allysse Riordan
Wish It Were Safe Out There - Emily Miles
Recording the Tide - Jonathan
Sounds of Confinement - Sylvie Beaumont
Ambient Sound, 2020-04-10 - Jenny List
Havannah During Lockdown - Mags
Bluestone - Emily
Caught Within the Fisher’s Net - Lynda Berry
My Favourite Place - Cecily
Show notes for Issue 05 Side B
Introduction - Jonathan and Allysse
0:00:00-0:01:59
Short description: Opener, welcome, thank yous and housekeeping. Sound of waves crashing on a shingle beach plays beneath the voices.
Sweeper - Nova
0:02:00-0:03:03
A South London Stroll - Emma Charleston
0:04:31-0:09:54
Short description: Field recording, audio postcard. A short walk through a park in Clapham, featuring birds and trains.
Creator bio: Emma is a queer illustrator/graphic designer/zine maker living in South London.
Creator statement: I have been getting really into recording voicemail messages for friends who are far away, describing where I am and what I can see and smell, and what I'm doing and thinking, and this felt like an extension of that to a wider audience, to share one of my current favourite outdoor places.
Lockdown Walks - Allysse Riordan
0:10:57-0:17:26
Short description: Sound art. The repetitive, sometimes maddening, loops of daily lockdown walks.
Creator bio: Allysse is a wanderer and creator. At the source of her work are her journeys and every day life. Through non-fiction pieces, she recounts the personal stories she encounters taking reader/viewer/listener outdoors with her.
Creator statement: During the Covid-19 pandemic, outdoors pursuits have been restricted to a daily walk. For weeks, I explored my hyper local area, retracing my steps over and over again. Some days I walked the longest loop, some days the shortest one. In this piece, I wanted to record this experience. While it has been lovely to get every detail of my local area through Spring, it has also sometimes been maddening and making me feel caged. I wanted to reflect that in the piece.
Wish It Were Safe Out There - Emily Miles
0:17:27-0:22:37
Short description: Field recording. Across the street from the red gas station is a viburnum, and between them are hums and rattles and song.
Creator bio: Emily is an audio producer based in Indiana. She produces a podcast about climate change for Indiana University and spends almost all of her free time roaming neighborhoods and romping through local creeks.
Creator statement: This is absolutely unproduced. I saw a tweet calling for the sounds outside the homes of queer people, and when I hit record, it was 5 p.m. Normally the streets would be much busier. But in a college town during a pandemic, the only ones left on the road are essential workers and people without houses and lonely ones like me, who might just drive to feel safe seeing fellow faces.
Sweeper - Dan
0:22:38-0:23:20
Recording the Tide - Jonathan
0:25:00-0:34:00
Short description: Monologue, field recording. Reflections on the craft of field recording and the incoming tide filling a rock pool.
Creator bio: Jonathan is a walker, stickybeak and creative type living in the UK. He is one of the editors of Queer Out Here.
Creator statement: One day during lockdown as my partner was grocery shopping, I walked along the beach. I spent some time recording the sounds created by waves rippling and slapping around the rocks, and of the rock pools filling as the tide came in. The piece starts with some reflections on the craft of field recording and specifically how this recording was made.
Sounds of Confinement - Sylvie Beaumont
0:34:01-0:35:29
Short description: Field recording. A garden during the third week of COVID-19 confinement in France.
Creator bio: Sylvie is a 59 year old woman who recently relocated to the South of France after a life-time in the UK. She is a fervent traveller, occasional hiker, wannabe ukulele player and unconvincing glass artist. She dabbles in “real” work the rest of the time.
Creator statement: This was recorded on day 19 of our confinement and is representative of the only sounds we've been hearing for the past 3 weeks. No cars, planes, people. Only the sound of birds, bumble bees, footsteps in the grass and the occasional DIY noises from neighbouring houses.
Ambient Sound, 2020-04-10 - Jenny List
0:35:30-0:39:19
Short description: Field recording. The sound of lockdown one afternoon in Godington churchyard.
Creator bio: Jenny List is a technical journalist and engineer, who grew up and lives in a small village in Oxfordshire.
Creator link: Twitter
Creator statement: This is an ambient recording I made in response to an appeal for lockdown sounds. It’s taken in the churchyard where the conversation in I Think We Got Away With It (Issue 05 Side A) was recorded a couple of months earlier.
Havannah During Lockdown - Mags
0:39:20-0:42:35
Short description: Field recording. Quieter than usual during lockdown at the Havannah Nature Reserve, close to the airport flight path.
Creator bio: Mags works for an educational charity and has recently moved back to Northumberland in her native North East of England. She enjoys walking, swimming and participates in her local Parkrun. One of the ways in which she unwinds is by getting out into nature and photographing what she sees around her.
Creator statement: The recording of birdsong was made on 14 April 2020, 3 weeks into the lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. With the closure of the local swimming pool and the cancellation of the regular Saturday Parkrun, I found myself walking more in the local area and nature reserves, exploring and discovering new routes. The flight path to Newcastle airport is close to both local reserves and the lack of air traffic was very noticeable. With restrictions in place on movement and activities, walking has been almost a form of meditation and I have found that the permitted hour of outdoor exercise each day has been essential for my mental wellbeing.
Sweeper - Dru
0:42:36-0:43:02
Bluestone - Emily
0:45:40-0:51:26
Short description: Essay, field recording. "History" and "natural history" are often more enmeshed than we think.
Creator bio: Emily spent her childhood roaming tea-tree forests in central Victoria, catching yabbies and getting gumboots stuck in clay mud. These days she's a conservationist-in-training, living in Melbourne and escaping on the weekends for epic hikes in the bush.
Creator statement: This piece came about through my reflection on my local built environment. Engaging with local First Nations people as part of my conservation qualification and undertaking research in my local history, I realised my experiences in the bush and drive to become a conservationist were more tightly enmeshed with my engagement with my immediate environment as well.
Acknowledgements: This piece was recorded primarily on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging, and acknowledge any First Nations people listening to this piece.
Caught Within the Fisher’s Net - Lynda Berry
0:52:01-1:00:01
Short description: Poetry, monologue, field recording. The captive and captivating nature of the sea during lockdown in Britain.
Creator bio: Lynda Berry is a freelance writer, private tutor and considering taking up a PGCE next year. She started writing poetry at the tender age of 8 and has never stopped. She lives in Worthing and enjoys frequent walks and runs along the beach.
Creator statement: The piece is about my relationship with the sea, starting from childhood, and continuing with the Lockdown in the UK. I have spent many hours escaping the boredom of being at home running along the beach. Though the piece originally focused on running it morphed into a more general discussion on the ocean’s calming effect on human psychology, it’s healing potential, and how all paths seem to lead back to it.
My Favourite Place - Cecily
1:00:02-1:01:24
Short description: Video, audio postcard. The beach at 5.30am during lockdown.
Creator bio: Cecily is a 77 year old lesbian living on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland with her partner.
Creator statement: I am hoping to show a bit of our life in this region, and what sustains us in this time. This video is of my beach at 5.30 am when I walk and swim. I walk especially early now because of Coronavirus and social distancing, and also I love this time beside the sea.
Note: You can watch video of this piece on Vimeo and YouTube.
Conclusion - Allysse and Jonathan
1:01:25-1:03:00
Short description: Concluding comments and thanks. The sound of waves breaking on a shingle beach plays under the voices, then slowly fades out.