Mark Vernon

Spanish Moss & Myminerest

Mikel first got in touch with me about a series of radio works I had made for patients during a two-year artists residency at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland.

Having become keenly aware of how noisy an environment a hospital is, and consequently how difficult it can be to sleep, I created a sort of ambient radio station for insomniacs titled ‘The Tonic Garden: A Sonic Survey of Soothing Sounds’ produced in association with the hospital radio station and Ian Middleton. The 3-hour long piece played on a loop on the hospital radio station throughout the night. It combined ambient music with field recordings of sounds that patients described as being the most soothing or peaceful for them.

From the material created for this project I have composed two short self-contained pieces that I believe I myself would be happy to hear in my own final moments, and that to my mind have a positivity, depth and restfulness to them.

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