Sleep Research Facility

Sleep Research Facility comes from Glasgow, Scottland. The project sort of arrived from nowhere, directly landing a deal with the established Brittish label Cold Spring Records. This led to the release of Nostromo - as far as I know their only work so far. For those who recognise the title; yes, Nostromo is related to Ridley Scott classic Sci-fi noir Alien from the late 70's. The setting for the album has been borrowed from the first minutes of this film, minutes which depicts the space vessel Nostromo moving through space in a most Dark Ambient fashion. Nostromo is one of the deepest albums in this genre that I have heard during the new millenium. True to the projects name, it gently bestows a feeling of extreme relaxation and drowsiness om the listener. I got in touch with Kev - the man behind this project - and asked him a couple of questions about what he is currently up to and how the future looks for Sleep Research Facility.

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ECTONAUT: Please start by introducing Sleep Research Facility to the Ortus Obscurum readers. Who are you and what is Sleep Research Facility all about?

KEV: Well, I don't have any kind of history or formal training to boast of aside from producing a long running fringe music programme on student radio, and involvement with a handful of dubious "DIY proto-punk garage bands" when I was younger. SRF is really just born out of self indulgence, kind of a fusion of lots of things that interest me.  I habitually listen to "music" as I drift off to sleep at night and originally  started producing SRF material simply for my own narcoleptic purposes.  In a way, the music is specifically designed for falling asleep to, but it would be nice to know that people appreciate it beyond this basic "functionality".

ECTONAUT: Nostromo has been out on Cold Spring for a couple of months now. What can you tell us about this album? I understand it is intimately linked to Ridley Scott's first Alien movie. Could you please develop the concept of the album further?

KEV: Ridley Scott's Alien continues to rank as my all time favorite film.  It's a masterpiece of dark atmospheres and brooding suspense.  As an environment the ship Nostromo really whets the more shadowy regions of my imagination. The slow panning shots of the vessel's interior during the film's  opening 5 minutes (before the story really starts) communicate so much of what I like in that whole dark "isolationist" thing. Although these dark themes are consistent throughout the film, it's during this opening sequence when the ship is the focus of attention that the dark, tense environment is really exemplefied (the characters, at this point,  haven't been seen yet so all we have to go on is this atmosphere).  The album could be throught of as an extrapolation of this, perhaps a bit like an alternative soundtrack to a tour we never really get, through the dark vessle.

ECTONAUT: How has the feedback been on the album so far? Have your expectations been met? Are you still satisfied with it?

KEV: Feedback has been very encouraging. The disc got some terrific reviews (and still is), so yes, I'm pleased - even more so as it's my first release. Having confidence in one's own work can sometimes a bit of an issue, so whenever there's  a positive response it's  a real boost. When I was working on it I had it in my mind that hopefully I (or anyone else for that matter) would still be able to listen to it years from now and it wouldn't sound "dated".  So far I'm not  sick of it and still play it occasionally for drifting off to, so things are still good, I'm still satisfied with it.

ECTONAUT: The soundtextures of Nostromo are some of the deepest I've heard so far in the Dark Ambient genre. I understand you want to emphasis a link in your music-making to the subconscious, yet recording music is still a very conscious process in the end. How do you work when you combine these two aspects of the human mind without losing the very subconscious nature of the music? Is there a lot of work behind this procedure?

KEV: Well, if I understand the question properly I think what we're looking at here is balance. In a  way the audio has to be designed so that it's not "present" in a conventional musical sense but still has enough going on and is intriguing enough to suck the listener in, providing something to "fall" into as the body and mind relax deeper and deeper. I suppose the real WORK involved is finding suitable sounds and using them in such a fashion that these results are achieved.  Slowly shifting textures are a good  tool to employ, I try to avoid anything which is too sudden and may act to break the atmosphere.  Generally what comes out in the end is a result of considering what sort of noises act to relax a person.  Think of the gentle "woosh" of
car wheels rushing over tarmac as heard from the back seat during a long lazy road trip (a sound that always made me sleepy), that's almost the essence of the SRF sound.  I'd love to record and release audio as simple as this, but it's nice to take the "hypnotising" quality of this type of noise and shape it into something more atmospheric and intriguing.  I suppose that's where the "conscious process of making music for the unconscious" comes into play.

ECTONAUT: What particularly strikes me with Nostromo is the lulling effect that the music has on me as a listener. It is not often I praise an album for making me sleepy but in your case, the extremely entrancing nature of your album has really made an impression on me and I must say that it is not often I feel as relaxed by music as when listening to Sleep Research Facility. Are there any scientific methods consciously used in order to establish this sleepy-effect or is it purely a result of musical intuition and sensibility?

KEV: Well, the actual physiological technicalities of what happens when one falls asleep elude me somwhat, I'm less than informed when it comes to the science behind it all.  To propose that SRF audio  is the result of intuition and sensibility is very flattering, especially if the desired effect on the listener is achieved.  Really, what comes out of the studio is simply a result of having an idea of what sort of sounds have this lulling effect on me personally, and again it's a question of finding that balance.

ECTONAUT: You call the music of Nostromo "customised audio sleep-aids for chronic insomniacs" on your website. Have you ever been approached by any sleep-therapists or thought of contacting them considering using your music as a form of therapy. Could you imagine doing this?

KEV It's an interesting concept I've toyed with. The "chronic insomniac" statement at the site is a bit tongue in cheek, but I do think there's the potential to explore the notion of carefully designed audio (beyond the simple, thick textures of Nostromo) specifically designed for sleep therapy.  Audio can be a powerful tool. They argue that color therapy can influence a person's state of mind, and that's purely based on visual stimulus - it makes you wonder if audio can also have some kind of similar impact.  To do it properly would probably require considerable research and perhaps consultation with more qualified and knowledgeable persons. Of course by reducing the audio to this kind of purely medicinal functionality one runs the risk of boiling off any kind of artistic asthetic contained in the work.  Maybe in a way (seeing as Nostromo seems to be inducing sleep as intended) I've actually inadvertantly stumbled upon some of these key "frequencies"  --  that would be amusing to find out somewhere down the road.

ECTONAUT: How do you link the Sleep Research Facility concept to dreams? Would you like to be able to direct your listeners into dreaming certain dreams with the help of your music? Perhaps this could be a step further for you (if it can be accomplished of course)?

KEV: Again, an interesting concept.  The "dream" factor is something I haven't really considered, being more intent on simply knocking listeners out without considering what might happen after they've been "tranquilised".  Of course there's scope for possibly taking things in this direction maybe after a bit more thought and planning - "DreamResearchFacility" certainly has an interesting ring to it,  I'd need to find some suitable "subliminals" as well.

ECTONAUT: There's an interesting effect in the beginning of the last track where it suddenly sounds as if the transmission of the music is suddenly broken and everything just feels empty, about 11 minutes before the end of the CD. Is there any special purpose behind this effect?

KEV: I like the idea of the audio "seeping in" seemingly out of nowhere, so the emptiness you mention is more just for establishing some kind of void into which the sound textures can be slowly layered, in a sense the silence can act to define a blank canvas of sorts.  A well-placed gap in the proceedings can also serve as a "pregnant pause" or a sort of lull  to heighten tension in a "what's going to happen next...?" fashion. Another instance on the Nostromo disc where I tried to use this idea was in between the third and fourth tracks - there's 4 gentle "gusts" of soft white noise, then silence for a bit, then the viscous low end rumble of d-deck creeps in to bottom out the emptiness.

ECTONAUT: "Ambient music should be as ignorable as it is interesting" says Brian Eno in the quote that you have placed at the beginning of the Sleep Research Facility webpage. My general impression of Sleep Research Facility and your page tells me that you have really made up your mind about what Ambient music is all about. What is your opinion about this genre and how it is represented by projects today? What do you think of the evolution that Ambient music and Dark Ambient music in particular have gone through during the last decades?

KEV: During the last 10 years or so I think the word "ambient" has been really abused and sold off.  If you go to sites like www.mp3.com it's easy to see this. Navigating to their "ambient" section heralds a barrage of everything from cheesy new-ageism to tacky commercial four-on-the-floor trance techno. When (uninitiated) people ask me what sort of music I try to produce I'll generally walk over hot coals to avoid using the word "ambient" for this reason. It's so easy for things to get misconstrued.  Of course, it's not for me to define what people's impressions of any given genre should be, and although this  "technological renaissance" we've gone through over the last decade has contributed to this glut of mediocrity by turning everyone and their mother into an "electronic music producer" there is still a decent amount of good new audio being developed and deciminated as a result also. I like that there's lots of bedroom studios on the go, Nostromo was produced in a bedroom-studio!

ECTONAUT: So, if you are to listen Dark Ambient, what albums do put on? From which period in time?

KEV: I'm not fussy.  Thomas Koner does fantastic work, as does Mick Harris (as LULL).  I also like a lot of stuff from Darrin Verhagen's Dorobo label.  Just bits and pieces from wherever or whoever really.  In all honesty I don't actually listen to as much stuff as I really should .  A good alternative when I can't be bothered getting up to pick a CD is to just (de)tune a radio to some interesting static, pump it through a series of heavy digital effects (often gently feeding back on themselves) and set the volume at low, letting the noise just wander freely.  Ironically, I find a lot of good source material for further manipulations that way.

ECTONAUT: ...and other music? Do you find much inspiration in other types of music?

KEV: I like to listen to different flavors. I certainly like letting my ears chew on a variety, which is probably a healthy thing.  It all just depends on things like the time of day, my mood, company present in the room, what I'm doing, etc.  I suffered from a bit of tunnel-vision for a long period of time, listening to virtually nothing except electronic music, and it feels good to dig out other kinds of stuff to wrap my ears round.  Recently, floating around the top of the cd pile in my living room you'll probably find anything from old discs by The Police and the B-52's to Philip Glass, Merzbow, Autechre etc. I actually have an ancient Test Department disc in the cd-player right now, earlier it was Throbbing Gristle (I think it's a nostalgia trip this evening). I like drum and bass as well, the rhythms are intoxicating.

ECTONAUT:  You have so far only released one album so naturally; we only have Nostromo to relate you with as a composer. Yet this doesn't mean that this album confines the entire Sleep Research Facility concept so now I wonder: does Nostromo represent everything that your project is about musically or are there more sides to Sleep Research Facility? Are we perhaps going to hear a different musical approach on your future recordings?

KEV: I definitely don't want to get stuck in  a rut churning out the same noises track after track, but at the same time I feel that maintaining some kind of continuity is important.  Nostromo was particularly dark in concept and sound, and I think that was a result of the choice of subject matter. I don't know if SRF was conjured up to be an exclusively "dark" project, but as I like to let things evolve on their own, we'll need to see how it develops.  I'd like to be able to vary the sounds, but hopefully I'll be able to keep things still sort of "distinctively sleepy".

ECTONAUT: What more can you tell us about future Sleep Research Facility recordings? Are there any follow-up to Nostromo planned for the near future? Will you remain on Cold Spring Records or are you searching for a new label to release it?

KEV: When Nostromo was starting to take shape the way I wanted, I was thinking that a thematically similar project would be a logical follow up so I planned on a sequel titled Sulako  (after the ship used in James Cameron's film Aliens, which is the second instalment in the series of films). Of course there's the risk that SRF could become  a "novelty" act cashing in on a gimmick as such, so I put that project on hold to an extent.  The foundations are there, some basic textures and noises, but there will probably be something else ready to go first.   Having recently watched a documentary about remote weather stations on the Antarctic continent I've been working with  a lot of expansive "frosty" textures - the words "Deep Frieze" keep popping into my head as a potential working title.

As for releasing on Cold Spring, well, that's up to Justin (who runs the label). Naturally he gets first crack at any new SRF projects, it's only fair.  I don't think he'd object to me submitting work he felt maybe wasn't 100% Cold Spring material to other labels, but for the time being any new SRF tracks will pass his ears for edification first.  The  label recently released a new compilation, it's pretty awesome to see my name on a disc alongside Laibach.

ECTONAUT: Any other news you would like to share with us before we disconnect?

KEV: An overhaul of the website is in the works.  There will definitely be new audio, that's long overdue. I have some recordings that are far more "motionless" than the 5 track Nostromo project - things like 30 minutes of gently sweeping radio noise, or an hour of rainfall heavily manipulated to the point of being little more than a sixty minute rumble.  It might be nice to release these on disc as ultra-minimal SRF works, but I don't know if I could convince a label to take them on - they might however make for an interesting series of mp3 downloads from the website...   Also going to (finally) get a mailing list started for when the new version comes on-line.

I should also take this opportunity to say thanks for the support and the chance to ramble on a bit here, and a send very warm thanks to everyone who's encouraged me along the way (especially Justin from Cold Spring). Goodnight, sleeptight...

Sleep Research Facility correspondence

Resonance net

Relevant Links

The SRF website
Cold Spring Records