FPG Sounds: Adrian Lane, ‘Inside the Walled Garden’

The second commission as part of ‘FPG Sounds’, an online project to support the development of new sound works by artists from or based in Southend-on-Sea. For this commission, artist Adrian Lane has composed and created a series of musical instrumentations inspired by locations, sounds and textures across Southend-on-Sea, including areas such as Priory Park, Prittle Brook, East Beach and Gunners Park. Using field recordings from each location, as well as the use of strings, flutes and ambient synth music (each performed by Lane), the work attempts to evoke the emotion and essence of each environment, explored with affection by the artist over lockdown with his family.

“Inspired by Priory Park's walled garden; I did a field recording in there and have it fading in and out in waves of sounds, which makes it sound a bit like waves of the sea. There was a certain serendipity when I later found out that the fish sculpted on the stones near the steps, used to be at the entrance to the pier. The main sounds are string quartet and flutes, with some subtle synths”.

Adrian Lane creates instrumental neo-classical, ambient music and abstract textural mixed media paintings. A painter by profession, Adrian often works on music and paintings simultaneously, his painting process is reflected in his musical compositions – layering, cutting, and moving parts around, until the finished result is achieved. Employing a combination of age-old instruments (alto and baritone bowed psalteries, acoustic guitar, violin, banjo, zither, glockenspiel, piano) but constructed in a way that could only be achieved with modern technology, Lane often takes influences from early music, folk, world and contemporary classical, ambient and electronica.

Find out more here: https://www.fpg.org.uk/exhibitions/adrian-lane