At Roadburn art and music have always been entwined and we have sought to further strengthen this connection with an audio visual project at Roadburn 2022. Our festival artwork this year was created by two Finnish artists – Tekla Vály and Tereza Holubová – who work under the name Valreza Collective, and shot a mesmerising eight minute long video as the basis of the festival’s 2022 visuals.
We commissioned four Roadburn 2022 performers to create an alternate soundtrack to this video, and we’re thrilled to be able to present them at the festival. Each day before the bands commence, one of these soundtracks will be shown on the screen at the Main Stage (and the Engine Room on Saturday). The videos and soundtracks will also be exhibited at the NS16 throughout the festival.
The artists we approached were Midwife, Cloud Rat, Alice Hubble, and TAU and the Drones of Praise – representing the musical diversity on display this year at Roadburn. We gave them no instructions or guidelines other than to make it their own however they saw fit.
Alice Hubble told us: “ When I first watched the video, I felt a strong sense of celebration and togetherness that I wanted to capture in the music. I also thought of the festival and how important these are in bringing people to connect.
“The piece is of two halves underpinned by a sample of water lapping on the shores of Lake Garda. Banging toms echo the ritualistic dancing in the video, and flutes always symbolise ‘festival’ to me so I knew the mellotron flute had to feature heavily.
“I finished off the recording and mixing with Mike Collins at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, UK. Some of the percussion samples were constructed from me playing the metal columns that hold up the studio’s stairs!”
Cloud Rat also gave us some insight into how their soundtrack came together:
“This piece comes from a late night drone session after working on the mix for our new album,” they told us, “We got weird and recorded a few hours of improvised soundscapes. We then greatly condensed, edited and restructured the material in an attempt to fit the film’s vibe, layering in Madison’s vocals for further dreamworld effect. Thanks to Roadburn and Tekla and Tereza for giving us this lovely opportunity!”
Madeline Johnston aka Midwife provided something suitably heavenly (with additional instrumentation from Jon Mulville), whilst TAU and the Drones of Praise provided a sonic kaleidoscopic of wonder which fits just perfectly.
Immerse yourself in these four different soundtracks and celebrate the happy union of art and music in this inspiring new way. Remind yourself of the original video below and don’t forget to stop in to the NS16 to experience all four soundtracks during the festival.