William Oldacre Photography

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Airfish

I have this vision of the city as a dream space in slow motion, with the ambient sound dialed way down and a walking pace rhythmic beat, reverberating music, pulsing, echoing large in my head, as I slowly traverse it – watching as it unfolds around me. This comes from my early days as willy Walkman. When the Sony Walkman first came out, I was probably the first kid at the time to save up enough to get one. All my music was quickly recorded to tapes, mixed and shared among friends so I could listen in glorious intimate stereo.

Over the years I’ve owned a whack of different personal stereos and now I’ve practically got my entire collection on my phone (wow!). It’s this sound track disconnect from the world – listening to music while moving around – that has fueled my dream vision of the city. I get the same thing while driving listening to music – which is why over the years I’ve put decent stereos in my cars – to create a cocoon of aural delight, mediating my vision of the world as I swim through it.

This music bubble I dwell in is a pillar of my work on the city.