This work was inspired by the kinds of games that I have played with my young son during his early years, using everyday objects as well as his toys. I was drawn to the kinds of play that he engages with and the resulting outcomes and processes – repeating the same thing, exploring new possibilities/potentials, or trying something once and then moving on to find the next interesting activity. I wanted to capture the sounds of the kinds of objects that we regularly played with, and to try to adopt my son’s spirit of play in my musical explorations; to pursue the development of some ideas whilst leaving others less developed, open to a possible return but not necessarily bound to it. Many of the source sounds are significantly transformed, yet I hope that traces of the musical play underpinning the work remain tangible.

Initial work on this composition took place at Elektronmusik Studion (EMS), Stockholm, and I am extremely grateful to everyone at EMS for their help and support whilst I was in residence.

The music is dedicated to my late father, Peter, who was an inspirational creative practitioner and parent, and who was always so encouraging and supportive of my work.

Extract: