TW Life Partners With TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells
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TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells is thrilled to announce our new partnership with TWLife, supporting our activities and broadening our reach to thousands of people from around Tunbridge Wells and beyond. Nathan Friend, Curator and Event Producer for TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells, said “I’m really excited to begin working with Jamie at TWLife, and looking forward to bringing some exclusive content from TEDxRTW to the newsletter over the coming months. With TWLife’s focus on community events and news, it’s a perfect fit with our focus on ideas that really resonate locally.” TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells is an event that showcases local and locally-relevant ideas using the ubiquitous TED Talks format. The event first started in 2015 at Skinners’ Kent Academy, and has since grown to the point of selling out Trinity Theatre and the Assembly Hall Theatre multiple times. The current iteration of TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells looks to bring together a community of curious and action-driven individuals, through a number of events hosted at venues throughout Tunbridge Wells. The Sounds I Recorded On A 500 Mile Bike Trip by Paul Cheese Recently, TEDxRTW hosted an event at Trinity Theatre, showcasing five great ideas and one incredible performance, showcasing everything from purpose, to the importance of speaking up, to the arts. One of those talks, delivered by Paul Cheese about his journey creating a soundtrack to the UK, was recently selected by TED as an editor’s choice, being one of a few talks to be pushed directly to TEDx’s YouTube subscribers as a valuable and timely idea for a global audience. In celebration of Paul’s talk being selected as an editor’s choice by TED, Nathan had a quick chat with Paul while on his travels to dig into his talk, and what’s next for his recording projects. Congratulations Paul on your talk being selected as a TEDx editor’s choice! I broke the news to you a few months before it was published, do you remember what your initial reaction was? Yes, I do, I was really chuffed. I had a great response from the audience at the TEDx Tunbridge Wells event, and then for my talk to be chosen by the big TED reviewers for editor’s choice is just amazing. It’s really great that it’s been given this platform, and hopefully will inspire even more people to listen to the world around them and find the music hidden in everyday sounds. In your talk, you mentioned a key part of your journeys is making “sonic discoveries”, like the fact that most builders render a wall at about 98 beats per minute - have you made any more recently? Absolutely, and there were so many more that I found on The Big Record UK which I didn’t have time to mention in my TEDx talk, so here’s some more fun sonic discoveries from that project… From my experience... The loudest sparrows were on Jersey The loudest blackbirds were in Norfolk The loudest seagulls were in Devon (Sidmouth) How have people responded to your talk? Have there been any surprising or insightful messages you’ve received? I’ve had lots of great comments and feedback, which is obviously really nice to hear. On the days following the TEDx event, I was sent audio recordings that people had captured while out and about, and on their way to work, with messages saying they wouldn’t have heard the music in these sounds if it wasn’t for my talk. One person sent me a recording of a ‘singing’ drain which was awesome. There’s been a great response on the TED editors pick YouTube channel too, with one person acknowledging that there is music everywhere. On your journey around the UK, was there a particular location that stuck with you, either for a particular sound or the people you met? That’s a tough one. Honestly, every region had its own sonic memory moments, and there were so many stories of people relating to sounds in their locations and their everyday life. The people I met along the way were fantastic, so generous getting involved with the sounds. As I said in my talk, once people got their heads around ‘what’s this guy on a bike talking to me about sound for?’, they all wanted to help by either letting me record them or suggesting great locations and local sounds. And of course, people were so kind. When I was cycling on the North Coast of Ireland, I had a puncture, so I’d taken off all my luggage from the bike and it was upside down while I was fixing the puncture. Two guys pulled up in a pick-up truck and asked if I was ok and if I needed any help. I said I was fine thanks, and then they handed me two cans of beer out of their window and said ‘this should make the puncture less painful, happy travels’. I have so many stories like that. It was also wonderful having the opportunity to stop and talk to people about their local areas and the sounds that were in their lives. For example, I’d be cycling past the village green, where I’d see someone sitting on a bench, the bench that they sit on everyday on their way back from their walk to the village shop. And I’d stop and have a chat with them and they’d tell me about the sounds that were part of their lives and local area. What have you been up to since our event in March? I picture you cycling somewhere near wherever I am, but I’d love to know where you’ve been! Well, right now, I’m in the Pyrenees at the top of a mountain working on the second stage of The Big Record Pyrenees project. Last year I cycled, with all my recording equipment of course, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the top north side of the Pyrenees and then back again on the south side, listening and recording sounds to use to create a piece of music. This year, I’m exploring deeper into the mountains and getting to the places I couldn’t reach last year. Watch this space for the music track from this latest project. At the beginning of this year, I finished off a 2 year project – The Big Record Darent Valley where I sonically explored from the source of the river Darent near Westerham to the mouth of the river in Dartford again, collecting sounds that I’ve used to create a music track. The catchment area was everywhere the rain fell and ended up in the river Darent. From Swanley to Sevenoaks, New Ash Green to Shoreham, to Dartford. An interesting sonic discovery was the squeaking of trees in Lullingstone Country Park, sounding like trombones. Finally, what’s the most important thing you hope people will take away from your talk? Thank you!! To see other TEDxRoyal Tunbridge Wells talks or to find out about their upcoming events, please head to their website: www.tedxroyaltunbridgewells.com |