The Process: Taking Fun Seriously

Somerset House Studios resident Anna Meredith is a composer who takes writing playful music seriously. But her process is anything but reckless.  Over the summer she set herself a challenge, to write a series of compositions for bumper cars which would be installed in the courtyard of Somerset House for Dodge.  Tunes would be triggered when the bumper cars bumped. But this posed some tricky questions. How can you control the structure of the composition when the audience is in the driving seat? Who is the composer here, Anna or the drivers? Anna sits down with her studio neighbour Nick Ryan, who has been working at the forefront of interactive music, to hear about where this genre might be headed before talking to games designer Nick Moran to hear how to organise fun. 

Additional music in this episode is by Anna Meredith and Emahoy Tsegué-maryam Guèbrou.

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The Process 

We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension,  it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. 

This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. 

Producer: Alannah Chance

Series Presenter: Laurent John

Exec Producer: Eleanor Scott

Theme music: Ka Baird
Additional Sound Design: Harry Murdoch

Mastered by: Nick Ryan

Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2021

Supported by The Rothschild Foundation