The future of Westminster
Next stop – the home of the British parliament, Westminster tube station. As I arrived into the station, a group of schoolchildren were chatting excitedly before being instructed to leave the train – I follow them out, and exit the platform, while continuing to record.
City version:
Jess Beechey’s reimagined Westminster sound is called ‘Future’, as she explains:
“This piece explores the concept of ‘future’, venturing ‘into’ as well as ‘back’, taken from a point of discussion between an adult and children in the original recording.
“The piece draws inspiration from the recording location, Westminster.
“‘Future’ imagines a dystopian fate for our politics, with fragmented speech becoming drowned out by the crescendo of aggressive drones, to an ominous and unknowing conclusion.”
Memory version by Jess Beechey:
Meanwhile, long-standing contributor Richard Fair tackled the same sound, and he describes his approach like this:
“I wanted to get the rhythm of a train with the beat but was also fascinated by the children’s voices.
“They always seem to echo around the underground stations, like the musical instruments from buskers.
“The announcements seemed to act as good jumping on and getting off points for the various chapters in the piece.”
Memory version by Richard Fair: