Artist Spotlight is our regular feature introducing you to Cities and Memory artists around the world with an in-depth interview. In this edition, we introduce you to Bristol-based composer and musician Tim Saul, a member of hip hop duo Earthling who’s inspired by Sakamoto, samplers and seagulls.

I am a music maker and sound artist working with both found sound and acoustic instruments in the electronic realm. I like to paint and collage with sound, using experimental software to play with musical and atmospheric cells; exploring, stretching, processing & layering elements into a coherent alchemised sound world.

My creative starting point is to locate emotionally evocative sounds which I then weave together using a storytelling approach, taking the listener through changes of mood, intensity & release.

The work grows from inner experiences that interface and then land in the outside world. Two examples of recent work are:

•  A compilation of music I created in a mountain residency in Italy last year
• An extended ambient mix of a track that I made with Julee Cruise (Twin Peaks/David Lynch) called Fly Away.

I can hear the sound of squawking seagulls mixed with the sound of distant waves – I live close to the sea in Brighton.

At 13 I was dedicated to learning the guitar – self taught, by ear – and I began playing in bands with friends in Somerset. At 17 I moved to Bristol and immersed myself in the thriving independent music scene, diving into studio experimentation & the use of drum machines, synths & sound processing.

In my early 20s I began using sampling technology whilst working with the experimental theatre company Intimate Strangers and I’ve never looked back!

This led to three LPs and many live shows as the producer of UK hip hop duo Earthling. I still love to collaborate on songs with vocalists, in different genres, but have also diversified into writing music for picture & long form ambient pieces incorporating field recordings.

When you experience a spark of inspiration that leads you somewhere interesting and those magical moments when the sounds you’re playing with began to oscillate and talk with each other, and something new and vital is birthed.

I’m also a big fan of inspirational surprises, and try to cultivate a creative environment that supports that.

This is a track called 24 George St. featuring vocals by Swedish artist Elsa Esmeralda – not sure it’s typical or even what typical is for me ! – but it’s a more song based terrain that I enjoy working in.

I’m really proud of the “How I learnt to live with ghosts” piece I made for the A century of Sounds project. It was an enjoyable challenge to collaborate with a classical Korean sound recording from the 1970s and find a way to create an expanded sound world for the recordings to be reimagined in.

Wow, there’s so many – where to start? I have very eclectic tastes. Let’s see…

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Startled Insects, David Sylvian/Japan, Nina Simone, King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry, Quincy Jones, A Tribe called Quest, Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone, Talking Heads, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Arthur Russell, Laurie Anderson, RZA, Rotary Connection/Minnie Riprrton/Charles Stepney.

I notice there are a lot of overlaps, the most notable perhaps being the “My life in the bush of ghosts” LP by Eno/David Byrne, a collab that feels very pertinent to the A Century of Sounds project.

Humming and the sea – the calming effect on the nervous system. And birdsong – nature’s original song makers.

I’m fond of software that allows and encourages an element of chance into my creative process, so current favourites would be Playbox by Native instruments and Cycles by Slate and Ash.

I’ve always got lots of projects & ideas on the go-go. I’m currently finishing off a 30th anniversary remix project for Earthling and a batch of song collaborations with vocalists from different corners of the globe.

I also plan to mix an album of pieces I wrote to accompany short films of train journeys – the “Station2station” project with Ana Lucia Gonzales – in one session, on a long train journey!