How does one truly explain the work of The Humble Bee? I have thought about that question many a late night and to this day I still find it difficult to put together a definitive answer…
It’s more than just music when Craig enters the studio; It’s mysterious, fragile and most importantly it comes from the man’s soul!
This fifty minute piece made exclusively for Fluid Radio’s Underexposed sessions perfectly encapsulates what words could never express.
Some background information from Craig…
“It started with me booking a week’s holiday in Cornwall, in November staying in a lovely converted railway carriage (something I have wanted to do for ages now).
The plan for the week was to spend time making and collecting things, responding to what the area had to offer.
This, for me turned out to be light and sound…
I suppose it was the fact that although these two things were the essence of the place, they were at the same time constantly in a state of flux, changing from one moment to the next.
I found this duality intriguing, I think it was the fact that it was at once permanent and yet ephemeral that stimulated and directed the work.
The week became a documentation of these things, of tides, of weather, of light, of the sounds.
I made maps, plotted coast lines, developed scores from fleeting things; the rain on the window, the barbed wire against the sky, the tidal marks in the sand, things that would come and go and change with the place.
I came back home with several videos, field recordings, photographs, found scores, collected colour palettes, lumen prints and rust prints from metal plates I’d left at the will of the currents and weather.
This lot was all used as my starting point for the audio.
The field recordings and the audio captured from the videos were the first things I worked with, arranging them chronologically and leaving space for the found scores to slot in between.
Once these were in place the rest of the space in the piece was left for me to fill with my response to what I had experienced, the existing audio and what I had collected and brought home.”
– Craig Tattersall (The Humble Bee)
Spellbinding Craig! Lovely photographs too.
Dan – you must make the underexposed series available someday.
just exploring this and find its depth and sense of place lovely… feels very much like the coast, aurally… bit of wind, crashing waves, smell of sea salt and these sounds take me there. well done my friend, i am so glad you finally made it to this special place, craig. thank you for sharing it with us. now i think i need to go to the coast again soon!
and yes, Dan, to second this first comment, i think a small curated disc or two of these pieces would be so so awesome…. or even collecting them all for a free bandcamp page or something similar.
another joe, napa, CA usa
Thanks, Craig. This is a really lovely piece. I too hope that it comes out on CDr; it’s too good not to be released.
I’m sure something special will come from the series ;)
Amazing sound! Thanks you)
Using patterns in nature for algorithmic composition. Beautiful concept. I enjoyed this very much.
Very inspiring. All the effort and time putting this together shows, well done Craig!
I really wish this were available for purchase somewhere…as a digital download or otherwise.
hello,
just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words. it is much appreciated to know people have enjoyed the project.
Fingers crossed for a release.
ta,
craig (the humble bee)
Craig – you really are one of my heroes <3 Thanks for living so deeply!