An internationally recognised NI composer and immersive artist has captured the lived experiences of care home residents as part of a series of orchestral works which explore the “intimate meaning of home”.
Rory Friers, best known for his emotionally impactful film scores, immersive sound installations and award-winning work as one quarter of experimental rock band And So I Watch You From Afar, first started “composing with real life” in 2020, inspired by his grandmother.
“I wanted to try and compose music the way I do for film where you are responding to something else,” he explains.
“And around that time my granny was sadly getting on and was staying at my mum and dad’s house.
“My dad and I were spending a lot of time with her and began recording and archiving conversations and stories with her just before she passed away.
“That experience made me realise that there is a power in capturing those moments and I ended up composing little bits of music to some of my grandmother’s stories and I thought there was something in that.
“I was then on the hunt for more human moments where I could respond to what was captured and be a supporting role in a landscape created by somebody else.”
The result is HOME, a new two part EP which uses handheld recordings and intimate conversations as musical building blocks, seeking to show how our safest places are shaped by the people within them.
The first piece of music, Home I, centres around Rory’s sister and her young daughter who was born at home during the pandemic.
“I suppose that experience with granny, and then this new life coming along and being born in the same house, in the room next door, was really fascinating to me,” he says.
“She was born during one of the Christmas lockdowns and a midwife hadn’t been able to come out, so this baby just arrived in the house.
“And I thought that was so amazing that all this little baby knew was the house and the people in it.”
Rory explains that he wanted the piece to evoke the maternal environment “like a protective blanket”, creating music that feels tender, resilient and deeply protective.
“I managed to sneak a handheld recorder to my sister and I just asked her to hit record and pretend it wasn’t there and just spend some time with the baby.
“And whenever I heard that interaction between a mother and a child, it was so tender and special and just felt like a very rich feeling to dig in to - of that first safe, secure home we experience.”
In contrast, Rory’s second release, Home II, explores the topic through an entirely different lens, recording conversations, laughter, silences and fragments of song from the residents and staff of Glendun Care Home in Cushendun.
“It is a challenging environment,” Rory admits.
“For obvious reasons it is full of very high emotion and distress but also incredible craic.
“I visited around once a week for six months in 2022 and over the course of those visits, I was lucky enough to build relationships and friendships with some of the residents, which definitely fed into the finished orchestral work.”
In particular, Rory established a close connection with resident Josie McCambridge, who has since passed away, but his captivating voice forms the the foundation of the track.
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“I captured a lot of conversations and I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to end up with it but towards the end of my visits, Josie started telling me this story about the care home and how it used to be the local pub,” recalls Rory.
“He said a lot of the residents would have frequented it and told me that he used to sing in it every weekend, and I said ‘I didn’t know you were a singer Josie?’, and he just laid out this brilliant rendition of a song that I’d never heard before and still haven’t been able to find.
“His performance was impeccable, so I asked him if we could use it which he thankfully agreed to, so I rushed back home to the studio thinking if it was anywhere near in tune I might be able to compose something to it.
“And of course, he was pitch perfect from start to finish. I didn’t even have to tune my guitar to it and that was the beginning of Home II.”
After working on both pieces for “quite a while”, Rory released Home I on September 19 and Home II on October 22. He says while the experience was “nerve wracking”, the response has been overwhelming.
“It is like sending a kid to school or something,” he laughs.
“I think because there were so many other people involved in this project and it’s their stories and voices you are trying to represent there was definitely a bit of added pressure.
“But it’s been great, getting it out and hearing people talk about how it made them feel and sharing it with others has been amazing.”
Looking ahead, he says the project has opened up new creative possibilities and he is already thinking about where it could go next.
“The HOME project is definitely something I think there will be a few more iterations of,” he says.
“There are so many stories and moments out there to capture, there are certainly a few more bits and pieces I would like to explore, so we will see.”
HOME by Rory Friers is available to stream now. For more information visit roryfriers.com.
