Christopher Heston

Submitted by cellspace on Wed, 06/15/2011 - 11:45

CHRISTOPHER HESTON

Having been raised in Santa Cruz, California I have always had a love for the sounds of the beaches, the beautiful mountain forests of the region and the eclectic personalities of its various residents. The desire to catch and manipulate elements of this rich environment led me to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Digital Media from the University of California in Santa Cruz, and later an MSc in Sound Design from the University of Edinburgh.

Much of my work in sound design explores the ways in which our world’s natural soundscapes can be used to tell stories. I focus on producing immersive sonic material through binaural recording techniques and interactive audio software such as FMOD. A chance to live at Cellspace, in the heart of one of San Francisco’s most vibrant neighborhoods, provides a seemingly endless source of noisy behavior. For my residency, I hope to display works that
reflect my interest in the various sonic signatures of this urban landscape.

A sample of my soundscape work (mixed for headphones):

http://soundcloud.com/dasilvadr/from-berlin-across-the-world-back-to-berlin

In part with my love of urban noise, I also enjoy composing and performing electroacoustic music with the bay area street-performance groups, Sonic Nomadic and Eurostache. In these
groups an effort is taken to combine and manipulate sounds taken from circuit-bent electrical devices, kitchen appliances, children’s toys and a variety of traditional instruments. The performances center around a desire to encourage surrounding public to participate with the groups through a variety of supplied homebrewed noise makers and instruments.

ChristopherHestonEurostache.jpg

A sample of Eurostache:

http://soundcloud.com/eurostache/kino-ear-live

While working towards my MSc, my street performance experience as well as my love of everything noisy led me to participate in a project titled The Unwanted Orchestra, where I became part of the circuit bent electronics group, Made in China.

Performance at InSpace, Edinburgh, UK:

http://www.vimeo.com/11151052

Overall, I hope to use my time at Cellspace to explore the sounds of San Francisco andcollaborate with visual artists seeking a sonic component to their work.