Arvo Part & The Hilliard Ensemble – Miserere

When I finished school, I realised I wanted to be a composer. Having not studied music, this resulted in a long, drawn-out process of getting an A-level at Nottingham college. My sister owned a house – the same house I currently live in – in the countryside, fairly close to the city, so I moved in with her, into the room I’m sitting in now. This album encapsulates that period of my life; it represents the bizarre circle, the series of coincidences, that brought me to where I am today. Having spent a decade in Brighton and then onto various other places, I’ve returned to where it all began. Back then, I was obsessed with Arvo Part and would spend hours in the library searching for recordings. I was in my car a lot, driving back and forth from college, and would play this record on a loop during those journeys, singing along the whole way. Not exactly the coolest image of an eighteen-year-old! It was a truly lonely point in my life. I’d moved away from most of the people I knew, into the middle of nowhere, and even though I was living with my family I spent most of my time alone. Hearing this record connects me to that moment, as well as to the mood that’s at the core of my music. My initial compositional process was very much about trying to replicate Part; his baths of sound and an experience of listening that’s totally immersive and meditative.