THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
(an oral history of Brompton Cemetery, London)

PART 1: THE QUICK
"The Quick" is an ancient word for the living and tender flesh, beloved of Wild West gunslingers. Of London’s “Magnificent Seven” Cemeteries, Brompton Cemetery is the rebellious little sister. In the 1970s and 1980s, as the narrators recall, she was a cheeky shortcut between Chelsea’s counterculture and the Leather bars of Earls Court. Brompton’s “outlaw spirit” has been tamed, but she remains a sanctuary for the wild-at-heart, and for wildlife. Soaring above the human voices, you’ll hear crows conspiring and cicadas shimmering.

Oral historian and producer: Laura Mitchison
Co-producer and sound designer: Steve Urquhart

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/brompton-cemetery/about-brompton-cemetery/the-quick-and-the-dead
https://on-the-record.org.uk

(illustration by Joanna Layla)

The Quick (Part 1, The Quick and The Dead)

Documenting the creation and context of Nakul Krishnamurthy and Nrithya Pillai's groundbreaking collaboration for 'Counterflows at Home' (2021)

https://counterflows.com/commission/lalitam-varnnam-asuram/

"I am from a Brahminical background. Nrithya comes from a marginalised community. So, how do we work out those politics?" The composer and singer Nakul Krishnamurthy embarks on an ambitious project with the dancer and activist Nrithya Pillai. Can they successfully navigate caste politics and class-based structures, the reimagining of an Indian epic, the subversion of a "classical" art form... and a physical distance of over six thousand miles? This podcast goes behind-the-scenes of their remarkable collaboration for Counterflows At Home, 'Lal̩itam Varn̩n̩am Asuram'.

Produced by Steve Urquhart

Reimagining Ramayana

A barber, who’s also a boxer, shares the sounds and stories of his intermingling worlds.

Produced for In The Dark Radio's Sound Bank, 2013

Cuts and Bruises

BBC Radio 3 - Between The Ears
October 2013

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03c4jb3

Consequences

Why are some people at their most creative at night? From dusk to dawn – hour by hour – artists, authors, graffiti writers, musicians and thinkers reveal their nocturnal processes.

BBC Radio 3, October 2021
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011481

Nuit Blanche

What happened to all the ‘Bullseye’ speedboats? What became of the people who won (or didn’t win) them, and of their aspirations? James McMahon reappraises the darts-based TV quiz.

BBC Radio 4, December 2021

Look At What You Could Have Won

Once considered part of the problem, can rap music help change black men’s attitudes towards mental illness? Guvna B looks at the genre’s changing representation of mental health.

Presenter: Guvna B
Producer: Charlie Towler
Exec producer / Sound design: Steve Urquhart
Commissioned as part of the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship

BBC Radio 4, March 2022
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001549k

Rap Gets Real

This is Side A of the mixtape - hear also Side B:
https://soundcloud.com/listentosteve/doing-bird-b

Inmates at HMP Perth engage with archive birdsong and oral history recordings from the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club in a unique, creative audio art collaboration. Peesweeps meet hip hop beats, grouse unlock coded prison language, and an unhatched kestrel chick provokes philosophy…

https://scotlands-sounds.nls.uk/index.php/2022/04/19/doing-bird-scotlands-sounds-at-hmp-perth/

https://www.listentosteve.com/doingbird

‘Doing Bird’ is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
It’s also supported by the National Librarian’s Innovation Fund, and by the Scottish Prison Service.

Doing Bird mixtape - Side A

This is Side B of the mixtape - hear also Side A:
https://soundcloud.com/listentosteve/doing-bird-a

Inmates at HMP Perth engage with archive birdsong and oral history recordings from the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club in a unique, creative audio art collaboration. Peesweeps meet hip hop beats, grouse unlock coded prison language, and an unhatched kestrel chick provokes philosophy…

https://scotlands-sounds.nls.uk/index.php/2022/04/19/doing-bird-scotlands-sounds-at-hmp-perth/

https://www.listentosteve.com/doingbird

‘Doing Bird’ is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
It’s also supported by the National Librarian’s Innovation Fund, and by the Scottish Prison Service.

Doing Bird mixtape - Side B

BBC Radio 4
February 2014

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03srj32

Let Me In

Produced for b-side festival 2022:
https://b-side.org.uk/events/one-in-twelve/

One in twelve people living on Portland (Dorset, UK) are being held in custody. From their perspective, what does the island sound like?

This is the full mix of a multi-layered audio installation, challenging the listener to reconsider their perceptions of sound, to reassess the purpose of detainment, and to confront notions of incarceration and liberation.

The soundscape was recorded by serving prisoners inside the cells, landings, common areas and exercise yards of the island’s secure estate. The site-specific audio work was installed right next to Portland Prison, in The Old Engine Shed, which relied historically on convict labour.

One In Twelve (full mix)

R4LW 14-08-2012 0048 ships

Why is there such an increasing demand for Danish sperm donors? BBC Radio 4 investigates. June 2014.

The New Viking Invasion (BBC R4)

A grand piano slowly climbs the stairs in Glasgow...

Produced for 'Short Cuts: A Piano'
BBC Radio 4, April 2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yqtl

Two, Three, Hup!

produced for 'Short Cuts: In Time'
BBC Radio 4, September 2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022knb

'There's Always a Next Time': a wistful mediation on anticipation... or, a sonic depiction of the futility of hope in our finite little lives... or, you could just call it a mad little montage... you decide!

There's Always a Next Time

Ian Rankin: Tartan Noir (Part One)

(Part Two is here: https://soundcloud.com/listentosteve/ian-rankin-tartan-noir-02)

Ian Rankin has been called “the king of crime fiction”. How does he go about creating the next in his much-anticipated Inspector Rebus series?

BBC World Service - In The Studio, October 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5tl6
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jsgn1m

Ian Rankin: Tartan Noir (Part One)

Ian Rankin: Tartan Noir (Part Two)

(Part One is here: https://soundcloud.com/listentosteve/ian-rankin-tartan-noir-01)

How does a bestselling crime writer breathe new life into his most enduring character? And after 25 novels, where might Inspector Rebus – and his creator, Ian Rankin – go next?

BBC World Service - In The Studio, October 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5tl7
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jsgvkt

Ian Rankin: Tartan Noir (Part Two)

Tape Letters: Scotland
Episode 01 - PLAY

“Imagine the feeling of pressing play on a cassette tape that’s just arrived from some 5,000 miles away…”
What is a 'Tape Letter'? Why did people exchange news and greetings with each other on cassette, and how did they do it?
Our series starts with an overview of the Tape Letters Scotland project, and a flavour of the anticipation and excitement of sending and receiving long distance cassette recordings.
“For us it was a novelty, sort of like a joke. Whereas Mum and Dad, they were more emotional…”
 
Episode credits
Contributors: Assia Ali, Mohammed Farooq, Nassir Ellahi, Izaz Ur Rahman, Khadijah Khurram, Mirza Muhammad Saeed, Parveen Sajid, Nadira Saddiq, Faria Khan, Saima Begum, Nasreen Ali, Akeel Ahmad, Shavana Abdul-Jabbar, Seriya Iqbal, Aqsa Mohammed, Kausar Arshad
Cassette tape donors: Mohammed Ishaq, Sameena Kauser Younus, Shavana Abdul-Jabbar, Khadijah Khurram, Rehana Ahmad
Project director: Wajid Yaseen
Podcast presenter: Tabassum Niamat
Podcast production & sound design: Steve Urquhart

Tape Letters Scotland is a Modus Arts project, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

https://tapeletters.com/scotland/

Tape Letters Scotland ep01- PLAY

Tape Letters: Scotland
Episode 02 - REWIND

“We came here by coach. It took one month to reach here...”
Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, people migrated to Scotland from Pakistan in significant numbers. What does the archive of Tape Letters reveal about this crucial time?
This episode explores what life was like for those who came to Scotland, and for those who remained in Pakistan. How did cassette tapes keep them connected?
“I was so happy that I started crying while listening... I can still feel it now!”

Episode credits
Contributors: Shavana Abdul-Jabbar, Nasreen Akhter, Asghar Mohammed, Parveen Sajid, Nassir Ellahi, Assia Ali, Nadira Saddiq, Mohammed Farooq, Nazia Majid, Jamila Bibi, Musarat Begum, Kausar Ilyas, Munwar Sultan, Mussarat Arshad, Mirza Muhammad Saeed 
Cassette tape donors: Mohammed Ishaq, Khadijah Khurram
Project director: Wajid Yaseen
Podcast presenter: Tabassum Niamat
Podcast production & sound design: Steve Urquhart

Tape Letters Scotland is a Modus Arts project, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

https://tapeletters.com/scotland/

Tape Letters Scotland ep02- REWIND

Tape Letters: Scotland
Episode 03 - PAUSE

“You go back and listen. People that have passed now, you can hear their voices… it just brings back memories.”
Unlike a letter or telegram, or even a video on a screen, a cassette recording can feel like the person is right there in the room.
This episode reflects on the deep emotional impact of Tape Letters. It also explores questions of identity, nationality, and culture.
“I take pride in being Scottish, I’m Scottish-Pakistani… [but] I'm torn between two cultures, two languages, two countries.” 

Episode credits
Contributors: Izaz Ur Rahman, Naila Waseem, Mohammed Farooq, Dean Mohammed, Jamila Bibi, Mirza Muhammad Saeed, Nadira Saddiq, Shenaz Ahmad, Faria Khan, Kausar Ilyas, Nasim Hussain, Akeel Ahmad, Khalida Hussain
Cassette tape donors: Khadijah Khurram, Mohammed Ishaq, Kauser Riaz, Rehana Ahmad
Project director: Wajid Yaseen
Podcast presenter: Tabassum Niamat
Podcast production & sound design: Steve Urquhart

Tape Letters Scotland is a Modus Arts project, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

https://tapeletters.com/scotland/

Tape Letters Scotland ep03- PAUSE

Tape Letters: Scotland
Episode 04 - FAST FORWARD

“Other things came, like telephones, and they stopped the tapes.”
Generations of Scottish-Pakistanis sent and received Tape Letters, before new means of communication took over: from email to instant messaging, video calls to voice notes.
This episode explores evolving technology. How does it impact the use of language, and linguistic identities?
“Ask the younger children! What does it mean to be Pakistani for them, through their lens?”

Episode credits
Contributors: Kausar Ilyas, Asghar Mohammed, Mohammed Khan, Nadira Saddiq, Khadijah Khurram, Suriaya Hussain, Izaz Ur Rahman, Mirza Muhammad Saeed, Naila Waseem, Mohammed Farooq, Nazia Majid, Nassir Ellahi, Parveen Sajid, Rehana Ahmad, Khalida Hussain
Cassette tape donors: Mohammed Ishaq, Khadijah Khurram, Rehana Ahmad
Project director: Wajid Yaseen
Podcast presenter: Tabassum Niamat
Podcast production & sound design: Steve Urquhart

Tape Letters Scotland is a Modus Arts project, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

https://tapeletters.com/scotland/

Tape Letters Scotland ep04- FAST FORWARD

Afterwords: Pauline Oliveros
BBC Radio 3, March 2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028t48

“Listen to everything all the time, and remind yourself when you’re not…”

For her twenty-first birthday, Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) was given a tape recorder. It changed her life. She recorded sounds outside her window, then played the tape back, and heard things she hadn’t previously noticed. Thus began her philosophy of listening and sonic exploration.

Pauline Oliveros became a virtuoso accordionist, groundbreaking composer and experimentalist, and pioneering member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, who went on to develop the practice of ‘Deep Listening’. She was “an artist, a thinker, whose life’s work was around opening up listening as an anti-hierarchical form of transformation for everyone”.

Archive interviews reveal her energy and creativity, her generosity, her self-confidence, her activism, her responses to sexism – all underpinned by her deep commitment to equity, and her playful humour.

Featuring reflections and observations from:
Annea Lockwood, composer and long-time friend,
Irene Revell, curator, writer and researcher,
Louise Gray, writer, and teacher of Sound Arts,
Maria Chávez, sound artist, abstract turntablist and DJ,
Stephanie Loveless, Director of the Center for Deep Listening,

Including archive courtesy of the Oral History of American Music (1983 and 1998 interviews) at Yale University, KPFA interviews (1972 and 1985) from the Other Minds archive, plus BBC interviews (1993, 2009, 2012, 2016).

Produced by Steve Urquhart
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3

(Photo credit: Paula Court)

Afterwords: Pauline Oliveros

Why do some old 7-inch singles sound so good, when slowed down to 33rpm? An experimental feature for ABC RN's Radiotonic.

45s At 33

Striptease pioneers – now in their 70s and 80s – are reviving their old routines. British actor Mat Fraser joins them on stage in Las Vegas, at the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06ptddh
http://www.burlesquehall.com

Burlesque Legends

A riotous mash-up of endings, goodbyes and farewells… that refuses to be silenced.

Produced for Soundproof (ABC Radio National, Australia) and Radiophrenia (Glasgow) 2017

The End

Produced for the opening of BBC Radio 4's Short Cuts: Out Of Time (first broadcast on Tuesday 7th March 2017)

Tick Tick Tick

Jazz writer, social historian, acclaimed photographer: over six decades, Val Wilmer has become “a world figure in the history of African-American musical culture”. What drives her?

BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, 4th March 2018
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tcdx9

A Portrait Of Val Wilmer

How is technology changing the way we see? The artist James Bridle reimagines John Berger’s Ways of Seeing for the digital age and reveals the internet’s hidden infrastructure.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000458l

BBC Radio 4, 17th April 2019

New Ways of Seeing - 01 (Invisible Networks)

How is technology changing the way we see? The artist James Bridle updates John Berger’s ‘Ways of Seeing’ for the digital age – assessing the reliability and power of images today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004f3h

BBC Radio 4, 24th April 2019

New Ways of Seeing - 02 (Machine Visions)

How is technology changing the way we see? The artist James Bridle updates John Berger’s ‘Ways of Seeing’ for the digital age, and asks: can we make machines without prejudice?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004mc4

BBC Radio 4, 1st May 2019

New Ways of Seeing - 03 (Digital Justice)

How is technology changing the way we see? The artist James Bridle reimagines John Berger’s Ways of Seeing for the digital age, focusing on machines and the environment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004sdb

BBC Radio 4, 8th May 2019

New Ways of Seeing - 04 (Cybernetic Forests)

How are some of Scotland’s diverse communities discovering the joys of sound art? Join the new generation of noise-makers, as they get creative with their sonic environments.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007cvf
BBC Radio 4, August 2019

Batter! Batter! Boom!

http://www.witchnmonk.com meets https://www.listentosteve.com

First broadcast on Resonance FM, 22nd May 2020
https://www.resonancefm.com

WITCH 'N' MONK:
“Electrifying” (The Quietus)
“Exquisite” (BBC Radio 3)
“Ingenious” (The Guardian)
“Emotionally raw” (All About Jazz)
"They could hardly be more of the moment" (The Wire magazine)
"Witch ‘n’ Monk never feels retro in its outlook or musicality. Gloriously different, wonderfully listenable and offering something more each time." (Something Else!)

Witch 'n' Monk - eponymous album released May 2020 on Tdazik:
"Blending Latin American flutes, electronics, complex vocal lines with a touch of Frank Zappa lyricism and a radical punk aesthetic, the duo of Heidi Heidelberg and Mauricio Velasierra crafts a dramatically bizarre vocal music from another dimension! Intertwining dark/light, feminine/masculine, composed/improvised and punk/romantic, dreamlike improvisations are sampled, manipulated and reinvented through the lens of contemporary music and pop. You have never heard anything quite like Witch 'n' Monk!"

Improvised autobiography recorded, produced and mixed by Steve Urquhart, 2019-2020.

Witch 'n' Monk - An Improvised Autobiography

Mat Fraser imagines how different our world would be if everybody had a disability.

BBC Radio 4 - 16th July 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kx1l

What If Everyone Was Disabled?

How did a maverick Scottish architect revolutionise the design of UK skateparks? Documentary maker Steve Urquhart explores the ambition and legacy of his late uncle, Iain Urquhart.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p2ch
BBC Radio 3, 1st November 2020

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