In October 2021, we stayed for one month in rural Connemara, Recess to be exact, as part of the Interface Inagh residency. It was a fantastic change to be in touch with a quieter, slower, and more rainy place all while exploring our own musical projects.

Our days there were split between the guesthouse of Alannah Robins, the director of the association, and the artists’ studio in Recess. It’s not usual for us to drive much in our travels, but things are so far apart here that we made the decision to rent a car, and so Nicoletta got some extra practice driving on the left while having the chance to explore the entire region.

*A turf fire was the main source of heat during our stay*

We managed to visit Omey Island, a small Island that can only be walked to during the low tide; nearby mountains; the original landing site of the first transatlantic flight; and plenty of beautiful coastal villages. Among our most fascinating discoveries was the bog: it is both the source of the turf that heats homes (including our little guest house) and preserves everything from butter, to ancient men, to prehistoric elks.

Our performance in the ex-salmon hatchery

*Our Splintered Landscapes project using VHS*

The studio itself is based out of an ex-salmon hatchery, which sits on the side of a river. Like almost everywhere else in the region, its landscapes are stunningly beautiful and the constant on and off of rain showers makes for frequent rainbows. Most of our days were spent working in the hatchery on a second iteration of our Splintered Landscapes project. In that project, we cut audio cassettes in to many small fragments, and then attempt to reassemble them back to their original state, mimicking the Japanese craft of kintsugi. We were excited to try out the same process using VHS’s and so a lot of time was spent trying to reanimate old technologies. The material we recorded to the VHS was a semi-improvised performance focusing on feedback and vessels, taken from materials of the hatchery.

Finally, we gave an open-studio / concert for a warm audience before leaving, and it was a fantastic way to end our stay.