BOTANICAL SOUNDSCAPES AT THE JAM JAR - 18/12/24
REVIEW: Botanical Soundscapes 'A Night of Music Created by Nature' at The Jam Jar - 18/12/24
12th January 2025
by JAMES LUCK
On any other night, the subaquatic decor and moody lighting at The Jam Jar can make you feel as if you have stepped into an underwater world. But on this night, the venue had been transformed into a scene where plants took centre stage and with a interactive and unique spin on your regular gig.
As I entered up the stairs, I was greeted by the eerie and unexpected sounds of a cactus being played as an instrument, each new touch altering the sounds emanating from the speakers. The audience were captivated by the plant being poked and prodded on stage and as I looked around I could see people sat cross-legged around the edges of the room, while others watched and listened, swaying in a trance-like state to the evolving melancholic sounds.
Lucy Shuter radiates an energy that feels inseparably tied to plants. A friend described her as a sunflower, and it’s hard to disagree. Botanical Soundscapes is the creation of Lucy Shuter, a concept inspired by figures like Peter Tompkins, whose work involved the fascinating and often overlooked world of plant intelligence. In his Book ‘Secret Life of Plants’ Tompkins explores the idea that plants are sentient beings like us, capable of perception, communication, and emotional responses.
Lucy expands upon these ideas by connecting plants to a computer and allowing them to ‘speak’ through the electrical signals they emit. Lucy explains: “I started it more as a way to remind people how intelligent and fascinating nature is.” Most people usually don’t think twice about the importance of plants in our lives, both Shooter and Tompkins believe the concept of giving them a voice gives us an opportunity to reconsider our relationship with plants and our connection to nature.
Typically, Lucy takes her plants to festivals and presents them as interactive sound art installations, where people can come up and engage with the plants directly, touching the leaves and stems of the plants to hear sounds change and form in real time. However, on this night, for the first time, this setup was used as a part of a live band. The band, Trans-Siberian Express, added a burst of energy to the night and watching them felt refreshingly different from many other performances; they delivered a tight, well-rehearsed, and entertaining performance that kept the audience engaged and dancing. Throughout the gig Lucy would be sampling the boys on stage and playing these samples back using her plants.
Shuter was barely visible behind the lush wall of greenery on stage - yet her presence was felt throughout the performance. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that some of the magic of her plants was lost in this context, being somewhat overshadowed by the energy of the band. This was Lucy’s first attempt at combining her plant instruments with a live band, and while it made for an unique experience, I couldn’t help but feeling there is an untapped potential here.
After the gig, when the audience was invited to come and interact with the plants, I spoke with Lucy.
She explained to me how the water running through the plant is picked up as an electrical signal via electrodes and every time you touch the plant the electrical signal is altered, the harder to touch the higher the signal. This signal is then processed in a software like Max for Live to then create the sounds that we hear. The setup goes far beyond simply triggering samples—interactions with the plants have the capabilities to control effects, modulations, and even controlling a full synthesiser via MIDI.
Lucy talks about how 'plants are often overlooked in the world' and imagining the plants as full-fledged ‘performers’ opens up intriguing and exciting possibilities. I can personally see this technology in a dub context, where plants control a dub siren or effects, or in a minimalist lo-fi set with the space to truly highlight their organic soundscapes.
Botanical Soundscapes shows an exciting blend of nature and sound in a way that opened up a train of thought that felt deeply meaningful. While Trans-Siberian Express brought energy and excitement to the night. I look forward to seeing how Lucy’s botanical soundscapes evolve in more spacious, experimental settings in the future.
KEEP WATCHING -
Botanical Soundscapes HERE !
Trans-Siberian Express HERE !
Photographer: Arthur Sheppard HERE !
