Brenda Ray
As a graduate of the London International Film School I have been recording audio in the world of documentary films and commercial television for over twenty years. It's taken me to all corners of the globe and introduced me to people from all walks of life. I’ve been inspired by their cultures, their struggles, their joie de vivre, their perseverance, their simple pleasures.
I've noticed how important it is when visiting a country to make an effort to speak the language. It's as if the language is the bedrock of a collective identity and it's held dear to all who speak it. When a foreigner attempts to embrace and enter into that identity- to string sentences together and humble oneself; to speak like a three year old in the presence of adults, to not presume everyone should speak English, there's an opening of the heart on the part of the native speaker that's akin to receiving the key to the throne. Selfishly I've sought this key, and numerous notebooks with scribbled phrases and key verbs, word order and expletives line the bookshelves of the place I call home.
For a long time I've been a dutiful technician, but I've always been fascinated with language. With the advent of digital tape and hard drive formats, I started collecting voices from my documentary jobs. Two years ago I started (finally) creating artistic pieces from them. There are two songs on this site > Our Dreams > Warsaw-Dakar that I hope you'll enjoy.