DIGITAL DARK AGE
2017 - PRESENT | UNREAL / FMOD
If you've ever wanted to listen to an 80's inspired retro-concept EP nestled inside a foreboding brutalist first-person game environment then read on...
The 'Digital Dark Age' is something I've been increasingly interested in over the past few years, after carrying out research into digital preservation and obsolescence during my third year at university. I started working on this idea as my Major Project for my BA in Music Production, and what started out as a simple 5 track EP, soon developed into something with a much larger scope and set of challenges. The completed piece took the form of a first person interactive level, built in Unreal Engine and FMOD, which housed the music and information for people to discover as they made their way through the 'digital void'.
I quickly found links to other areas of research such as 1980s music technology and brutalism in design and architecture that continued to fuel the project and provide extra depth and a stronger concept for the piece as it moved forward, ultimately informing many of my choices whilst building and creating the visual aspects of the piece.
Many of the songs were inspired by ideas surrounding the need for continual awareness of digital preservation, so we don't fall into a proposed 'Digital Dark Age' in the not too distant future. You can read more about this pressing issue in an excellent article by Terry Kuny here.
Most of the albums production was carried out using a range of 1980s hardware and production techniques, befitting a project so heavily influenced by retro-technology and ideals.
I am currently preparing a Windows build of this project for download, and will post it here when it is complete.
( You can hear the EP here or head over to Bandcamp where you can purchase a copy (there are a few remaining cassettes too!).
