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Paul Cheese

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I am a musician, sound artist, producer, singer, cyclist, songwriter.

About me...

 

On the hunt for inspirational locations, I have written and recorded music in locations around the world. On the tops of mountains, to deep underground, old places, new places and even underwater, from pill boxes to ice caves, the Australian bush to the Grand Canyon… 

My two solo albums; 'Just For The Record' and 'Just For The Record Too', have both been recorded on epic cycling trips whereby I carried 45 kg of recording equipment and instruments over 6000 miles.

My latest album 'Just For The Record Three' Will be written and recorded on 12 worldwide adventures.

My first ambitious trip took me to the four furthest points of mainland Britain covering over 2000 miles.

I recorded in unusual places such as Clearwell caves, Ardnamurchan lighthouse, a pill box and a gondola going up and down the side of Ben Nevis.

Inspired by the success of the first album, I took on a marathon 4000 mile tour of Europe calling at cheese related destinations to write and record my second album ‘Just For The Record Too’.

My surname is genuinely ‘Cheese’ so for fun I thought it apt to stop at destinations such as such as Edam, Gruyere, Gorgonzola and Camembert. En route I recorded in inspiring places, such as from the tops of the Alps and Pyrenees as well as mixing and recording distinctive sounds. 

I've launched the start of my third solo album, ‘Just For The Record Three’

which I’m writing and recording in a series of cycle missions – the first was completed in April 2018.

It was the 25th anniversary of the Forum music venue in 2018 (one of the UK’s leading grass roots music venues) so to celebrate this I cycled 1650, to capture and create the first track for my latest album. 

The 2nd track for the albums was, TheBigRecord:UK

I set out to discover what the UK sounds like.

I cycled almost 5000 miles – to every region of the UK to capture the sounds of people and places. In addition, I asked people to send me sounds from their lives. I used these sounds to create a piece of music.

Click HERE for BBC news interview upon my return

The Big Record: Darent Valley.

 

The sound of the Darent Valley 2024

I’m creating a unique piece of music inspired by the sounds and rhythms of the area. From local communities and industries to the beautiful landscapes and nature, and even the paintings of Samuel Palmer - everything will be used to create an audio masterpiece.

Click here to find out more

I'm also in a 3 piece band that's creating a brand-new audio landscape that combines elements of Alt Rock with  

EDM, 4th Wall.

Driving beats, frequency bending synths and fierce guitar work propel vocal harmonies into a whole new dimension, we are currently working on tracks for our 3rd album.

 

Find out more at www.thebigrecord.com

To me, music and sound is everything. I invite you to take a listen to my albums and journey.
About Me
Music

Gallery

Gallery
Just For The Record Too Album Cover
JFTRTOO Map
Just For The Record Album Cover
JFTR Map
Paul Cheese Press Shot Caves
TEDx Paul Cheese
Paul and the Bikerophone
JFTR Press Shot

Video

Videos

Videos

Videos
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'I can't Sleep' song written & recorded on a 4000 mile bike ride across Europe

'I can't Sleep' song written & recorded on a 4000 mile bike ride across Europe

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RECORDING A SONG IN A TELEPHONE BOX, Unusual places to record music by Paul Cheese

RECORDING A SONG IN A TELEPHONE BOX, Unusual places to record music by Paul Cheese

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Cycling to the corners of Britain, writing and recording an album in fantastic locations

Cycling to the corners of Britain, writing and recording an album in fantastic locations

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Play Video
Videos

Sound Art Projects

Turner Contemporary’s 5th birthday 

Commissioned to create a sound art piece

'audio photograph' during a live BBC Show.

Click Here to view

The Sound of Kent, The Big Record

The inspiration for TheBigRecord:UK

‘Is there a sound you love or find interesting?’

 With the help of BBC Radio Kent,

I asked the people of the county to send me the sounds in their life. 

These sounds to create a song/video/installation.

Click Here to view

Sound Art Projects
Battle for the Skies @ Leeds Castle

Developed a 8:2 surround sound audio/visual experience at 'the loveliest castle in England' 

The Dark Sky @ Leeds Castle

2015 marked the 600 anniversary of the battle of Agincourt. 3d projection and a 8:2 surround sound experience.

TheBigRecord:25Forums

2018 was the 25th Anniversary of the grass roots music venue "The Forum" in Tunbridge Wells.
To celebrate this I collected sounds and samples during a 1650 mile bike ride to 24 ancient Forums through Greece and Italy, then back to Tunbridge Wells for the 25th. The completed track uses the sound of mopeds turned into violins, benches into bells, frogs into percussion and aeroplanes in to bass lines to create a sonically interesting piece of music. More than just 'here is a song'

Click here for the audio walk through of the sounds/stories and final track

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TheBigRecord:UK

The making of a song made / composed entirely from found sounds recorded (over 11,000) on a 5000 mile bike ride across every region in the UK.

 

Carrying a mobile recording setup on my bike, I cycled almost 5000 miles to every region of the UK, with the goal, to capture the sound of people, places and record in unusual locations.  My aim was to inspire children and adults to be curious and listen to the world differently, and maybe even get on a bike.

 

During the trip I recorded and captured the sounds of people, their friendliness, the sound of the elements interacting with architecture and nature, the activities of everyday life. Over 11,000 sounds. I used around 4000 of these to create a four and half minute piece of music. The sounds of people's workplaces and tools, hobbies, art and the different rhythms of different materials, outdoor recording the echoes bouncing off concrete, or through tunnels.

 

All combined to create a unique reflection of The Sound of the UK. 

Click HERE for BBC news interview upon my return

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A few of my other projects:

Guest speaker for TEDx

Featured on BBC World Service, BBC radio in all UK regions

Resident sound artist on BBC Radio Kent

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Part of the sound team for the ITV award winning series of 'Long Lost Family'

Commissioned by the BBC to create a piece of music for the Turner 

Contemporary Gallery's 5th Anniversary

Commissioned to write, record and mix two fully immersive sound & visuals experiences,

for 'the loveliest castle in Britain' - Leeds Castle.

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Contact
TheBigRecord Darent Valley 2.jpg

TheBigRecord:
DarentValley

Hi! I’m Paul Cheese, 

 

The Sound of the Darent Valley

The Big Record: Darent Valley’ is a unique piece of music created from and inspired by the sounds and rhythms of the Darent Valley – the sounds of communities, individuals, industry, artistic works, landscapes, nature, history and present, and inspiration from Samuel Palmer’s paintings.  I explored the Darent Valley from its source near Westerham to its mouth at Dartford Creek collecting sounds, travelling on foot and by bicycle.

I collected sounds from across the Darent Valley from  April 2023 - July 2024 and then used these sound to create a piece of music 

From April 2023 to July 2024 I collected sounds throughout the Darent Valley, 

I spoke to many people about the sound that connects them to the Valley, 

I also spoke in schools (for example, Wentworth primary School to 700 students) 

I visited shops and work places in towns and villages throughout the Valley ( for example: Westerham, Otford, Shoreham, Knockholt, Swanley, Darftord, Temple Hill, Sevenoaks, Hartley, West Kingsdown, Enysford, Longfield, Lullingstone, 

Horton Kirby, Hextable, Chevening, New Ash green, East Hill, Farningham, Brasted, Seal, Willmington, and so many more villages)

 

I recorded sounds at lots of local events (for example: Farningham coronation, street party, Shoreham heavy horse show, Beating the bounds may day event in Westerham, Otford Palace fete, Football match at Princes Park, Dartford)

I handed out over 1000 flyers to people that I’ve met and spoken with about the project.

I've done sound workshops which as inspired people to think about the sounds around them and think about what Samuel Palmers paintings sound like (some example locations, Shoreham village fete, the Peter Blake gallery, Kaleidoscope gallery)

I have done many talks, (for example, Wentworth Primary, Kaleidoscope gallery, peter Blake Gallery, Shoreham Fete, Enysford Green Week)

All of this has felt like to me, people have been inspired to listen to their surroundings and get out and listen to the Darent valley in a different way.

 

The final piece of music is available to listen to here: 

There have been so many brilliant aspects to this project! 

It has been fantastic engaging with so many people whilst out walking the valley paths, cycling around the whole catchment area and visiting every town and village through the Darent Valley.

It has been great talking to people about the sounds that connect them to their area and hearing their sound stories, whilst sharing other peoples sounds and stories that I have collected. From shop keepers to dog walkers, factory workers to schools, it has been wonderful sharing the knowledge of Samuel Palmer and the beauty of the Darent Valley.

The final piece of music was the destination, but it has been the journey over a year that has created interest and engagement from members of the public that live in and outside of the Darent Valley.

For example, The project has featured 4 times on BBC radio Kent and each time has evoked sound memories in people, and has inspired them to send me sound suggestions + visit the Darent Valley and hear it from a different perspective.

The support from the the Darent Valley Lanscape partnership Scheme has been perfect, always there when I’ve needed anything and have genuinely been so encouraging and helpful throughout – from suggesting places and events and communities to approach, to being a friendly ear and offering guidance. Sarah Moon, Jenifer Smith, Tim Owen, Selinina Levinson Drake and the wider team of the brilliant Sarah Newman and Liz Anderson.

It has been an amazing immersive journey collecting and creating ‘TheBigRecord:DarentValley” 

I have been overwhelmed by the response from the people and adults that I have met and spoken to about the sound of the valley. I’m sure the ‘TheBigRecord:DarentValley” will continue to receive interest and plays in years to come.

Thank you for the opportunity to re-engage with this beautiful area.

What sounds and rhythms come to mind when you think of the Darent Valley? 

The sound of the river? the  inside a factory, your neighbour’s laughter, the sound of sport, hobbies or even creaking branches.

Thanks for listening

Paul Cheese

Home: About

Project Catchment Area

WHAT DOES THE DARENT VALLEY SOUND LIKE?

Over the year of this project I have speken to people that live, work, have visited, or have a connection to the Darent valley,

I've loved to hearing your sound memories and sounds that remind you of this area.
I also asked people to send me sounds from their lives that were uploaded via the upload portal on this website.


What type of song will sounds from throughout the Darent Valley create?

TheBigRecord:DarentValley

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WHAT DOES THE UK SOUND LIKE?

What type of song will sounds from all over the UK create?

The full track is available to listen now:

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What does the UK sound like?

Here's the video for the full track:

What does the UK sound like?

Here's a video of the making of, how some of the sounds came together:

Shure microphones created a 3 part mini series

about TheBigRecordUK & the kit I used:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

TheBigRecord:UK

Hi, I’m Paul Cheese 

On May 26th 2019, I set out to discover what the UK sounds like.

I cycled almost 5000 miles – to every region of the UK to capture the sounds of people and places. In addition, I asked people to send me sounds from their lives.

Click HERE for BBC news interview upon my return

 

The cycle took me just over three months, but I met so many people with so many great suggestions for locations to record in that more than a few detours were made.

 

What an experience. It’s a cliché, but it was such a pleasure to meet so many brilliant and different people and places along the way. Thank you.

 

Since I’ve been back, I’ve listened to 1000s and 1000s of sounds that I recorded and orchestrated them into a piece of music  - the sounds of the people, the friendliness, the sound of the elements interacting with the architecture and nature, the activities or everyday life - the sounds of people's workplaces and tools, hobbies, art and the different rhythms of different materials, the echoes bouncing off concrete, or through tunnels – all combined to create a unique reflection of The Sound of the UK.

 

Here are just some of the sounds used in the track…

The tempo of the middle of the TheBigRecordUK track is set by the speed of a man with a 2 piece metal walking stick recorded in Cambridge.

Rhythms on this section come from Sharons Chip shop chip scoop and bag shake in Dorset, Kingsley road sweeping in London, Toms art graffiti spray can in Bristol, a Zumba class in Kent, Rufus raking leaves in Devon, skateboarders in Suffolk and Newcastle, the slam of the Bronte sisters front door in West Yorkshire, a builder filing metal in a doorway in Hull, Max cleaning a large plant pot outside a pub in Cumbria, the rhythm of the old control levers in a train signal box at Instow/Barnstaple, the stamp in a long tunnel in Glasgow, Simian bouncing a basketball in Birkby near Huddersfield, Horses hooves on the North Yorkshire moors and Newmarket, A nail gun near Mossley, Manchester, The clack of the Tor point chain link ferry in Plymouth, the sound of the choir in Tewksbury Abbey a church choir Omagh, Northern Ireland.

The breathing of the the shingle on Brighton seafront, the waves on steps in Rhyll, north Wales and footsteps on the North coast of Guernsey. The Buttercross Morris in the centre of Leeds.

 

The high instrument melody was created from sounds merging in the Kelham Island museum in Sheffield , Building site drilling in Leicester and Crawley, mowers and strimmers from Norfolk, Essex, Cumbria, Gloucester, a barbers razor in Kirkwall, Orkney and notes extracted from the layers of sound as they merge together.

 

The bass is made from:

A helicopter from Shropshire, The hum of the Scrabster to Orkney ferry, a diesel pumping engine from the Highlands, a recycle factory in Northumberland, the transporter bridge in Middlesborough and 12 Electric substations from across the UK, one of which was recorded underwater in Cumbria.

Here is what I did, I put my speakers in a waterproof bag, put a microphone in waterproof bag, then submerged them both underwater in a lake Bassenthwaite, I then played the sound of an electric substation back through the speakers, then I recorded the sound it made, yep, underwater) 

Yep, I plunged the largest electrical substation I heard into a lake in the lake district and recorded the sound it made. 

I cycled from Folkestone in Kent to the Orkney Isles off the north coast of Scotland via Northern Ireland, then a cycle zig-zag back down across the UK to the Channel Islands via Norwich, Shrewsbury, Bangor, Aughnacloy, Belfast, Glasgow, The Scottish Highlands, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Keswick, Newcastle, Hull, Lincoln, Stoke, Leeds, Blackburn, Manchester, Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Newquay, Truro, Plymouth, The Channel Islands, Portsmouth, Brighton, Reading, Oxford, Gloucester, Birmingham, Coventry, Milton Keynes circling around London and finishing in London city centre.

 

The Counties I visited:

Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Down, Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone, Derry/Londonderry, Antrim, Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire, Argyll, Perthshire, Inverness-shire, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney, Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Angus, Fife, West Lothian, Midlothian, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire, Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Dumfries shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, York, East Yorkshire Ridings, Hull, North Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Derby, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Blackburn, Greater Manchester, Warrington, Merseyside, Cheshire, Snowdonia, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Brecon, Neath, The Valleys, Bridgend, Glamorgan, Powys, Monmouth, South Gloucestershire

Bristol, East Somerset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey) Southampton, West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, West midlands, Warwickshire, Coventry, Northamptonshire, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire, Greater London, Central London

 

I captured so many fantastic sounds – 

Firemen retracting ladders in Suffolk

The rhythm of chalk marks as the sign writer marks out the new lettering at a carriage restorers in Ballantrea on the West coast of Scotland,

lock gates in Leicester, 

the sound of curlews and electric fences on the Orkney isles, 

metal girders being dropped in Cornwall

electric sub stations in Cumbria

crop sprinklers in Shropshire

The transporter bridge into Middlesbrough

Hull Cathedral bells and the flicker of bunting

The favourite chord of an organ master in Newark on Trent

The one o clock gun in Edinburgh

Clog dancers in Leeds

Kicking the bar in Aberystwyth

The wind whistling in the rigging of boats at Sandwich bay, Kent.

To the sound of train tracks and in London

He talked to people across the whole of the UK finding out local information about great sounding locations.

The sound of bull dozers pushing metal into compactors on the north coast of Wales,

Manchester town hall clock, 

The rhythm of builders re-pointing a wall in Somerset,

The sound decay of the reverb is in a old railway tunnel in West Yorkshire, 

The sounds of Rossy boatyard at Clydebank, 

A spitfire flyby in Folkestone on the Kent coast, 

The audio tones of the different sluice gates and weirs on the Kennet and Avon canal 

The rhythms and clanks of metal works in Keighley, 

The beat of a working watermill in the Brecon beacons, 

An old man with a 2 piece metal walking stick in Cambridge, 

A motorbike dealers favourite engine idling in Norfolk, 

‘relay for life’ walkers footsteps in Barnstaple… 

I've used between 3500-4000 sounds that I collected during the 5000 mile cycle.

I've only used the sounds I collected and was sent and kept the sounds as true to the original sound as possible.

 

The piece of music goes through 5 different movements, with 3 key changes and 3 tempo changes.

I listen to every sound collected, grouped them into their nearest note and nearest tempo...

A large majority of the sounds were in F# major, then D major, A# Major

two thirds of the sounds were at 98bpm, then 108bpm, then 122bpm

I wanted to show all the different aspects of the UK,

The epic UK, the industry, the people, the humour:) 

 

Every sound has a story... 

I also collected recordings of people saying the names of their towns (because I didn't want to pronounce the towns wrong)

I have over so many voices/accents from across the UK, I grouped them into folders of their syllable count and created rhythms from the town names:)

For example: tap a 4/4 beat and say:

Wells, Mesham, Middlesborough, Jersey, 

Buckfast, Hexham, Liverpool, Hull.

 

The first melody section is made from, mowers, strimmers, drills, machinery, passing cars on rumble strips, harbour defence re building, construction, bees, birds, the list goes on:) ha ha

 

So many possibilities

I've used the accelerating of the Torpoint chain-link ferry and the Brecon Beacons steam train to increase the tempo between sections.

All the melodies were extracted from sounds collected.

From my experience...

The loudest sparrows were on Jersey

The loudest blackbirds were in Norfolk

The loudest seagulls were in Devon (Sidmouth)

 

oh and... 3 out of 4 UK builders render a wall at around 98bpm

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