My name is Matt Shenton and I am an experimental musician, sound artist and performer whose work explores the rural landscape of Suffolk (with a particular focus on the morphology of the working class soundscape of the Shotley Peninsula). I also explore how conceived notions of the pastoral landscape inform and influence ideas of national identity. 

 

My work uses manipulated field recordings, homemade instruments, music concrete and modified electronics salvaged from potential landfill to create textural explorations of timbre with instinctive, chance-based arrangements that mimic the rural soundscape.

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My work has been featured on numerous radio stations and shows including Stuart Maconie’s Freak Show on BBC 6Music, Kate Bosworth's amazing Dark Train show on Warminster Community Radio, Graham Dunning’s Fractal Meat show on NTS, Zoviet France's Duck in a Tree show on Resonance FM and the black_ops show on Camp FR. 

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In June 2023 I was invited by SPILL to participate in a week long artistic residency at the Think Tank in Ipswich to plan a community project exploring the soundscape morphology of a Suffolk Village.

 

I find the Suffolk soundscape intriguing. The wide, open fields allow the wind to whip and howl across the countryside. The drone of juggernauts trudging along the A14 can be heard for miles. Tidal rivers slap and churn against riverbanks before slicing huge swathes of land clean away. The cranes at Felixstowe pierce the heavens as they clang cargo containers to the ground. Apache helicopters circle overhead.​

 

I am trying to make sense of these sounds, and my place within them.

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