Composed and arranged for 3D ambisonic sound by Martyn Ware
Environmental and immersive design by Oscar Blustin and Anna Söderblom
Co-composer and orchestral arrangement by Gabriel Ware
Co-composer and produced for 3D ambisonic sound by Charles Stooke
Produced by Illustrious
MARTYN WARE is a musician, producer, designer and innovator, born in 1956 in Sheffield, UK. He formed The Human League in 1978, British Electric Foundation in 1980, and Heaven 17 the same year. With these and others, Martyn has featured on recordings totaling over 50 million sales worldwide, establishing himself as a pivotal figure in the development of popular music. Amongst others, he has produced Tina Turner, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chaka Khan, Erasure, Marc Almond and Mavis Staples.
In 2000, he founded Illustrious Company with Vince Clarke (Erasure, Depeche Mode) to explore the creative and commercial possibilities of their unique three-dimensional sound technology. With Illustrious, Martyn has created immersive sound experiences for clients including the British Council, The Science Museum, The Royal Ballet, Amnesty International, the V&A Museum, Mute Records, BBC TV, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, BAFTA, Museum Of London, and Tate Britain. He created sonic architectural works in the British Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2006, and has designed sound installations in extraordinary, diverse settings across five continents.
Martyn is a Visiting Professor at C4DM at Queen Mary College, University of London, a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, a patron of Arts & Business, a member of the LA-based international think-tank group Matter, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, a member of the Writers Guild of America and a founder member of 5D (a US based organisation promoting all aspects of immersive design). He also lectures extensively on music production, technology and creativity at universities and colleges across the world including the Red Bull Music Academy.
ILLUSTRIOUS COMPANY was formed by Martyn Ware and Vince Clarke in 2000 to create new forms of spatialised sound composition using three dimensional surround-sound systems. Collaborating with digital and fine artists, world heritage sites, museums, exhibitions, live events, dance, theatre, technology developers, researchers and educators, Illustrious has created over sixty unique sound projects exhibited or performed worldwide.
Technical expertise combined with unparalleled creative and production experience, Illustrious offers the most immersive, sonic-augmented reality available. Illustrious also offers consultancy in cutting-edge sonic research and solutions.
CHARLES STOOKE is a musician, artist and sound designer based in London.
Having started work with Illustrious Company in 2020, the first piece Charles collaborated with Martyn on was their contribution to the Breath is Invisible public art project. This was followed with work on Dawinder Bansal’s and Martyn’s We Found Love In The 80’s film, podcast and documentary archive.
Charles continues to develop his personal sound and score portfolio, having recently completed work on Foreign Body’s film documenting Amartey Golding’s amazing piece, Bring Me To Heal.
Additionally, Charles is always progressing his Me, Charles musical project; currently writing, recording and producing the EP Fine Isn’t Good, scheduled for release in late 2022.
GABRIEL WARE is a modern hybrid orchestral composer for soundscapes, film and drama.
Having begun his composition journey in 2015 without a formal music education, Gabriel quickly developed his style and advanced his production techniques, relying entirely on his pure passion for film and television music. Since then, Gabriel has worked on many major soundscape and media projects, lending his advanced understanding of emotion, texture, and experimental style, to much acclaim.
ANNA SÖDERBLOM’s background is a hybrid of arts, media and technology – finding new and interesting ways to tell stories.
In 2009, she founded a company to develop immersive theatre techniques and cross-platform storytelling, exploring ways to create and manage this (then new) kind of entertainment. Ten years of artistic and logistical evolution has culminated in Storia, an organisation committed to world-class immersive entertainment, ethical cultural tourism, and accessible, experiential history. Storia’s inaugural production, a vast trans-media immersive historical extravaganza, will open in Venice, Italy, in summer 2022.
Anna has worked as a journalist, columnist and sub-editor for The Times, and as a reporter for the Guardian. She began working on the internet in 1997, developing content and products across a wide range of online platforms. As half of a two person team, she conceived and created the first mobile digital products for News International, and has consulted on digital and content strategy for clients ranging from UNICEF to Sky. As Digital Content Director for a creative advertising agency, worked with English National Opera, Expedia, Royal Mail and many more. She is fully trilingual, and is a translator in four languages.
Recently in London, Anna teamed up with Oscar Blustin to co-write and co-direct Hammer Film’s The Soulless Ones, a largescale live immersive show.
OSCAR BLUSTIN is an award-winning writer, director and producer specialising in live immersive entertainment. In the UK, he has created pioneering immersive and interactive adventures for clients including the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Durham, The National Maritime Museum, and the London Transport Museum, as well as landmarks including Tower Bridge, The Actors’ Church in Covent Garden, and Wilton’s Music Hall. In 2011, he founded SPECIFIQ, an experiential site-specific theatre company that has produced work at venues from the National Theatre to the Vaults beneath Waterloo Station, from high-rise office blocks and castles to libraries, churches, disused shopfronts, forests and stately homes.
Predominantly working in the cultural heritage sector, Oscar is regularly commissioned by organisations looking to bring history to life and explore forgotten stories in unforgettable ways. In traditional theatre, Oscar has directed at leading off-West End venues including the Soho Theatre, the Leicester Square Theatre and the Finborough, as well as the Abingdon Theatre off-Broadway and various regional theatres up and down the East Coast of America. He has lectured at universities, drama schools and conferences on both sides of the Atlantic, and was awarded a Visiting Fellowship at Keene State University, New Hampshire.
