WELCOME TO STORY + SOUND
Thank you for dropping by! Lex Dv is one of the experimental music projects of alison hight (and where Story+Sound is currently showcased online).
Story + Sound is an experimental sound project that aims to bring together the voices, stories, sounds, and artwork of individuals in the Washington DC region to explore our collective 2020 experiences.
Any one person’s story can change the way you think, the way you experience your own stories and worlds – so what then, of the stories that touch many people? Stories whose truth lies within the multitude of perspectives and points of view? This project brings together stories and sounds that lend voice to shared experiences in the Washington, DC region in 2020, in order to elevate and bring together these perspectives into a cohesive whole that reflects our community's experiences and hopes for the future.
Each episode is composed using field recordings (the multitude of sonic layers that our lives are immersed in – the soundtrack to our everyday stories which we so often overlook) and by gathering stories from interviews, speeches, recordings of public ceremonies, and public platforms.
RECENT SHOWS
The free improvised soundscapes and "sonic essays" created as part of the Story + Sound project are aired on local community radio at WERA 96.7, every Wednesday at 5:30pm. You can tune in with your radio, or check it out on TuneIn.
Although the soundscapes are improvised, each is focused on a specific collective story or theme, and explores different aspects of these stories within movements. The sounds you hear are altered and collaged recordings - including field recordings, local news stories, recordings of panels and speeches, interviews with community members, and the stories and poetry contributed by individuals like you! - sometimes accompanied by instrumentation. If you're a resident of the DC region and would like to contribute your perspective, words, and voice to the project, please share your contribution through the submission form below.
SUBMIT TO STORY + SOUND
Please share your voice and perspective! As part of the DC community, your story is an important part of our shared experience. Story + Sound is meant to reflect our community's shared truths, and is made possible thanks to the poetry and stories shared by community members like you about your experiences living in the DC region in 2020. Anything that expresses a distinct 2020 experience you've had is fair game – everything from the pandemic to protests, from navigating the now virtual world to getting creative to survive or find love, and from struggle and fear to hope and connection. (Now that it's 2021, the show is continuing - with a new aim but same general concept, more details of which will be shared soon.)
Your submitted poems and stories will be altered and pieced together with other local audio recordings to form the final creative product (an experimental improvised soundscape - see above examples). Your poem or story will be available in its original form alongside the final project with full credit given to you. Each improvised experimental soundscape is focused around a specific theme from our collective 2020 experience and will be aired on local community radio at WERA 96.7, Wednesdays at 5:30pm.
Some upcoming sessions include:
"Women Voters & Democracy"
"Back to School"
"Love & Distance"
At the end of the project run, there will be a printed booklet available that includes the original poems/stories alongside illustrations/artwork from DC area artists.
If you choose to submit, poems or stories can be as short as just one word or as long as 500 words. You can call me to leave your story or poem in this project's voicemailbox (202-505-2214) and/or submit written text below. To give you full attribution and make sure this project is representative of the entire region, please complete the form below regardless of your chosen submission method. If you are uncertain how to share an audio recording, please let me know in the "anything else you'd like to add" section and I'll connect with you! If you're not comfortable with sharing your own recording, a reader will give voice to your words.
Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis through the end of 2020. Submission is not a guarantee of inclusion in the final project. I encourage submission from and hope to include a wide variety of voices and perspectives from across the region.
Story + Sound is a project that coalesced around the desire to amplify otherwise unheard stories and sounds. The works of this project (and of Lex Dv) are created by the interdisciplinary artist/musician alison hight. Learn more about alison here.