Stephen is a composer, music and sound editor for feature films, commercials, documentaries, short films, theatre, dance and television, working in New Zealand. He already has quite a list of projects on his name. Visit his website to learn more about them: www.stephengallagher.co.nz

1. What sound from your childhood made the most impression on you? 

I used to have an old hand held game that I got in Tokyo when I was 4 years old . It was a baseball game and when you pulled this little blue lever it made a sound like a small race car speeding past you. I loved it! I don’t know quite why but that sound always has stayed with me.

 

Just thinking of it now conjures up vivid images of my childhood in Tokyo. It was an amazing place for a little kid from New Zealand to spend a few years. The city was, and still is,  full of fascinating sounds. I guess I could go further and say that living there has had a profound effect on the way I feel about sound in general.

It really depends on where I am, what I am doing and what is happening around me. I remember that my composition lecturer, Jack Body, began his courses with a small exercise about listening to the world around you; He divided the class up into pairs. One in each pair was blindfolded and was then guided around the campus by his/her partner for a half hour. Then you swapped around. It was amazing.