Peter Cusack

Biography

Peter Cusack is a field recordist, musician and researcher with a special interest in the acoustic environment. He is a member of CRiSAP (Creative Research into Sound Art Practice) at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

In 1998 he initiated the long-running 'Favourite Sounds Project', to discover how people interact with everyday sound in the places where they live, carried out initially in London and subsequently in Beijing, Birmingham, Manchester, Prague and Berlin. His project ‘Sounds From Dangerous Places’ (described as sonic journalism) investigates the soundscapes of sites of major environmental damage such as the Caspian oil fields and the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

He produced 'Vermilion Sounds' - the environmental sound program - for ResonanceFM Radio, London and, during 2011/12, was DAAD artist-in-residence in Berlin, where he instigated ‘Berlin Sonic Places’ a wide-ranging collaborative project that examines the relationship between urban soundscapes and city development.

CDs include Your Favourite London Sounds (Resonance); Baikal Ice (ReR PC2); Favourite Beijing Sounds (KwanYin 022); Sound from Dangerous Places (ReR PC3&4); Favourite Berlin Sounds (ReR PC5).

Cusack's research continues to explore specific environmental issues, such as water usage or city development, by focussing on the sounds and soundscapes of the places in question. Current projects include investigating the changes in soundscape created by the restoration of the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and participating in a collaborative sound arts initiative concerned with the impact of major industrial pollution in the Italian city of Taranto.