From the start, The Impulse Powers was about digging through my memories, but as I went further and further back, it was sad to realise how vague and faint and ethereal many of them were.
Distant memories had often dissolved down into only their emotional impact. Whether “good” or “bad”, that felt like a loss. On top of that, the cloud of things that hurt seemed like they couldn’t really be seen any more.
So I’ve spent a lot of Impulse Powers’s time digging down to the ground level of these memories. Cities and streets and houses and rooms. I try to be as prosaic as possible, at least to begin with, and look for the smallest things I can.
I have a 25-minute long song all set within one house.
I have a collection of writing where every poem begins on the same grey playing-field.
Staying simple and close has meant I’ve been able to recover so much about why I remember what I do. Once the project is done, those places always end up having different dimensions than I had expected at the outset.
Some things I’ve made, digging for stones…

Long Night of Love’s Life
Wandering around an unfamiliar house, from midnight to dawn one night, debating if I am in love.

An Impressive Romance
Going back to Boston, now thousands of miles away, to remember what it gave me.

The Reccy
Giving the barren playing-fields near my childhood home the formative importance they deserve.

Bonfire night
Retelling the stories of so many formative moments that happened on a playing field near my house.




