Exploring the interplay between sound, memory, and place

I've known James for a few years now and I'm hugely grateful for his amazing contributions to our collaborations together. So I'm really delighted to have been able to release an album of his music 'Every Little Thing' and even more excited when he asked to use the artwork of my wife, Zoë. Here's a little bit about James and his work as label owner of Elm Records and then James answers a few of my questions about a remix he did for one of my tracks on my recent album, Signals and Codes.

James Osland is a multidisciplinary audio-visual artist based on the South Devon coast and has released work with many labels. His work invites the listener into intimate sonic environments—rich in micro-textures and gently coloured by a sense of nostalgia delicately examining the interplay between sound, memory, and place. With a particular sensitivity to detail, his compositions often weave together field recordings and subtle melodic elements, crafting immersive soundscapes that resonate with a quiet emotional depth.

Over the past decade, he has steadily built a compelling body of work, releasing music through respected labels such as Fluid Audio, Dewtone Recordings, Flaming Pines, and Whitelabrecs.

Osland’s practice delicately examines the interplay between sound, memory, and place. With a particular sensitivity to detail, his compositions often weave together field recordings and subtle melodic elements, crafting immersive soundscapes that resonate with a quiet emotional depth. His work invites the listener into intimate sonic environments—rich in micro-textures and gently coloured by a sense of nostalgia.

James has not only released his own captivating works but has also collaborated on evocative albums with esteemed artists such as Andrew Heath, Darren McClure, and Thomas Hoey, as part of the duo Tomosla. His sonic creations range from immersive soundscapes and melodic ambient compositions to the subtle evolution of drone music, each piece infused with a unique resonance that echoes throughout his entire body of work.

In addition to his musical endeavours, James is the founder and curator of Elm Records, a small yet influential independent label. For over a decade, he has meticulously cultivated a catalog of organic ambient music, featuring artists like The Green Kingdom, Grotta Veterano, Francisco Sonur, Glacis, and The Humble Bee. Through the label, James not only nurtures the sounds of emerging talents but also expresses his passion for photography, subtly shaping the label’s visual identity with his striking landscape images—each photograph a reflection of the mood and essence of the releases they accompany.

At the heart of James' music lies a deep foundation in improvisation. Utilising both analog and digital hardware, he crafts intricate textures and melodic layers, often incorporating live looping, acoustic instrumentation, and field recordings. This dynamic process allows him to weave a rich tapestry of sound. Having performed worldwide, both as a solo artist and in ambient ensembles, his live performances serve as a natural extension of his studio work, blending the spontaneous with the carefully crafted in a seamless, immersive experience.

Before the release of Signals and Codes, I asked many artists whose work I admire including James to do a remix of each track from the album. I was delighted when James said yes. You can have a listen to it on the Driftworks Bandcamp site. as mentioned earlier, we have collaborated a few times now and it's always been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. I asked James to elaborate on his re-working of the piece, 'Documenting Observations'....

We’ve had great fun collaborating of a couple of albums in the past, If there were differences, how was your approach to working with another artist different on this remix?

I try and approach every piece of music I work on in a different way. I do this to try and prevent myself from using the same techniques or technologies that might end in me falling into the same old patterns of creation. The music we have worked on before was very much a back-and-forth process, sending each other loops and sections of music to add to and building . For this remix it was clear that all the building blocks for the piece were already in place. I decided to use only the source material present and found ways looping, manipulating and adjusting the existing piece to breathe new life into it. My intention was to introduce small looped sections of the piano motif that slowly unfurls to reveal more of the original melody. 

Your remix beautifully compliments the original I feel and almost presents itself as a ‘part 2’. Were there any particular musical elements within this piece that resonated with you or that you were particularly drawn to?

As with most of your music I was drawn deeply into your wonderfully deft approach to minimalist melody. The piano motifs in this piece really stood out for me, there was so much beauty between the notes I wanted to find a way of exploring smaller sections of these melodies, taking them in different directions until they eventually fell back to the original space.   

Thinking about your own artistic output, what do you seek to communicate with your music?

I see my music as a sonic journal, documenting the places I've been, people I've met and the emotional connections I've forged during specific times in my life. Every piece I work on is generally routed in a perticular time or place, whether this be recent or historical. Music creation for me is cathartic exercise helping me to process and navigate through the emotions of life.