A Sheffield based electronic musician, Leafcutter John, is due to premier his set ‘Sounds of Now: Gritstone Turntables’, as a love letter to the Peak District

John is an experimental musician and instrumentalist known for his unique ways of music production. His new set ‘Sounds of Now: Gritstone Turntables’ dives into music made with gritstones and rocks on a home-made turntable. 

The event is due to take place at The Crucible Playhouse on Saturday, 30 November organised by Music in The Round. Event organiser Benjamin Tassie, has worked with John to put this performance together. He believes that the layout of the theatre “keeps you so close to the process of making music, it’s exhilarating.” 

Benjamin took the opportunity to organise the event with John when he found out about its strong connection with Sheffield, since the city is also home to industrial music.

He said: “John’s new work is really of Sheffield and the Peaks. I think all ‘Sheffielders’ have a strong connection to the Peak District; it’s an extraordinary landscape to have on our doorstep.”

Although he was born in Yorkshire, Leafcutter John has spent 25 years of his life in London, where you “never see the horizon” before moving to Sheffield.

He said: “When I first drove to the Peak District, it felt amazing, like my whole body was vibrating.”

Along with being a musician, and programmer, John is also a climber. This is where the idea first struck. He said that as you move your feet to climb on the gritstone, it makes the sound of a record. He then went on to sync his passion for music with that for climbing, and made a quadruple turntable. 

The idea behind making the turntable is to have some gritstones from the peaks spinning on the table and listen to the texture. He has also used on-scene footage, and developed different software to make the experience more immersive and one with nature. So, as the colours of the visuals change, so do the sounds of the synthesizer.  

‘Sounds of Now’ uses the raw grits and harsh texture of the rock, mixed with electronic music, to create a refined version of instrumental experimentation.

The show on Saturday is aimed to show how small of a part humans play in nature, one which leaves the audience with “a grand yet human experience.”