Rhian Sheehan's not standing around

Rhian Sheehan is well known for the soundtracks he has created for film, television and even a presentation shown in planetariums around the world. 

But now the shoe is on the other foot with the musician focused on a film that was built around his own 2009 album, Standing in Silence.

The show, first performed in Wellington last year, is travelling to Auckland for only its third outing on May 28.

Known for his audio opulence, performing Standing In Silence is Sheehan's way of combining sounds and visual elements.

Fifteen contemporary, classical and electronic musicians create a musical backdrop to a series of moving images shot all over the world especially for the show.

He says there was almost no other way to present the album the way it was intended.

"The album is quite ambient and filmic sounding, so it really needed something to help convey the music to the audience."

And it was a photo Sheehan himself took by chance in India that sparked the idea for the whole production.

"It's a chap standing on a hill contemplating something.  And that was the catalyst that sparked off the music when I got back to New Zealand, it set everything off.  I don't know why, but the title of the album and the music, everything stemmed from it."

The musician has been working alongside film maker Gareth Moon to develop the perfect visual realisation of his ambient album.

"I definitely play a hand in the visuals.  A lot of the footage was shot in places that I've already been and a lot of the album has environmental recordings, so we had a rough idea of what we wanted to do.

"We've shot footage, film elements for the show all throughout Asia, Japan, China and India and he's in Europe at the moment, filming some more content."

While Sheehan had an idea of what he wanted out of the project, he says initially it was a tricky thing to get his head around.

"To take the sound and the sonic and turn it into a live show was very difficult to start with, but now that we've worked it out, I'm really excited about it.  It used to be daunting, but now it's not so."

And with things like wine glasses helping to create the sonic soundscape, Sheehan says there will be things to surprise even the most seasoned of concert goers.

But most of all, he hopes audiences will be touched by the entire show.

"We even have little music boxes that we play live, all mic'd up and I can't imagine many people would have seen that. But really, I guess it's just a show to sit back and relax and contemplate your own existence really.

"And hopefully we can move people."

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