Sono-Electro 2024

A sound-based festival in St Leonards on Sea

Main Image: Kung-Fu Pinball by Jem Finer

Hastings has quietly become a sanctuary for experimental sound art, where creativity reverberates through the streets and the juxtaposition of urban sounds with the rhythmic backdrop of the sea creates an ever-shifting canvas for sonic exploration. From hidden underground performances to captivating sound installations, Hastings and St Leonards have nurtured a scene where sound isn’t merely heard — it’s felt. It stretches beyond music into a deeper exploration of place, identity and connection.

At the heart of this movement is Sono-Electro, a festival supported by Arts Council England, dedicated to sonic art, taking place from the 20-29th September. This groundbreaking festival is well underway. Now in its second year, the ten-day exploration of sonic art held in West St Leonards’ Electro Studios is a space where sound becomes a vessel for storytelling, protest, meditation and play. This year’s theme of belonging is not just a buzzword—it’s an invitation to explore how sound can reimagine place. A series of sonic adventures encourage audiences to dive into the transformative world of sound art, with a programme packed full of residencies, performances, workshops and installations. It invites artists and audiences to explore their connection to place through intimate, hyper-local interventions that resonate with larger ecological themes. 

1933-1986 LIDO, Fountain 2018 Marcia Farquhar, photograph by Jem Finer

This isn’t entirely new for Hastings. The town has a history steeped in experimentation, a legacy carried by pioneers like Michael Faraday’s groundbreaking work with electricity and John Logie Baird’s television experiments in the town, whose work blurred the lines between science and magic, technology and art. Their spirit lingers in the air here, woven into the town’s unique soundscapes, and it feels only natural that a festival like Sono-Electro would find its home in this coastal corner of the world. The seascapes and spaces are the perfect stage for inviting us to pause to feel and think about sound, space and belonging.

Experimental stylophone workshop

Adding to this sense of belonging, the involvement of the Hastings Refugee Buddy Project feels particularly poignant. Their now-infamous blue sweatshirts with the slogan “Hastings is Everyone” perfectly encapsulates the spirit of inclusion that this festival fosters. The idea that belonging isn’t about where you’re from but about how we choose to make space for each other resonates deeply within the context of Sono-Electro. Just as sound art invites listeners to engage with and reflect on their environment, the Refugee Buddy Project reminds us that communities are strongest when they are open, welcoming and diverse.

James Wilkie, the festival’s artistic director, doesn’t see Sono-Electro as a mere event, but as a gathering of spirits. “This isn’t a Fringe Festival,” he says, “it’s about belonging, being grounded, and nurturing relationships through sound art in a world that’s constantly changing.” And it feels exactly like that. It’s a festival that asks its audience and its artists to belong to each other, to the town, and to the moment. Established names like Jem Finer and Marcia Farquhar share the stage with emerging talent, all of them weaving stories in sound, asking what it means to belong to a place, and how sound can create new ways of seeing.

This spirit of collaboration is woven into the festival’s DNA. Wilkie’s own journey to founding Sono-Electro is marked by serendipity and connection. After moving to St Leonards, he found himself surrounded by kindred spirits, including Colin Booth of Electro Studios and sound artist Jilliene Sellner, whose support helped bring the festival to life. What began as a simple conversation — “What kind of show would you put on if you had the space?” — grew into something much larger. Instead of focusing solely on sound, James envisioned composing with people and spaces, leading to the concept of Sono-Electro. The festival, has grown into a collaborative effort, with co-curator Lucia Scazzocchio and James Weaver of the Sonics Hastings helping to shape its direction.

The festival includes deep listening workshops, experiments with Stylophones and sonic explorations beneath the tower blocks of Brighton.

At the festival, you might have found yourself hypnotised by ‘After the Before, Here’ (2024), an intimate rendering by Zeroh Studio which invites you to sit down and be enveloped by a world where sound and vision intertwine, an evolution of their earlier work, ‘Before, the Here and After’, seen at Bexhill After Dark.

Jem Finer’s Kung-Fu Pinball — a whimsical machine reimagined with Dominic Robson’s touch. Each hit of the flippers, triggers and bumpers releases a symphony of sounds, allowing you to compose your own fleeting soundscape.

Some of the sounds are drawn from That’s the Way to Do It, a short film by Andrew Kötting and Marcia, inspired by her life-size Punch & Judy performance, The Cabinet of Horribly Violent Glove Puppets, filmed on Rockanore Beach. Marcia, taking inspiration from the ghostly remains of St Leonards’ outdoor pool, is crafting a lido-inspired piece that weaves memories of swimming, sun, and watery enchantment into a striking performance.

Ben Chernett’s interactive sound sculpture, where you can press, play, and listen to the sonic worlds he’s built. Daisy Stewart Darling’s enchanting lino-cutting-meets-field-recording pieces, and the powerful experience of Mary Hooper’s TENT.

This coming week also promises an unforgettable fusion of sound, performance, and visual art.

What started as a four-day, crowd-funded festival has now grown into a two-week-long sonic celebration, supported locally by Hastings Commons and the Refugee Buddy Project, and nationally by the Arts Council. The festival has become a beacon, drawing artists from across the country while still feeling rooted deeply in the local soil. It’s fitting that the independent sonic storytelling portal XMTR.FM joined forces with Sono-Electro this year, curating a day of audio arts and hosting satellite events throughout the town, further connecting Hastings to a wider world of experimental sound.

Hastings has always had a rich history with sound, from John Logie Baird’s early experiments with television to the hum of the sea that seems to permeate everything here. Broadcasting is a key part of Sono-Electro too, with XMTR curating a full day of programming and Resonance FM picking up the echoes of the festival to share with a wider audience. It’s fitting, given the town’s legacy, that the sounds created during the festival will travel far beyond the walls of Electro Studios, connecting Hastings to the world in new and unexpected ways.

Wilkie’s vision for Sono-Electro is clear: sound should be a shadow, casting its own kind of light, leaving space for imagination to fill in the gaps. It’s about more than what is said—it’s about how we listen, how we let sound shape our thoughts and feelings. That’s where the magic happens. As the festival continues to grow, it’s not just a celebration of sound, but of connection, of community, of the spaces between us.

XMTR director and founder of Social Broadcasts, Lucia Scazzocchio says

‘There is a plethora of podcast-focused and business-orientated festivals but in the UK we are missing a space that brings the audio arts community together to celebrate the wonderfully creative medium that is sound’.

In some ways, Sono-Electro feels like it’s always belonged here. It’s a festival not just for listening, but for feeling—for being swept up in the waves of sound, belonging to the moment, and letting it carry you somewhere new.

Marcia Farquhar

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

A two-week Artist in Residency programme will see four acts develop new directions in their practice through the festival’s themes. The acts are: Longplayer creator Jem Finer, Marcia Farquhar, Metaverse artist duo Anam Cara, and local illustrator Benjamin Phillips.

INCUBATION DAYS – XMTR and SONICS HASTINGS

Two local festivals will guest-curate the line-ups on Saturday 21st and 28th of September, with their interpretation of Sono-Electro’s themes allowing them to re-interpret and explore their own narrative. These incubation days are about Sonics Hastings reimagining its narrative, and XMTR taking root on the coast.

Sonics Hastings

Produced by Hastings Fat Tuesday CIC, Sonics was conceived by artist Danny Pockets in 2015 to bring together underground and experimental art and music. Now well established in the town, Sonics Hastings will be exploring its sound art and experimental roots with a line-up that includes drum-and-cassette wrecking orchestra Sly and the Family Drone.

XMTR

Independent sonic storytelling portal XMTR.FM will join Sono-Electro to launch a new audio arts festival in St Leonards focusing on sonic storytelling. They will bring together creative radio-making and podcasting communities, with radio art performances, listening events, workshops and masterclasses in locations around the town over the weekend of 27th-29th September and as part of the Sono Electro Festival on Saturday 28th.