MUSIC+SOUND AWARDS TALK TO...
2017 JURY MEMBER +
Film + TV Sound Designer,
STEVE BOND
March 2017
Steve Bond is a sound designer and re-recording mixer for film and TV. He’s been part of several award-winning and nominated productions including 'Boogaloo and Graham', which received a BAFTA win and Oscar nomination in 2015, 'Slow Derek', which won the Grand Prix at the Encounters Film Festival in 2011, and 'Q&A' (AKA Slumdog Millionaire), which won a Gold Sony Award in 2008.
Can you tell us a bit about how your journey into sound design began?
For a few years, my main job was as a writer and drummer in a band. Working in various studios with some really top engineers and producers gave me the bug for music production, and for exploring the whole world of creating and shaping sound. When I realised that the same tools and software were also used in film post-production, I started experimenting with my own short films, and then starting to track-lay and mix my first films for proper directors!
Is there one of your projects that’s stood out as being your proudest?
I was asked to be sound designer and mixer on 'Boogaloo and Graham', a Northern Irish film that went on to win a BAFTA and receive an Oscar nomination. The director, editor and composer and I had all worked as a team before, so the feeling of this small film doing so well was pretty special.
And your most challenging project?
'A Long Way From Home' was a great project to be part of, but as a fairly low-budget feature, I ended up doing the entire sound post-production myself. It's actually a great experience to have to work on every facet of a film's sound, but in the future I think I'd chose a two or three person team as the optimum!
You won Best Sound Design in a Feature Film, for 'Nina Forever' along with Best Sound Design in a Television Programme' for 'Messy Goes to Okido' at the 2016 Music and Sound Awards. Can you tell us a bit about your experience on ‘Nina Forever’?
Working on the Blaine Brothers' 'Nina Forever' was an amazing journey - you always hope for a highly collaborative process in post-production, but this was the first project where this ideal really came together for me. Composer, Dan Teper, and I really explored the boundaries between the sound design and music roles, and we worked the pre-mix of the music stems in 5.1 well ahead of the pressures of the final mix. All aspects of the post evolved in parallel over several months, and I think the film's weird fluidity and coherence is partly down to that.
How do you go about making a new sound?
I use a lot of digital tools to twist and process sound, but I love working with natural sounds as a starting point and I try to record a lot wherever I travel to. Even just simply slowing down quite 'ordinary' recordings can reveal all kinds of hidden organic magic in them.
What software / hardware do you use the most? What’s your favourite piece of gear?
I'm very much a Pro Tools/in-the-box guy, and when I'm not mixing at home in 5.1, I love to take my portable studio setup with me in London to work on the more creative side of sound design job out and about.
What lies in the future for you?
The best part of working independently for me is the control over the kinds of projects I take on. I like to try to keep a balance between my work in radio and film. For the last few months I've been working on all sorts of drama for BBC radio 3 and 4, so I'm now ready to get back to the film world and I'm on the hunt for my next feature project!
Visit Steve's site to hear his work: www.steve-bond.com
