What do you get when you cross a cinema with a gymnasium and a Second World War air base? A cinasium, of course.
The beautiful Fife village of Crail boasts its very own abandoned cinasium, which will be the venue for a sound installation during the East Neuk Festival.
For one day, July 1, members of the public will be invited to step back in time, entering into a soundscape created by Andy and Mike Truscott of Kinbrae.
Crail Airfield is probably now best known as the home of Crail Raceway, with the area regularly coming alive with the sound of revving car engines and enthusiasts at shows, drag and open track racing.
On non-race days, such as the summery Tuesday morning I meet Andy to chat about A Door To The Past, the location is a typical quiet corner of East Neuk countryside, filled with nothing noisier than birdsong and lowing cows to disturb the peace.
Musician Andy formed Kinbrae – the name is a nod to the area of Newport-on-Tay where he grew up – with twin brother Mike and the pair released their first album in 2016.
Andy describes Kinbrae’s music as “ambient electronic and a bit of modern classical – as we use brass as well”.
Music always a passion for Kinbrae artists
Mike studied music at school and then at Glasgow University, while Andy took a different path.
“I didn’t study music until I left school,” he says, “but I always loved it. I played drums loads. I always just had a passion for music.”
He studied at Paisley and Perth College before playing with different bands and as a session drummer on the Glasgow music scene.
“We decided about 10 years ago now to do our own thing, as two brothers.
“We have released a couple of albums. A lot of the stuff we do is inspired by a specific landscape.”
Landforms is brothers’ latest album
During a residency on the Isle of Coll, Andy produced a sound-map of the island called Tidal Patterns, and their most recent album is Landforms, which was inspired by the
River Tay – since the duo grew up right on its banks.
Andy explains: “We also do a lot of collaborative work with visual artists, such as Scottish artist and writer Claire Archibald.”
She worked with Andy and Mike on an album inspired by the abandoned Fife Earth Project.
A Door To The Past will incorporate field recordings, storytelling and newly written music.
“This is the first time we have done a sound installation piece,” he says, “so it is new for everyone.”
Svend McEwan-Brown is director of the East Neuk Festival (ENF).
Like Andy, he is excited to have been given access to the cinasium and to be working with Kinbrae.
“I first heard Kinbrae at SAGE Gateshead and really enjoyed them,” he enthuses.
Tinge of sadness to Crail Airfield cinasium
“I was thinking about this project and knew that I wanted to fill that amazing space with a sound that would be epic and immersive, but also somehow sad – because the building (the whole air base, actually) is huge and has this greatness about it, but of course it is now mostly ruinous and broken.
“I cannot go there without imagining it buzzing with personnel, busy with a thousand tasks, keeping a watchful eye on the air.
“You can look through the broken windows of some of the buildings and still see coathooks or other fitments that bring it home to you that it was only 60 years ago that this place was decommissioned.”
Svend says: “The cinasium is somehow the most poignant of all because it was a place of leisure and pleasure – films, music, dancing, gymnastics – all gone now.”
With that in mind, he felt that he needed to commission a “thoughtful musician, someone who was sensitive to the place and history, someone who would pick up on the atmosphere and sense of loss”.
They remember dog-fights in the skies over Crail. You can’t really comprehend living through that now.”
He adds: “Looking back at Kinbrae’s past work, it is all about places and history, so when I heard them in Gateshead I thought I’d found just the right people for this idea – then it turned out that Andy is based in Fife.
“Perfect, because ENF is always looking to support Fife-based talent!”
For Andy, a key insight into life at Crail Airfield during the war years came from chats he had with local women Sheila Partington and Ella Forgan, who remember living close to HMS Jackdaw and attending dances in the cinasium.
Sheila recalls the very beginning of the Second World War, saying: “The day the war started – it was a Sunday.
“My parents and my small sister were at church but I was at home with a cold. A police car had to go around with a megaphone telling people that war had started.”
One of Ella’s most profound memories is that “you heard the planes, the aircraft”.
“My brother said: ‘That’s the Germans, listen’. And you could hear the noise of the engines were different from our planes.
“Every night, nearly, we were up because the siren would go,” she adds.
“The ladies talked a lot about the blackouts and things like that,” said Andy. “And they remember dog-fights in the skies over Crail. You can’t really comprehend living through that now.”
Andy and Mike have relished the opportunity that the project has given them to experiment with their music and push the boundaries a little.
“Once we’d spoken with Svend and decided on the location for the installation, we thought this was a great opportunity to try out some interesting techniques.
Field recordings used for East Neuk Festival sound installation
“We wanted to avoid the use of any samples and instead chose to recreate the sounds of the airfield using instruments including synthesizers, treated vocals and brass as well as field recordings from the site itself.
“This allowed us to create sounds mimicking engine drones, construction noise and air raid sirens among others.”
“After the Second World War they used to train people to speak Russian here, so I’ve incorporated some radio static and other sounds inspired by the Cold War era.”
So what can people expect when they visit Crail Airfield cinasium and walk through A Door To The Past?
“Visitors will step in from the calm countryside outside the building to become immersed in a musical experience.
“It’s all about taking the audience on a journey – that’s what I’m trying to do,” says the musician.
“I want to tell a story through sound – we are trying to fill this place with noise of what it would have been like when the barracks were in use and there were aeroplanes on the airfield, so it will be loud!”
- Entry to the July 1 sound installation at Crail Airfield is free. See eastneukfestival.com to find out more, and for directions and parking information.
- For more information on Kinbrae visit kinbrae.co.uk
