Thomas Ragsdale Interview: “I love the idea of albums having an anti-concept”

Honley, U.K. experimentalist, Thomas Ragsdale, is an orchestrator of the immersive experience.

Empowering, multi-layered sound containing hidden depths, under the Sulk Rooms and Two Way Mirrors aliases, over the years Ragsdale has been the exponent of pristine sound collages that move and glide with grace.

It’s composition with a ripple effect, reaching all the way to uninhabited points, and under his latest Two Way Mirror release, Endure, the Yorkshire artist carves out yet another memorable set of recordings.

Speaking in the press release, Ragsdale makes a distinction between Sulk Rooms and Two Way Mirrors. “With Sulk Rooms I usually have a specific idea of where I want to be heading,” he says. “With Two Way Mirrors, I’m deliberately allowing the creative process to control me. I’m attempting to reclaim some innocence that’s been lost from my years of making music and learning too many techniques. I’m almost trying to unlearn everything.”

Ragsdale makes an interesting point here. From a listener’s point of view Sulk Rooms feels more tailored for cinema, whereas Two Way Mirrors is a story within a story rather than a soundtrack to one. Endure undoubtedly possesses an unmoored quality, covering so much ground that it’s simply borderless.

The excellent opening gambit, They Found Your Rotting Head (In A Peat Bog), is series of whining strings and storm cloud drones likened to a deep echo from ancient ruins. On Legacy and Subtract, again Ragsdale showcases the kind of iron-grey, scanner drone that Tim Hecker mastered on An Imaginary Country. Pulsating passages of sound that oscillate between different worlds.

On Pouring Thoughts, Ragsdale feeds classical-based samples through modern portals, while the Stag with Antlers Chained Together is a modular sound bath that – as its title suggests – mirrors Ragsdale’s environmental influences. This continues on A Very Delicate Ecosystem – spatial dreamscapes with faint echoes of a rave from another orbit. So too The Mezzotint, although there’s less rave and more of a parish within a space substation vibe, as guitars are manipulated with a synth effect likened to a chorus of angels.

Meanwhile, the cavernous Unluck Song of Love illuminates the reality tunnel that we are currently faced with. Precarious, hopeless times. But in these times there’s also cause for hope, which is where closing piece, Last Night Of The Proms lands. A defiant, sun-over-the-horizon moment that instils hope, it’s Ragsdale telling his story through sound, and on Endure, he doesn’t sugar coat it. It’s untethered without an endpoint, accurately reflecting life itself.

Following the release of Endure and ahead of his U.K. tour alongside A-Sun Amissa and Aidan Baker, Ragsdale took some time to answer our questions about his inspirations, technology, and his creative process.

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Sun 13: In your formative years, was experimental composition and creation something that fascinated you?

Thomas Ragsdale: “In [all] honesty, no! I was ultra down-the-line and rigid with how I wrote music and I never experimented. I had everything planned and everything had a precision about it.”

S13: Do you have a general idea which piece of music will fit under each project, or is it more free-spirited than that?

TR: “I’m definitely getting more free-spirited these days, but I’m still rigid when it comes to my projects. I’ll sit at each studio session and have a focused plan on what I want to be doing, whether that’s a concept album as Sulk Rooms or a collection of strange noises as Two Way Mirrors – I have it all in my head before I even turn the kettle on.”

S13: Can you tell us about the writing and recording process of Endure?

TR: “I like to take time testing out new studio kit or if I downloaded a plugin I’ll want to sit with it for a while, but I struggle to do this without actually making some music. I think it’s to do with context and approach – I’d rather just hit record and at least try and make something coherent than spending an hour or so noodling. A while back I started saving these ‘test sessions’ and before I knew it, I had a bunch of 60-70 per cent finished noises. For Endure I was interested in seeing how far I could take samples of classical music through a new distortion plugin and my reel-to-reel tape machine.”

S13: What was the most important aspect you wanted to achieve on the record?

TR: “I’ve had some comments on this (in a positive way!), but I love the idea of albums having an anti-concept and just existing as a collection of strange and unrelated bits of audio, and for Endure that’s exactly what I’m going for. A sort of no-flow state where tracks don’t speak to each other and they don’t relate all that much. I wanted listeners to disengage from the idea that this is an album.”

S13: There’s a really feeling of locality with Endure. It’s very wintry, foggy and reminds me of certain parts of Yorkshire. Was this something you were thinking about when recording it?

TR: “[It] definitely was! It’s certainly a winter album and I remember autumn/ winter 2024 came on pretty early. The part of Yorkshire where I live is the part that’s not necessarily pretty in characteristics, it’s more engulfing and a little swampy.”

S13: With all your recordings, the environment feels like it plays a big role. Is this one of your key inspirations?

TR: “It is. I’m an environment-based musician, both in my immediate climate and from a bigger viewpoint. I have allotments, I have hens at home, and I love hiking to bogs. I’m seeing environmental disasters everywhere and it’s a huge part of my motivation and mood guidance. There’s a track on Endure titled They Found Your Rotting Head (In A Peat Bog), which is dedicated to a particular person who advocates for the destruction of peat bogs (for their company to profit on). I thought about how it might be interesting if someone found their decapitated head up on Marsden moor.”

S13: Regarding technology, as an electronic artist, are you always looking for new gadget to enhance what it is you do?

TR: “I’m actually always looking for an old gadget (or two)! I do like getting new pieces of kit, but I don’t have some crazy fetish over expanding what I already have. I’d rather buy another compost bin.”

S13: With your process, do you need to map out ideas before recording an album, or is it more about following your nose?

TR: “I’m a bit of both – sometimes I have an idea or inspiration as a note or screenshot in my phone, but then again I’ve had great results from noodling with my guitar and a few pedals. I found it best to learn when you’re onto something worth keeping and then never stopping until you’re done.”

S13: Do you work on music every day?

TR: “Every single day. Even if it’s just listening to some machine noise or working quickly in the kitchen with headphones. I like to keep the momentum flowing.”

S13: With music seemingly being reduced to the size of an MP3, how frustrating is it for artists that streaming has overshadowed the joy of physical product?

TR: “This is a tough one and definitely a decisive one! It’s something I’m still trying to work out on a personal level. I don’t stream music all that much and I still buy DVDs and Blu-rays for movies. It’s changed the way I make music forever.”

S13:Do you consider your music to be political?

TR: “I never really thought so at first, but in hindsight, it definitely is. I’m a political person and I hope this translates somewhere into my output, even if it’s not instantly apparent on listening. I don’t have a literal voice in my music, so it’s hard to say exactly what I want to quickly, but there are strong messages in there.”

S13: How much do you think the art you create represents your personality?

TR: “I’ve thought about this before! I’d say a lot. What you’re hearing is coming from me as a person and it’s all genuine. I do read online about ‘discourse’ around music and what you should or shouldn’t be doing and I subscribe to any of it – it wouldn’t be me. Some people say I release too much music, but if I stopped I’d be changing who I am. Plus, I love doing it!”

Endure is out now via Frosti. Purchase from Bandcamp.