The Russian Linesman kicks off 2020 with the 2nd instalment of his remarkable new six part series of EPs focused on the art of storytelling
“I stumbled across Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’. How? Nothing terribly academic… it was after watching documentary about the mythology of Star Wars! I had found my blueprint. Each song in this six part series has been composed with the relevant stage of the Hero’s Journey (the Monomyth) in mind and accompanied by one of these fascinating collected stories. I always like to have a theme for my recordings and I also love a good yarn, so this is the perfect marriage.” – Russian Linesman
The Russian Linesman kicks off 2020 with the 2nd instalment of his remarkable new six part series of EPs, focused on the art of storytelling. As one of the electronic scene’s true mavericks, this “modern day composer” continues to explore psychological theory in the creation of his enthralling musical collages.
Joseph Campbell’s ‘A Hero with a Thousand Faces’ is an analysis of centuries of human storytelling, based around the anthropological theories of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and this fascinating book provided the blueprint for this new Russian Linesman project – an artistic abstraction of the concept of the Monomyth – a formula we are all familiar with in modern day films and books.
In narratology and comparative mythology, the Monomyth, or the Hero’s Journey, is the common template of a broad category of storytelling that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, then comes home changed or transformed.
Each song within the Russian Linesman’s ‘Monomyth’ EP series (the project will be unveiled in its entirety throughout 2020 at bi-monthly intervals) is named after the relevant part of the Hero’s Journey and has been accompanied by unique, complex compositions that combine a multitude of diverse collected instrumentation and field recordings to fit the mood of the storytelling.
Most storytellers in this series remain anonymous, retaining an abstract element to the process and allowing the listener’s curiosity to be uniquely aroused and drawn into each different story as it unfolds. However, as the Russian Linesman explains, there are always exceptions:
“This EP features poetry from two of my favourite poets. Malaika Kegode provided the perfect story to accompany the idea of ‘Enemies’ and incorporated some lines I had also written. She carried us both over a creative brick wall. Ben told a heart-shredding story that truly expresses ‘Entering The Belly Of The Whale’. All of this while recording his parts for BBC R4 ‘The Archers’. Last time I worked with a poet was in year 11 at school when my English teacher got beat poet Adrian Henri into class!” – Russian Linesman
