Sisters Akousmatica were one of 14 commissioned radio works for Radiophrenia 2017. Radiophrenia is a temporary art radio station, broadcast from Glasgow, Scotland.

NM, SK
Transmission: Friday, 10th November
12:00 repeated at 18:00

Julia Drouhin and Phillipa Stafford, as Sisters Akousmatica, investigate mysterious radio broadcasts known as “the Silent Key”.

Radio: drag the dial across frequencies at any given time, any given place and you will hear a cacophony of sounds. Static, pops and crackles, whistles, the tap, tap tap of the world and the universe going about its electromagnetic business. In between those sounds are stations: broadcasts that are music, news, chatter, cryptic messages and espionage. Stretching out around the world in a network of terrestrial communication, bouncing off the heaviside and landing back again to be collected by radio-listeners – in cars and in kitchens. Sisters Akousmatica are always listening – seeking out the strange broadcasts destined for…

NM, SK begins to examine some of the recordings they have made in their quest to research “the silent key” – a series of broadcast messages that they discovered in the winter of 2017.

The RADIOPHRENIA station is managed by Mark Vernon and Barry Burns and is funded through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Funding with additional support from CCA Glasgow and Outset Scotland.