Port Sulphur - Speed of Light Port Sulphur

The concept behind Speed Of Life inverts the modus operandi of the first album, with the second album being made by the following personnel; Douglas MacIntyre (guitars, bass, direction), Samuel Joseph Smith (recording, mixing, mastering, guitars, synthesisers, percussion), Paul Turnbull (drums), Gavin Fraser (photography) and Grant McPhee (film). The album was written and produced by Douglas MacIntyre, the songs were written in one day on an old Hohner acoustic guitar using Lou Reed’s ‘Ostrich’ tuning whereby all strings were tuned to the one note. An automatic writing methodology was deployed whereby all first ideas had to be committed, this resulted in the composition of seven songs (the other three were written on piano utilising the same writing approach).

This approach carried over to the recording session at Green Door studio in Glasgow, no rehearsals had taken place between Paul and Douglas with the drums and electric guitar (Gretsch Country Gentleman) being recorded live as first takes. Thereafter Sam added synthesisers and further guitars whilst Douglas added bass, acoustic and lead guitars (all using the ‘Ostrich’ tuning). The session was photographed by Gavin, followed by filming of slow-flow concepts by Grant.

The album is the sum of many parts and influences. Harmonia and Can loomed large in the process – editing the tapes to sculpt the finished tracks was an important element. The initial idea when composing the tracks was to create a fast mood for one side of the album and a downbeat dreamscape mood for the other – a similar aesthetic to Bowie’s Low. The music was imagined as an alternative soundtrack for Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia, the imagery contained within that film has remained a big influence since first experiencing it at the Glasgow Film Theatre. The cover image by Grant McPhee became referred to as Tarkovsky Red Dream, and was an integral part of how the sound of the album came together. The inverted nature of three musicians, a photographer and a film maker working on Speed Of Life, has resulted in an instrumental album, with photography and film documenting the process.