I pitched the idea of doing a piece on living off grid to my group after having spent a lot time the past few years Wwoofing on off grid farms. The driving force behind this piece was to explore how these ‘grids’ symbol the web upon which society is entangled and how certain people for many different reasons have cut off these lines and began to live ‘off-the-grid’

We discovered a vast array of different people that had some kind of connection to the story we wanted to tell. After many emails we ended up with a three people whom I believe give us a good perspective on what it means to be “off the Grid” and the challenging and interesting aspects around that. The first interview with Jeff gave us a really good technical perspective and allowed us to see the practicalities of “cutting the cord” and being independent of the main electricity supply. As he is located in Brisbane the only possible interview was via phone, this didn’t give us the best quality sound and made it difficult to listen to for long period so when editing it was important to explore ways of using music to lift a sometimes monotonous voice tone. This was done by fading music in and out making the listener pay attention, using it as a kind of full stop, dividing the narrative into chapters. We were put in contact with Nick, a tour guide from Ceres Community Environment Park Eco House which has an open house on Saturdays so I went down to have a look and speak to him about this example of an off grid home. Ceres represents the major topic we were aiming to focus on; environmentally sustainable living. Nick provided us with the foundations of our interview audio and touched on a variety of interest elements to an off grid property.

Lastly we got onto to Ross Harding from Finding Infinity who showed us new and inventive ways that we can reduce our carbon emissions beyond the home in particular Off Grid Music Festival that he runs. This helps to add a different view on the often misunderstood lifestyle of being ‘off grid’, its not all campfires and mud bricks. It can be community orientated and creative. Ross also gives us a political perspective and talks about the urgent need for action and how we as a nation need to shift our mentality towards one that coexists with nature and does not deplete the Earth’s resources.

Overall, I felt the strongest aspect of this piece was the conceptualisation of a rich and nuanced pallet of sounds that hopefully changed the listener in some way, whether it be a new thought or an altered perception. Living off grid can often be seen as far fetched and too difficult so I hope this gave the listeners some practical advice and motivation. It was our intention to structure the piece as a non-linear narrative, to arrange the dialogue in a way that is all encompassing, much like product of sound. It’s everywhere and unsystematic with chunks of interesting interview placed correctly so as to keep the listener engaged. It’s immersive, textural content and intellectual subjects make it appeal to the RWAV/3RRR audience.

With more time I’d have liked to add some vox-pops and alternative perspectives such as one that is against separation from the electrical grid. I am however satisfied with what we produced in the limited time frame and look forward to making more radio.