Penryn on Crafting Emotion Through Sound, Making Angel Wing, and Life in Bristol
Penryn is an artist who blurs the line between the cinematic and the sonic, creating music that feels as much about storytelling as it is about sound design. Drawing on influences from film, nature, and the everyday, their work resonates with a deep emotional core, carried by textural rhythms and meditative melodies. Now based in Bristol, they’ve found a new creative pulse in the city’s vibrant arts scene, all while staying true to their introspective, DIY roots. Their latest release, the Angel Wing EP, is a five-track exploration of mood and memory, out now on Bristol’s Duckland label. From the shimmering interwoven lines of She Could Not Hear The Singing to the intricate, shape-shifting layers of Amen Reload, the EP captures Penryn’s ability to balance technical precision with raw emotion. It’s the kind of record that rewards both close listening and late-night reflection. We were lucky enough to catch up with Penryn to talk about their creative process, how they weave unexpected influences into their tracks, and the surprising story behind one of the EP’s standout samples.
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Can you tell us where you are in the world? What do you love about that place?
I have very recently relocated to Bristol. I’m still learning about the place but so far, I’m loving the feeling that art seems to be everywhere in this city, it’s nice to be in a place that values creative endeavours. It’s my first time ever living in a city so I’m still getting used to not having nature right on my doorstep.
I know it’s not far to travel out of Bristol until you hit countryside but it’s different from being able to walk straight from your door. Generally, my day-to-day is quite quiet, I like to keep things lowkey and work on tunes when I can.
You’re promoting your latest release, Angel Wing. What does it represent for you at this point in your life?
This is definitely my favourite work of mine to date; I think it’s a step forward from my first EP and has a more cohesive sound. Personally, this release will always remind me of my time at university; all 5 tracks were made across the 3 years I spent in Falmouth studying film. It was really good to have a creative outlet that wasn’t for academic purposes, I was making tunes for the love of it which I think is a good reason to make music. In terms of challenges, I think the toughest track was
Freckles, Teeth, Gums, and Blood is by far the most technical tune on the EP and it’s also the oldest; I had to rethink the track’s logic so many times to get it to really click into place. I really did have fun making these tunes, it brought me a lot of joy to have a way for me to process everything happening in my life at the time.
Your track Amen Reload contains French spoken-word samples. If you’d like, tell us about where it comes form, and why you chose it.
They are actually samples of an interview of one of my favourite filmmakers, Robert Bresson. I find his philosophy on making art really inspiring. He was a real pioneer! Not to mention he was very deft when it came to sound in his films. He was a great lover of music and sound in general. He, like myself, really believed in sound’s ability to elevate life above the everyday and the mundane. To him, sound was the most direct route to a person’s soul.
When you work on new music, do you have a ritual or a routine? Tell us about your creative process.
I don’t really have a locked in process, I just try to stay with my emotions as much as I can when I’m making something new. Keeping true to the emotional origin of a tune really helps guide each creative decision so that each sound contributes to communicating an emotion as effectively as possible.
Can you send us a picture of your workspace or home studio?
I won’t send pictures but I’m happy to describe it, it’s a very simple setup. I have a PC, MIDI keyboard and two KRK Rokit 5s.
It’s a very easy setup to move about which is nice but I’d like to make some analogue additions when I’m more settled.
What’s the most unusual object or gadget you keep in the studio? What purpose does it serve? It can be musical or not.
I always keep a 3x3 Rubik’s cube on the desk. They were a real lock-down obsession of mine and it’s a good way to let your brain focus on something when listening back to mixes. It helps me hear it from a new perspective.
What’s the most unusual sound you’ve ever incorporated into one of your productions?
There’s a really small textural sound in Amen Reload that is actually a Grace Jones sample from
Don’t Cry, It’s Only the Rhythm. That tune has this crazy hard panning going on and these absolutely wild plucks that interrupt the song, it’s really quite experimental. There’s a metal texture that runs over the synth stabs that almost sound like something Burial would use so I isolated that and processed it a bit; now it's a little jangly texture in my tune.
What advice would you give yourself if you were starting today?
I think it’s important to realise that sound engineering only exists to facilitate the self-expression.
Focus on the emotion first when making something, the technical side should always submit to the creative side.
What’s the first significant piece of gear you owned? What did it represents for you.
It was probably getting NI Massive. It was the first synth of that kind I ever got and it allowed me to begin shaping my own sound creatively.
What would be your desert island plugins and/or digital tools? Are there VSTs you couldn’t live without? What do you like about using them?
I think I’d have to say Massive again. I use it on pretty much every song I make.
More recently, Valhalla Super Massive has really changed the game for me. It’s a free plugin but it has the power of something you’d pay for. My ambient tunes wouldn’t have the space that they have if I didn’t have a powerful reverb by my side.
What was the last track by another artist you were obsessed with? Tell us how you encountered it, when you would listen to it, and why it obsessed you.
TEGID’S COURT by Bibio has definitely seen some serious play in my flat in the last week or so. It’s from his most recent addition to his series of ambient albums called Phantom Brickworks.
The way he samples and layers his own voice in that track is mesmerising and the piano loops are so enigmatic. Really, the whole Phantom Brickworks II album is perfect to me. I’ve been a fan of Bibio’s for a while, especially the ambient works. I listen to ambient music pretty much all evening nearly every day.
What do you have coming up in the next few months?
I’m always working on new tunes so if you are enjoying Angel Wing keep your ear to the ground and expect both my busiest and sparsest tunes to date in the future.
I’m also working with a friend of mine, who has just finished shooting her own short film, on a film score.
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Cover credit: Penryn
Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links, which means Internet Tattoo may receive a commission if you purchase through these links at no additional cost to you.