To celebrate the winners of this year’s Seed Award, we caught up with all the selected artists and composers for a quick chat.

Here, we speak to Nikki Sheth.

Can you tell us about your musical influences?

My musical influences in the world of electroacoustic composition, soundscape composition and acoustic ecology include Luc Ferrari, Hildegard Westerkamp, R. Murray Schafer, Chris Watson, Pauline Oliveros, Jonty Harrison, Leah Barclay, Annie Mahtani and Manuella Blackburn. I’m inspired by sounds of the natural world and love creating hyper-realistic soundscapes that immersive the listener in new places with the use of multichannel loudspeaker systems and ambisonics. The purpose of my work is to create a connection with the natural world through sound and highlight environmental issues. I’m also hugely inspired by electronic, alternative, psychedelic and indie artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Warpaint, Radiohead and Sleepy Sun, I love Metronomy who often use field recordings in their tracks, one of my favourite bands is Of Montreal and I adore electronic artist Caribou. 

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently finishing a residency at The University of Greenwich where I was working with the IKO 3D Loudspeaker with the support of the Arts Council England through a Develop your Creative Practice grant. I have also been working on two pieces as part of an AHRC funded project called ‘Exploring Cultural Diversity in Experimental Sound’ and later this year I will be working with A&E Lab and The University of Kent to compose a piece for the Wavefield Synthesis system. I am also taking some time to explore my field recording practice.