We sat down for a quick chat with Richard Evans, musician & digital artist, writer, filmmaker and producer.His critically acclaimed music receives global radio airplay and his live productions have been performed across the UK, featuring in both The Times online and BBC News online. fascination with the moon landing is the creative inspiration behind the programme and he’s created multiple events and installations for the festival including the LUNA installation – which features specially composed soundtrack alongside large-scale projections of incredible NASA photography and specially created digital lunar landscapes.
From Gagarin 50 to LUNA, what keeps drawing you back to space exploration?
I grew up in the era of Apollo and I think that maybe the energy and excitement of that period has stayed with me. I try not to approach any of these space-related projects as nostalgia – it’s more to explore the many poignant human stories involved alongside being inspired by the potential of humanity moving beyond Earth. And of course, how viewing ourselves from space has impacted our sense of Earth’s fragility and how we protect it.
LUNA combines NASA photography, imagined lunar landscapes and original music. How do you balance historical reality with artistic interpretation?
It’s important as much as possible to stay within the confines of what really happened – Luna uses some amazing panoramic stills from the Moon landings, along with footage of astronauts driving on the Moon. Where we can be more creative is when the piece looks at the future of humanity on the Moon. That story is still to be written and that’s where research comes in, when thinking about what might be happening there in 60 years. Some of it is sure to surprise us.
How does composing for an immersive environment differ from writing music for a conventional concert?
This will be my second project conceived as an immersive piece (following on from Quantum in 2025), so I’m a little more familiar with how the writing process has to start with thinking in terms of 3D audio and 180 degree video. For me, it opens up creative possibilities about where you put sound and the kind of experience you wish the audience to have. The idea of pushing what a concert can be is also really interesting – where does live experience meet art installation?
HOLOCITY explores identity and human connection in a technological future. What inspired this vision?
We’re in a period where technology and economic growth are quantifying us and reducing us to being data points – HoloCity reflects on this through a narrative about one citizen in the city of the tomorrow. This technique allows the show to reflect on current issues through the lens of a future which is kind of an amplified version of today’s world.
Your work often confronts technological and environmental anxieties while remaining hopeful. Why is optimism important to your artistic vision?
It almost feels like contemporary issues such as climate change, AI growth and war are treated as inevitabilities, which can leave us without a sense of hope or agency in creating the future. I believe that a positive mindset, no matter how overwhelming the situation, opens up approaches and avenues that may not have previously been explored. There are always reasons not to do something, or people who say you shouldn’t do something, but we don’t progress if we don’t challenge why things are the way they are. Certain negative outcomes might be possible, but they’re not inevitable. We can make the future we want.