Everything is Music: A Chat with Sound Designer River Cy Denman
One of the loveliest examples of the creativity, versatility, and ambition of an associate Impostor can be distilled in the form of River Cy Denman. A veteran actor with The Impostors (you may recognize him from Footholds Vol. 3 and Caged), River was more than up to the unique task of creating a soundscape for this layered production.
Wielding his own exquisite taste in sonic renderings and working closely with the directors and composer Dominick Vincent Alesia, River elevates Footholds with his design in a way that is wholly unique to him. For his first attempt at a sound design, he came prepared with an open mind and an already deep-rooted passion.
“I’m just a music fan,” River said. “I have always greatly appreciated production concepts and how everything is stitched together to achieve a narrative arc. And, as David Byrne mentions in ‘How Music Works,’ everything is music. From a drip of a faucet in complete silence, to birdsong out the window. Taking a stab at sound design here appealed to me as a sort of convergence in my theatrical background and love of sounds in general!”
Designing for a production consisting of five wildly different worlds sounds intimidating. River envisioned a concept to tie it all together.
“I like to think about each piece as existing on the other side of a radio channel, each one sorta bursting through the static to achieve its clarity,” he said.
In collaboration, he came away with some especially pleasing results.
“I really like the transitions,” River said. “The directors nudged me to utilize radio static spliced with chatter, 70’s/80’s tunes, and Dom’s lovely compositions to create a sort of soundscape to surround the plays, kind of being explored by ‘The Observer’ from the final piece. Those were my little ‘pretend producer’ moments that were a lot of fun to play with.”
And of course, his first love for music was never far from reach.
“I got a clearer idea of what I wanted [moments] to sound like during a listen of ‘Blue Rev’ by Alvvays. It’s a record that sounds like a despondent romantic undergoing rejection, turning the channel dial, nostalgic heartbreak bleeding through the crackling airwaves of every track,” he said. “I really wanted to achieve that distinct effect, in orchestrating a sort of similarly nostalgic discovery for the audience to participate in, though not nearly as emo. It was sick to chase creation with clear inspiration.”
We’ll always take emo, though.
For River, working on this production in particular has been gratifying.
“Footholds is referred to by The Impostors as a ‘grand experiment,’ and I think that’s a really great thing to strive for with absolutely dedicated clarity,” he said. “In an opportunity to balance levity with the seriousness of ‘the craft,’ just trying things out, we’re also given a reminder to pursue that in all projects.”
River’s aim is for audiences to come and witness that charm firsthand.
“I hope that they’ll really appreciate a bunch of creatives coming together to demonstrate their versatility! Our actors play multiple roles, some writers are actors or dancers, and the design crew changes hats frequently as well. Nothing need be limited!”
