About
Sounds Arts & New Music in Cumbria
Full of Noises (FON) is an experimental music hub that has championed sound art for almost 15 years from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
Famed for is biennial experimental music festival, FON has put on more than 150 events and worked with more than 350 artists from across Cumbria, Europe and rest of the world.
Starting life in the former canteen building of a submarine plant, FON has brought artists to Barrow from around the globe.
Notable concerts include performances from 1970s experimental legends Faust, Lee Patterson, Ryoko Akama and Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadottir - the first woman to win an Oscar for best original score.
FON works with partners across Cumbria and beyond. It has taken sound art commissions to the likes of the Sao Paulo Biennial, and developed cultural partnerships across Europe and with Japan.
In spring 2023 FON redeveloped Piel View House - a former park keeper’s lodge in Barrow Park which has become a concert venue and nationally recognised centre for sound art.
FON now puts on a year-round programme of concerts, workshops, events, films and family activities. A key element of FON’s work is to develop local talent to enable creativity to thrive.
Today FON brings a host of diverse talent to play in Barrow including turntablist NikNak, Hyperdawn, Tara Clerkin Trio and Australian/American super duo Jim White and Marisa Anderson.
Full of Noises is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation - meaning it receives regular funding due to the national importance of its work.
Full of Noises is...
Glenn Boulter
Artistic Director
Glenn Boulter
Artistic Director
Glenn Boulter is a Cumbria-based artist and producer. As an artist, his practice focuses on forms of written and spoken language with a particular interest in found texts which are often developed into prints, books and sound works. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2005, he has produced collaborative works for a range of sites including the ROH2, Sao Paulo Biennial, NHS Hull and Barrow Athletic Football Club.
As a founder member of Full of Noises, Glenn has co-produced over one hundred concerts, residencies and events in Cumbria and across the UK, including seven festivals. Recent projects include developing a capital project to create a new purpose-built performance space at FON's long time studio space in Barrow Park. Between 2019 and 2022, he led on a Creative Europe funded project (Acoustic Commons) in close collaboration with Soundcamp and partners in the EU. Since opening Piel View House to the public in 2022, Glenn has worked with the FON team to move the company from the previous festival model to a year- round programme of concerts, workshops, films and events.
Outside of FON, Glenn can usually be found roaming the local footpaths and lanes with the Hoad Hill Harriers.
Dickie Felton
Communications Manager
Dickie Felton
Communications Manager
Dickie has delivered communications in culture for the last 15 years. He ran the press office for National Museums Liverpool for five years and also spent time working at The National Football Museum, and in Cumbria, at Lakeland Arts.
A keen live music fan, Dickie joined Full of Noises in June 2023 overseeing FON's communications strategy.
Dickie is also a freelance writer with regular football pieces in The i-Paper. He published his third book in July 2024 - I AM HATED FOR LOVING - a photographic and written documentary of Morrissey's 22/23 world tour.
A native Liverpudlian, Dickie moved to Cumbria eight years ago.
Sophie Broadgate
Assistant Producer
Sophie Broadgate
Assistant Producer
Sophie is the assistant events producer at Full of Noises. She also leads our film screening programming of “Light in the Park”. Sophie has a background in film and maintains her own practice as a filmmaker, creating work that spans across narrative, documentary and artists film. Her work has screened at BAFTA and BIFA qualifying festivals and art galleries including: Manchester International Film Festival, BFI Flare and Women X Festival, The Barbican and The Lowry. Sophie creates work that is intimate, organic and questions the world around us. Since receiving a late diagnosis of autism, Sophie has been creating work for neurodivergent audiences. Sophie has a passion for creating inclusive spaces and events that make enjoying and making art accessible to all. She received training from Autus on working with autistic groups and has an extensive history of working with people with a range of different complex needs. Outside of work Sophie loves to be outdoors preferably next to a body of water. She is a climber, swimmer and runner. Essentially she moves to move her body outside. When the weather turns cooler she can be found inside nerding out with films, anime, video games and board games.
Full of Hoises
Programme Panel
Full of Noises programme panel is a small group of Cumbrian and Cumbria-based practitioners that we have invited to help us shape our programme for 2023-26.
In response to shifting our model away from an annual festival to a year-round series of events, the panel meets quarterly to share longlists of artists, plan different event strands and to feed back on events so far.
Given their strong film / moving image background, the current panel are also directly involved in programming and working on our moving image programme for Autumn / Winter.
As the programme becomes established, we plan to expand the panel to include audience & community members, artists and others. Look out for a call out in Autumn / Winter this year or talk to us at one of our events to find out more.
Laurence Campbell
Laurence Campbell is an artist/filmmaker based in Cumbria. Through the development of experimental systems he has evolved an artistic language within digital art, film and sound that attempts to document the lines between reality and memory.
Motivated by the exploration of isolated spaces and people, the focus of his work is to create fractured narratives within non-representational documentation, and derive immersive methods to process and communicate his work.
Tom James Scott
Tom James Scott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser who currently lives on the North-West coast of England. He started performing and releasing his own work in the mid 2000's and has continued to collaborate with a number of different artists and labels both in the UK and internationally.
Natalie Sharp
I am Natalie Sharp, a British artist, musician, and radical body activist of dual heritage. With a multifaceted practice spanning over 15 years, I continuously push the boundaries of artistic expression and challenge societal norms.
As a disabled artist myself, I am deeply committed to advocating for inclusivity and accessibility within the art world and beyond. My work is rooted in radical body activism, aiming to challenge ableist structures and promote a more inclusive society.
Through my art, I explore the possibilities of the human body, pushing the boundaries of what is considered "normal" or "acceptable." I use performance art, music, sculpture, and costume design to create thought-provoking experiences that challenge perceptions and celebrate diverse bodies and abilities.
RL Wilson
RL Wilson is an artist and researcher, living and working in West Cumbria. Wilson's practice is multidisciplinary, collaborative, and socially embedded; focusing on liveness and place – working with, and combining sound, performance, text, and the moving image.
Currently undertaking a PhD by Practice via Northumbria University, Wilson is researching the role of the Arts and its contribution to knowledge, of rural communities, via the effects of mass tourism during a climate emergency.
Wilson is also founder, curator, programmer, and general dogsbody for the Artists platform RE Drift - with a focus on West Cumbria. This platform invites locals, national, and international artists, practitioners, academics, and conservationists, in engagement with communities - through playful, collaborative, and hyperlocal focus.
Current Directors:
Philip Atkinson, Taylor Nuttall, Jack McNeill, Matthew Smith
Past Directors:
Chris Cresswell, Richard Foster, Linda O'Keeffe, Ailie Robertson. Founding Directors/Members: Glenn Boulter, Andrew Deakin, John Hall, Fern Oxley, Alex Oxley
Past Advisory Board and Staff:
Pippa Martin, Shaun Blezard, Natalie Bowers, Nina Valvi, Alex Oxley, Fern Oxley, Ross Dalziel, Fiona Ogilvie, Lisa Whistlecroft, Hwa Young Jung, Dave Mee