The History of SOXSA - The South Oxon Sound Archive
How did we get here?
SOXSA Lab - a byword for innovative audio creation - began life as a humble central-government department in rural Oxfordshire in the late 1940s. During the Second World War much experimentation was carried out to explore the possibilities of using electronic audio for all aspects of war work: propaganda, broadcast, subliminal messaging, enhanced telepathic signalling, mood manipulation and so on. Gilbert Jones ran the lab that was then simply called "Department S" (i.e. S for Sound), based at Dollis Hill on the same site as the GPO experimental labs.
After the war, the new government lost interest in this type of research as priorities shifted towards atomic technology and high speed jets. Gilbert was out in the cold, and the Department was relocated to the village of Clifton Hampden, on the Thames near Abingdon in South Oxforshire. Probably with the motive that the lab would quietly fade away and could be disbanded without negative public scrutiny. The group was renamed SOXSA at this point.
However, Gilbert and his colleagues took up the challenge and redirected their efforts to peacetime audio applications. They watched from the wings as centres of excellence like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop pushed frontiers. Happy to stay out of the limelight, Gilbert was the audio guru that everyone who was anyone on the scene came to consult.
As the British Synth movement grew into pop culture, Gilbert and SOXSA were still there behind the scenes helping, inspiring and innovating.
They still here today, hiding their light under a bushel while moving things forward.
SOXSA Lab - a byword for innovative audio creation - began life as a humble central-government department in rural Oxfordshire in the late 1940s. During the Second World War much experimentation was carried out to explore the possibilities of using electronic audio for all aspects of war work: propaganda, broadcast, subliminal messaging, enhanced telepathic signalling, mood manipulation and so on. Gilbert Jones ran the lab that was then simply called "Department S" (i.e. S for Sound), based at Dollis Hill on the same site as the GPO experimental labs.
After the war, the new government lost interest in this type of research as priorities shifted towards atomic technology and high speed jets. Gilbert was out in the cold, and the Department was relocated to the village of Clifton Hampden, on the Thames near Abingdon in South Oxforshire. Probably with the motive that the lab would quietly fade away and could be disbanded without negative public scrutiny. The group was renamed SOXSA at this point.
However, Gilbert and his colleagues took up the challenge and redirected their efforts to peacetime audio applications. They watched from the wings as centres of excellence like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop pushed frontiers. Happy to stay out of the limelight, Gilbert was the audio guru that everyone who was anyone on the scene came to consult.
As the British Synth movement grew into pop culture, Gilbert and SOXSA were still there behind the scenes helping, inspiring and innovating.
They still here today, hiding their light under a bushel while moving things forward.