Russell Goldsmith is a multiple award-winning and Tony Award nominated Melbourne based Sound Designer, Composer, Producer and Audio System Designer.

If you have seen theatre around Melbourne you have almost certainly heard his work.

When Russell is given a script, he says he always asks himself “What’s missing from this work?”

“As a sound designer or composer or as a kind of sonic dramaturg, all I ever seek to do is to fill in the gaps as to what is missing.”

“Sometimes that gap is at the apex of the play, other times it’s at the margins of the piece and just holds it up and supports it or introduces an undercurrent of mystery or harmony or joy.”

Russell is happy if an audience is unaware of his influence throughout a play saying he doesn’t like to be prominent and that he likes to “hide in the margins.”

“Some of the greatest experiences I’ve had in this business have been sitting in an audience on an opening night next to my composer compatriot trying to figure out whose work that is.

“There’s something really delightful about collaborating with someone so intricately it’s impossible to delineate whose work is what.”

Russell has been a continual innovator in the field of creative sound design and we are happy to have him discuss how he works and why sound is such an incredible medium for storytelling.