Oliver Patrice Weder - The Shoe Factory (2024)

The Shoe Factory is the ambitious and lush new instrumental album by composer, producer and sound designer Oliver Patrice Weder. As he moved to his new home, he landed in a former shoe factory in a small village in the middle of the Tramuntana mountains of Mallorca. As his research about the village and history of the shoe factory went on, he found that there were over 60 shoe factories placed within and around his village. He decided to go and visit some of these still intact factories, equipped with microphones to capture the sound of these machines and the overall factory ambience. The employees were so passionate about their work and their role within the overall process of creating a shoe, and some of them had been at the exact same machine for 40 years. In getting to know these folks, he discovered that the sound of these machines was an integral part of their childhood and upbringing. In the summer months it gets so hot that the doors are kept open and the sound of the factories spills into the streets of the villages, for all locals to hear. With this, the sounds of the factory all of the sudden became a really meaningful thing and they became the sonic inspiration for the entire album. He combined these sounds with a brass trio, a saxophone and his usual piano and electronics - all recorded at his own shoe factory - to form the sound palette of the album.