When I started my studies at The University of Edinburgh in September 2018, after my first class in Alison House I was walking towards the train station and passed a bookstore and decided to go in and have a look. The first book I saw was 1984 by George Orwell so I decided to buy it. I had always wanted to read it since my dad had spoken of his love for Animal Farm, another novel by Orwell, which he had read when he was at school. After reading the book over the first few weeks of my first semester at university I was fascinated by the story and immediately thought that it would suit a stage production or something of the sort. During gaps in lectures and tutorials, I would go to the university practice rooms with the book and try to come up with lyric ideas based on sections from the book. It was at this point when the initial ideas were formed, such as Memories of England and Victory Mansions, albeit completely different now from what they sounded like at that time. A handful of lyrics have remained the same in those two songs, but the majority of the lyrics and the production have changed completely.
After writing a few of these ideas during Semester One I left the project to focus on my studies, planning to return to it when the time came. When fourth year arrived and I chose Composition 4, I knew that my final university project was going to be the 1984 project, it just had to be. I loved the concept that the first idea I had while at university would now become the final piece of compositional work created during my studies.
This creative process started almost four years ago, albeit with a large gap in the middle. I am so glad that I returned to this idea for my final submission. The process has been challenging, both compositionally and technically, but I feel that the outcome is a cohesive concept album for fans of 1984 and for people who have never read the book, just like me before I walked into that bookshop on September 20th, 2018.
