To a global audience, guitar legend Andy Summers is synonymous with his former band the Police. But the British musician, who has also forged a successful and adventurous solo career, is also a longtime accomplished photographer. His works have been displayed in museums and galleries, including at the Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier, France in 2019. When he visited the museum at the time prior to the opening of his exhibition, Summers conceived the idea of creating a sound installation for it.
“It’s a beautiful building,” the guitarist, 78, said of the Pavillon Populaire, whose architecture dates back to the 19th century. “I was walking around in it and I thought, ‘This place is great. This time I’ve got to do music to go with [it], like a soundtrack to the exhibition.’ Coincidentally, I just received a new pedal from TC Electronic in Denmark with this beautiful intervallic signal on it. I started playing on it immediately. [The track] “A Certain Strangeness” ran on a loop for the whole time the exhibit was up. So there was a constant soundtrack to the exhibition. I was very pleased about that”