Interview: Xavier Velastin “[whalesong"]”
Conducted by Emmie for Theatre and Tonic
As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect.
Today we’re joined by Xavier Velastin about the show [whalesong].
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
It will shock none of you that it is inspired by whales! Specifically, how important sound is to their lives and the way they perceive the environment, and, at the same time, how we are increasingly filling that environment with noise. [whalesong] is a sound performance about the voices and noises in the ocean. Each night, I create oceanic soundscapes live with my voice and body with the help of DIY soundmaking tools, and I tell histories, mythologies and fantasies about the sea and our aquatic selves. Every show is different, following new narrative paths with different content; this is directly inspired by humpback whale songs, which are made of melodies which slowly repeat and vary over a whole song cycle.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
I happen to be up working on another show - Wild Thing! by Mechanimal, which is at Summerhall TechCube 0 at 13:30, which you should go and see - so I thought, this is finally my chance to bring a show of mine to the Fringe! And [whalesong] is perfect for it, because I'm doing so many shows I can really explore the non-linear structure. When I first came to work the Fringe in 2019 as a technician, I fell in love with the Free Fringe as a counter to the usual landlordism vibe I get from so much of the Fringe venues - it feels like it's the proper spirirt of the Fringe, and I knew if I was going to bring a show it would be with them.
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
Sonic bubble bath
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
I hope it'll feel like a little island of peace from the hecticness of the Fringe. I hope that people will gain an appreciation for how interlinked everything is, how climate justice goes hand-in-hand with social justice, and how the way we treat the natural world is inevitably linked to how we treat each other. Also, that people will think whales are as cool as I think they are.
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
Stay hydrated? Go for a swim? Compress your organs so you can dive to the ocean floor? Send out 230 decibel clicks to paralyse giant squid?
6. Where and when can people see your show?
2-24th August (not 12th, 19th) at 5pm
Venue 603: PBH's Free Fringe @ BrewDog Doghouse Hotel at 5pm
Free entry, non-ticketed!
Free Fringe listing: https://freefringe.org.uk/shows/whalesong/
Main Ed Fringe listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/whalesong
