Conducted on 4/22/21 via Zoom. Scott Paulson is a multimedia exhibit curator and soundscape artist whose work has spanned art galleries, museums, radio, television, film, and theaters. He has founded and directed multiple festivals over the past 30 years in his position as Exhibits & Events Coordinator at the UC San Diego Library, lending him experience working with sound, acting, directing, and writing.
interview transcript
Q: Can you tell me some more about your radio show? A: Most of my radio work in the past few years has been on an internet radio station run like an old-school radio station-- everything is live, much to our horror. The station happens to be called WSradio.com. I've also done a lot of stuff with our local KPBS radio station. I've done some theatrical stage plays that were radio drama reenactments. I myself also do a lot of radio drama reenactments that I don't record, but the audience is under the impression that we are recording. My gimmick is that the audience does help if they want to-- they'll do the coconut shells for the horses, the bubble wrap for gunfire, etc.
Q:Why do you create art (performance, writing, or otherwise)? Is there something that you have set out to achieve? A specific audience you want to reach? A: Sometimes, because of my professional work at a research library, I like to do juvenile literature topics, like Nancy Drew and Tom Swift. Nancy Drew has been around since the 20s, but she's never had a radio show, which is outrageous, of course! It's been fun to correct that. Fortunately, there's a national Nancy Drew club and Tom Swift club. When they had little conventions that were nearby, they asked me to come by and perform, which was very fun. I made them be the actors, I made them be the sound effects-- it was quite effective. Sometimes there are professional reasons where I want to serve the community by reaching out. There are these characters called the Radio Girls, and they also didn't have a radio show. This juvenile literature outreach is for everyone. My goal is to have purple-haired girls and blue-haired ladies together. I also like doing radio dramas at some of my events to force people to think about things in different ways. Sometimes I'll do a radio-like show and make the audience describe what they're doing, because they have to pretend that people can't see. It really makes them explain themselves further.
Q: What do you think makes audio/radio drama interesting and compelling in a way that is different from other mediums you have experience in? A: Unlimited budget. We can be in the biggest castle, the tallest skyscraper, the most futuristic spaceship. We could be wearing the most beautiful clothes. It's theatre of the mind. It's really a shame that more playwrights and film directors don't start with the radio version of their works first to figure out what's working and what isn't. It's expensive to make a film or a play. It's not expensive to do a radio drama.
Q: What would you say is the most challenging part of creating art for you? A: I think the only true challenge is if it's live. Fortunately, the audience is forgiving. They've always been on our side-- it's ok if we crash and burn. Sometimes they think we're doing something on purpose when we didn't. I did a radio drama version of A Christmas Story, where I accidentally stumbled and crashed a whole bunch of things on the floor. The next line was, "Watch out! Why did you knock over the tree?" so it was as if I had meant to do it. I think the only challenge is doing less. Because I own so many wonderful sound effect instruments, I tend to put too many sounds in a play. It's a challenge for me to do less. The words are more important, the actors are more important-- less sounds are fine. I wish that we rehearsed. See, my problem is a lot of these projects are supposed to be fun, "study-break" gatherings that we're not supposed to be spending a lot of time or money on. I probably should insist on more rehearsal. The other thing I wish I did was make everything be in shorter segments, because people have short attention spans and are very busy. They can't commit to an hour-long radio drama, but they can watch small increments. That way we could run it four or five times.
Q: Do you have a favorite project or production (past or ongoing)? Why? A: Perhaps my favorite was a period sci-fi radio drama piece that we based on the opening of Balboa Park, San Diego's beloved park. We made it a naive sci-fi radio drama. We did a lot of research about what buildings were in the park at the time and made sure we had a lot of real characters. I'm very proud to help people time-travel and learn about the county's history. I also did one about the Del Mar City Chamber of Commerce where I based it on real facts about Del Mar in the 1920s. Some of the people who came to the play were practically alive back then! They appreciated the things that were referred to that were really there back then, such as vegetation, shops, or architecture. It was fun for them to time travel.
Q: As someone with a lot of experience, is there anything you regret doing when you first started creating art? Anything that you would want a less experienced artist such as myself to know? A: I said it before and I'll say it again-- less sounds and less music. By trade, I'm a musician. I've become a good writer of this media, but I'm too proud of my music and the instruments I have, and I get carried away. I'd warn everyone that sometimes people will tell what you're really, really in love with. That might be something that you get carried away with. In some shows, I've played so much theremin that people have gotten a headache! Those are my only regrets. The only trouble I've run into with actors is that sometimes they think they're on a real stage and they yell into the microphone. Please don't yell into the microphone! There's no need to yell directly into it.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add on? A: My last piece of advice is, if you can't find the actual sound, then just substitute a musical gesture. The audience will be fine with a musical gesture from something rather than an accurate sound.