It was 2015. I was just 21 years old. I was in my university dorm room, delving deep into new and old music, as a typical student does. Being a guitar‑centric dude who was initially into 2000s bands such as Kasabian, Kings Of Leon, Editors, Muse and Feeder, I found the 2010s tough going. Ultra‑polished, sexual‑innuendo‑obsessed pop and stripped‑back bland singer‑songwriters swept the airwaves.

Fortunately, my generation had the Internet at our fingertips. And looking back into history led me to a musical genre that had indie‑rock familiarity, whilst opening up a world of blissed‑out ethereal soundscapes that I never knew were possible! Enter shoegaze and dream‑pop. My first listens included Ride’s Nowhere, whereupon Internet recommendations led me to Whirlpool by Chapterhouse. Both of these albums are at the commercial end of the shoegaze spectrum, and were therefore ideal starting points to draw me in. Then came the more challenging and genre‑defining Souvlaki by Slowdive and the legendary Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. Both of these took a little while to absorb and digest, but once they clicked, they really clicked! I then discovered Kitchens Of Distinction, Medicine, Curve, Seefeel and many others.

I started to realise that these albums had the common theme of dreamy and otherworldly guitar sounds, and that the vocals were treated differently to how they are in most mainstream music. Mixed low and heavily effected, the singing was not always fully defined or distinguishable. This, in turn, forces the listener to use their imagination and/or to simply feel the vibe of the sounds blended and mashed together. The sonics of the guitars were being pushed to the point where the resulting noise didn’t sound like a guitar. It was like impressionism and surrealism combined. And Alan Moulder instantly became my production hero. These factors single‑handedly got me interested in the production not just of this style of music, but of all forms of music, and led me to embarking on a Music Production & Sound Engineering BA Hons degree with dBs Institute in Plymouth, where I graduated in 2025.

I bought myself a Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster, and grew my hair out into ’90s curtains whilst sporting a baggy Breton T‑shirt to make myself feel the part. My pedalboard filled up with stompboxes, and I even bought myself some old rack gear such as the Roland GP‑16 with its FC100 foot controller, an Alesis Quadraverb and a Yamaha FX500, which I discovered were common for the original shoegazers to record and perform with.

The 2010s was a great time for the revival of the shoegaze genre because, having encountered the classic early ’90s artists, I then discovered bands of my generation such as Airiel, Ringo Deathstarr, Pinkshinyultrablast, Blankenberge, Miniatures, Deserta, Flyying Colours, Malory, Exit Calm and countless others. I was amazed to see how international the sound had become, from Pia Fraus in Estonia all the way to Resplandor in Peru!

It makes perfect sense that the genre continues to grow and morph in the current day, as the sonic possibilities are now endless.

It makes perfect sense that the genre continues to grow and morph in the current day, as the sonic possibilities are now endless. A style that thrives on new and extreme effects embraces plug‑ins, virtual pedalboards, IR processors for reverb and amp sims. And now, with the advent of immersive audio, the ethereal, atmospheric nature of this genre has the potential to be fully realised.

Keep on gazing at yer shoes!