You left him out there by himself, but he wasn’t alone. There were his lifelong friends with him—friends that he had grown up with. You’re probably wondering who these friends were. First, he had the beautiful night sky with the same stars and moon that we used to look at through a telescope. Then, he had the daylight and the sun to shine on him one more time—one more cool, wonderful autumn day in Wyoming. His last day alive in Wyoming. His last day alive in the state that he always proudly called home. And through it all he was breathing in for the last time the smell of Wyoming sagebrush and the scent of pine trees from the snowy range. He heard the wind—the ever-present Wyoming wind—for the last time. He had one more friend with him. One he grew to know through his time in Sunday school and as an acolyte at St. Mark’s in Casper as well as through his visits to St. Matthew’s in Laramie. He had God. I feel better knowing he wasn’t alone.
From the statement read by Dennis Shepard to the court on November 4, 1999
Image description: Oct. 9, 1999. A cross made of stones rests below the fence in Laramie, Wyo. where a year earlier, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was tied and pistol whipped into a coma. He later died. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
“Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine” was so devastating, heartbreaking and so utterly sad, but yet so important, reminding you of the cruel reality and the kind of people filled with hatred that live around you in this world. That’s why voting is so important, going to referendums (especially since many of them are decided by the reactionary minority while most reasonable and progressive people stay at home), fighting for progressive causes making sure that the mentality of hatred, bigotry never wins or that if it occasionally does, you fight it for so long until it is history. And documentaries like these have this great function of bringing the activist side of you out. For that i am grateful to all those documentary filmmakers that make films about themes like these and other important ones that might often be neglected in mainstream media. You can read about it, but when you’re given a visual side to it (with actual archival and other footage), it hits you that much harder.
I miss yesterday so much. It seems like when it was happening, all I could think about was tomorrow. And the today just whipped past me and turned into yesterday.
100% of each album sale will be donated to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
At around 12:00 AM on October 7, 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, Matt Shepard was tied up and brutally beaten because he was gay. 18 hours later a passing bicyclist found his body and called 911. He died 6 days later in Poudre Valley Hospital in Colorado. Made in the same location, time, and day, this 18-hour binaural recording commemorates the day when Matt was found as he would have heard it.
Recorded with a DIY binaural head with 3Dio Silicone ears and DPA 4061 microphones. Audio recorded with a vintage Sony TC-D5 and Sony EF Type 1 Cassettes. Comfortable, circumaural headphones are highly recommended as the audio is very quiet but also because a correct binaural image requires playback through headphones.
Special thanks to: Michele Josue, Matthew Shepard Foundation, Laramie PD, and the landowner for making this project possible.
All audio recorded on location in Laramie, WY on October 7, 2016.
1998年10月7日中午12点左右，在怀俄明东南部城市拉勒米，Matt Shepard被捆绑和毒打，因为他是同性恋。18小时后，一个骑自行车经过的人看到他的尸体，报了警。5天后他死于科罗拉多Poudre Valley Hospital医院。
Matt was a year ahead of me in High School and while I was not as close as some of my other friends were with him, I was shocked when I heard about his death. I was in university in the UK so the coverage was not very publicized and I never really felt how much impact his death had in America. Over the following years I followed the progress of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and saw it grow into the amazing and necessary organization it is today.
In 2011 I was fortunate enough to be involved in the production of "Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine", directed by my friend Michele Josue, who also was Matt's good friend. I felt I would finally see and hear first-hand what went on those days as well as know more about Matt through his friends and parents. One thing that moved me, and many others, was a passage of Dennis Shepard's courtroom speech:
2011年，我有幸参与到‘Matt Shepard是我的朋友（Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine）’电影的制作中，电影导演是我的朋友Michele Josue，也是Matt的一个好朋友。当时我觉得我终于有机会亲身看见听见那些天发生了什么，也通过Matt的朋友和父母进一步了解他。其中Dennis Shepard在法庭上的一段话让我和其他人都非常感动：
“By the end of the beating, his body was just trying to survive. You left him out there by himself, but he wasn’t alone. There were his lifelong friends with him – friends that he had grown up with. You’re probably wondering who these friends were. First, he had the beautiful night sky with the same stars and moon that we used to look at through a telescope. Then, he had the daylight and the sun to shine on him one more time- one more cool, wonderful autumn day in Wyoming. His last day alive in Wyoming. His last day alive in the state that he always proudly called home. And through it all he was breathing in for the last time the smell of Wyoming sagebrush and the scent of pine trees from the snowy range. He heard the wind- the ever-present Wyoming wind- for the last time. He had one more friend with him. One he grew to know through his time in Sunday school and as an acolyte at St. Mark’s in Casper as well as through his visits to St. Matthew’s in Laramie. He had God.
I feel better knowing he wasn’t alone.”
For me, this was an amazingly precise description of the land where I was standing for the first time and that Matt had known his whole life. One night we were on the land shooting the stars and I knew that I needed this document. This was the one way I would translate all that I had learned, experienced, and felt so far about Matt into an audio recording. It was the most basic and complete expression of emotion that I could produce.
5 years later, on October 7, 2016- the 18 anniversary of his death- I went back to the location where he was found and recorded Matt's last day in Wyoming. It was exactly as Dennis had described, albeit many times colder. I saw the stars and the sun rise behind where he lay; I felt the cold October Wyoming wind pass right through to my bones; I rubbed the sagebrush in my hands to smell its bitter scent; I saw the sun set right before his eyes. It was a beautiful story. I belonged where I was. To feel this, was to feel Matt.
The fact that Matt had lay there for this long exposed to the elements with only the shirt on his back is unbelievable. To experience this hardship consciously was already a test of my own tenacity with the beauty of the surrounding landscape my only solace. The resilience of his spirit is mirrored through the tireless work of his loved ones, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and many other organizations working together to 'erase hate' and for LGBT equality.
These recordings are a document of the beginning of an end. The end of hate. The end of prejudice. The end of senseless violence. Matt's death was the catalyst for change that has and will happen. But the fact that this is not a unique instance and that this violence still happens today is an indication that we need to have the courage to do more and be more than who we are. The end begins with us.
Matt的身体被暴露在这样的环境里如此之久，只有一件衬衫遮住他的背，令人无法置信。在清醒的时候感受这种痛楚已经是对我韧性的考验了，唯有这周围的怡人景色能给我一点慰藉。他的坚韧精神也通过他爱的人 – Matthew Shepard Foundation基金会以及很多的其他组织的共同努力持续传递着，协力‘抹去仇恨’，争取LGBT群体的平等权利。
Earlier this year I contacted Michele to see if she could put me in touch with someone at the Foundation that could get me in touch with the people I needed to make it happen. She put me in touch with Jason Marsden, the executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, who put me in touch with the Sheriff who told me who the landowner was. I couldn't find an email for the landowner so I wrote him a letter. Yes, a letter! Sending it from China with regular mail was a long shot but it was all I could do. When I received an email with the permission to record on his land a month later, I was totally beside myself. This recording was finally happening.
I reviewed the movie again as I remember there were some images of the exact location of where Matt was found. I also looked on the internet and found some more images of that location. Through the shape of the rocks and the vegetation, I found exactly where he was found on Google maps.
I was fortunate enough to find an original Sony TC-D5 in amazing condition from 1978 and after some test recordings, I knew that in terms of portability and sound this was the device that I was going to use. The use of analog tape was a decision I had made from the start both for the type of sound, and also of the fact that it kept me awake more or less the entire time to change tapes every 28 or so minutes. Because of this, I experienced every nuance of Dennis' speech during those 18 hours.
On October 5th, I packed everything up and made the long journey to Wyoming from Shanghai. The last leg driving from Denver to Laramie was tough but was greeted by a nice comfy bed at the local hotel.
The next day, I met with Sheriff Dave O'Malley in his office to say hi and afterwards bought some supplies and food for the next day. The forecast for the 7th was to be clear so things were already looking good. Before sundown I laid down my 100-meter cable at the location and left to have a rest in preparation for the long day ahead of me.
At 12:00 AM, I put the head on the ground as per the photos I was able to find and walked away. It was cold. It was quiet. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the stars appeared like snowflakes frozen in the night sky. The sunrise revealed a blanket of frost on the car and everywhere else. I was freezing and I desperately needed the sun's warmth. The winds came later that morning and stayed with me until the end. The occasional curious bird sang in the adjacent tree and deer wandered past foraging for something to eat. The last thing Matt saw of Wyoming was the sunset right before he was found. I am glad he got to see that.
Since I have been back, I have listened to the entire set two times during the post-production of it and it is still as humbling as the day I recorded it. I invite you to listen to one, some, or all of the tapes to remember Matt and all who struggle because of who they are.
This year marks 25 years since the hate driven murders of Matthew Shepard for being gay, and James Byrd Jr. For being Black. With the blessing of both family foundations, October 25th I drop my next single, “Byrd and Shepard”. All proceeds for the song will go to The Matthew Shepard Foundation and The Byrd Foundation for racial healing.
Pre-save “Byrd And Shepard” here: https://orcd.co/erkpnjk
