Film Ben Cohen/Zoya Films
Words and production Nell Card
Photography Neil Perry and Joash Anderson

When the idea to shoot a music video was first mooted at The Modern House, there was only ever one listing that would serve as the perfect stage: Domus, in Reedley, Lancashire. Built in the late 50s by architect Alan Chambers, it was conceived entirely as a house for hosting. The ground floor is in fact a dance floor, complete with built-in bar, acoustic panelling and a functioning, underfloor glass disco light (which, you’ll notice, sadly didn’t make the final cut).

The owners of Domus, Keith and Veronique Rushworth, have, over two decades, diligently retained the features that make Domus uniquely of its time. Teak, terrazzo, mid-century joinery, fixtures and fittings combine to create an atmosphere that holds limitless appeal to mid-century afficionados and location scouts alike. (The dance floor was switched on for a scene in Sky’s first series of Funny Woman, starring Gemma Arterton.) It also immediately appealed to the Leeds-based musician and composer Simeon Walker, whose piece Saturnine features in our debut House Music film.

Simeon reached out to us on Instagram earlier this year with a suggestion to expand upon an area guide for a listing close to his home city. We gladly took his local knowledge on board before finding ourselves sidetracked by his YouTube channel. Simeon’s compositions are sparse and spacious; his music invites you to sit back, to slow down. Organically, we’d met a musician that matched the mood so many of our homes naturally evoke. We paired some of his music with short house tours destined for reels before asking if he’d like to perform a longer piece for us at Domus. His reaction was heartfelt: “When the listing was sent through to me, I thought; ‘I’m literally going to get to experience this house from the inside, not as a museum, but as an actual house that people live in!’”

Modernist architecture feeds into Simeon’s creative process. “I’ve never done anything architectural at all,” he admits. “I’ve not commissioned anything, I’ve never drawn anything, I’ve never designed anything; I just love looking at it and being in it. Light and spaciousness, for me, is the thing. That’s what I really try to feed into my music.” He continues: “As a classically trained musician, it can sometimes feel as though you need to play a million notes in 10 minutes. That’s somehow seen as the pinnacle but, actually trying to pare that back and demonstrate that, if I press this note twice, and I press the second note quieter than the first, that can also be amazing. I think that’s something I discovered whilst looking at modernist buildings and thinking specifically about the architects’ intent. I became fascinated by Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright – all architects who were thinking about using space to create a range of different feelings.”

Saturnine was the track Simeon chose to perform at Domus on a damp September day on the very edge of summer. So sodden were skies above Reedley that the fire was lit and the terraces and balconies that connect the house to the garden were mostly viewed from behind closed glass doors. When asked why he chose a piece that is both languorous and lively for the Domus performance, he said: “Initially, I did think it would it be better to have something that was a little more serene, but I settled on something that I think is actually quite bold. It’s one of the busiest pieces that I have. It builds up to a central climax around four minutes in. It’s sweet at the beginning, but when the main theme starts coming in around the one minute, it becomes quite gnarly and tense. There is a sense of warmth and coldness; of downwards and upwards movement, which somehow reflects the experience I had of walking through Domus – from outside to inside, up and down stairs, discovering these arresting vistas and details. I do think the piece kind of matches that sense of flow as you start to explore the space.”

Simeon describes himself as a “musical nomad”. He resists definition, instead inviting listeners to find stillness and meaning as much in the spaces between the notes as the notes themselves. “When I play live,” he explains, “the pieces don’t always necessarily sound the same as they do on the recording. It’s not improvised, but I do consciously think about existing in a space a little differently for each performance and allowing that spaciousness to feed a conscious slowing down. Life is so busy, I’d like my music to enable listeners to just to enjoy that space, enjoy the light, enjoy the moment.”

Simeon Walker is touring the UK this autumn; you can subscribe to his Substack here.

If you are a composer or a musician and you would like to feature in one of our films, please email info@themodernhouse.com