"The Smalls Street Sounds" Interviews Steve Elkins
On December 14th 2009, The Smalls launched Street Sounds, a new interactive online project aiming to create a sort of sonic landscape of the United States by overlaying local sound snippets on Google Maps. This sonic map charts the country as heard and recorded by its citizens: a tropical Florida thunderstorm, subway performers on New York City's 6 train headed uptown, morning birds in Wyoming, or a walk though San Francisco's Chinatown (to name a few examples).
In May 2010, The Smalls held their first film competition in which filmmakers submitted original films containing audio downloaded from the sonic map. Steve Elkins served as a judge for the competition, alongside Rolling Stone Magazine Design Director Owen Fegan, Sundance Channel Director of Branded Entertainment Monique Frumberg, A&E VP of On-Air Promotions Valerie Albanese, Partizan Director Nima Nourizadeh, and Founder of The Warren Report and Head of Development for LOCKSPRING PICTURES Warren Etheredge.
Results of the competition were reported in Variety magazine and winners received camera equipment to make new films. "The Smalls" interview with Steve Elkins is included on their sonic map of the US, and can be heard here: http://www.thesmalls.com/streetsounds/?title=Interview%20with%20Steve%20Elkins&soundID=614