Pauline Anna Strom

Like a wild moon, Pauline Anna Strom first appeared at the dawn of San Francisco’s new age and ambient scenes; a synthesist pioneer transcribing echoes of our distant epochs into future-facing sound. From the cosmic centrepoint of her Bay Area apartment, Strom composed and recorded a diverse catalog of full-length releases as the Trans-Millenia Consort between 1982 and 1988, pulling vast stretches of space and time into lucent phonic horizons. Strom’s capacity to channel primordial energies into sound has evolved with the spiritual healing practice she began during her absence from music. As both a composer and a distance healer, she works from the sanctuary of her home, attuned to the power of listening “one-on-one.” Strom, who was born blind, shares that John would spend hours with her reading aloud the manuals for her synthesizers; a ritual preceding her transcendent single-take recording sessions, conducted in isolation with her reptile companions and hardware. For Strom, composing is a way to process sensory experiences in real-time, influenced only by vivid inner worlds which harness the far, independent reaches of her sound. “You become your own highest authority,” Strom says of being guided by these impulses. “I strongly believe in the individual, not buying into a style or way of living, but being true to who you are inside.” Text by Britt Seaton