16 Dec 2023
The voices of those we love can be preserved for generations to come thanks to Caroline Pearce and the Audio Biographers…
Imagine no longer remembering the sound of your father’s laughter, the stories your nan told about her childhood, or the faint hints of a dialect when your mum has had a few glasses of wine.
Preserving these priceless memories is the proviso of a St Albans-based company established to keep the past – and those we love – alive forever in specially-curated recordings.
“Everyone has a story to tell,” says Caroline Pearce, who runs The Audio Biographers.
“Hearing a loved one’s voice can provide comfort, especially in difficult times. I recently read about a study showing that hearing a loved one’s voice provokes the same physiological reaction as receiving a hug. Powerful stuff.
“I love the feeling that I’m providing people with something of great value, which they will appreciate and treasure for many years.”
The Audio Biographers was originally established by former St Albans couple Diana and Mike Tibble, who handed it over to Caroline in 2020, although Mike still helps with editing the recordings.
Caroline, who has lived in the district since 2002, has a long background in audio histories: “I’ve been interviewing people from all walks of life for more than 30 years: corporate bosses, charity volunteers, young people, parents, grandparents, survivors of trauma, elderly people, people with life-limiting illnesses, some with dementia, and so on, for a variety of purposes including an exhibition at St Albans Museum + Gallery in 2021, and the Roots project, telling immigrant stories including that of a Holocaust survivor, which are now housed in an archive at the University of Herts.
“Shortly before my mother passed away in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, I interviewed her about her life.
“She was reluctant because of her shyness, also claiming that she had nothing of interest to talk about. However, it didn’t take long before she was delighting in her memories of her teenage years when, during the Second World War, friends of her sisters – later their husbands – brought their vinyl records to their home wearing their forces uniforms, and danced to Glenn Miller and the like in the living room.
“The family housed a German Jewish refugee who was parted from his family, some of whom he never saw again. Mum kept the very moving letter that his mother wrote to her parents, thanking them for taking care of her son. After leaving school at the age of 15, Mum worked at the iconic HMV store in Oxford Street, a job she absolutely loved, when one of her tasks was to send records to the armed forces serving in Europe.
“She recalled meeting my father at a dance: the perfect gentleman, he kissed her on the forehead when they parted. The first time Mum travelled on a plane was to go to Jersey on her honeymoon. And so it goes.”
She stresses again: “Everyone has a story to tell. An audio biography is as much social history as personal, family history.”
Before any recording session Caroline talks the storytellers through the process, sending them some questions and prompts to help them consider what anecdotes and aspects of their lives they’d like to share.
Using professional recording equipment to ensure the best sound quality, one interview of up to three hours is recorded, either at their home or over video call, as long as they can be undisturbed.
Once the recording begins clients tell their stories, encouraged and prompted with questions based on the information received in advance. After the interview is wound up the recording is sent to story editor Mike, who works on cutting out hesitations and repetitions, as well as eliminating Caroline’s voice as much as possible.
She explains: “My aim is for the interview to be an enjoyable process and I do my best to help clients feel relaxed, reassured and comfortable. It’s important to note that the
agenda is all theirs: they can choose what they talk about and what they leave out.
“My job is to facilitate the storytelling and to enable an essence of the person to be captured for posterity, not to attempt to dig out memories they don’t wish to share.
“Equally, if they forget dates or place names or other details I assure them that they
needn’t worry, it’s more about what they remember than trying to retrieve lost details of whether something happened in 1948 or ‘49; we won’t be fact-checking.
“Any hesitations or the ’ums and ahs’ that often pepper our speech are edited out later so the storyteller doesn’t have to worry about that either.
“Some people feel they have nothing of interest to share, which is very clearly untrue as we have all lived unique lives which are so different from the lives of previous and future generations.
“I often remind older people that they didn’t have mobile phones or the internet when they were young, and that their descriptions of corded telephones that were attached to the wall, and staying at home while waiting/hoping for a phone call will doubtless amuse their families.
“It’s hard for young people to imagine a time when televisions had only two or three stations showing pictures in black and white, and could only be operated by switches on the television itself!
“Some people find it easier to talk to someone they don’t know than a family member about their experiences, as there’s no family ‘baggage’ to contend with, no judgement and complete objectivity.
“Clients have described the experience of sitting and chatting with someone who is genuinely interested in hearing about their lives to be fun, enjoyable, comforting, companionable, cathartic, therapeutic, and so on.”
Some of the stories Caroline has recorded include:
- Alf – a former RAF bomber pilot during the Second World War who absolutely didn’t want to talk about the war, but then told her why he didn’t want to talk about the war.
- Sue – she found out as a teenager that she had older two half-sisters from her father’ first – and as it turned out only marriage – by an incredibly bizarre coincidence she later found a full sister who had been given up for adoption that her parents never told her about. Sue had never told this story before, and wanted to make sure it was preserved for her family.
- David – he came to St Albans from Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a cousin of Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate fame;
- Maureen – the oldest storyteller to date, she was 101 years old when Caroline interviewed her, and had lived in St Albans for her whole life;
- Reg – he had a stall selling items at Kings Cross station in the 1970s;
- Peggy – a St Albans resident who wants her audio biography played at her funeral.
- Pauline – whose family travelled to Australia and New Zealand where she spent her early years before returning to the UK and settling in Hertfordshire.
The final edited version of a client’s audio biography is copied onto a USB memory stick in a bespoke gift box and delivered to them personally. A digital copy of the audio biography can also be emailed if required. Additional USBs can be purchased to keep or for friends and family.
Visit the Audio Biographers website at https://www.audiobiographers.co.uk, contact Caroline via carolinepearce@
audiobiographers.co.uk and see Facebook for more information at: https://www.facebook.com/theaudiobiographers
