Music from the Peak @ No Bounds Festival 2026

From ancient paths and caves guarding mysteries to the songs of plants, three artists perform new music inspired by the land, people and stories of the Peak District.

As part of YSWN’s Changing Gear programme and marking the 75^th anniversary of the creation of the Peak District National Park, Layla Legard, Gilank and Eleanor Hooper each present a response to this unique landscape, weaving together electronics, haunting layered vocals, field recordings, deep listening and improvisation to transport us to worlds both on our doorstep and further than we can imagine.

Layla Legard: This Is A Portal
Half of the experimental duo Hawthonn and drummer with Welsh-language avant-goth band Tristwch y Fenywod, Leeds-based vocalist and musician Layla Legard draws inspiration from landscape and place via archaeological research, imaginative and magical practices, and improvisation.

This is a Portal developed from field recordings and improvisations at Hob Thirst’s House: a cave near Buxton where in the 1890s a Romano-British burial was discovered, with coins, jewellery and precious objects suggesting offerings at a religious site. The piece uses treated field recordings of ancient instruments combined with impulse responses, tape loops, gong and spoken word to explore a collaboration with a presence that continues to linger in the cave.

Gilank: Cavus
Creating improvised sound worlds of hypnotic beauty and strangeness, Bradford ambient duo Gilank (Alice Gilmour and shi Blank) combine synths, electronics and effects with acoustic instruments including violin, cello, flute, percussion and vocals.

Born out of a visit to Poole’s Cavern near Buxton, Cavus seeks to capture the mystery, darkness and timeless majesty of a place shaped over thousands of years. Awed and slightly unnerved by the vastness of the space, Gilank began exploring how those emotions might become music. Acoustic and electronic instruments merge with field recordings from the visit, allowing the cave itself to become part of the composition.

Eleanor Hooper: Go Gather Bones
Eleanor Hooper is a Sheffield-based singer, composer and sound artist making lyrical, voice-centred work, rooted in deep listening and moving between song, sound art and installation.

Go Gather Bones is an evolving musical exploration of a deep connection with places in the Peak District as sonic collaborators, using field recordings, deep listening, vocal improvisation and bio-sonification of plants in these locations. The music comes out of Wet Withens Stone Circle and Barrow, the Seven Stones of Hordron, and the ancient drovers’ path and woods in and around Lawrence Field.

The three performances have been commissioned as part of Changing Gear, YSWN’s programme supporting women and gender-diverse musicians to create new electronic music, and are here presented as part of the No Bounds Festival 2026 programme. For full details and to buy day and weekend tickets, visit the festival website: noboundsfestival.co.uk

Gut Level is a not-for-profit members club and active membership is needed to attend. Membership is open to all and costs as little as £2 for the year. More information on membership and how to sign up on the Gut Level website: gutlevel.co.uk

YSWN is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.