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Albany Is

Smartphone APP | Interactive audio journey
What does a place sound like when it starts telling its own story?

Albany Is, gathers the voices and soundscapes of the people who shaped this extraordinary place.

Part oral history, part interactive podcast, Albany Is invites you to walk through town in the company of the people who know it best.

Free to listen. Download now.  
What is Albany Is?
Albany Is, an app-based immersive audio experience that draws on more than 170 recorded interviews.

From Menang Elders and broader Noongar community members whose connection to this Country stretches back tens of thousands of years, to post-war migrants who built new lives from the ground up, to teenagers figuring out what this place means to them right now.

The journeys are organised around themes that emerged directly from the interviews: the visceral industrial past of the whaling station and the Woollen Mills; the farmers and scientists now repairing the ecological damage those industries left behind; the routes people have taken to reach this corner of the continent, and the reasons they stayed.  

Other journeys explore Albany's position on the edge of the world, the invisible labour of the women who kept the town running, the kinetic energy of the Snake Run, the decades-long fight for a surf reef, and the powerful convergence where Western science is finally catching up to millennia of Menang knowledge.
Local Stories
The interviews carry stories from the 1890s through to today. You will hear from pharmacists, fishermen, poets, skaters, lighthouse keepers' wives, and a 92-year-old who has spent a lifetime reading the harbour's water temperatures, while recent workshops with Albany Senior High School and the Follow the Dream program bring younger voices into the mix, capturing perspectives on growing up in Albany that haven’t been heard before.  

The experience features more than 130 unique voices, and you take each journey at your own pace.

Albany Is, presented by FORM and produced by Envelope Audio and Barking Wolf, as part of the Albany 2026 program. Lotterywest is a Major Supporter of the City of Albany 2026 Program. Minderoo Foundation is proud to be the Lead Partner of Albany Is.
“The Country is the biggest teacher of all. We’re just, you know, passing changelings, passing through time.”
Stephen HoppeR - botanist / Albany Is contributor
How to Listen

Albany Is unfolds as a collection of listening journeys through the voices of Albany, and every journey branches as you go.

Choose a journey
Each journey follows one thread of Albany’s story, told in the voices of the people who lived it. Pick one from the home screen. Headphones are best, and most journeys run between 20 and 45 minutes, depending on the path you take.

Two ways to listen
Every journey opens with two ways in. Begin Journey lets you steer: at each fork you choose which voice to follow, so the story is shaped by you. Guided Listen makes those choices for you and plays straight through, for when you’d rather sit back and let it unfold.

When the story branches
Every so often the story offers you two paths, and you’ll hear each one introduced. Tap the voice you want to follow, and the journey carries on down that path.

There’s more to find
Finish a journey and you’ll unlock more: a map of the real places behind its stories, doorways into related journeys, and the full collection of voices. No two listens branch quite the same way, and the journeys are made to be replayed.

Ten Doors
Albany Is - Ten Doors acts a taste of each of the ten Journeys in the app, offering listeners a glimpse into a range of stories to sample the rich history, culture, and characters they can discover in the full Albany Is app.
FORM · Albany Is - Ten Doors
FAQs
What is ALBANY IS?

Close your eyes and listen. What does Albany sound like? The crash of waves, the rustle of wind, or perhaps it’s the songs and stories that echo through its hills and streets.  Albany Is, is an immersive soundscape capturing the essence of this extraordinary place.

Co-created by FORM, Envelope Audio, Barking Wolf and the local community, Albany Is weaves together the voices and sounds of the region into a living, breathing portrait of Albany. The creation stories of the Menang people, the Traditional Owners of this land, are interwoven with sea shanties, marching boots, birdcalls, and ocean waves layered in. Each whisper unveils the many stories of Albany’s multicultural identity.

This is an opportunity for Albany’s people to share their stories, celebrate their heritage, and leave a legacy. Download the app and take it walking along the coastal and city trails, or listen from anywhere in the world.

Why is it happening?

Albany Is is part of FORM's trio of events for Albany 2026. The City of Albany’s ambitions are for events during Albany 2026 to:

  • Promote Albany as a regional centre for high quality art, cultural and tourism experiences.
  • Highlight and celebrate Western Australia’s unique culture and stories, particularly those of the Menang Noongar people.  
  • Broaden awareness of Albany and the Great Southern Region as a tourism destination.
  • Increase visitation to and spend in Albany, and more broadly the Great Southern Region.
WHERE CAN I FIND ALBANY IS?

The experience has been designed to be an interative audio journey, which you can control and experience via a smartphone app. Available currently from the App Store and the Google Play Store. It is free to download and listen.

Who ARE the CREATIVE PRODUCERS?

Envelope Audio brings together the work of Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan. With a combined media industry experience spanning over 25 years, Envelope aims to bring the highest quality creative and technical prowess in Audio Post Production, Music Composition and Sound Design across all media formats. Based on Whadjuk Noongar country in Fremantle, Western Australia and serving a global client base, Envelope Audio produces sound that moves and flexes the emotional muscle behind every piece that they work on.

Barking Wolf is the sound design and production practice of Tom Allum. Founded in 2013 and based on Bibbulmun and Menang Noongar Country in Western Australia, Barking Wolf creates reflective sound based works across documentary, film and television post production, podcasts, exhibitions and community projects, with the act of listening at the centre of the practice.

Together, Envelope Audio and Barking Wolf are the creative producers of Albany Is, shaping hundreds of hours of interview and archival recordings into the app's listening journeys.

Who was involved?

Project Producer
FORM

Direction & Concept
Josh Hogan

App Development
Steve Berrick

Creative Producers
Envelope Audio
Barking Wolf

Narrator
Josh Hogan

Sound Team
Josh Hogan
Tom Allum
Ned Beckley
Javiera Ortega
Julian Oliver

‍
‍With thanks to‍

State Library of Western Australia
Gondwana Link
WA Museum
Albany Historic Whaling Station
Albany Public Library
ABC Great Southern
University of Western Australia
Vancouver Arts Centre
Rotary Club of Albany Port WA (inc.)
Albany Senior High School
Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee
Albany Volleyball Association
Albany Heritage & Wildflower Society
Albany Shantymen


Archival interviews

Sincerest thanks to the following oral historians for their work on the archival interviews.

Yvonne Choules
Sally Hodgson
Donald S. Garden
Ian Morgan
Ronda Jamieson
Rhys Jones
Erica Harvey
Michelle Bunting
Colin Puls
Luke Griffiths ‍


Special thanks

To the following people for their support of the project.

Molly Schmitt
Denyse MacNish
Candice Matthews
Nic Duncan
Margaret Robertson
David Marshall
Sue Lefroy
Keith Bradby
Rhys Jones
Tim Martin
Hannah McGuffie
Michael Cramer
Corioli Souter
Adam Gregory
Jack Sellenger
Malcolm Traill
Catherine Salmaggi
Crispin Travers
Tiffany Shellam
Atlas Cook
Jenny Rickerby
Corrina Ossinger
Catherine Vasiliu
Natalie Radivojevic
Natalie Wallen
Donna Cameron
Anna Kosky
Jen Bane
Julia Seitz
Alex Coombes

Who are the voices?


With gratitude to everyone who shared their stories.

Heather Adams
Margaret Grace
Carol Pettersen
Jaysinn Allan
Gary Greenwald
Renee Pettitt-Schipp
Stan Austin
Sheila Hall
Douglas Pope
Aline Charney Barber
Gen Harvey
Lois Quadesmith
Barry
Rob Hicks
Lucia Quearry
Pela Behrendt
Albert Hird
Bob Reeby
Larry Blight
Brenda Holland
Elizabeth Reid
Peter Bolt
Stephen Hopper
Tim Saggers
Kellie Bond
Jim Hull
Kim Scott
Joshua Booth
Dorrit Hunt
Tiffany Shellam
Wendy Bradshaw
Darren Hurstman
Adrian Shepherd
Stuart Clements
Natalie Jarvis
Lowanna Singleton
Bobby Colbung
Justin Jonson
Corioli Souter
Glen Colbung
Danny Kennedy
Greg Stocks
Jessie Coyne
Chantelle Kerr
Kim Stubbs
Lester Coyne
Lucy Kershaw
Mick Stubbs
Sydney Coyne
Lynette Knapp
Mel Sulzberger
Charis Crane
Sylvia Leighton
Fred Swarbrick
Rachel Croston
Saz Lockyer
Bob Symons
Gordon Cruickshank
Geoffrey Lodge
Alexis Taylor
Anthony Csermelyi
Simon London
Dal Taylor
Shandell Cummings
Jake Loreto
James Taylor
Jack Davies
Alison Lullfitz
Barbara Temperton
Maree Dawes
Lululu
Laurie Terlick
Averil Dean
Peter Luscombe
Paul Terry
Lindsay Dean
Ciaran Lynch
Gary Tonkin
Albert De Pledge
Steve Macaulay
Malcolm Traill
Andrew Dickinson
Lynn MacLaren
Crispin Travers
Lorna Dixon
Ella Maesepp
Loretta Upton
Jon Doust
John Manley
Jeandre van den Heever
Sarah Drummond
Jack Martin
Julie Vanka
Nic Dunlop
Valentina Matteini
Eddy Wajon
Eugene Eades
Jean-Michel Maujean
Natalie Wallen
Fred Edmonds
Chris McRae
Cor Wals
Thomas Endean
Glenn Moore
Colin Westerberg
Cassandra Fletcher
Ted Mouchemore
Ethel White
Ezzard Flowers
Alfred Newby
Darryl (Rutai) Williams
Warren Flynn
Gordon Norman
Wayne Winchester
Maurice Fong
Michael O'Doherty
Andy Woonings
Vernice Gillies
Colin Ostle
Ray Woonings
Frank Gomm
Sally Pell

Albany Senior High School students

Charlie
Molly
Robert
Estella
Monique
Sherwin
Kayla
Nathan
Sitara
Logan
Oliver
Talen

‍

Where can I get more information?

Want to know more? Visit albany2026.com.au/flagship/balgang-albany

‍For any questions or media requests, please contact our team at media@form.net.au or call the FORM office on 08 9385 2200.  

Who IS FORM?

FORM is an independent, not-for-profit arts and cultural organisation with headquarters on Whadjuk Noongar land in Perth. Our mission is to be a leader in developing a vibrant creative economy for the benefit and wellbeing of all Western Australian communities.

We connect and collaborate with communities, creative practitioners, businesses and all levels of government throughout the State. We explore and empower meaningful social and cultural engagement through artistic projects, high-impact partnerships, and creative learning programs.  

In responding to Western Australia’s size, diversity, economic complexity and creative potential, we’re unafraid to push boundaries in supporting the growth of confident, expressive mindsets and lives.

Partners
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Creative Producer
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Our Work

Public Silo Trail
Field of Light: Avenue of Honour
Scribblers on the Road

Get in touch

If you'd like to chat with us about what we do, how we can work together or to simply connect with us, we'd love to hear from you.
[EMAIL]
mail@form.net.au
[PHONE]
+61 (08) 9385 2200
[ADDRESS]
L4, 99 ST GEORGES TCE, PERTH
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Copyright © FORM 2026
FORM acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, both the Whadjuk Noongar people in Perth and the Traditional Custodians across Western Australia where we work. We honour and pay respect to community Elders and to their ancestors who survived and cared for this Country.
FORM acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, both the Whadjuk Noongar people in Perth and the Traditional Custodians across Western Australia where we work. We honour and pay respect to community Elders and to their ancestors who survived and cared for this Country.
FORM acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, both the Whadjuk Noongar people in Perth and the Traditional Custodians across Western Australia where we work. We honour and pay respect to community Elders and to their ancestors who survived and cared for this Country.