Born in 1955 in Cumbria in the North of England Storey grew up on the wilds of the Solway Firth. This vast and open landscape was to colour both his visual work and later his music. The Scottish border was just a half mile away across the mudflats which were exposed when the tide was out. When the tide was in the landscape transformed into mirror-flat wetlands which reflected the huge sky above.

Storey went to the local village school until, at age 11, he passed the exam for entry into the grammar school at Wigton.

From there he went to Carlisle Art college and after successfully completing the Foundation year there he progressed to the degree course at Sunderland Art School where he obtained a BA. Hons in Fine Art in 1977.

While studying fine arts at Sunderland University, he began pursuing a long-held interest in sound manipulation by taking classes in electronic and experimental composition, additionally joining with friends to perform the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen

(a key influence, as were the Krautrock bands of the early 1970s).

After leaving Art school Storey had a number of jobs including graphic artist at Durham county Council.

From 1979-1994 he worked a freelance Audio Visual Engineer at Seen and Heard and later Target Communications.

Concurrently he also trained and eventually taught, as a printmaker and graphic artist at Charlotte Press Workers Co-operative in Newcastle Upon Tyne.(1977-1989

In 1980 Storey became a founding member of the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france:, remaining a member until 1992 and contributing extensively to, what is generally accepted to be, the peak of the bands creative output .

Notably graphic art and printmaking were defining elements in the early Zoviet France releases which included hand made sleeves with strong graphic imagery and many of the sleeves were printed in Charlotte Press.

1992: Storey issued the first Rapoon album, Dream Circle, “its entrancing fusion of Indian ragas, African rhythms and experimental textures anticipating the evocative soundscapes of the many releases to follow”(Allmusic.com)

In 2003 Storey returned to University and in 2004 attained a Masters Degree in Creative Music technology at Newcastle University.

Storey has collaborated widely and has produced albums with artists including Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia) Steven Wilson (Bass Communion,Porcupine tree) Nigel Ayers (Nocturnal Emissions ) Randy Grief, Russian Folk singer Tatyana Stepchenko aka.Toloka, Pas Musique and many others.

As well as producing his own abstract animated films he has also produced work for soundtracks for Independent films including Randy Grief's award winning film “the Three Trials” and award winning film by NY independent artist Nadine Shamounki with her film “Effaced” ,Maxim Zaharov’s film “BORING”, and David Holmes “I am Here “ for Channel 4

Storey has also produced two best-selling sound loop libraries for Sony Media and has had his work used for TV advertising.

In 2011 Storey produced music and visuals for his first dance collaboration (with Johanna Devi) which was performed at London’s BloomsBury Theatre that same year.

Later that same year (2011)Storey again worked with Johanna Devi and Eva Balzar on a dance production “Hybrid Identities”

which was premiered in Berlin.

In 2015 Storey’s first book “ A Pale Blue Door” was published with a promise of more to follow.

The Opera Le songe de Sonia   (Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon 2015 : and  KnAM Theatre in Russia / Komsomolsk on Amur) Features Rapoon music :

Rapoon music featured in the short film NONEXISTENT  TRIBES by Ukranian artist Oksana Levchenya.

This was as part of an Exhibition of her textile work at Centre For Contemporary Arts in Kiev:

Spanning across various genres Storey’s music has remained ellusive and difficult to pigeon hole. His work has also ventured into the world of sound installations and contemporary conceptual art: With contributions to exhibitions in Los Angeles :”Ear as Eye” :1997:

“Otherness” 2007: (along with such dignitaries as Eno and Cluster, Faust and Karlheinz Stockhausen)  through to “noise and whispers “ London 2013 and “Grasslands Dream of Electric Sheep” Loop30 Gallery, Augsburg, Germany.

From a review of recent release (2022) Skulls on the plains of Turkey: “ another gem in his gigantic discography, which not only appears to be a great portion of ethnic ambient music. Its main advantage is precisely this discreet, natural and extremely warm sound embedded in cleverly dosed samples that blur the barriers between what is natural and synthetic. Fantastic album! “

ANXIOUS MAGAZINE PL

And this:   

Conclusion: Rapoon is now active for more than thirty years and has released a countless number of masterpieces in a very own genre. This is for sure one of the most poignant new productions from the past years.

Sideline reviews

2023