Listening as Craft: Jeff Simmons on Audio in Trees, Attention, and the Art of Slowing Down

There are conversations about building.
There are conversations about leading.
And then there are conversations about listening.

This one is about listening.

Jeff Simmons joins us to explore what happens when you turn toward the soundscape instead of away from it — when you stop filling silence and start paying attention to what’s already there.

Jeff is the founder of Audio in Trees, a project rooted in environmental field recording and deep listening. His work is simple on the surface: go outside, record, and preserve the sound of a place.

But what unfolds is something much deeper.

The Sound Beneath the Noise

We live in an era of constant input.

Notifications.
Headphones.
Background music.
Commentary layered on commentary.

Jeff’s work asks a quiet question:

What if the most important signal is the one we’ve trained ourselves to ignore?

Wind moving through branches.
The rhythm of insects at dusk.
Distant machinery blending into landscape.
The shifting tone of a neighborhood at different hours.

These aren’t background details. They are stories.

Jeff shares how field recording changes the way you move through the world — how it demands patience, stillness, and a willingness to let moments unfold without forcing them.

Presence Over Performance

One of the most compelling threads in this conversation is intention.

Jeff isn’t chasing an algorithm.
He isn’t optimizing for scale.
He isn’t manufacturing spectacle.

He records because the act of listening matters.

There’s something quietly radical about creating work that isn’t built around applause.

Audio in Trees exists because the experience itself is meaningful — not because it demands attention.

In a culture obsessed with amplification, that restraint feels rare.

Technology as a Bridge, Not a Barrier

Jeff uses modern tools — microphones, field recorders, editing software — but they’re not the point.

They’re bridges.

Technology, in this context, becomes a way to honor something fleeting. To preserve a moment that would otherwise disappear.

The episode explores this paradox: how advanced gear can either distance us from the world… or bring us closer to it.

It depends on intention.
The Discipline of Slowing Down
Slowing down sounds simple.

It isn’t.

Jeff describes the discipline required to wait — to let a soundscape evolve without interrupting it. To stay longer than is comfortable. To resist the urge to check your phone or fill the silence.

Creative patience isn’t passive. It’s active restraint.

And that restraint sharpens perception.

If Episode #234 explored resilience through action, Episode #235 explores awareness through stillness.

Both are forms of strength.