Scottish Musicians Turn Bat Calls Into Dance Music

When most people think of bats, electronic dance music probably doesn't come to mind. But after listening to their echolocation calls, Scottish artists Hanna Tuulikki and Tommy Perman heard something extraordinary hiding in the ultrasonic frequencies.

Their new album, Echo in the Dark, transforms the calls of eight UK bat species into club-ready tracks. Using special bat detectors, they made the normally inaudible sounds hearable, revealing clicks, buzzes, and rhythms that sound surprisingly similar to electronic music.

The project started in 2022 when an arts venue in Arbroath, Scotland, commissioned Tuulikki to create bat-inspired work. She immediately thought of dance music and brought Perman on board.

"What you hear is extraordinary," Perman said. "Clicks, buzzes, rhythms and warbles that could easily be mistaken for samples from electronic dance music."

The artists collected recordings from 13 of the UK's 18 bat species, working with local bat conservation groups. Each species brought its own unique sound to the mix.

The lesser horseshoe bat produces rippling calls perfect for dub music. The Daubenton's bat creates syncopated rhythms that sound like a jazz drummer.

Tuulikki wove her voice through the processed bat calls, creating what they describe as a human-bat hybrid soundscape. The result challenges everything you thought you knew about these misunderstood mammals.

Before the album drops on August 28 through Glasgow label KIN-TU, the duo tested the concept with outdoor "silent bat raves." Audiences danced through headphones at dusk while real bats flew overhead.

The Ripple Effect

The project comes at a crucial time for bat conservation. A recent survey found that 46% of people in the UK hold negative feelings about bats, despite their vital role in ecosystems.

Perman and Tuulikki aren't trying to lecture anyone into changing their minds. Instead, they're using the universal language of dance music to spark curiosity.

"Dance music has always been a space where people can come together and feel part of something bigger," Perman explained. "We hope the album can nurture a different kind of relationship with the more-than-human world, one rooted in curiosity and care rather than fear."

The dream is simple: someone who never thought twice about bats puts on the record and comes away feeling differently. If even a handful of listeners head outside to listen for bats or support conservation efforts, the artists will consider it a win.

Sometimes changing hearts doesn't require facts and figures but finding the rhythm that already exists in nature.