The Cat Frog, Lechuga Zafiro

Composers talk to Verity Sharp about how their creativity has been shaped by an animal species, how it has formed their approach to making music, and what they’ve discovered about the natural world in the process.

Each episode explores how an animal has served as a muse or guide to expand their musical palette with diverse sets of thinking, ranging from personal healing to musical virtuosity and local ecological concerns. These musicians often incorporate field recordings or natural sounds into their work, treating nature as a collaborator.

DJ and musician Lechuga Zafiro has always been fascinated by frogs – in particular the cat frog (la rana gato in Spanish), with its distinctive cat-like wail. Surrounded by its sounds growing up in Uruguay, he started collecting field recordings from a young age. In this episode, he shares his process for merging the animal world into his dance tracks. Is the frog nature’s answer to the synthesiser?

Produced by Tess Davidson
Production support from Rebecca Lennon
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Additional field recordings by Lechuga Zafiro
Featuring extracts from Desde los Oídos de un Sapo