The sound recordist is honoured by the Australian Screen Sound Guild for his 37 years working in Australian film and TV.

The sound of Australia is iconic: sizzling barbecues, chirping crickets and the crackle of dry summer air. It’s a familiar atmosphere that we might take for granted – but sound recordist James Currie has dedicated his career to conjuring that familiar soundscape for the cinema. At a ceremony in Sydney on Sunday, Currie was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Screen Sound Guild for his 37 year career capturing that quintessentially Aussie atmosphere on tape.

Currie studied music and film at the Elder Conservatorium and Flinders University, and joined the South Australian Film Corporation in 1973. Since then, he has gone on to create and record unique sound environments for almost 100 Australian films and TV projects, including work with acclaimed directors Rolf de Heer and Paul Cox.

Currie said he was shocked to win the award since he’s not a mainstream artist. “I occasionally dabble in the mainstream,” he said in an interview with ABC, “but my main life has been with the underground, alternative cinema and those auteurs, so it was a big...