Once niche in the world of independent adult content creators, ASMR-themed erotic content has become increasingly popular among this group. As both ASMR and platforms like OnlyFans have blossomed over the last year at home, the integration of the two has been a natural progression. Until now, though, the blending had only occurred on a micro level through solo creators making content at home. But with the release of filmmaker Erika Lust’s new XConfessions project, ASMR: The Sound of Sex, the tingly sounds of soft whispers and wet touch find a natural place in a studio-level adult production.
Starring Luna Corazón, Nat Portnoy, Maximo Garcia and Lust herself, ASMR establishes the experience of ASMR as inherently sexual, capturing how the sensuality of seemingly non-sexual sounds mirror perfectly with those of sex itself. Below, Lust explains the inspiration for the film and the future of the practice within the adult industry.
In your introduction at the beginning of the film, you explain how ASMR as a genre can broadly be described as making people horny and recreating sounds of sex. I’m curious how you came to this conclusion. Or more directly, what was your first introduction to ASMR, and did you immediately find it to have an erotic component?
I’ve always been interested in depicting the most varied types of fantasies and desires, as well as to explore the erotic potential of different kind of media, as I already did with illustrations and cartoon, for example. From the moment ASMR videos and ASMRtists became an online trend, people have been talking about having “brain orgasms’” when watching/listening to them and that, of course, fascinated me.
With my films at XConfessions, Lust Cinema and Else Cinema, I always wanted to focus on the details of sex — the touches, the breaths, how our skin and facial expressions change and how each and every body reacts differently to different stimuli. As a filmmaker, I’m used to focusing on the visual power of sex representation, so when I received this confession where an anonymous user told me how everybody is so obsessed with visuals and hardly want to focus on the sounds of sex, I couldn’t help but accept the challenge. I find sexual sounds a huge turn-on.
The tingling sensation provoked by ASMR, starting in the scalp and traveling down the spine, is extremely pleasurable and made me think of the physical sensations that a certain touch, bite or word whispered in our ear can spark in our bodies in moments of seduction and sex. So I thought I’d challenge myself with this new, exciting exploration and combine the sensuous, intimate narrative of ASMR with the visually arousing representation of sex.
It’s been a challenging project, which I had a lot of fun working on thanks to my team and amazing performers, Luna, Nat and Maximo. I also loved how we managed to combine the aural stimulation with the communication of each other’s desires; the performers start their sensory, erotic experience by looking at each other in the eyes while saying on the microphone words of sensual, mutual appreciation. The sounds of sex play a huge part in excitement, so I wanted to focus on their arousing power.
What does ASMR offer that might be missing from traditional pornography?
The focus on the sensations and small, yet very important details of sex. Most of the porn we see online is very unrealistic and doesn’t seem to focus on pleasure and the evolution of sensations in sex. It concentrates instead on the physical athleticism of performers and visually extreme sex positions and scenarios. Incorporating ASMR in pornography is a good way to show that sex isn’t only about penetration, fast-paced narratives and violent language, but can and should be mainly about exploration, curiosity and communication.
There’s much more to human sexuality and sensuality than what’s usually depicted in mainstream porn. Making porn with cinematic values and exploring the possibilities that come with that allows us not only to show the passion and the real pleasure of the performers having sex in front of the camera, but also to play with visuals and sounds to create a powerful, unique cinematic experience. ASMR can really immerse you into a sensory, mind-blowing journey, and I loved to combine it with hypnotic, erotic images that focus on those details of sex that seem most interesting to me — the touches, the thrills, the breaths, the kisses…
How did you go about capturing the ASMR elements of the film, and how do these techniques differ from more traditional films?
The biggest difference from non-ASMR-oriented films is how the sound was recorded. Given the nature of the film, we used a lot more mics than we usually need to capture the sound. Normally, for the sex scene we use one or two mics — for ASMR, only with the staging, we had 12 mics!
The most interesting part was using the binaural mic, which is meant to simulate human listening; when you hear the sounds that have been recorded by it, it gives you the maximum tingling sensation. The binaural sound adds another dimension to the common stereo as it makes you feel like you’re really there with the performers (and me). Isn’t that exciting?
I’ve written before about how some ASMR creators who got their start on YouTube have since transitioned to making ASMR-related adult content, with Patreon or OnlyFans offerings in addition to their non-adult content on YouTube. Do you see ASMR as something with a bigger future in adult content?
Yes, just like many sex workers, there are many ASMRtists who gained a career thanks to their OnlyFans or Patreon channels, where they create their own content, build up their own audience and have control over their incomes. OnlyFans is proving that “adult content” doesn’t mean just nudes and the physical act of sex, but can involve more intimacy, connection and authenticity. ASMR isn’t inherently sexual, but the intimate space it creates through sounds and the way it stimulates our fantasies can enhance the sexual experience for sure. ASMR and its tingles can put you in a trance by tempting your imagination and deeply arousing you.
I can see ASMR erotica making its way more and more in adult content, as it allows creators to build more intimacy with their clients, make their dirty talk more intriguing, and in general, create another type of erotica that focuses on sensory pleasures without being “straight-up” porn. ASMR erotica has the potential to be so many things really, and I’m sure that in the upcoming years, more and more adult creators will want to incorporate it in their work, as I did with ASMR. Exploring it myself was great. I suggest you try it, too.
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
