Photo - Kurt Peterson
A beautiful Friday night in late December - a local hall, a beautiful setting and generous people.
Something quite magical happens when playing with these bad ass women - Sue Simpson, Angie Hudson and Emily Lubitz. This was the first gig of hopefully many more to come.
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Photo - Yani Clarke
I met Nat Grant in Melbourne at The Jazzlab when I played with Harry James Angus in early June.
She’s a super rad lady who runs the - heydrums.com - blog.
It’s an Australian blog featuring female drummers, I had a little chat with Nat and wrote some words for her which you can check out - HERE
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Artwork - Aimee Moy
A n o t h e r L i f e
So happy to share 'Another Life' the debut single from Banksia (my band). We recorded this tune earlier in the year at Rocking Horse Studios with Paul Pilsneniks, it's mixed by Steve Schram and mastered by William Bowden. The tune's available to hear through all the normal listening places - you can check it out HERE .
Let us know what you think of it.
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Photo - Kurt Petersen
Playing with Sal Kimber & The Rollin' Wheels
Bellingen - what a time.
It was so busy and lovely all at once. Sharing the stage with Sal Kimber & The Rollin' Wheels was a delight, there's something so special about working with Sal. We had a run through the day before the festival and I immediately felt like I'd known her for ever. A beautiful soul and musician to be around. I also had the chance to share the stage with my friend Kodi under her new project Naga Buah. Having worked on this project in it's demo stage in the studio and then stepping onto stage was a really cool thing! It's always epic seeing your friends projects grow and develop, even better when you're a part of it!
I think my favourite thing about these smaller festivals are the little bits and bobs you get pulled into. For me this year it was the Bello Street Parade. I had a real hoot walking the street of Bello with my old drum teacher to my side (Dave Sanders) yelling out the grooves to all the young drummers. There's something so vibrant about brass and snares. It gets my insides!
Overall a time of good food, lack of sleep and lots of music.
See you next year Bello.
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I laid down the drums for this advertisement in late 2017. It was great fun recording for a tv ad! A whole new experience and way to create, definitely something I'd like to explore more.
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Playing with Harry James Angus - Saturday 18th November
Filled with colour even on the overcast days. As rain falls and puddles got deeper it just feels like happiness gets stronger and smiles get wider. I had the pleasure of playing a number of shows over the weekend with musicians I’ve looked up to for years, beautiful friends and new faces - Harry James Angus, Tinpan Orange, Angie Hudson, the Jesse Young tribute show and a cheeky tune with LadySlug.
Growing up in this area I’ve been a Mullum music festival goer for a while so it was pretty special to be able to play so many shows this year.
It’s such a cool thing that a small town like Mullum can house such a pumping festival. I’m so keen for more Mullum and Bello next year. For more local artists to get the opportunity to perform and be part of something bigger. These festivals feel like home, a cup of tea on a cold day, a cool drink on a warm day. So many familiar faces within the crowd and on stage.
Thank you Mullum for filling my heart.
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Ladyslug playing on Friday night.
Photo - Freyja Hooper
I was invited to go to the Bello Winter Music Festival this year with my friends from Ladyslug.
The festival was glorious - people | sounds | colours | sunshine - it was all stunning.
I was asked along to take photos this year so had the pleasure of doing a lot of listening.
I'm always so inspired after events like this. Seeing Ladyslug killing it each night, watching Hamish Stuart dance across the skins with Lucie Thorne and then Jojo Smith (I always walk away from Hamish's gigs wanting to develop my touch and sensitivity around the kit), having goosebumps after hearing Tinpan Orange perform 'rich man', hanging out and having inspiring conversations with old friends, new friends and patting a large amount of suave dogs.
It's beyond brilliant that a weekend away camping with great company, being immersed amongst creative minds and exploring new places leaves you feeling refreshed and inspired for more.
Can't wait for what next years festival entails.
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EP artwork - Freyja Hooper
The beautiful EP o p e n s I worked on with A N G I E H U D S O N has been released!
I'm so happy to share this EP. It's been a full year. So much playing, listening, thinking, sharing ideas, laughing at ideas, eating dinners in discussion over how the glockenspiel should sound, many cups of tea shared in rehearsals, phone calls, emails, gigs, listening to the same .12 seconds for an hour, disagreements, agreements and just all round a blast of a time.
o p e n s is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud and all other major streaming sites.
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A couple of days before leaving for Boston the trio recorded a couple of songs live at The Big Fish in Brunswick Heads. The Big Fish is a super cool shop with all kinds of odd things scattered about in all directions. We took over for the afternoon and set up a little space in the front of the store to record a couple of tracks. With people coming in and out of the shop, the sound of cars cruising down the street and dogs barking in the distance we had a super cool chilled Brunswick Heads vibe happening.
A big thanks to James Boundy for capturing and shaping our sound and Sharon Shostak for filming and editing the clip.
It was such a lovely thing to do on a winters afternoon.
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Photo - Freyja Hooper
Well my plan to write weekly didn't really work out.
Things got incredibly busy with assignments, practice, hanging out and exploring the city.
It's a little bit bizarre to be back home in Australia now. I feel like I'm still processing the entire experience. Thinking back with smiles towards the different things I experienced, the different feelings I felt walking through the unknown city and making it a known.
The mixture of dislocation and homely feelings - the ups and downs. The feeling of support. The feeling of isolation. The feeling of community. Being so far from home but feeling at ease.
The amazing moment when you look around and see nothing but incredibly creative and passionate people all pushing towards the same thing. Being overwhelmed. Questioning. Freaking out. Relaxing. Laughing. Crying. Laying down in the park to listen to the buskers under the bridge. Watching sunsets from the dock. Exploring markets. Looking up. Going to gigs. Gallery fatigue. Exploring. Hunting for good coffee. Photography days. Gear shopping. Getting lost. Excitement when you see a squirrel. Accent comparisons. Newbury Street Love. Writing words like you've never done. Thought overloads. Pure happiness. Getting caught up in roof lines. Apartment hangs with your new room mates at 2am. There's so much more.
This trip was so much more then Berklee.
Berklee was brilliant. An immense experience like none other. To walk through the halls of such a well known music school was tingle worthy. Hearing so many young musicians practice at all hours of the clock - pushing themselves for better sounds, better tones, better technique, better feel, better control and a better understanding of their sound - an intensity like nothing else.
With 1000 students representing 78 countries it sometimes felt like a city within itself. A sea of faces you didn't have a chance to meet properly. Attending Berklee got me thinking a lot about personal sound. Individual touch. How context and cultural background effect your sound without your control.
I feel like from experiencing Berklee and living in Boston for 7 weeks I've come back with more questions then when I left. I've come back with more thoughts, ideas and feelings.
Life is life - Where ever you are.
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Photo - Freyja Hooper
So I've made it to Boston - Smooth flight. Long transfers. Jet lag. Travel.
A lovely city. Gentle. Smooth paced. Hot. Friendly.
I've been here for a little over a week now and have just completed my first week of classes.
On arrival all students completed a placement audition type thing from which we got streamed into classes of similar ability.
I'm really excited about my Avant. Jazz Ensemble. It's all improvised and keeps you very present. Sitting in a moment of time and space with a beautiful selection of musicians from around the world. I hadn't had the chance to meet any of them individually before kicking into a 10 minute adventure of sound. It's so brilliant and exciting to be able to talk to each other through music. There's no language barrier when it comes to playing. It's amazing how easily we played together and were able to shape, share and listen through our playing. Different contexts and ideas combining in a moment. It leaves you feeling energised - the power of the unknown. Not knowing what note or idea is going to come next. Learning to listen. Learning to respond.
Intuition.
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Photo - Freyja Hooper
Recently I've been thinking about creation and labelling. I don't think they go so well together. So I've been trying to blur my lines. I think everything links anyway. The more you create and explore one field the more it will open up and be part of another. Expand your practice from a different perspective. Let different parts of your brain play and work. Inspire all levels of your creativity.
Sometimes I find myself in a stale headspace musically so I open up my other outlets of expression. I play around on instruments I'm not so comfortable with. Explore photography, illustration, film, drawing or writing. I think creativity sits in the mind. It doesn't matter what your tool is. Expression is always there. It just needs to be engaged. I often find that my ideas on the kit are fresher after spending time playing within another creative outlet. It leaves me exploring the kit in shapes, I start to think of sound quality as angles and groove ideas are played around with like architecture - are they symmetrical? or purposely wonky?
It's all balance.
Being able to tap into which ever outlet feels right in the moment and creating from there.
Creators creating creations.
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Late last year I was looking at all kinds of Grants and Scholarships to try and assist in the financial side of my travels to Boston and I came across the ARTS NSW - Young Regional Artists Scholarship. It's a scholarship designed for innovative young artists from regional areas of NSW to undertake a professional development program in your selected creative practice (music, design, literature, architecture, dance, theatre or other outlets).
I applied to this scholarship and was a successful applicant. I'm feeling super grateful that there's funding and support available for young artists from regional towns to help further pursue their art practice. It's something that joins the link between a hopeful idea and reality. The thread that means further study internationally in my creative practice is possible.
Huge thanks to ARTS NSW for supporting me on this adventure.
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Photo - Emily Read
Angie and I first met in high school in 2010. I remember hearing her delicate and beautiful touch on the guitar and immediately knew I needed to create with her. After jamming and working together on a number of different little projects we went our separate ways for a few years. I completed my Bachelor of Contemporary Music at Southern Cross University while Ange completed her Diploma of Music at NMIT in Melbourne.
In mid 2015 Ange came back to the Northern Rivers after traveling and exploring the world. We met for coffee, jumped into deep conversation about the world (a topic we regularly fall into), discussed who we were listening to at the time and planned for a jam as Ange was interested in getting me to play on her upcoming EP.
Angie sent me her demo's and I immediately had goose bumps. I was so excited to potentially be part of something so real. so raw. so expressive. so human. To be part of something so honest and pure.
I've continued to play with Angie and our bassist Shaun for the past 10 months or so. Over the last few weeks we've been in the studio with the brilliant engineer Paul Pilsneniks recording her 4 track EP which will be released later this year.
I'm really really excited to share these tracks with you.
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For a while now I've wanted to study overseas but I've always been a little apprehensive.
It's always been on my "Wouldn't that be cool" list (a very important list to have) but I never felt strong enough to pull through with it until now... this year I decided I'm going to tick it off.
So in July I'll be attending Berklee's 5 Week Summer Program in Boston specialising in drums.
I'm so keen to develop my creativity and fluidity around the kit, to open up as a player and develop my ear and creative expression.
I know this is going to be quite the experience. Not just for my playing and musicianship but as a person as well - meeting musicians from all around the world, experiencing life so far away from home and comfort. It's going to be a blast. An overwhelming blast. But an incredibly special one.
This is the first of many Berklee posts for sure!
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Time has been busy.
Over the last 6 months I've been teaching, playing, recording and planning...
I haven't really been making the most of this website but this year some pretty exciting things are happening and I really want to share my experiences and thoughts. Document this stage of my life.
So this is it. The start of what ever chapter of life this is.
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