To the future
photo by Glendyn Ivin 17 July 2023
My old uni pal, Inga Liljestrom and I released our “fly by wire” pandemic project in 2021. It took about a year to do it, all via email, dropbox and so forth. We didn’t exchange a single spoken word to each other during that time. It was a fantastic exercise. Each of us got to ruminate on the others contributions at length. It’s all up on the various streamers and we both get a smattering of income for that - we could buy each other a coffee to two by now - but better still, take a look on Bandcamp - https://leighivin.bandcamp.com/album/of-stars-and-stones - where you can also get an old fashoined compact disc with a 20 page booklet. Many of the photos that inspired us are within. But I digress.
Inga and I met up in Melbourne yesterday to discuss our next project. So far, we think we’ll take the opposite approach to our first outing and cut it predominantly live in various inspiring locations. To kick things off, we may have begun the artwork, as we sat in my brother’s Brunswick-noir kitchen/lounge/cinema, he shot scores of photographs using some very cluey techniques - as is his want. Is there anything wrong with starting a new project in a somewhat backward fashion? I’d say absolutely not.
It was great, also, to spend some time in Melbourne and the Bellarine Peninsula with some of my very favourite people. Whether tracking for a new album or just wandering about hearing live music beaming out of many different venues, big and small, I just knew I was witnessing at least some parts of this country awakening from the pandemic induced slumber.
Still life, in the studio
I still love doing this. Studios offer opportunity. Today, it was tracking for what will be the sixth release on which I’ve been featured for my dear friend Sarah Carroll. Her and her’s are without question my other family. Shannon Bourne has loaned me several wonderful guitars to do this with, all while I threaten to erase his work on the same project. He in turn readies to reciprocate. This is how we work best. Jasper Jolley oversees all this malarky from a swivel chair at his Big Fridge studio.
Those who still do
It feels right to idolise the ones I’ve seen grow up around me. I could say the likes of George Carroll Wilson make me sick with envy. And that might be fair… but of course they don’t. They are a living affirmation of why this artform matters. Here he is, steeped in musical DNA and wiping the floor with all-comers.
Websites, soundscape and non-rock
Photo by Glendyn Ivin, Brunswick, July 2023
I feel as though it’s all changed. Doing something else seems the right idea. The residual is trauma. Maybe generational trauma. I don’t know who my forbears were, but here I am picking up what’s left. It’s time to pull music out of thin air. The pandemic of 2020/21 weakened an already dwindling live music arena. Sure things have returned somewhat, but diluted. In my home state, bowling clubs might usurp the pubs. Why not? I’ve met less than a handful of publicans who really cared about what we do. As for the gigs, I’ve half joked.. well not even.. that they can be a matter of simply waiting for the next thing to go wrong. That’s a terrible attitude, but I’m being honest. So to that end, I’ll turn my efforts to this stuff here - music for imagery, for and of. Music made out of next to nothing, ignoring facility and anything involving much motor skill. It’s like picking up objects on the ground and placing them somewhere where people can look at them. If it ends up applicable or in any way interesting, well, fantastic. That’s a win.