MUSICIAN
Still learning and falling more in love with my principal instruments every day, I have been playing electric bass for 17 years and double bass for 15 years.
I completed a Bachelor of Applied Music Performance at Box Hill Institute in 2015 and have since played both in original bands of different styles. I’ve worked with a magnitude of prolific artists as a core member or session player on both electric and double bass.
For the larger part of the last 6 years, I have focused on presenting my solo project ‘Allara’ using groovy loops on the double bass to create a world to share my justice-driven spoken word poetry and simple yet punchy choruses, often including elements of Yorta Yorta language as I slowly learn my native tongue.
STORYTELLING
Story and storytelling is at the core of my life, work
and in all iterations of my creative practices.
What story am I trying to tell?
What story am I trying to write?
What does this mean as a Yorta Yorta winyar?
My story, of place of people.
What’s your Story?
Where do our stories collide?
Most importantly I strive to share stories
embedded in integrity, truth, and hope.
Stories of creation, survival, resistance, justice and equity.
My stories are my sovereignty.
SOUNDSCAPE DESIGNING
My soundscapes, or what I like to call sound journeys, are simple long-form or short-form compositions that emphasise sounds of country, water, birds and beings already here.
Designing sound journeys are one of my favourite ways to connect to Country. I put headphones on, take a zoom microphone outside and record a journey in a place that means something to me. I then pull the recording into Logic and manipulate it to bring out the colours and add other layers, effects and instruments to help bring out the story that is already there in the recording.
I love creating sound journeys or soundspaces for all sorts of purposes, meditations, exhibitions, apps, games and as part of my own healing and connecting practices.
CURATING/PRODUCING
I love the opportunity to curate and produce events, performances, playlists, spaces and commissions of new work. I co-curate and create innovative ways of collaborating and presenting stories in multidisciplinary ways.
My expertise stems from music and my perspectives and values as a Yorta Yorta winyarr. What I do is distinctively done in deeply meaningful ways that respect Cultural protocols and honour the stories asking to be shared.
LEARNING LANGUAGE
For years I’ve been trying to learn my Language - Yorta Yorta. At the 80th Anniversary of the Cummeragunja Walk Off in 2019, I met the amazing Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung Songwoman Aunty Dr Lou Bennett AM who I now call ‘djetja’ meaning ‘Aunty’.
djetja has been supporting me in utilising her methodology for language rematriation through song pedagogy. She says, "Language must be returned to our bodies, our country, to renew, revitalise and re-awaken our connection to country, cosmos and each other”. We have written and interpreted a number of poems and songs into Yorta Yorta and are currently working on a new body of work.
COMPOSING/PRODUCTION
My compositional style is focused on story I’m trying to tell. More generally I love using grooves inspired by jazz, soul, neo-soul, hip-hop, RnB, then incorporating simple harmonies and orchestral-inspired bowings to add emotion. Most importantly I use layers and textures as the building blocks to arch my compositions and songwriting.
I have skills in both Logic Pro and Ableton Live. To compose the music for ‘diyalana’ I predominantly used Logic, as I have about 10 years of experience learning Logic I am now able to engineer and record my own compositions.
During the pandemic, I spent time building my studio including the installation of acoustic panelling made for the best recording and mixing of double bass. I also used the time to focus on learning how to use Ableton which I have begun incorporating into my live performance style.
I am still feeling green in the scoring realm but hoping to focus the next couple of years on further developing a good basis for those skills.
