Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?
I did.
Music is a Transcendental substance..and our world is all vibrating…observe anything closely enough to see this Truth. I want to be aligned and in harmony with this dimension we find ourselves in.
If this pursuit can also hold me at a material level then what could be better really?
I feel I have no other choice anyway at this point!
Who or what have been the most significant influences on your musical life and career?
It started with Australian Aboriginal Culture..the first people I met who were talking actual sense after leaving the delusions and misconceptions of London’s M25 where I started Life.
They gave me a tree to make into a Yidaki (didjeridu) and spoke in terms of decision-making for 7 generations into the future instead of just for ourselves …
Then Danny Thompson and Francois Rabbath, my two Double bass Dads. Great Giving Souls and Teachers both…
And then when my daughter was born I finally had something real to say beyond thinking about my own needs as well as a proper reason to really say it……
And then the Land of Ireland which is still connected to it’s cultural heritage and has been so generous to me at all levels as she shares her deep understanding that music is IMPORTANT and valid and human and necessary and vital…and that it is actual magic. Not just ‘magical’ – It really IS real magic!
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Making enough to survive. That is an ongoing slog.
Of which performances/recordings are you most proud?
Playing for ceremony in North Queensland, Australia.
Playing solo on Glastonbury MainStage…
Singing my daughter to sleep every night for about 12 years?…
What do you do offstage that provides inspiration on stage?
I live my Life. Music is not separate from daily Life…it is just a part of life.
I am very interested in breathing…with attention …the energy and simplicity that resides therein is the source of all that is possible with this body.
This takes committed practise to approach meaningfully.
Just like music.
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
That I am still doing it after so long… and that people still want to bathe in music despite all the disconnection which has arisen from the internet.
What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians?
Do what you love and trust that in the end it will look after you.
Play and sing with real physical things – a vibrating column of air, the harmonic series produced by a string or a skin – and the inconsistencies of your larynx will provide so much more nutrition than anything which involves silicon and electricity.
Explore different tempering, tunings and cultures – A440 is unatural to the human frame and the Western 12 note scale does not properly allow for microtonal expression.
Open your mind to the vast possibilities of sound and forge your own pathways.
Music is a carrier wave for your intention – so set the intentions accurately and then do the work. If lucky you will get fragments given to you (Ask: where do these come from?!)…but then you need to DO THE WORK so that you can find the forms to bring these gifts to Earth.
“Inspiration is always there – it finds you when you are working” (Picasso)
What’s the one thing we’re not talking about in the music industry which you really feel we should be?
That the corporations are killing true music (as well as people) for profit and also lying about that.
(eg: Spotify is just one of them…see their recent enormous investments into weapons research and choose your gateways carefully and always come from unshakeable Truth)
Much better and more honest and peaceful solutions need to be found for delivering music.
Vinyl and record shops were so much better in every way?
What next? Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
Wherever I am required to be by this Life to keep serving the songs.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The Stillness beyond the movements of the mind.
What is your most treasured possession?
My breath.
What is your present state of mind?
A Human being striving for deeper connection with all of this Magnificent World
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