a day in the life...

so it's been a busy few weeks here, hence no blog posts! i have a little cabin fever from the 3-week-12/14-hour-each-day studio time, but i think it's been worth it and i've been very productive! i've finished notating 7 piano solos (including some back from 2001), an eighth is on the way and i've made a good start on two works for string quintet, as well as (gulp!) an orchestral work. wowee huh? hopefully i'll be inspired to keep it up when i'm back keeping the home fires burning in australia....

it's great to be so productive here and also kind of ridiculous to realise that i've been 9 years behind in putting my works on paper. i've made a plan to keep in front from now on. the other composers at the centre are busily working, so it's not hard to hibernate for a few days, then emerge with some stories (and new manuscripts!) over a beer or two. i've met new swedish composers here almost daily in the past week (who are studying at the school, which is in the same building at VICC), each with fabulous stories about their work and various projects and who are genuinely interested in all things music (they also assure me that gotland genuinely has lots of sheep, not just concrete ones). it has inspired me to think about studying again (yikes, did i really say that?) to challenge myself a little. yesterday a few of us saw the gotland symphonia perform at the university library. beethoven, ives and a local composer were the flavour of the day. it's a little strange for me, because day by day i'm interested in listening to more & more orchestral work. it must be a sign.

mmm. so as well as music for sunwrae, i've been doing a little electronic work. a week or so ago jon cohrs (NY/berlin, who i work with in 'rabbits without spleens') visited me here in visby, to continue working on some tracks we started (has it really been four?) years ago.


coffee, whiskey, peanuts and chocolate kept us going into the early hours each night, editing, recording and mixing what will eventually be an album of wicked electronic work (recorded in banff canada, melbourne australia, new york usa, berlin germany and now visby sweden... where to next?!). i'm sure any sunwrae fan will enjoy this fine music. i can't wait for it to be complete!

i also hear in the pipeline that the latest sunwrae recording (live at the thornbury theatre) is just about complete! i'll have it in my hot little hands when i arrive back in oz in may. stay tuned to our website homepage sunwrae.com in the coming weeks for sales...

so there's not long to go now. i'll take a few more pics this week and put a few mp3s up here to give you a taste of what's coming..

Another day in paradise...

From the beginning I promised myself I'd write more often... but 2 weeks have passed quickly without me blinking! It's been a humorous and challenging journey all round and certainly one I won't forget. My sleeping patterns are the first challenge~ apart from the uncomfortable heat during the night, I'm even dreaming in Portuguese (!), so I repeatedly wake up confused and frustrated, wondering how to string together a comprehensive sentence. The early morning yoga looking out to sea always calms me however, so although I'm sleeping little, I'm well energised to absorb the culture. And what culture there has been!
An adventure into Salvador to see some jazz a week or so ago saw some trouble. Unfortunately missing the last ferry boat back to the Island, Aneli (the Romanian Artist here) and I had a spontaneous night on the town, staying in somewhat comfort (luckily) with a friend-of-a-friend in the city, after an hilarious tour of Saturday night drinking spots in Salvador. The following day feeling quite sorry without our sunglasses, we learned there had been 26 murders around Salvador that night. Wowee, a shock to the system and realilty check. Since then my ventures have been tamer, with a companion certainly at night, and without a camera... hence the lack of photos of late. Generally, what I've seen and experienced here however, simply cannot be captured in a photo anyway.
Salvador is an interesting city. The tourism is huge~ there's street stores lining every street, selling bikinis, hammocks, food, knick knacks, all sorts of souvenirs, everything you can think of, with the vendor noisily wanting everyone's attention as they walk by. The musicians above were camped in front of a stall at a market, playing and singing traditional Bahian folk songs at the top of their lungs. Nearby, the traffic is crazy.. the noise, wowee. It's enough to give a musician tinnitus! Amidst the hype of city, it's great to be able to escape the mayhem, retreat back to Itaparica for some quiet time and (sort of) blend in a little more to feel at home. Although these smaller villages and towns bring about their own troubles of poverty, somehow it feels easier and more welcoming to sit and watch the sunset over the ocean...

So, amongst my ventures of experiencing the culture and music, my actual purpose here is to start work on some new music. This has been quite the challenge, as I have not had the luxury of my usual musical instruments. I feel quite empty not being able to play as I would at home... although I haven't mastered the language, I am always certain to be able to express myself through writing and playing, either piano or vibraphone. This time however, that's not the case, so I went in search for another vehicle to express myself. If it's the rhythms that have to carry me, then another percussion instrument was the key, so last week I returned to a small village called Maragogipinho, to collect my two hand made ceramic udus. In the workshop (and oh how I wish I had my camera) there were 10 people hard at work, at the wheel, firing the kiln, waxing, painting and all sorts. My new udus are just stunning.... I've been playing for hours on end. They're not so easy to play, so I'm practicing hard in the hope I can play some decent rhythms upon my return to Australia. I just have to work out how to get them home!
Stay tuned for some mp3 clips shortly.. once you hear the sound, you too will be convinced that it'll inspire some new music..

Ok. Must be off... over and out for now.

My first week at Instituto Sacatar, Itaparica, Bahia, Brasil

Ola! Como vai?!

Baía de Todos os Santos... or All Saints Bay, where Itaparica is located, is just stunning. Beautiful calm waters surround the island, including a lovely beach right outside Instituto Sacatar. My studio looks out onto the pier above... For a tour around Instituto Sacatar please visit their website! http://www.sacatar.org

For those that don't know... I'm here in Brasil on an UNESCO Aschberg Bursary, to spend time researching Brasilian music and rhythms... and to see how they can inspire my music. There are 4 other artists~ 2 Portuguese, an Iranian and a Romanian~ all visual artists, who create some amazing work respectively. The conversation around the dinner table is as challanged and comical as you can imagine, however an interesting combination of english, portuguese and flamboyant body language saves the day every time!

This first week has been jam packed with amazing experiences and in amongst the sleepless nights getting over my jet lag I've been busy learning Portuguese so I can travel around a little easier!
We've spent some time touring the island in 'kombi' vans and on bicycles, checking out all the places to go in the next couple of months. Above are a few photos of mine so far... stay tuned for many more!

Best keep this one short... I can smell the amazing food coming from next door and must have a swim before I eat! Until next time.... sending some sunshine from South America!