>> The first LA flyer, 2000 (designed by Daniel New)

I was recently asked about my involvement in the Liquid Architecture festival, so I thought I’d explain it here. Liquid Architecture originated in 2000 at RMIT University when I was working at RMIT’s Union Arts as their special events officer. My brief was to devise arts events that would showcase the talents of RMIT students. I knew of the ((tRansMIT)) student sound collective, led by Melbourne sound artist Nat Bates, so I decided to set up a festival promoting ((tRansMIT)) alongside special guests Ollie Olsen and Philip Brophy.

But I’m in not responsible for Liquid Architecture as it stands today — that’s the result of the hard work of Nat, who co-produced the first year with me. Nat, as Artistic Director (along with his various colleagues including Bruce Mowson and Sue Jones) grew the festival to the point where it attracts top-line international guests, while still holding true to the promotion of local talent. I’m amazed that he’s managed to transform our original student-driven initiative into a state-funded, national festival.

My contribution to Liquid Architecture can be summed up like this: I suggested it to the RMIT Union Arts bosses; I named it (see below); I invited Nat to co-produce it; I suggested the half lecture/half performance model; and I was only around for that first year, although Nat invited me back on a very part-time basis in 2004 and 2005 to redesign their web site and catalogue. I in turn rehired LA’s original graphic artist Daniel New, and I like to think that Daniel and myself greatly improved the festival’s visual image during those two years. (It’s gratifying to note that today the festival retains the ice-blue colour scheme and the VAG font-logo that Daniel and I devised in 2000).

>> LA6 poster: the iceberg, Daniel’s idea, is a very literal (and very clever) interpretation of the “liquid architecture” theme

Why “liquid architecture”? I vaguely knew of the term from the work of Marcus Novak, who used it to define “a fluid, imaginary landscape that only exists in the digital domain”, although when I borrowed the term, I was thinking more of Kodwo Eshun and his article Liquid Dystopia, about Drexciya. Eshun wrote, “Drexciya fictionalize frequencies into sound pictures of unreal environments — what Kraftwerk termed tone films — not filled with cars, bikes or trains but rather UAOs, soundcrafts”.

For me, the “architecture” part seemed appropriate in that the sound artists we were promoting were designing sonic environments, sonic structures (not “only in the digital domain”, by the way)…spliced with Eshun, and you get “liquid architecture”.

– Simon Sellars, 2007
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..:: APPENDIX I
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Here’s the text of the original program for Liquid Architecture 1:

LIQUID ARCHITECTURE

7pm, Sunday April 16, 2000
Part One: Liquid Dystopia

Undead & machine-translated performances by the ((tRansMIT)) sound collective. With special guest PHILIP BROPHY; short films between performances; and VJs playing video tag-team throughout.

Evolutions and mutations…future directions in experimental electronica…

6pm, Monday April 17, 2000
Part Two: Liquid Crystal

“A History of Electronic Music”, presented by OLLIE OLSEN – a mapping of early experiments through to the warped extremes of the 21st century. Followed by a screening of the acclaimed documentary Theremin. With ((tRansMIT)) presentations by Abi Crompton and Nat Bates, inviting you into the neon-lit recesses of their Sonic Laboratories.

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..:: APPENDIX I
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Articles I’ve written about the festival:
>> Liquid Architecture 5: Polytechnic Sound Art
>> Liquid Architecture 4: Slaves to A System of Weird Harmony
>> Lawrence English: Watching While You Sleep
>> 360 Degrees: Women In Sound
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I recently wrote a piece on the island of Yap for Where to Go When, a forthcoming book to be published by Dorling Kindersley.

Here are some advance details.

More details to be posted at a later date.

I’ve worked as an editor for educational institutions including RMIT Marketing and Communications and La Trobe University, for community organisations including Greenpeace Australia and Ozanam Community Centre, and for various independent arts organisations including Alcaston gallery.

My main client over the last couple of years has been Lonely Planet Publications. Some of the LP guidebook titles I’ve worked on as an editor include Iceland, Russia & Belarus, London, Korea, Montreal & Quebec City, Portugal, Florida, Tasmania, Britain, Austria, Guatemala, Belize & Yucatan, New Zealand and Piedmont.

I am available for freelance editing work. Please contact me.

Flickr uploads to be posted at a later date.

More details to be posted at a later date.

+ BALLARDIAN
Website recording the career and influence of J.G. Ballard. I’m the publisher and editor. I’ve commissioned and conducted interviews with J.G. Ballard himself as well as Bruce Sterling, Iain Sinclair, John Foxx, Simon Reynolds and Michael Moorcock among others. I’ve also published articles by numerous writers, academics and artists.

+ SUBTERRAIN
Publishing project documenting the experiences of people using the services at Ozanam Community Centre in North Melbourne. I was the project manager and editor. I commissioned writing — ‘life stories’ — from the people using the Centre via writing workshops: poetry, fiction, artwork, life histories and perspectives. I also conducted around 30 interviews with other clients, writing up the stories and editing them in consultation with the interviewees. I was involved in every aspect of the magazine’s conception: copy editing, commissioning, art direction, website design, publicity.

+ SLEEPY BRAIN
Online cultural mag (and later, personal blog). In the site’s early days, before it became a blog, I commissioned articles from various Melbourne writers. The project has been selected for archiving by the National Library of Australia’s Pandora project.

+ LIQUID ARCHITECTURE
Melbourne-based festival of sound art. I founded the festival during my tenure as Special Events Coordinator at RMIT Union Arts. Here’s a note on my involvement.

+ Website design (various clients).
Details to be posted.

Still from Carnivore Reflux.

by Simon Sellars

Published in RealTime issue #80 Aug-Sept 2007.

AT THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL’S CAREERS IN ANIMATION FORUM, AN AUDIENCE MEMBER WANTED TO KNOW WHAT INSTITUTIONS LOOK FOR IN THEIR ENTRANCE INTERVIEWS. ROBERT STEPHENSON (VCA) SAID THAT AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BODY’S MOVEMENT AND MECHANICS IS USEFUL. HE SUGGESTED WOULD-BE ANIMATORS ENROL IN LIFE-DRAWING CLASSES AND BRING A STORYBOARD TO THEIR INTERVIEW, EVEN IF THE APPLICANT HAS NEVER MADE A FILM, AS THIS MAY SUGGEST AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO TELL A STORY. ANOTHER TIP: “DON’T COPY DRAWINGS OUT OF A ‘HOW TO ANIMATE’ BOOK.”

The panel also included animators David Blumenstein (Naked Fella) and Jim Kalogiratos (Tantalus) alongside educators Peter Allen (Holmesglen TAFE), and David Atkinson (RMIT). Atkinson said that while an applicant’s drawings might be naïve, it didn’t necessarily mean they’d be bad storytellers—their talent might be in writing and they might make good directors or producers. He reckoned his course could just about turn a mathematician into an animator, suggesting an applicant bring to the interview anything that gives the sense of them as a creative individual, such as visual diaries and journals; he said he’s even had applicants rap dance and serenade him with guitars.

Kalogiratos was quiet while Blumenstein was outspoken, referring to himself as a traditionalist with a 2D style. He expressed disgust for the hackwork animators have to do for studios to make a living, which contrasted with Allen, who said there are no opportunities for 2D work and that it’s best to concentrate on 3D industry and studio work. Stephenson disagreed, saying that the global children’s market is huge for 2D work—Australia just needs to refocus and become “one of the main players.” Allen acquiesced, indicating there is in fact a big market for 3D films that look like 2D; therefore animators may still need 2D skills in order to make the 3D simulation look ‘realistic.’ Of course, the animation course at Allen’s Holmesglen is more industry oriented than the VCA’s or RMIT’s, and it was this contrast that made for lively debate.

So, in essence, that’s what they’re teaching; now let’s see whether the results stacked up in MIAF’s Australian Panorama screening, which this year, we were told, was extended over two sessions as “there were so many outstanding entries.”

Emit (director Fergus Donald, 8’30min, 2007) told of a dead clock in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that ticks again after a space-probe crash. Unfortunately, a dull, derivative story overwhelmed the excellent digital technique. Even before MIAF, I felt I’d already had my fill of cutesy inanimate objects becoming reanimated and anthropomorphised to embark on a ‘rites of passage’ quest set to a Spielbergian score. In the even more pointless Ticketweavels (Caroline Huff, 2’15, 2005), a train ticket was invisibly shredded in stop motion set to a grinding industrial soundtrack. Steve Baker’s An Imaginary Life (5’00, 2007) may have won Tropfest, and the mix of animation and Super 8-style footage might be nicely done, but the story is incredibly hokey.

Brendan Cook’s compelling Heart’s A Mess (4’45, 2007) was a music-video clip for Goyte, with shape-shifting industrial creatures reminiscent of the marching hammers in Pink Floyd’s The Wall film. The Puppetmaker (Timothy Gaul, 4’00, 2006) could have descended into cliché—how many times have you seen a sad puppet yearning to break free of the strings—but instead was atmospheric, short and sweet. Rosalie Osman’s The Rabbit (6’00, 2006) was a silly tale of cats coming back to life to punish an animal beater, while JC Reyes’s Box (1’45, 2006) was a successful union of a short poem about forbidden pleasures with a textured animation style like a twisted children’s book. Thort Bubbles/ Dividing Cells (7’45, 2006) was another stop-motion Caroline Huff effort, overlong, dated and set to a pretentious voiceover (something to do with regeneration).
From Gold to Grapes: The Story of Landsborough From Gold to Grapes: The Story of Landsborough
From Gold to Grapes: The Story of Landsborough (Al MacInnes, 6’15, 2005) had a previous airing at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2006; it features hand-drawn animation by young kids telling the wistful story of the adult narrators in the town of Landsborough. I loved the idea and the execution, and especially the use of real-life stories. It marked a refreshing change from The Luminary (Nicholas Kallincos, 9’15, 2005), also at MIFF 2006, which featured—yes, you guessed it— inanimate objects struggling with human feelings, in this case a light bulb falling in love with a moth. Elka Kerkhof’s Filled with Water (5’00, 2006) was about a female surfer coming across a giant TV in the street; a ballerina performs on the TV screen, the surfer falls through the screen, and they kiss passionately. It’s about feeling comfortable with same-sex leanings, but still, Kerkhof’s sense of narrative is head-scratching.

Carnivore Reflux (The People’s Republic of Animation, 7’00, 2006) was outstanding, with its bitingly witty poem about overeating, indulgence and flatulence set to a savage, ultra-vivid animation style like a cross between Terry Gilliam in his Python days and Marco Ferreri’s feature film La Grande Bouffe. Cry from the Past (6’00, 2007), by Susan Stamp (a VCA animation lecturer), was a lovely piece about the old-time Boydtown whalers, and the quirky whales themselves, with excellent technique, halfway between watercolour and animated charcoal. Fraught (Stephanie Brotchie, Chris Pahlow and Maia Terrell, 6’00, 2006) was also very good, drawing on real-life stories of embarrassing moments, with the interviewees overlaid with a variety of animation styles including surreal cut-outs, and shimmering line drawings.

..:: read the rest at RealTime.

by Simon Sellars

‘Subterrain #2: An Introduction’ was originally published in Subterrain magazine #2, July 2007.

Subterrain is a magazine that provides an opportunity for homeless and marginalised people, primarily those using the services at Ozanam Community Centre (see opposite), to tell their story. That’s about it as far as mantras or mission statements go. We’ve already published one edition, in November 2005, and that was a great success, relaying stories from Melbourne’s real ‘underground’ with candour and wit. We didn’t pull any punches and the feedback we received was that most who read it were moved by the emotions and intelligence on display. With that encouraging start behind us, we were grateful to the City of Melbourne’s Community Community Cultural Development program, which supplied us with further funding to publish a second edition.

And here we are, with some returning contributors plus a whole flock of new participants. As before, what strikes me is the honesty and the willingness of people to tell the story of their lives. There’s no shirking, no blaming others, no looking for a ‘free ride’, no denial of responsibility – none of the negative clichés that seem to stick to homeless people like mud or even shit, propagated by the mainstream media and smug members of the general public who think they know it all. No, in its place is simply that raw, naked willingness to get to the heart of the matter: ‘This is wrong; this is broken. And this is what I’m going to do about it.’

The theme of the first edition was the ways in which artistic and recreational projects can make a difference to the lives of ‘homeless and marginalised’ people. We profiled theatremakers, sportspeople, writers, poets, filmmakers and musicians who’ve worked with disadvantaged people, and we interviewed the participants themselves. The result was a compelling body of work and a clear message for the politicians to chew over: ‘The arts can, and have made a difference to people’s lives, and what the hell are you doing trying to cut funding?’

For this edition, an equally important theme began to emerge: that public housing and crisis accommodation in this country is woefully inadequate. It’s not that we consciously set out to document this issue, simply that in all the interviews we conducted – and in all the poetry and writing submissions we received – this was the central, crucial concern of people ‘living the life’: how do you find a safe, stable roof over your head when you are struggling with mental-health issues, or drug and alcohol issues? Where are the safety nets?

Read the rest of this entry »

interview by Simon Sellars

‘Housing Is A Human Right: An Interview with Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur’ was originally published in Subterrain magazine #2, July 2007.

In August 2006, the PILCH Homeless Person’s Legal Clinic held a consumer forum for people who are homeless or who have experienced homelessness. The idea was to invite this particular demographic to share their thoughts and experiences with regards to housing with Miloon Kothari, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing. Mr Kothari was visiting Melbourne as part of his Australian tour, the purpose of which is to examine the situation on the ground in relation to safe and adequate housing, and to compile a subsequent report to the UN Human Rights Commission on whether Australia’s commonwealth, state and territory governments are meeting their national and international obligations.

Subterrain attended the forum and afterwards interviewed Mr Kothari about the day’s events.

A rapporteur investigates a particular area and reports to a higher committee. Can you elaborate a bit more on your role?

Well, I’m a rapporteur on housing with the UN Consulate of Human Rights. It’s an honorary position but it’s a global mandate, in an independent capacity, where I have to look at the obstacles people are facing all around the world on issues such as access to housing, land, civic services and the effects of eviction. I report annually to the consulate on specific themes and I do two or three missions a year. This Australian trip is one of those missions, and after that we’ll prepare a mission report. The work involves communication with governments and we also do a lot of collaborative work with agencies across a range of different issues.

What were your impressions of the forum?

I think it was an excellent opportunity for me to hear directly from the people who are affected by homelessness in Australia, and to learn about the complex nature of the problem: how it affects people in many different ways, and also how the state isn’t able to respond to crisis, because all the systems that are in place are not enough and there are lots of people falling out of the system. I think that the overwhelming sense of the testimonies was that people really feel that if they get a service, or access to a service or shelter, then the state is doing them a favour. There’s something terribly wrong with that. There should be a relationship between the government and people who are deprived of housing, because housing is a human right – it’s a right and an entitlement first.

Is it the obligation of the state to create the right conditions and to provide the right opportunities?

Absolutely. I think that the Australian government is not doing enough. I’ve seen that all over the country: thousands of people are being left out of the system, and when you look at the problems like we heard today – involving single women with children, the elderly, youth, people who are disabled or have mental illness, people who are leaving prisons and detention centres – then you see there’s a range of particularly vulnerable groups that are not being catered to. There’s a problem in the whole approach to housing because you create a situation where there is a finite number of housing units available, both with social public housing and with the private market, and that number is getting less and less but the need is growing. I don’t think the home ownership and the probability ideology that seems to be governing a lot of housing issues in Australia is conducive to helping those that are poor. In fact it’s creating a squeeze in the market, whereby you’re going to have more and more people relying on less-available social housing. And when you have land prices, home prices and rental prices going up, even places where you do have public housing, or boarding homes or shelters, will be reduced because there is a demand on the market – especially in parts of cities where people have access to services and employment.

Last year the Howard government said that the responsibility for funding solutions to homelessness should be shared with corporations. Do you think that’s a shirking of responsibility?

Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think that has worked anywhere in the world. The primary responsibility has to remain with the state. Businesses are primarily interested in profit – it’s not in the interest of business to do this, and so there is a great deal of discrimination because they’re actually against people who are homeless or against indigenous people in their neighbourhoods. They think that actually having public housing in your neighbourhood or having low-income earners lowers, or depresses, the value of the land. The discrimination is at many, many different levels.

Actually, I’m quite distressed to hear that the Victorian Human Rights Charter does not condone economic, social and cultural rights. That’s something that has to be remedied because it’s inconsistent with Australia’s international human-rights obligations, which recognises economic, social and cultural rights including housing and food. If that is remedied, then the situation on the ground will change and there will be more opportunities available for people. And that was very useful to hear in the forum today, because there aren’t actually many avenues for people to complain – or if there is an avenue, then the process takes too long. I’ll try to capture this in my report and in my recommendations – I’m meeting with senior housing officials, housing ministers and federal ministers, and I’ll be raising these issues with them.

Can Australia’s homeless situation be readily compared with anywhere else in the world?

I think you have a similar situation here to the United States and Canada, where you have a dominant, liberal, economic model geared toward – and based on – home ownership that does not have enough safety-net provisions, or that does not look at the structural issues that cause homelessness. It’s as shocking to see here as it is in the US and Canada, because they’re all very wealthy countries. The other common feature in all three countries is that there is a reduction in subsidies and a reduction in the amount of social housing units available, partly related to pressure from the market, and perhaps from a squeeze using available resources for other areas and not social issues. I think, again, in all those countries it comes back to the issue of governments not recognising issues like housing as a human right. I think if they did that – if they based their policies and laws and programmes on that recognition – then the first step would be to look after the most vulnerable. You cannot have a situation where the most vulnerable people are left out, and where, in fact, the numbers are growing.

Are governments generally responsive to your reports?

It’s mixed: some are, some aren’t. In Australia’s case I’m hoping for a positive response, because I’m here on invitation and that indicates an opening. They also have to respond to my report formerly at the human-rights consulate in Geneva, and I’m hoping that whatever we can come up with will be useful for the kind of groups we met today, as well as for the state, territory and commonwealth.

interview by Simon Sellars & Anna Krien

‘Music Is Not A Bloody Race’ was originally published in Subterrain magazine #2, July 2007.

There are two music groups for the benefit of clients at the Ozanam Community Centre. There’s one on Mondays, run by Alan Pavlikas, which is more of a rock-band affair, and one on Tuesdays, run by Helen Begley, a professional musician who’s also part of the ‘pub folk’ band Milk. Helen’s group has more of a focus on singing and lyric writing, and it was Subterrain’s great pleasure to drop in one Tuesday to have a chat with Helen and two of the participants, Reggie and Robin. Also present was muso George Butrumlis, arguably Australia’s finest piano accordionist, who was recording the group for the soundtrack to the Ozanam shadow-puppet show, Some Faces You Know.

SIMON: So, how are you finding the music group?

ROBIN: I really enjoy coming here. I’d love to be here every single day. Helen’s teaching me to sing and play the piano.

REG: This has saved my life, this place. Three years I been coming here. I dunno where I’d be. I got head injuries and I’d like to stress to psychologists that programs like this are very important for people with head injuries. It’s calming, like meditation.

ANNA: What type of music do you like?

REG: The Beatles, the Eagles. I play bass – Paul McCartney’s me favourite bass player.

HELEN: Robin’s an aficionado of the blues. She’s an expert on lots of bands.

ROBIN: I wouldn’t say ‘expert’! I appreciate the music, yeah. I see all the good bands at the pub – at the Lomond.

SIMON: What were your aims when you started the group?

HELEN: We were rehearsing for a ‘Sing for Water’ project, learning songs to be part of a 500-voice choir. That was really exciting. Then we introduced song writing – this group’s got a real focus on writing songs.

SIMON: What approach do you take?

HELEN: We just sit down and say, ‘OK, today we’re going to write a song’. We talk about how our week’s been, and sometimes we come up with a theme – there might be a relationship break up, or something to do with anger. And we just brainstorm that, and what that feels like for people in the group. Out of the brainstorm comes the lyrics and then we just jam on some chords. Everyone writes really good melodies in this group, so it’s quite an organic process.

ANNA: Can you give us some examples?

HELEN: We’ve done a travelling song. We’ve done a song about a jilted lover – that’s a really cool song. We’ve done a country song. We found that all the women in the group had grown up in the city and all the blokes had grown up in the country, so we did a couple of verses: one about the city, one about the country, comparing the two. Another song was about standing up and…

ROBIN: …being yourself, looking after yourself.

ANNA: What’s your involvement in this year’s Spring Fling?

HELEN: We’ve been asked to write a sing for Errol’s Angels, a 30-voice choir. We’ve also been asked to write some words for Some Faces You Know, so we’re kind of guns for hire!

ANNA: Do you get nervous before you get up on stage?

ROBIN: No. We don’t know what nervous is!

REG: Nah, of course we do. Robin does, too. Not Helen, though, she’s a pro, mate – a pro!

HELEN: It’s been amazing for me to watch how these guys have blossomed. These two have been in the group for the last 12 months now, and just to watch how they’ve opened up and become more confident in themselves is really exciting for all of us. Robin, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but when you first came to the group, you were really quiet and wouldn’t say a word. You didn’t sing, either. Now you’re learning keyboards…

ROBIN: …and singing…

HELEN: …and writing songs. She’s become an integral part of the group. And Reg is the same. He’s really grown as a performer – he’s very charming.

REG: But she won’t go out with me.

HELEN: No, I won’t go out with you, Reg. He keeps asking me!

REG: I don’t blame her, mate. I wouldn’t wanna go out with me, either!

HELEN: Trish, who’s not here today, has been great, too. She’s really grown in confidence. It’s really interesting how music, and the arts generally, can give people confidence.

REG: I get satisfaction from it. I live in this aged care and disabled place, and I’m the only healthy one there. And I have me problems, obviously, but I’m not sitting there all day like a fucken statue smoking cigarettes, and that’s all they do. I come here to get away from the place, mate, because I feel so sorry for those people!

SIMON: There should be more funding for arts, then. That seems obvious, given the beneficial outcomes.

GEORGE: It’s broader than that, though. Arts and creativity in Australia, as a society, is a really low priority. A much higher priority is sport, and motor racing, and making money, and corporate takeovers. I mean, how much of the news every night is taken up by the finance report? Where are the separate sections devoted to arts, or to performance?

ANNA: It’s all about place getting, isn’t it? It’s a competition, so if you’re not into being Number One, or you can’t be Number One, then you tend to drop out.

GEORGE: That’s true. Just last week I was up on the Gold Coast as the adjudicator for the National Piano Accordion Championships. I do it because there are a lot of kids there and it’s good to encourage them, but part of me finds it very difficult because I don’t like the competitive nature of playing music. It’s not a bloody race! Music and art and creativity – it’s a very different thing. In other countries – in Europe – the situation is really the opposite, so I just find it amusing, and interesting, and even a little bit frightening, when the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader start talking about Australian values, because they place arts and creativity very low down on that list. People are much more concerned with renovating their kitchen or bathroom. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but it’s those very narrow, self-focused pursuits that take precedence.

HELEN: That’s why you’ve got to hand it to the Community Centre for giving people a chance to be involved with artistic projects, because the arts can be quite expensive, as well as being exclusive.

SIMON: Well, kudos for keeping it going. What else do you hope to achieve with the group?

HELEN: We’re looking at recording maybe next year. What else? Reg wants to be a rock star.

REG: I’ll take you out for pizza. Fuck the Chinese food, mate!

HELEN: Jeez, every bloody week…

REG: Nah, just mucking around. We’re all one big family.

interview by Simon Sellars

‘Whatever Goes into the Mix’ was originally published in Subterrain magazine #2, July 2007.

Alan Pavlikas manages the Ozanam Community Centre’s band, Shallow Rabbit, which has released one CD and has had a documentary made about it (see Subetrrain #1). intrigued, I crashed one of their jam sessions and collared Alan, guitarist Keith and bassist A.J. and submitted them to a time-honoured ritual grilling.

How did you end up at the Centre?

KEITH: At one stage I was homeless, and I saw these guys on stage in North Melbourne, without a lead guitarist. And I thought, ‘They need me, and they’re doing the sort of material I love’. So I came out of 15 years’ retirement as a guitar player, and now they can’t make me stop again. It just won’t happen!

AJ: About 10 years ago, when I moved to Melbourne, I ended up on the street through circumstances beyond my control. And one of the people I met on the street brought me here for a meal and a coffee and I started off volunteering in the kitchen. But it’s always come back to the music for me. Over the last six or seven years it’s evolved and changed, and we’ve ended up with a great band out of it, because the Centre is a place where people can belong – as a community. The music program helps morale. We’ve got an energy happening between us and that translates to the rest of the Centre.

You did a gig recently at the O’Donnell Gardens in St Kilda. How did that go?

AJ: Ah, it flew by! Felt like we were on speed for 10 seconds.

KEITH: Yeah, it went smoothly except I stepped on my guitar lead and broke a string. But the band didn’t fall apart – it was fabulous! We only played 25 minutes, but we could have done three hours quite happily.

ALAN: And that’s apart of the work within the group. It’s not just about music, it’s also about working as a team. As things go wrong, we fix them on the run, because it’s all about how to support each other and how we canto translate that into everyday life.

What are your musical influences?

KEITH: Steve Marriott, the Small Faces, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, Dave Gilmour, Pink Floyd – all the good stuff. Elvis Costello.

Obviously, you think today’s music is pretty crap.

KEITH: It’s absolute shit!

AJ: I’m trying to turn Keith onto a few heavy bands: Metallica, Disturbed, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, Nirvana. I’m bringing him slowly around to the ways of the dark side.

Don’t you think Metallica have lost it, though? You can’t beat those first three albums.

AJ: Ah, no. People criticise them, but they just need to put the strainer back on the snare drum. But really, it’s an evolving, ever-changing sound. And that’s the sign of a bunch of true musicians, when they can change the sound as they grow older, and get away from their roots, and start exploring new and wonderful areas.

How did you get into music?

AJ: I’ve been performing as a clown for many, many years – doing magic tricks, juggling. But I’ve always felt most at home playing an instrument. I started off on keyboards when I was a little tiny tacker, and took up guitar shortly after, and then went onto bass. When I’m on stage it just feels like home.

KEITH: I went to school with a lot of Pommie immigrants, and of course they were all mad into the Stones and the Beatles. Anything that was British rock absolutely ruled, although they liked Hendrix, too, but that was alright because he made his name in England. And then the Small Faces put out a song called ‘Tin Soldier’ and I just had to get a guitar and learn how to play it. I begged the fuck out of me father until he bought me one!

What about you, Alan?

ALAN: I’m a full-time musician so my influences are very wide – everything from Shriekback to Tool, System of A Down, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Gabriel – because I have to work in many different styles. Same as the guys here. We’ve been doing a song-writing workshop, and we’ve ended up with a blues song out of it, something like the Masters’ Apprentices; another song that’s like Kraftwerk; and another one that’s like classic rock. It’s just whatever goes into the mix: we throw something in and it gets painted with the colour these guys provide. I mean, we could be doing country songs next week.

AJ: Hey, I doubt it!