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.