I’d like to share some of the pre-show music recently made for Heart is a Wasteland. The steeliness and beauty of the slide guitar reflects the play in many ways, in particular the relationship between the characters.
The length and repetitious nature of this piece is because of the context as pre-show music.
Ursula Yovich and Aaron Pedersen rehearsing for Heart is a Wasteland, June 2017.
Sketch, Anna Liebzeit
Wow, this is going back… Teaming up the irrepressible guitar fiends Al MacInnes (lead guitar) and Rob Van der Enden (double bass) this track stumbled out of an inner city home studio in Carlton, way before I owned any recording equipment. It’s not dated, so let’s just say it’s from the 20th Century.
Those who’ve seen my performances over the years might be familiar with the ‘rock song’ Ice. Well, look what I found. This is the original version, an improvisation with an out of tune acoustic guitar some random fella gave me. Recorded with one mic balancing on a large wooden desk in Preston when I was in my 20’s this captures the time I was in. Bless that young one giving it a Go.
It is very common that I will have played around in the studio working on some idea I had at the time, and then just moved on. Finding old drafts shows me parts of my self I forgot were there. This would have been made some time in the last five years. Who knows?
In 1982 Flock of Seagulls released I ran (so far away). Whenever I heard the song as an adult I felt a dis-ease and could not be around it. Sounds and smells can trigger associations and these can be carried for a long time, embedded in a cellular memory, good and bad. Recently, I decided to face my fear and cover the song. Why? Well, I had a genuine sense that I would be alright. The experiment worked, the dis-ease I once felt is not there any more.
When I visit where my dad lived on Taungurung Country I sit at the river and relax. This song, an improvisation made at the river and recorded again about an hour later with a guitar, was made during a recent visit. A large ghost gum held me close to the water that day, and an eagle flew overhead. Grief is like love.
sounds like us 