The Monthly interviews Community Musician, Lindy Morrison – Part 5 – Working as a community musician

You also worked in the South Sydney Youth Service. Could you say a little about that experience?

Before I talk about that, I need to explain that I had a job organised by the Trade Union movement in Queensland, where I did song writing in the jails; the Women’s Jail, the Men’s jail and out in the indigenous public housing area in Inala, a suburb in Brisbane. It was a three pronged job and I did an immense amount of work by myself.

Actually when I look back on it, I had a two year old daughter I had to whack into the City Hall Child Care Centre every day, and I did a fantastic amount of work, driving all over the place just by myself, driving a van with all the gear in it.

I worked with indigenous musicians in the Men’s jail, they were extraordinary, writing beautiful songs. I worked with some indigenous women in the Women’s prison. I worked with young indigenous musicians, mainly boys in Inala and they were very good as well. There were 12 or 13 of them and I would meet with them every few days and work with them to produce music.

Today the charts are filled with indigenous musicians because there has been a fight to diversify the music industry and that is wonderful and they produce great work, incredible work, but it wasn’t like that then.

And you then you worked in south Sydney?

The job I had in Queensland meant that I had the experience to be able to work in south Sydney which is right in the middle of the public housing area for indigenous people in Sydney.

With the South Sydney Youth Service I was able to set up a music project there and it was a full-time job. For me that was wonderful because it meant I was no longer doing 5 or 6 different jobs a week where I was driving all over Sydney to fulfil those jobs, doing two hours here and two hours there.

There were lots of events. We had money to take people into a local recording studio. I met lots of brilliant people in the area; one amazing blind indigenous man who introduced me to the music of Tupac which was one of the most wonderful experiences. I worked with many amazing indigenous people in that area.

Did you do other work as well?

Yes I did.

I was offered a residency to go out to Mt Isa, a mining town in Queensland, to write the music for a theatre show and I met a young man, who became one of Australia’s greatest indigenous musicians, William Barton, and his mum Delma Barton. He was around 14 years old then and I could tell they were brilliant.

When I finished that project, I worked for 6 weeks pulling together a show with people from Mt Isa who were interested being part of the theatre show, I invited William and his mum to stay with me in Sydney and I introduced him to APRA, (an organisation similar to PRS in the UK) the Australian Performing Rights Association, and he was able to understand how copyright worked and how he could make a living by writing music. He has been unbelievably successful working all over the world and in all different forms of music.

In your work as a community musician did you teach people how to play drums?

Yes, of course. All the time. I had a job on the riverbank of Rockhampton (North Queensland) where I had to get all the drummers in the town together, that included Chinese drummers, all different types of drummers, whoever played any sort of drums. We had thirteen drum kits all at once on stage, playing one piece of music. It was a drum pageant and it was wonderful. I also did something similar in the Dandenongs, in Victoria. I had a whole lot of drum kits and people playing together.

In some ways I wish I could do that again because I have better ideas now, more drumming knowledge and I play better as well.

What were the key skills you needed to do that work?

When I work I try to make sure I have no ego, I’ve seen everything and I try to allow people to make the music themselves. You also have to make sure everyone is getting on and that no problems develop in the workshops. There is a lot of psychology behind being a good community arts practitioner.

I had a lot of different processes which would allow me to work with people. I would do rhythm workshops, where I would get people to work with different rhythms. I had games that people could participate in, I would work with people to improve their skills.

I don’t like it when the practitioners tell the participants what they have to do. To me it is all about getting a group of people to devise the project themselves. They do the song writing, they do the arranging. You should make sure that everyone gets an equal chance to participate, that there is nothing going on which might make it difficult for people. You make sure the equipment is working and of course you help out when people don’t know what to do. But it should always be the participant’s work. You shouldn’t be putting your own work into the project because it isn’t about you.