1.Growing Up
I’ve always played music and my mum has been a major influence in that, taking me to violin lessons or concerts like James Brown or Tina Turner. I never liked practising, and would always try to catch up right before my lesson for fear of the teacher scolding me. In a way, my musical journey has been largely getting back to the state where music is fun and natural.
2.Inspirations
I discovered Victor Wooten when I was learning bass guitar in high school. I found his music refreshing and his philosophy profound. I’d recommend his book The Music Lesson to anyone, as it’s been a key for me in understanding music. StОphane Grappelli is also very special to me. When I was 15 I stopped playing violin, sick of boring practice. His music convinced me to play again. Then I read in an interview that he didn’t practise! He would just jam for hours with other musicians. That was very exciting to me.
3.Your Band
I was obsessed with gypsy music and wanted to start a tuba, accordion and violin ensemble. In looking for the right people I met John Oh, an incredible self-taught blues guitarist, and we clicked. Then John met Baran Yildz, a drummer from Turkey. Baran introduced us to Allen Paramesh, a brilliant classically trained pianist. I played bass for a while, but finally after I gave up finding a tuba player, John Wynne was invited to come in and play bass. That guy is so chill. He just holds that groove down smooth.
4.The Music You Make
Between us we take in a lot of influences, so in addition to the gypsy blues music I originally envisioned, we play reggae, soul, funk and jazz. Sometimes we come in with ideas and compositions and sometimes songs are just created from jamming. We’ve been playing together for over a year now, and I really appreciate having these great guys to play with.
5.Music, Right Here,Right Now
I love music but I find it very tough going after gigs. I would generally rather jam at a friend’s place than go out, but really the more you get out and meet people, the more good things come your way. There are a lot of jams in Sydney at the moment, like Tuesdays at 1912 Bar or Wednesdays at the Spring Street Social. They’re a lot of fun.
Catch them atFoundry616Wednesday December 10, ticketsonline.
