Artist On Artist: Melanie Mununggurr And Claire Edwardes

In our latest Artist On Artist discussion, Music Feeds has paired together two of the country’s most unique artists. Claire Edwardes is a veteran musician that has been described as the “sorceress of percussion”, who serves as the founder and leader of Ensemble Offspring, the prolific ARIA-nominated ensemble who have premiered over 200 works in their 30 years together. Melanie Mununggurr, meanwhile, is a Djapu spoken-word artist and published poet who has received national acclaim for her bilingual reflections on motherhood, queerness and her Indigenous identity.

Both will participate in Music On Tubowgule, described as “a stunning evening of music with First Nations composers and their collaborators,” in the Studio at the Sydney Opera House tonight (June 26th) and tomorrow – with Ensemble Offspring performing their collaborative piece with Mununggurr and Stiff Gins‘ Nardi Simpson entitled Stories Of Water And Earth. Ahead of that, the pair discuss the creative processes, getting to perform in Australia’s most famous venue and unexpected run-ins with alternative rock iconoclasts.

Melanie Mununggurr – ‘I Run’

Claire Edwardes: Do you have any advice for young people getting into writing poetry and putting spoken word with music?

Melanie Mununggurr: Get a blank book and a pen or pencil and just write. Write any time you feel inspired and try to write every day. Read your poems and your writings out loud, and don’t be afraid of editing. Much of the craft is in the editing. If you would like to put your spoken word to music, I suggest creating a Spotify playlist; every time you feel inspired by a song, or imagine your words interwoven with a sound similar, then add it to the list. When you speak with a musician you want to collaborate with, you have a baseline. Or, make up your own tunes. I’m not great at doing that, which is why I choose to use Spotify [laughs].

MM: What was the inspiration behind the formation of Ensemble Offspring?

CE: We formed Ensemble Offspring 30 years ago, as a student group at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. We really just wanted to try out new sounds, and not be limited by the classical music tradition that we had all grown up in. The involvement of composers from the very beginning has always been super important to Ensemble Offspring, because we get to work closely with them on bringing their new works to life. I got the bug for this process from our very first project, and so 30 years later we are all still creating music in real time with living composers.

CE: What was the inspiration between Stories Of Water And Earth, and what was the process of working with composer Netanela Mizrahi on creating the music?

MM: Stories Of Water And Earth is inspired by my ongoing, ever-changing, evolving relationship and connectedness with my culture, homeland and language. As someone who lived away from my homeland, and didn’t grow up immersed in my culture and language, I had to find different and creative ways to stay connected. One of those ways was through poetry. Working with an incredible composer like Netanela was easy. She heard my poetry, read the story deeper than just the words, and knew exactly how to translate it into music. I was moved to tears the first time I heard the music, because it was exquisite – and it was also my poetry in a different language. It’s been such an honour to work with Netanela.

MM: You have a beautiful rehearsal space in your home. How does having this affect your creativity process and overall practice?

CE: While we don’t have an official office-style rehearsal space, indeed the back room of my house, where all my big instruments are stored – namely, the marimba and vibraphone – is a gorgeous space for creating and rehearsing music. The fact that it’s so light, and there is a garden and sky view, is really important to my mental wellbeing – and I think it also inspires others when they come into the space. We are very lucky.

CE: How do you approach crafting narratives into your artistry, and how does your First Nations heritage influence these narratives?

MM: I think the narratives write themselves in. Often the overarching story interweaves with the words without me really trying. It’s quite an organic process especially when I’m writing about my language, land and culture. I have, however, been actively learning how to write in language, specifically in our people’s dialect of Dhuwal. That process can be challenging though, because my father has told me the poetry needs to make sense in both languages – which means ensuring I’m not directly translating an English poem into Dhuwal.

Ensemble Offspring At TEDx Sydney

MM: Ensemble Offspring is in its 30th year. What has been your most memorable collaboration to date, and who is someone you would love to collaborate with in the future?

CE: This is a tough question – but I guess our 2014 Sydney Festival collaboration with Mike Patton (of Faith No More fame) sticks out as being pretty darn memorable. We performed Laborintus II by Luciano Berio, with Mike on a megaphone for much of the show, at the City Recital Hall. We had a sold-out crowd, as most of the audience were from a rock music tradition rather than classical. We have always been a fan of crossover collaborations like this one, which tend to bring people from diverse backgrounds together – both on stage and off – which is important for the future of contemporary classical music. In terms of upcoming collaborations, I would honestly say that touring this project we are about to present at the Sydney Opera House. Stories Of Water And Earth is something I am most looking forward to.

CE: What is it like debuting at such an iconic venue as the Sydney Opera House with your own show?

MM: I’m still in shock, I think. As a performer, this is what we dream of. To perform my stories about my homeland and my people, in my language, on a world stage is quite surreal. I am very excited. I have my young daughter with me too, which makes it all the more special.

MM: The vibraphone is such a beautiful instrument, and fascinating to watch being played. How did you get into playing the vibraphone, how long have you been playing and was it difficult to learn?

CE: I started piano when I was five, and later moved to mallet percussion when I was around 12. The vibraphone is actually very similar to the piano in its lay out – we just have the equivalent of four fingers rather than 10, when I use two mallets in each hand. The other similarity is the sustain pedal, which works exactly the same way as a piano. The vibraphone is a very versatile instrument; its roots are actually in jazz. I love playing it, and have a real affinity with the instrument as one of the many percussion instruments I have to play in my day-to-day life.

CE: What do you hope audiences take away from Stories Of Water And Earth?

MM: I hope it excites and encourages more people to become involved in performance poetry, especially young people. Poetry as performance is such a beautiful art form and I would love to see more of it. Hopefully Stories of Water and Earth and the collaboration has the audience wanting more and venues, festivals and funding bodies programming more poetry shows.

MM: What have been your highlights during your collaboration of Stories Of Water And Earth, and how did you find the experience of collaboration with artists from the other side of the country?

CE: We have loved getting to know and working with you and the members of Arafura Music Collective from Darwin over the past couple of years as we have developed Stories Of Water And Earth. Collaboration is at the core of what Ensemble Offspring does, so we really value this new musical friendship and the sharing of our musical passions and backgrounds. The highlight so far was the premiere of Stories Of Water And Earth at the Darwin Festival last year where we received a standing ovation at the end. It’s so special when audiences are touched in the way that you hope they will be, and it made me realise how special and unique our joint creation is.

All remaining tickets for Music On Tubowgule are on sale now via SydneyOperaHouse.com.