On the 18^th of August my duo Tabua-Harrison that features Holly Harrison on Drums and myself on Electric Guitar performed at the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music. It was our final destination of the tour to support our brand new improvised music album titled ‘Scout’. Joining Tabua-Harrison throughout the CD launches were fellow Pyschopyjama label mates Espadrille. A week before this both bands appeared at Johnston Street Jazz in Annandale and Junction 142 in Katoomba. Overall it was a delightful experience and there were many highs and some lows. Sydney Morning Herald’s John Shand gave Tabua-Harrison and Espadrille three and a half stars for their Annandale show.

“My personal preference was to listen to the music with closed eyes. The more brutal the music the better it was”.  John Shand

It can be hard sometimes to find your place. My musical voice has jazz sensitivity, funk, metal, gospel, classical and world music influences. Especially when I think about harmony.  Still, there’s another side of me that wants to be loud and ferocious. In fact, I want to be all of these things. So, outsiders might perceive this cultural omnivourous concept as a problem. I use this omnivourous preference as a way to assert identity. Some people may be confused, if not confronted by improvised and experimental music. However, it is my truth and if I do what is expected and take the easy road, well, then, I  have failed. There’s a common expression I continuously keep hearing. That being, ‘You’re too loud for this jazz club’. ‘I’m sorry you’re a bit too jazzy (experimental) for us mainstream folk’. Nevertheless, I am motivated by the American composer and jazz pianist Theolonius Monk who once said: “I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing? Even, if it takes them fifteen to twenty years”.