A mutinous heritage
Rick Robertson talks about Mutiny Music,
Mutiny on the Bounty,
Fletcher Christian,
the abduction of eighteen Tahitians
and Pitcairn Island
JK: What was the inspiration behind the Mutiny Music suite?
RR: It’s my heritage. I’d always loved the way the old Norfolk Islanders would sing the hymns on a Sunday morning. Especially the ones brought from Pitcairn Island. When I was commissioned to compose the soundscape for a Cyclorama on Norfolk, I rediscovered some recordings made in 1956 of the Norf’k language and song and was inspired to write a suite telling the Pitcairn story using these elements.
JK: When did you first embark on the project and how long did it take to complete?
RR: I’d been dabbling for a while but floated the idea with the Sydney Fringe Festival five years ago. They loved it but it was still just an idea. It was at that point that I began experimenting with sampling and transcribing the spoken word recordings. Three months later we performed ‘Mutiny Music’ for the first time live. Since then we’ve performed the show at a few festivals and I received an Arts Council grant to record it.
JK: Mutiny Music is a unique musical narrative – what story does it tell?
RR: It’s about the development of a new culture on Pitcairn Island following the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. Fletcher Christian and his crew abducted eighteen Tahitians and set off to find somewhere to hide. Tiny Pitcairn Island became their home. Within ten years all the males apart from one had perished leaving a dozen Tahitian women and twenty children. They were eventually discovered but left to their own devices for nearly seventy years, during which time they were joined by a few extra males, eventually ending up on Norfolk Island in 1856.
JK: The music in the suite draws on a number of traditional influences. Can you explain?
RR: The Pitcairners were from two distinct cultural backgrounds – Tahitian and English. The Bounty’s crew danced to hornpipes to stay fit whereas Polynesian drumming and nose flutes were the order of the day for the Tahitians. The Pitcairners, following their tumultuous beginnings, settled into a pious and peaceful existence meeting two or three times a day to worship and sing hymns. Some of the hymns were composed on Pitcairn Island and the melodies used in the suite.
JK: You incorporate the local dialect of Norfolk Islanders into the narrative. Tell us more.
RR: It’s more than a dialect, it’s a language, officially recognised. This is the language that developed on Pitcairn. It’s the melodic way that it was spoken by the older Norfolk Islanders in a time where history was passed down orally and story telling treasured. People seemed to have more time and needed less. Language is so much of culture and I’ve tried to bring a bit of awareness to this wonderful culture by using bits of it.
JK: You have assembled a stellar group of musicians to play your music. Tell us something about the musicians who join you on this project.
RR: Baecastuff recorded its first album (Big Swell – Rufus) as a group in 1996. It’s the same line up apart from Aykho Akhrif who joined the group the following year. These musicians have all contributed to the project immensely. They have all visited Norfolk Island and have taken a keen interest in the history and culture. Simon Barker has developed a whole new way of playing solo log drums, Matt McMahon recorded the piano on the Cyclorama soundtrack fifteen years ago. After the recording of Mutiny Music I asked him about our “free” sections and he said “you were doing your strong melodic thing so when you found me I’d go somewhere else”. Alex Hewetson plays the deepest groove and we’ve been playing together for over twenty five years. Phil Slater is a creative genius, he brings the shit to life and Aykho Akhrif is the wild card energy guy.
JK: What has been the reaction of audiences, each time you have performed the suite?
RR: A friend of mine said it was “one of the best musical experiences he’s ever had”. Over all, really good. Lots of questions asked about certain aspects, mostly of the history. People love the slide show that goes with it.
JK: How did the CD recording of Mutiny Music come about and tell us a little about the process?
RR: After the success of the live show I put together a grant application to get some funding for the recording. I asked Ross A’hern to conduct the recording as he had done such a great job on the previous Baecastuff recording that we did for Naxos. He could also get us into Sony Studios. Sony is great as it has lots of separation and a great piano. Ross’s digital equipment that he uses for recording is incredibly high quality and with musicians of such high quality on the job I wanted to capture every nuance. We spent three days in the studio getting the live takes and then another four sessions mixing and mastering at Ross’s studio. The artwork was done by Kitty Blackman at Troy Horse.
JK: You incorporate historical projected vision into your live performances. Tell us about this.
RR: This really helps tell the story and put the listener into the time frame. I’ve built up a collection of relevant images and run them in chronological order during the performance. They’re meant more as a backdrop and we don’t really consider them as we are playing.
JK: What can we expect from your performance at SIMA?
RR: This is the launch of the album so we are keen to perform at the highest level. We also have a great room to play in, an in tune piano and Ross A’hern doing sound. The musicians in the band are all so in demand individually that it’s an absolute dream to have them all in the same place at the same time. It’s a meeting of the spirits. It’ll be exciting, demanding, dynamic and interesting. It’s got to be good!
SIMA presents the Mutiny Music suite
Saturday 19 March @ The Sound Lounge – Seymour Centre
