I was born and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1987 left to Australia where I spent 3 years working and travelling throughout. I then moved on to travel through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and on to India. It was in India where I introduced and began to play the Didgeridoo. I eventually left after 18 months and moved into the U.K. I soon bought a camper van which I lived in eventually for 7 years busking and performing around Europe, north for the summers and south for the winters. I now currently live in a flat in London. I have been playing Yidaki (Didgeridoo) since October 1992, I started by teaching myself on a plastic telescopic tube, getting to grips with the circular breathing technique within 3 afternoons whilst sitting on a beach in Diu, India. I developed my "own style" of playing, I could play very fast or do slow long drones and had made in due course 3 cassette tapes series which I sold whilst busking.
One night however my life was changed forever, I saw Yothu Yindi, a traditional Aboriginal Arnhem land band performing in London. The true sound of Yidaki as it should sound hit me and from then on with the help of a fellow enthusiast, Shozo, began practicing traditional foundation techniques. It has been a long and difficult journey, with countless hours of listening and practise to get to where I am now. I am now confident enough to begin performing again with proper foundation technique which I confirmed recently when I meet my guru, Yidaki Master, DJALU GURRUWIWI, of the Galpu clan in northeast Arnhem land, at a special workshop in Germany.
I remember in Eisenbach, Germany 2002, our Yidaki master Djalu Gurruwiwi blessing his students, passing on the Yidaki Spirit through himself and into us from all Djalu's ancestors, it was a very moving experiance, something I'll never forget. He said you must respect the Yidaki, its' sound and what it means other wise the spirit will leave and never return to you.
I have always felt a special feeling when I was learning to play, as though the instrument was teaching me, but would only give me the next stage of knowledge when it felt I was ready to recieve it. A Zen type of experiance, where the learning curve goes up or stays stationary or you find yourself covering old ground only in more depth; the deeper you go the more there is to realise.
Now almost any time I perform I feel like a medium, through which many Yidaki spirits want to play their songs, so I can never tell what song will come and where it will go to next. A conductor of ghosts.....................
___________________________________
NOTE: Although I play with a trad based foundation I am not nor ever will be a traditional Yidaki player.
___________________________________
