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The Bird roost in Canberra - Interview
For eons humans have worshipped hypnotically at the natural beat of live drumming; from ancient African tribes to the South American Incas to punters at The Bird gigs. Sydney based live electronica collective The Bird are one of the few groups that can do their thing 100% spontaneous and, if you’ve ever seen their sets, with 110% live energy.
They are to my living memory (which is questionable I concede) the only group to keep pounding out the breaks during a complete power failure, holding a dancefloor while other acts and DJs faded off into silence. While their new album Sound of No Sound is a good listen even beat magician and Bird drummer Ben Walsh concedes the ‘live show can not be captured’ on CD. The Birds primary roost is definitely up on stage with the audience to guide them.
‘At times we have felt like the audience was driving us or playing us,’ explains Ben, ‘rather than the musicians on stage being totally in control of where the music was heading. It’s a great power that improvised music has, a sort of magic energy that happens for that moment only. Its what stops me from pre-composing what I perform, I’m addicted to that now.’
The collective is quite a spectacle on stage with Ben (drums) and Simon Durrington (keyboards), being joined by some or all of a primo roster including Indian tabla player Bobby Singh, double bass player Barry Hill, turn-tablist Dave Atkins (2 Dogs), Indian vocalist Sukhi Singh, and Cicada on live visuals.
The sound of the Bird is unique in electronic music, fusing many different sounds together, or as Ben describes it: ‘An organic raw interpretation of electronic music forms, plus some roots elements of dub, ragga soul and funk, a slight sprinkle of disco and zapper it with progressive rock pepper then mix in with a dirty drum and bass subsonic snarl. Bang it all together in a hip hop bun with some spicy Asian underground saucy bits and you’ve got the full balanced Bird ingredients.’
While that sounds like a bold claim for any musical group, the collective nature of The Bird allows more elements than a periodic table to be thrown into the mix.
‘The reason behind the collective concept is that music should grow as an act grows and we don't want to play the same tunes again and again. Dance music for me is about exploring sounds and rhythms; you hardly ever hear DJs play the exact same set for a year, so why should we be any different.’
‘I feel the crowd want to vibe on new terrain so we explore and constantly change the line up. Anyone that gets up on stage with the Bird is there because Simon and I respect them and what they can bring to the vibe. Whether it’s dance, visuals or a musical inclusion into the Bird set it totally changes the way we play.’
And the last word from Ben: ‘If you bring your butt to da floor I guarantee to make it move - we don’t stop until the dance floor has cooked!’
The Bird play Stonefest this Friday, November 1st @ the University of Canberra.
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Published / Sunday, 27 October 2002
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