Still ecstatic after their outstanding, mind -blowing, eye- opening, yet intimate and simple, performance on The Voice, Gurrumul’s longtime friend, collaborator and producer Michael Hohnen gives Undercover an exclusive insight into the moments prior to the presentation, the repercussions, and explains why Gurrumul “is probably the happiest he has ever been in his life”.
Michael Hohnen (MH): Tuesday and Wednesday nights were probably close to the best performances of our lives. We are on a high. The Guardian reviewed the Tuesday night show with a beautifully written piece. The Orchestral backing was rich warm and powerful, and from all feedback, the narration on film by Gurrumul's clan and family brought out an element in the concert that seated us partly in Sydney but partly on the island of Elcho.
The Voice was an unexpected opportunity that came from the show's producers for Reconciliation week, and it was slightly daunting at first, but Gurrumul spent his early years touring in the supergroup Yothu Yindi so he has never been worried with nerves about something like that. It was just that having pop royalty singing with you opens up a musical and mainstream angle that Gurrumul has never been given before. Everything went smoothly and in fact it was the best ten days of touring I think we have ever done.
UNDERCOVER: Performing on The Voice was an opportunity to bring Gurrumul to a wider audience… what were the repercussions after the show? One of them, for instance, was that Gurrumul’s album sales reignited in Itunes after the performance.
MH: The song has gone to number one on iTunes. Mainstream Australia now know who he is, which has always been a big battle for us. (TV Presenter) Richard Wilkins tweeted something like - if you only download one song this year make it this one-. This is something that only happens in the very best circumstances. The industry is quietly behind Gurrumul because they see so much music come along that means nothing - whereas this is a person who has made an historical mark on musical and cultural expression, and it has been embraced by many people who are saying "yes we support this and want the public to know about it".
UNDERCOVER: Gurrumul has had incredible success all over the world. Is the so- called “Gurrumul effect” still going strong? Do you think there are still lots of hearts to conquer through his music?
MH: I think conquer is a difficult word to use for me when I talk about Gurrumul. But I know what you mean. And I don't really subscribe to The Gurrumul effect, because talent and presentation of uniqueness in a tasteful and meaningful way is more what it's about. When Gurrumul had some success with his first record, I got told by a few music industry execs that people would now try to replicate this whole "model" from a business and music perspective. That surprised me. If I were trying to present a new artist I would probably be more excited about doing something different rather than similar. I am working with a few different artists who are going to release albums soon and they are nothing like Gurrumul - which heartens me.
UNDERCOVER: What did the Sydney Opera show consist of?
MH: We filmed Gurrumul's family and his clan leaders telling stories or "narrating", people dancing, children learning about ceremony, and tried to put into context a visual background of his life back at home. It was not cinematic but just natural, almost like very flash home movies. This showed the audience that Gurrumul's songs and stories are multi dimensional, as they incorporate dance and ceremony into their storytelling. This was done in a very contemporary way. We also had Gurrumul, and sometimes the orchestral musicians up on the big screen too, so the audience felt like they were right there with us. We had the songs scored for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), including three new works, which will come out on his next album probably later next year. Some of the scoring underpinned the screen footage. Gurrumul's band, and I played with him on stage and it all coincided with a release of his book last week by Robert Hillman "Gurrumul - His Life And Music" and we tried to tie in a "live" version of the kind of insights that the book presents. Also Delta joined us for a full-length version of Bayini with the orchestra on the second night, which was like a big bonus for Gurrumul and all of us.
(All artist and label proceeds from the track will go directly to the newly formed Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation which was set up by Gurrumul to invest into programs to assist youth in remote Arnhem Land Indigenous communities to rise to their potential.)
UNDERCOVER: What is the story behind the song Bayini?
MH: Bayini is a female ancestral spirit; the name and character comes from the Macassan (Indonesian people I believe from Sulawesi) traders who were coming to Australia well before the Spanish, the Dutch, the English and any other more recent explorers. Bayini was a woman on the Macassan ship and she apparently did something wrong and was thrown overboard. Her spirit now looks over the bay of Bawaka in NE Arnhem Land and she carries many other stories. Being a female character, Gurrumul and I first recorded this with Sarah Blasko, who does a beautiful classical version of the part. The Voice people suggested as one idea that Gurrumul do the song with one of their judges and Gurrumul chose Delta to re-live this part of Sarah's. We did not think it would have come to this. Delta took on the part with a very personal sense of commitment and to Gurrumul's family's delight, dressed in jewellery similar to the Bayini character, and learned language to sing and harmonise with him.
UNDERCOVER: During the presentations at Sydney Opera, three new works were premiered. How was the response to them? They will be a part of a future record… when do you think that record will be released?
MH: The works are a new style. They went down very well. Some critics were there and they spoke to me about how they were interested in them. We are still working out how we will put it all together at the moment, but I think it is going to quite different from what people are expecting.
UNDERCOVER: You’ve said that “everything happens slowly with Gurrumul” and that you have to “go with that timing”. How has the timing been so far? Have things speeded up as the years went by or is it still pretty much like when you first started to play music together?
MH: It has been almost unwaveringly constant. Apart from his health setbacks the pattern has been constant, and we try to just leave his pattern alone. Any new idea takes time, so we let things sit in his head, with him and his family to process, and if they are meant to happen then they do- the last 2 weeks have been a long time in the making and it was just a few serendipitous puzzle pieces that fell from the sky that created a bit of a wave last week. The last 2 weeks could almost not have been better as we started this mini tour premiering his Sydney show to Music Matters in Singapore on the 22nd of May and half of South East Asian industry is now approaching us about ideas. Gurrumul's only frustration is that he couldn't watch The Voice last night as his community doesn't get it broadcast there. Otherwise he is probably the happiest he has ever been in his life.
