BY LILY BRYANT
Trigger warning: This story and the embedded audio contains description of gendered violence.
We often discuss music in terms of its ability to move us.
Its creation and consumption can exist in a deeply emotional context, leading to a willingness from the listener and performer to become vulnerable. We open ourselves to the meaningful experience the music provides.
But music can also provide audiences with an opportunity to engage with confronting ideas. It can give an intimate, personal voice to the members of society who are dehumanised by debate and statistics.
For the individuals and communities affected by gendered violence, this voice is invaluable. And in her new work, Australian composer Andrée Greenwell urges people to listen.
Andrée’s piece Listen to Me creates a personal and vulnerable musical experience for its listener. Featuring instrumental music and voice, her piece engages a range of perspectives in a collective reflection on the effects of gendered violence within communities.
Through sung and spoken word, the work uses personal stories and quotes from anonymous contributors and prominent advocates such as Annabel Crabb, Clementine Ford, and Rosie Batty.
Andrée speaks on how she uses music to contribute to change.
The title of your work Listen to Me has resonances beyond the music itself. What does the title mean to you?
The project had two different titles before I settled on this one. The first title was The Prayers and I was thinking about the idea of both personal and communal ‘pleas’ in that meaning. But I was planning for a secular realisation, so that title was problematic. I like that Listen to Me has many meanings – the act of listening to a person, an artistic expression, a voice, music, sound. Then there are the literal meanings in the context of listening to the broadcast.
Your work is a hybrid of instrumental music and sung and spoken word. How does using a range of creative media allow you to better respond to the issue of gendered violence?
I do not think my approach is necessarily a ‘better’ way to respond. The hybrid factor is my natural way of expression. I am truly a postmodern child and love to work with a variety of media and genres, and I have drawn upon those skills to underpin my artistic intention. Other musicians would make different choices to deal with this topic for sure – from the demonstrative, the referential, or the dedicatory. There are also those works that involve narrative, where within the inner workings of a song or composition, an argument is put forward by the artist in the way that the media is manipulated and played out over time. My work follows the latter, engaging many song forms and sonic expressions in a dynamic and episodic collection.
I think the dynamic juxtapositions of the episodes set up a kind of discussion from within the work, that one reconsiders what has just passed because the incoming expression is quite different.
How do the incorporated quotes from both survivors of violence and prominent advocates of gender equality help to amplify your message?
I always consider the relationship of the medium to what is being articulated artistically, and I have used it in previous works. Once I had settled on the medium of radio broadcast and podcast, I thought it made sense to incorporate some verbatim material, which dynamically juxtaposes the highly expressive lyric of the songs and poems accompanied by music. The factual material functions a lot like a Greek chorus – which is at times confronting and levelling aspect of the work.
How integral is it to your project to champion a diverse range of women’s voices?
In Listen to Me, my first step was to head for diversity in creative and cultural perspectives, and life experience. I invited a number of Australian writers, and included a range of quotes by women concerning this issue, and also private stories of Australian women. Gendered violence is a communal problem, so I wanted to offer something that was prism-like; certainly not definitive, but including many elements that are equally engaging and valid. I also wanted to make use of the unique features of music and allow time and space for both personal and communal reflection, which is a different experience to reportage.
Your work will be broadcast as an audio podcast. How is this medium more effective than live performance in conveying your message and engaging your audience?
Live performance is fantastic because it can be cathartic, as a shared communal experience between those who perform and for those who are present. But that can only reach a limited number of people, especially for this kind of work which does not fit neatly into a single music genre. The broadcast medium offers broader outreach, and then privacy of access for listeners and flexibility of access, which is fantastic. There is potential to reach many diverse audiences, more than the number of people who might come to see a performance of my work. The audience can grow even further as the work is shared via online, broadcast and social media means. Once I decided to go with this medium, many possibilities opened up to emphasise the idea of ‘giving voice’ in human and artistic ways.
We’re experiencing a cultural shift in the way society considers violence against women, evidenced most recently by the widespread #MeToo movement. How valuable is your work in keeping this momentum and conversation going?
I do not see it as my role to estimate the value, I simply hope that it contributes to ongoing debate. I do believe in the power of articulating to make things real. I think the use of music gives an audience permission to engage with really difficult human experiences – this is something composers have been doing alongside writers for a very long time.
Statistics on their own can overwhelm, so I hope that this group of highly personal authorial and performative voices humanises the debate and offers human connection, made through a musical expression. The problem is common, and so many amazing women have come forward to participate in this project.
Listen to Me is now available online. Listen below and learn more about the musicians and talent involved on Andrée Greenwell’s Bandcamp.
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Images supplied. Featured image of Melanie Horsnell by Andree Greenwell.
