BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
The Neck is a narrow strip of land; an isthmus that connects one part of the wild Bruny Island to another. When Julius Schwing stands at The Neck, a sort of music calls out to him from the landscape. Surrounded by the environment, he hears “pitch scales” in the frequencies that seem to come from the coastal area itself. This is the inspiration behind the guitarist/composer’s new trio album ‘edge2:isthmus’.
Julius has lived on the island since he was a baby, having moved from Vienna where he was born in 1987. He’s played guitar since he was nine and made music to audiences across the world since he his first gig at 13. He’s studied with jazz legends Dave Douglas and Vijay Iyer, and performed with numerous Australian talents. His newest album is in collaboration with Tasmanian drummer Alf Jackson and double bassist Nick Haywood, and was released on his own record label Isthmus Music. It premieres as part of 2016 Mofo, and Julius talks with us about the island’s influences in his music.
Tell us about your connection to Bruny Island.
My parents moved from Vienna to Bruny Island when I was four months old and it’s been home ever since. Nowadays, even though I’m not there all the time, it’s still my favourite place to be.
Why did you now decide – or feel urged – to write music based on your Tasmanian hometown?
To some extent, I’ve always drawn inspiration from Bruny Island, but it’s been through the recent EDGE2 project that this inspiration has come to the forefront and been the focus of my music. There is a stable yet ever changing energy there, something primal, undeniable, old and ancient. That’s how I want my music to sound.
So how does one go about translating a landscape into jazz?
I hear and perceive a place like The Neck along a pitch and colour scale. It ranges from very high hissing (white/young), through to mid-range frequencies that travel through the landscape to ultra low-end, inaudible notes of sheer presence and solidity (dark, old).There is a low grounded foundation with activity on top and it seems like the older a sound gets, the lower it becomes, eventually standing still. I don’t like to be too literal about turning these ideas into music, I try to let things soak in via osmosis and then trust that the landscape shines through in the music somehow.
How do your works represent The Neck on an aesthetic level?
I like to portray the moods and memories and different perspectives of the landscape that exist in my mind’s eye. There are no really obvious Neck-isms so to speak, just pieces that have been written to a mental Neck backdrop. I float around it in my head from all angles, pretend I’m buried deep inside it hearing muffled storms, walk in an inverted plaster cast of it, think of the life it supports, imagine it at 3am, etc., etc., etc..
This was part of a multi-disciplinary art project. What’s that about in a broader sense?
This album is my contribution to the EDGE2:Isthmus project on Bruny Island. Three 2D artists, three 3D artists, a geologist and myself all worked on a joint exhibition using the Bruny isthmus as our inspiration. It has ended up being a stream of parallel creation brought together by a common theme with moments of sharing and discussion along the way.
Have you done anything like this before?
No. It’s a first for me and has been a great experience. I’ve really enjoyed making contact with the other artists and its made me realise how similar processes can be across disciplines. It’s broadened my interest in the visual arts massively and I now have ‘painter envy’.
A lot of your music here is improvised, but at the same time the structure comes down to your interpretation of the landscape. How did you work through this? Did the other musicians you played with follow along with your improvisations or bring their own understanding of The Neck into the music?
Both Nick Haywood (bass) and Alf Jackson (drums) are brilliant at improvising along the lines of mood, texture and imagery. The pieces were guided by my experiences and connection to The Neck, but Nick and Alf both know me well, and they know The Neck, so it was an easy process to translate these ideas into sounds.
You recorded near the location of inspiration – what was the recording experience like?
We recorded the bulk of the material in Hobart and the session was very smooth. One rehearsal was enough and we had the recording done in a few hours. I recorded a solo piece at The Neck, nestled in the dunes amongst the coastal wattle. It was interesting to play with the ambient noises as if they were another musician, allowing space in the phrasing for a gust of wind or for waves to finish crashing.
How will you recreate this improvised experience for MONA audiences? Will we be able to feel The Neck in the music you play live?
Live, we plan to play the album through start to finish, extending and developing the existing ideas as we go. The kernels of each song are strong enough to conjure up The Neck mood but we are up for following any spontaneous path that appears.
Any parting words?
Bring on EDGE3.
See Julius Schwing perform his new release at Mofo, on this weekend in Tasmania. Details and tickets www.mofo.net.au.
