A conversation with Eric Avery

AUSTA’s Advertising Manager Adele Gibson interviews violinist Eric Avery.

Eric Avery, Kabi Marrawuy Mumbulla, is a violinist, vocalist, dancer and composer from the Ngiyampaa, Yuin and Gumbangirr people of NSW. He works with his family’s custodial songs and his haunting compositions often feature him singing while playing violin, predominantly in the Ngiyampaa language.

AG: Where did you grow up?

EA: I grew up in Sydney in the eastern suburbs, the Shire and Newtown. I am Yuin, Ngiyampaa, Gumbangirr, with connection to Bundjalang.

AG: How did you begin your musical journey?

EA: I began playing piano learning pieces by ear, very simply at first. I asked my mother for a toy violin when I was 11. I only picked up a full-sized real violin in year 6 and started playing violin in year 8. I am still astounded by how much I progressed although starting relatively late. My technique is definitely a tribute to all my teachers.

I hold these memories close to my heart. My mother gave me my first violin when I was about 13; I was also supported to play by my Nan immensely. She would always work out a way I could get new strings. My mother also supported my lessons. My Auntie taught me – she is an accomplished teacher and taught me just by the words, ‘Wiggle the note’! It was when I was starting to learn vibrato at age 15. That was a Zen moment for me – ‘Wiggle the note’!

I started formal lessons when I was 14 with my first teacher, Renee. I was obsessed with the violin. The film, Music of The Heart, and the documentary, Small Wonders, provided me with much inspiration when I was 9 and upwards. I yearned for a real violin for years and practised pieces by heart even before I touched the violin. The violin lives inside me. From a young age, I knew I wanted to express myself through the instrument. I had a sense of my musicality and what I was hearing. I was very blessed with a good ear and progressed in my music studies at school.

AG: Do you have a favourite piece of music?

EA: My favourite pieces of music when I was younger were ‘Joyful, Joyful’ from Sister Act and the Bach Double, featured in Music of the Heart. These movies provided me with inspiration from a young age that I could progress as a Black child in a largely multicultural context; I was still one of the only Black children in my schools at this time.

AG: What are your career highlights so far?

EA: Last year I toured with Tina Arena. That was a defining moment. I decided that I would play music for the rest of my life. Even though I had decided that very early on in my life, touring with Tina reinforced this belief. I also performed work very new and refreshing. I have had the privilege of learning my language and playing violin with my father who is a yidaki/gurrumurrugambat/didgeridoo player. I was immersed in culture and was able to compose some really seminal works during this time for Black Arm Band, Marrugeku and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I have progressed and am now composing for the Australian Vocal Ensemble and Ensemble Offspring. The vibraphone and marimba are amazing (I actually wanted to play this instrument when I was younger). I even went into a talent quest when I was eight years old, playing xylophone. In my dance career, I was lucky enough to dance for Marrugeku and independent dancers Frances Rings, Vicki Van Hout and Narelle Benjamin. The interplay between my dancing and violin was very interesting and I got to explore this for a while, culminating in my solo work, ‘Dancing With Strangers’, performed across Australia with Marrugeku. Dalisa Pigram has also inspired me.

AG: Who were your early influences? Do you have a favourite musician?

EA: My first favourite musician/violinist when I started was Regina Carter; I absolutely loved her rendition of Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan. I am also a fan of Midori; I feel her playing is very earth-like. I would also like to give my thanks to Hilary Hahn and how much her violin style and repertoire has inspired countless musicians. I listened to her recordings and her exquisite work on The Village soundtrack. This soundtrack helped me immensely throughout my teenage years and guided me in my life until now.

The beauty amongst a haunting soundtrack was accomplished immensely in her work. I listened to a lot of Prokofiev when I was a teenager also.

My early influences were dancers and people who I met while studying Dance at NAISDA Dance College and The Australian Ballet. I was very lucky to have friends who were amazing musicians and composers. I remember my friends playing and improvising at the piano and on the cello. I was lucky enough to have found a very supportive musical environment at Newtown High School for the Performing Arts where I received very sound training and I was pushed to always strive for the best that I could present. I loved Elena Kats Chernin’s works. Fritz Kreisler works were also beautiful to connect with. More of my favourite musicians were Patti Smith, Ani Di Franco, Nelly Furtado, Erykah Badu (Black Strength and Love), Tiddas, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Anne Carr Boyd, Adele, The Saints and Tori Amos, another guiding spirit. Bjork was a major influence and, yes, the music guided me in my teenage years. Listening to Erykah allowed me to find my feminine side and the powerful messages in her music about hope and Black love still guide me today. Tracy Chapman, Crowded House, My Friend The Chocolate Cake and Marni Newman inspired my contemporary explorations. Yothu Yindi and Alicia Keys as a classical trained pianist and vocalist, much like Nina Simone, reminded me that as Black musicians, we have so much to offer the world.

More recently, coming more out of the closet, I have been very happy to have heard the music of Nico Muhly live as played by the Omega Ensemble.

AG: What is like to be a gay Aboriginal musician and composer in Australia in 2022?

EA: It is beautiful. It is difficult. It is in a constant state of change and flux. It is a beautiful thing to be out and to accept yourself.

AG: Tell me what it was like to play with Yo-Yo Ma.

EA: To listen to how Yo-Yo was guiding my natural musicianship was amazing. To hear the sonority of sound with my Aboriginal Language was an important milestone. I offer my sincere thanks to him and his team. I surely created a musical experience with him. My world has opened to the possibilities of performing differently. I was accepted, and I sang

7 - 14 January, 2023

Susan Collins - Music Director

A festival for players of all ages and stages to participate in:

• Orchestral strings

• Chamber music

• Classical Guitar

• Mandolin

• Conducting

• Adult ensemble Riverina Conservatorium of Music

1 Simmons St, Wagga Wagga www.summerstrings.com.au with the violin with him. Not a common thing to sing and play violin at the same time!

AG: What are you currently working on?

EA: I am composing work for an advertisement for the University of Technology Sydney. I am learning The Lark Ascending and I compose a lot of my work for violin and pedals. I’m also working on a debut album. I plan to learnsome new songs in language.

AG: What are your goals for the future?

EA: My goals and plans are to keep playing violin. My violin teacher at Newtown PA had immense impact on how I think about the violin – it is a constant journey but an upward graph.

AG: Do you have a message for young people starting their music journey?

EA: The violin lives inside of us. We hold important information and hope.

AG: How do we engage more young Aboriginal people in all genres of music?

EA: Listening, guidance and action. Our music holds eons of information. Aboriginal people have a philosophy of keeping old traditions alive while adapting to the world changing. Technological advancements are very interesting and very relevant to how music has formed over the last 50 years. The violin style has changed; we see a moving away and coming back to tradition and how these sounds and feelings from the past are engaged with in more ecological ways. I believe Aboriginal people will have more of a contribution towards the philosophy of the natural and man-made worlds. The violin holds a rainbow serpent of information and emotion. We are creating active reconciliation by being brave enough to engage with old cultures and new cultures in this country.

For me, the violin is about connections, particularly with my mother and grandmother, who both supported me so much. They have both passed on now, but I recognise their love and contribution towards my life and the role that they played as Black elders in my childhood, and the violin keeps me connected to them still.

AG: Thank you, Eric, for your insights.

Eric is a 2021 Myer Creative Fellow. To learn more, go to ericavery.com.au/about/