21 minute read
KIRKLANDD
Stranger Things: BIG IDEAS
IN A SMALL SPACE
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by Allan Sko
Christopher Samuel Carroll
So says Irish-born, Canberra actor Christopher Samuel Carroll about French-Algerian writer/ philosopher Albert Camus’ 1940s classic The Stranger (also know as The Outsider). He is taking on the daunting task of turning the text into a one-man show. Throw in a two-month break for lockdown, and it’s an even more perilous exercise.
The existential, absurdist story explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. Meursault, the anti-hero, will not lie. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. And when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society, and the law. It is, in short, a real thinker.
Carroll, a talented mainstay of Canberra arts, is known for his physical theatre. His upcoming show marks his sixth solo venture.
“Solo work is a very particular form of theatre to do as an actor,” Carroll explains. “It’s rewarding in that it connects you in a very pure way to the audience. There’s incredible freedom in it. You’re lacking other performers, of course, and the reciprocal energy generated. But it means you become sensitised to everything the text is giving you. And everything in the atmosphere of the room that particular night with the audience, what you’re doing, how that’s landing, how that’s resonating in the space.”
So of all the world’s stories, and with complete autonomy of choice that a one-man show provides, what led Carroll to The Stranger?
“It’s different to the solo shows I’ve done before,” he reveals. “I’m known for doing physical work. But fundamentally, I trained as a classical actor and have a strong relationship to great text, great words, well written characters. Complex, sensitive, challenging stories. “The Stranger is all about the text, and the acting of the text, and bringing the honesty of it,” Carroll continues. “I have an image in mind of this slow burning cigarette; this contained smouldering energy that carries through this subtle, meditative journey of this character. There are still moments of high emotion, and high drama. It’s theatrical. But it’s not all explicit.
Co-creators we may be, but the fact remains that Carroll is alone on that stage. As such, he is able to examine the material in the most intricate of ways.
“I find The Stranger darkly funny,” he says. “It’s dripping with an irony that really appeals to me. It’s an Irish thing as well. It’s deeply human, and I feel that sense of heaviness. It’s something I carry with me. I’m a foreigner in this place. I’m someone who emigrated. So to an extent, I felt like an outsider. And the place that I came from, I never really felt like I belonged there either.
“But then again, maybe that’s part of an artistic disposition as well. It’s taking a step back, looking at things from a different angle, because you don’t really feel a sense of belonging.” @bmamag
It’s clear by now that the big ideas contained within The Stranger resonate with Carroll. Of course, there would have to be a strong drive to put on such a solo venture, with the prospect of memorising many, many thousands of words being a nightmarish one for most.
It is here that Carroll gives a generously detailed and thoroughly fascinating insight into the process; from inception, through development, up to a cautious state of readiness.
“It’s a big confrontation with yourself; a big, big challenge that you put in front of yourself,” he says. “It doesn’t feel real, at first. It can be quite fragile, up until a certain point until it becomes tangible, which only starts happening once you’ve made certain commitments to it becoming a real thing.
“When you get a great designer on board, you’re talking to them, they’re getting excited, you’re getting excited back, you do photos, talk to the venue, and… it becomes more real. Up until that point, the idea only ever feels as good as your confidence in yourself on a given day.” And this confidence has to be self-fulfilling, with no actors to bounce off.
“You have to create a cause and effect - as happens with other actors - within this massive monologue of one line next to another next to another,” Carroll explains. “It’s about linking the character’s thoughts.
“[Rehearsal is] just me sitting by myself for hours, just mumbling the thing, one line at a time, and then two lines at a time, then small chunks of paragraphs, then a quarter page, and then a half page. Then taking a break for 20 minutes, and turning my mind off by watching the least taxing movie you could possibly watch. It’s like cramming for an exam.”
From here, the indefinable process of taking words and incorporeal ideas and setting them into the concrete of memory occurs. Again, and again.
“There’s different layers that happen,” Carroll explains. “It’s a terrifying alchemy of the mind that you don’t fully feel in control of. You just put in the hours. These words, you’re gorging them; cramming them into your memory. And maybe this feels so painful because you’re actually forming new synapses. My brain is creating new things rolling into existence.
“But, gradually, it happens,” Carroll asserts. “At first, when you come back to it a few days later, it feels like you’ve forgotten everything. You work on it a bit, and it takes less time to learn from scratch. And then you come back to it a few days later. And it begins to be there. The character’s thoughts arrive in your mind. But you never fully feel in control or understand how the material passes from the very “I have this analogy of, like, plowing furrows. And it’s very much an analogy, because I’m a city boy, what the hell do I know about farming?” he smirks. “But you know, the idea of breaking the hard topsoil, plowing the furrows so that, ultimately, something will grow.”
This Groundhog Day approach naturally leads to a deep understanding of the material, with countless hours poured into the comparatively, and eventually, brief performance.
The trick, though, is to not show your working.
It is the perpetual paradox of the great actor - rehearse so well that it appears the characters are saying the words for the very first time. “Yeah, it is a paradox. I know,” Carroll confirms. “That freedom that comes from being able to let go, to not have to think, and to hide all the work that you’ve done.
Finally, we have the performance space. For a story with such big ideas, Carroll is determinedly set on a smaller environment.
“Being in a small theatre, the character and his actions are there to be examined by the audience. To gain an individual insight into this man. He’s absolutely flawed, and you can pick apart his actions, but as the hero of the story, there’s still so much about him that’s relatable.
“I want to create something that’s intimate, that has the effect of stepping from the world outside and into the space of this world. I want the audience close enough to share that space with every little moment. Every little impulse can be witnessed and felt; they are drawn into the intimacy and solitude of the character, rather than having to dial up everything to 11 and hit the back rafters.”
Bare Witness Theatre Co. supported by Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres presents Christopher Samuel Carroll’s The Stranger by Albert Camus. The show runs 8 - 11 December at Gorman Arts Centre: Ralph Wilson Theatre, 7:30pm - 9:30pm. Tix $25 - $30 + bf via Humanitix. PAGE 29
Ego is not a dirty word...but, it’s complicated. Canberra’s Kirklandd dives deeper in
By Millie Hayes
Photo: Harry Chalker
For Canberra-raised rapper Kirklandd, the concept of success isn’t straightforward. Arguably, it may seem easier to interrogate success when you’ve just been awarded an arts grant, and your childhood hero T-Pain plucks your video from a list of hundreds, gives a glowing review (“This shit is dope.”), and tweets as much to his 1.3 million followers right before you announce your upcoming tour.
But Kirklandd is just excited those opportunities mean he can make more music. Exploring the complexity of ego, self-belief, and self-doubt in his latest release, SUCCESS $TAINS, he gets closer to defining his own version of achievement.
“Across the two songs, I explore my relationship with success and my conflicted push and pull with it through an PAGE 30entity I’ve created called the Stains,” he explains. While the concept of failure is anathema to the songwriter—he almost flinches at the mention of it—a sense of balance permeates his ambition, his creative approach, and the two tracks released last week. Hubris and humility, pop melodies and trap bangers, conviction and curiosity. This is an artist hungry for authenticity, wherever it comes from. “The Stains are a visual embodiment of how success can wrap around me and control me. At times, they might give me power and make me feel confident and successful and I get an ego glow from that energy. “But then other times they make me feel really conflicted because my idea of success is constantly changing. So, then, I can never hit that target, which can lead to me getting down on myself.” @bmamag
That duality flows through SUCCESS $TAINS in the tracks man of my word (with Lil Spacely) and idwbf (I don’t want to be famous), produced by Cam Buff. The first song begins with a dark rumination on drowning, building tension until the beat drops and the confidence erupts. Kirklandd’s ensuing verbal gymnastics are made to sound easy, matched by the effortless flow of Lil Spacely’s feature, bringing the Western Sydney sound to Canberra for the first time. Accompanied by a high-concept animated music video by visual artist Adam Dal Pozzo, the anthemic single demands your attention. “The chorus is borderline cocky,” Kirklandd states. “I don’t usually like making music like that, but I had been writing a song a day for a month at this point, so I was feeling authentically confident and wanted to embody that energy.” Following that raw confidence, the second single idwbf starts off light and breezy, only for melancholy and anxiety to bleed through the lyrics. Uncertainty is present even in the shifting grammar of the refrain ‘I’ll need another life’. “In it, I’m confused about what I’m trying to achieve,” Kirklandd reveals. “Maybe it’s that people will love me when I become successful, so I try to reach for that. But as I get closer, I realise all my idols are struggling with their vices and dealing with pain.” In conversation, Kirklandd’s energy is infectious, which probably has something to do with the intensity of his ideas as a lightspeed lyricist, chewing through topics of conversation and sources of inspiration like a more-ish bowl of M&Ms. Obsessed with quality, and open to artistic influence from any quarter, he pivots comfortably from spiritual exploration to videogames to Little Miss Sunshine to his migrant ancestry. While often referred to as a rapper, his discography similarly shapeshifts in genre, but it’s always, above all else, personal. On his upcoming tour, audiences will be introduced to the emerging punk direction of his sound, integrated with visual effects and the stage presence of his live band and Lil Spacely. “Punk has a nostalgic value that can’t be beaten,” he said, reminiscing on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game soundtrack. “At least half the set is unreleased songs that I’m working on for next year. It’s really this evolution in my style and in becoming one with these Stains, becoming comfortable with what my idea of success is. “I’m so excited about this tour. I want to draw out the energy that’s been building up in me and in everyone else. I want people to let out every bit of pent up frustration or anything they went through in lockdown. And I want us to be all together in the same space and have the best fucking time.” A performer containing multitudes, you can be sure his evolution into a punk-driven sound will be informed by it all. Keep listening, Canberra, because Kirklandd (Kirk, to the facebook.com/bmamagazine fans) has got plenty more coming.
Photo: Claire Warren
Keep up to date with Kirklandd’s latest projects on his website and socials (Insta, Facebook, YouTube, bandcamp). Get tix for the upcoming tour (and a taste of Kirklandd’s mixtape slated for a 2022 release) on 10 December in Sydney, or 18 December at our own UC Hub, Canberra. SUCCESS $TAINS is available on streaming services. PAGE 31
Fortune Favours The Brave
With lockdown officially over, let the Summer of live music begin! Lucky for us, December is already looking jam-packed full of entertainment in the beautiful city of Canberra as Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter, Kim Yang, launches her exquisite EP Brave at The Street Theatre. We caught up with the delightful Kim to find out what has been happening in her corner of the world, and what to expect from her upcoming show. There are few modern-day artists that possess the ability to instantly captivate an audience with their openness and heartfelt honesty. When it comes to folk music, it is hard to find a more genuine artist than Canberra’s own Kim Yang, who is ready to electrify audiences with the highly anticipated live launch of her second EP Brave. Due to the recent Canberra lockdown, the launch, originally scheduled for September, was postponed, prompting Kim and her talented musician friends to stage a star-studded virtual gig with performances by Evan Buckley, Bec Taylor, Chris Endrey, Sophie Edwards and Lachlan Hawkins. Kim also made the hard choice to release the EP during lockdown and, as a result, has received national airplay and rave reviews from Double J, AAA Backstage and triple j unearthed, proving that all the hard work was worth it. The Brave EP was actually recorded during the 2020 lockdown period (it seems so long ago, I know) and the subsequent time that followed. As difficult as those times were, they appear to have inspired, and even propelled, Kim to capture her most poignant work to date, laying down a collection of stunning and haunting tracks with Guyy Lilleyman at the amazing Amberly Studios in Kambah.
One of the standout tracks, Dominoes, was captured in those dark days, and as Kim explains, it seized upon an unsettling feeling and the uncertainty of the times that, for most of us, was something we’d never experienced before. “We recorded Dominoes around the time of lockdown, and we workshopped the song together to make it into a fuller, richer sound,” Kim explains. “The song tells the story of how people who are feeling lost in this whole COVID situation are not alone, and that everyone is feeling self-doubt and uncertainty at the moment. We just have to experience this journey towards our own unique destination and embrace the struggles, because time is so subjective and one day we will reach our destination in our own way.”
Like any seasoned storyteller, Kim’s ability to capture the poetic realism of everyday events in her compositions is quite profound. Another example is the recent single Garden of Eden, which also features on the Brave EP. The song is a beautiful yet heartbreaking retelling of Kim’s own experiences in the 2019 Australian bushfires. As dark as the subject matter gets, it still conveys hope in the form of the human spirit and our ability to rise above fear to help others in need. Recalling the harrowing tale that occurred on New Year’s Eve in 2019, and inspired the tune, Kim tells us: “Garden of Eden is about my experiences during the bushfires. I was on holiday on the south coast and unfortunately, I became one of those people who got trapped. We were camping at the time, and it was such an eye-opening experience. “It was crazy, and I was so anxious and angry. “I actually thought I might not make it out of Eden,” Kim adds. “I talk a lot about the things I’d seen that night, with people showing empathy and checking on each other. We were all trying to find shelter, kids were crying, and I was really traumatised by that experience. “I wrote that song to give people an idea of what that experience was like.” Kim will be performing these emotionally loaded songs at The Street Theatre as part of her Brave EP launch, with her new 5-piece band helping to bring the songs to life on stage. An excited Kim tells us: “This really is something new for me to be playing with a band like this, because I’m so familiar with playing solo. “I think we’re sounding really great though, so people can look forward to this awesome new band sound, and to see us having fun on stage and enjoying ourselves, and some nice merchandise too!” Adding to the musical mix is the eclectic and enigmatic Evan Buckley of The Burley Griffin, who is the support act on the night. Kim is clearly excited to have Evan along for the ride. “I love Evan,” declares Kim. “I think his music is really heartfelt and his voice is divine! When I listen to his songs, I feel like I could cry. He is quite a character.” WHAT: Brave EP Launch WHERE: The Street Theatre WHEN: 17th Dec 2021 TIX: For further information, visit https://www. thestreet.org.au/
TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS AHHHH! [ ]
Things are getting serious for Canberra’s grunge-pop maestros Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Fifth single in, and the group are on target to hypnotise and hijack the indie rock scene. AHHHH! is a sonically smoother punk-pop excursion than previous outings but an equally expressive and wondrous one. This is the bottom line here, folks: I believe what these women are saying. The ebb and tide of friendships, relationships, the break-ups, the breakdowns, the leaving, the letting go, the talking down. I’m exhausted just contemplating it. AHHHH!’s chorus is just that: a sustained desultory cry that doubles as a hook and highlight. An apt conclusion befitting the double-tracked guitar thrusts supporting it. Actually, the guitars might not necessarily be double tracked, but they sure do issue a reinvigorating punch. The tune is snippy and compact—a two minute and twentyfour-second congé—segueing from a repeated verse, chorus cycle to a half-time bridge, and back to a chorus out that remains at this cut time rhythmic temperament. This is a drive-by post-grunge delivery of youth angst and postpandemic tolerance. Or is that intolerance? Either way, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers is having none of it. AHHHH! sounds like an argument. The one you’ve been meaning to have but keep putting off. Yes, this is a euphonious grilling. But a one-sided, scrupulously produced one, albeit with the vital raw elements intact and a healthy degree of grit and prankish charm. There is a lot to like here: the dynamic arc, Anna Ryan’s snarling vocal, the guitar work smouldering in the background, the band’s general bristling countenance. This latest offering will undoubtedly continue to enthral live audiences. The band continues their ceaseless march to a bright future. Via the muscle of the music and the anticipated release of tension in the lyric, one is tuned to an unambiguous invitation to scream along to the sentiment. AHHHH! is a gladiatorial reaffirmation of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers’ allure, replete with all the glory of a new rock and roll promise. VINCE LEIGH
Nina Leo’s sophomore single is a flying leap into garage blues rock terrain. Although her debut Recover showed signs of a similarly aligned percolating edge, Break the Renegade displays a more strident, bootsand-all embodiment of that approach. Leo’s expulsions are wedded to a stadium-ready drum groove. This cruises alongside a swaggering, central bass and guitar riff that’s as majestically ragged as the best rock riffs go. The verses are suitably downplayed, with melody and low vocal register providing the perfect foil for the following slide up the scale and the tremulous density of the chorus. Punctuated by guitar chimes and an incremental increase in energy level, the pre-chorus—or variated verse section, or hook, or whatever you want to call it depending on what might reel you in—guides us from the lyric: You will never break the renegade And we’re back to the recurring riff once more, with a higher register reiterating this lyric. In some ways, this structure is quintessentially rock. Still, what gives it its more compelling, soulful bite is Leo’s determined grit. When fused to the raucous nature of the guitar and the affiliated dynamics, the result is a thumping musical enterprise. By the time the surprise bass break is done—and we’re back in the maelstrom of riff, drums and vocal—one figures Nina Leo has taken her hellbent fury as far as it could go. But we’re soon exposed to another peak. Perhaps the most enticing—the altered dominant guitar riff and a series of ‘Heys’ that one imagines losing themselves to at the finale of a show. It’s real pub floor abandon at its most stupefying. Rawness proportionate to a communicational level of artistic expertise is an idealistic kind of balance at the best of times. Yet, with Break the Renegade, this equilibrium is as close as it might get. VINCE LEIGH (ARTIST PIC BY EMILY LESEBERG)
B. COMING BOATS EP [ ]
Canberran singer-songwriter B. Coming – the musical moniker for Benjamin Cumming – has only recently returned to his hometown. 2019 saw him spending time in Montreal and touring North American. After signing to local independent label Vacant Room Records, Ben began work on this debut EP. Boats, already attracting thousands of streams, opens with the lead single Afar, which was on the triple j unearthed charts for over three weeks. Afar is a reliable indication of B. Coming’s style and melodic choices. Of course, equally important are the narratives embedded into these choices. Afar is as intimate and gentle as the other tracks, with the verse melody more direct and immediately recognisable than the chorus. But no less effective. Boats also features this dynamic, continuing to affirm the explored emotional preoccupations. With its sunnier disposition and markedly upbeat acoustic guitar strumming pattern, Breezy reveals a few added and welcome textures. A band’s raw, dependable gestures supplement B. Coming’s ruminations. Weird Feeling closes the EP, a shuffle-based funk-tinted groove that provides the undercurrent to Ben’s disquieting dream. It’s a track whose splintered dynamic is reinforced by the undulating nature of the band’s performance. But as mood-inducing and evocative as these tracks are, the EP’s stand-out is Holy. It’s a meditative, seemingly acute summation of B. Coming’s empirical observations. With its swaying recurring lyric motifs and sustained melodic focal point, the song discourages the listener from relegating the music to the position of a mere soundtrack. Holy insists on bending your attention—just as some of the vocal notes poignantly arch—to the unearthly nuances. These include not only Ben’s voice, but the internal tremors that have instigated his subdued inquiry. Boats is undoubtedly more than an introductory EP. It’s a decisive juncture in B. Coming’s subsequent presence on the Australian scene. VINCE LEIGH
