Get to know The Tambah Project

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Ed & Emily: 

How did you think to make the link between creating music and promoting environmental sustainability? 

Generally speaking we’ve always been inspired and wanted to do more in the field of music and how it can have a positive impact on the people and world around us. When the bush fires were ravaging across the country, we were moved to take action. There were lots of amazing live benefit shows happening but our world is more concerned with the actual songs and recordings. So that was it really; let’s get some inspiring musicians together, and see what happens when we try and generate a song around a specific theme that can influence the story around climate change, with the intention of completing the process carbon neutrally. 

How did you decide to involve Wild Ark? What appealed to you about their work? 

We first became aware of Wild Ark a few years ago when Emily met the co-founder Mark Hutchinson over dinner. She was deeply moved by their philosophy and very impressed with their science-driven strategy. WildArk's mission is to secure space for biodiversity to flourish worldwide. Their work is based on the WildArk100, a scientifically proven list of 100 threatened flagship animal species, and 50 global priority ecosystems that will help prioritise global conservation efforts and which, when protected, account for up to 80-90% of the world’s biodiversity.  

What does the term ‘Tambah’ mean? 

Tambah comes from the musical term ‘timbre’ – meaning ‘the characteristic or unique quality of a sound’. A person can also have a moral timbre. We liked the idea that the Tambah Project is all about focusing on the uniqueness of sound as a medium to move and inspire people into positive action for our world.

‘Our Song’ reminds others of the pockets of beauty that still exist in the world. How have you reminded yourselves of this through the pandemic? 

We are so fortunate to live in the northern rivers, an incredibly beautiful area and where compared to a lot of places around the world, the impact of Corona has been less harshly felt. We are extremely grateful for that, whilst acknowledging the experience for different people. 

Perhaps that is a good example of exactly what we wanted to get across. When you are so in the thick of disaster and crisis mentality you are paralysed by fear into inaction. You have lost the connection and belief in love and possibility for things to be better. It often feels like this is the case with the climate conversation - fear and doom and gloom. There are frightening studies around the sense of unease that our younger generation feel about the climate. So how can we inspire people to reconnect with the very real possibility of regeneration and move them into action, through song? 

 

 

What are your favourite things about being from Byron? 

My (Em) favorite thing about the Byron Shire and the reason I live here is that it’s a real community. People know each other, people have largely chosen to prioritise time affluence over wealth affluence, and so there is time to connect with each other, to help a friend who needs it, or even to help a stranger. The nature, surf and the sun aren’t bad either!    

How did you decide and source which artists you wanted to involve in this project? 

The most important thing for us was that the artists were aligned with the underlying ethos and values of the project - collaboration, reconciliation, respect, and willing to be part of something bigger than just their own music or brand. We were so excited when Kyle and Billy jumped on board, and then knew we wanted female and indigenous representation. It felt incomplete to write a song about the earth without consulting the original custodians of the land. We were beyond stoked when Nidala agreed to complete the artist team for 2020.  

You said you want listeners to ‘feel like they can have a say in the next project’ – would you say that the project is almost an interactive platform for others in the community to voice the issues that are affecting them? 

Yes, We’d like fans to be able to say what issues they are feeling or are most acutely concerned (or overjoyed) about and then give artists an opportunity to speak directly to that. 

One of the broader inspirations for the project was the idea that there are not enough protest songs or songs that represent the breadth of everything that is going on in the world - good and bad. Pop culture seems to have become largey (not entirely) disconnected from this and and siloed into a vacuum of celebrity, image, advertising and instagram. Song and it’s innate power is not fulfilling it’s potential to improve peoples’ lives. Fans are craving deeper connection, and in a world where the greatest currency for artists is connection with their fans this offers an opportunity to go deeper on this front. Everyone wins. 

Do you think the Tambah Project will stick to music as its medium? 

In the short term and as it’s primary medium probably yes, but there is so much scope for collaboration with visual artists, poets and we are totally open. 

 

Artists: 

You all come from relatively disparate cultural and musical backgrounds – how did you combine your different sounds and skills to make ‘Our Song’?
Did the pieces fit together easily? 

Our diverse backgrounds contributed to each of us taking a different role in the creation of Our Song. I kept the process and held onto where we wanted to go, Billy really came through with the instrumentation and Kyle shone with his contribution to the lyrics. Our diversity and difference encouraged us to work to our strong suits and build upon each other’s strengths (Nidala). 

Did you find the Byron Hinterland to be an inspiring place for song writing?

The Byron hinterland is a collision of really ancient land and highly transient population - add to that the fact that people come here to seek refuge, and you xhave the perfect ingredients for creation. (Nidala)

Kyle - You started the writing and recording process with a meditation in the bush – how did you find this helped in the inspirational process? 

I think with any mindfulness it makes you focus on what’s important to you, helps you to become aware of what helps you and what causes you more suffering. So when we sat down as a group, talked about our intentions of being there and then meditated on those intentions it became pretty clear what we wanted to achieve with this song. This gave us a strong pivot point to guide us over the next two days in the studio and allowed us to be the conduits for “Our Song” 

Billy – has your past life as a pastor had anything to do with your current interest in saving the environment? 

I grew up on the coast in Newcastle. Many of my richest moments were camping trips with my family. My dad really infused in us kids an appreciation for the natural world. Both he and my mother studied science at uni. I think some people assume that my previous life as a christian minister bolstered my activity in environmental advocacy. But in fact, my bible-centric ethos blinded me from the needs of our fragile ecology for many years. For a lot of my younger life I was told that heaven was my home, and that this earth was just a temporal zone I was passing through.. I was taught that humans were given dominion over animal species by God and that we were to care for creation.. but this care only went so far. The lack of thoughtful custodianship and climate action in my church world became its own teacher to help me dive into research and take my ignorant head out of the sand. I think faith can be super helpful, and I’m thankful for my spiritual heritage. I just think that religion can often get in the way of global practical solutions and good science. Having left this faith matrix behind, I believe that a deeper and more integrated spirituality brings us closer to truer selves, each other and to our shared ecology.

Nidala – how has your father’s music affected your song writing? Do your songs have a similar sound or theme?

My father has very much influenced me as a songwriter, not in terms of style but in terms of process, which to me is central to my writing. He has always made it clear that his music is a way to give voice to our people. This made every verse, every performance, every song important. I try to carry that reverence into my own music.

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