About us
This is the beautiful story Scotty Lew wrote about how The Conch came to be…
2004. Can’t friggin believe it! Howard and Bush get re-elected with increased majorities. It seems that their strategy of scaring the bejeesus out of everybody after S11 is working a treat. Even after taking all of Pauline Hanson’s policies, which they poo pooed as extremism, and shaming Australia in front of the world (we’re now considered to be the Apartheid of Australasia by a great number of people of this region), fear and xenophobia, especially against Arab Muslims and Aborigines, has raised its ugly head – again!
Just scratch under the surface in this country and there’s a festering racism problem just eager to pop its head out!
What do we do? Do we just get depressed and lament the state of the world – everything is fucked and there’s nothing we can do about it?
Do we now just get on stage and sing insipid, superficial love songs and hope against hope that we get a melody that’s going to be signed by Sony or Warner and just become like Kylie Minogue? Sounds like a one-way ticket to substance abuse or worse!
Bugger it! We gotta write some music which is going to help bring down this rotten system and restore sanity to this world. Michael Franti is, Manu Chao is, Ozomatli is, John Butler is. Why can’t we?
So Simon Price, Maree Symons, Sean Nihill and myself got together and ideas started flowing. Let’s let it be known to some others that we have started this project. Let’s invite others to
take part. Mihirangi, Neda Rahmani and Paolo Olivero came to a meeting with us in a park in Fitzroy and we resolved to get something happening.
We were so incensed by the right wing trajectory that our government was taking us on, ideas literally poured out.
Unfortunately I had to go away to Africa for 3 months and there was a break in the flow. One of the main creative drivers, Simon, got a job working on a film in New Zealand and he and Maree left and didn’t come back! Neda and Mihirangi did their thing and we had to get others involved.
Paolo, Sean and I weren’t daunted! Even without Simon we still were able to create stuff.
Sean put it to his fellow horn players and they jumped at the idea! Jim Glasson, Ralph Whiteoak and Neil Gracie. Wicked players, great! He also asked his colleague, Nick Dean on kit,
rock solid! I asked Jo Williams whom I had known for about 10 years. I loved her voice and energy. Add Mel Gibson on keys and Sibellius, the funky Sashi Dharann on bass and Karen Berger on percussion. Eleven piece! It’s not a band anymore, it’s a movement! Obviously Howard and Bush were affecting a lot of people.
Rehearsals are a challenge, but everybody is committed. Not only that, they’re really nice people, phew!
The dream I’ve had of getting a band together that has something to say has finally come to fruition. Viva The Conch!
Scottylew