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Join us in 2012 for Season Nine at Brindle Style Artists and Musicians Forum as we take a world wide journey across the southern hemisphere tropics to Cape York and the top end of northern Australia. Brindle Style - Southern Tropics
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Maiia says G'day to a Queensland character, singer-songwriter Steve Towson
From lofty insititutions to toilet humour - a snapshot of QLD arts community on facebook.
One of Steve's unsung heroes is Cairns artist, writer, publisher Ron Edwards Another is Warren Fahey who was on ABC TV. Founder and former owner of Larrikin Records their succesful attempt to exploit Men at Work's Down Under song Chris Oakenshot points out - "neither of them wrote"
Feb 2010 - Steve Towson: How ya goin' mate?
Maiia: Battlin' mozzies, an'mopping the toilet floor at 1.00 a.m as it's more appealing than this paperwork. How's it going there?
Steve Towson: "Ahh the old dunny floor ey. Things here are ok - tour organising almost finished - so music is starting to sneak into the equation."
Maiia: Cleaned an Aussie pub toilet one Invasion day said to myself if the cleaners think they're too good- I'll take a scrubbing brush in meself. Even left 'em the bucket as a hint..Steve Towson: Half my life I had an out door crappa, rain, wind, lil me - small skinny bum. Maiia: Gotta love a long drop with an ocean view, a couple a lizards running around in the sand, an' a rainwater tank.
Steve Towson: Hmm ours wasn't too long a drop I can assure you - and just an old half a tank for protection.Maiia: Ahaha- This must be some of the down to earth you bring to your work.
Steve Towson: Hard to say. Poorest fucking family there -til one sorry arse poorer family moved in for about 6 months.
Maiia: LOL. How'd you mange to get an education?
Steve Towson - State school - and the difference in my Mum and Dad's personalities also created in itself a strong education about the world. I'm still enrolled at uni, but find it all a bit of a wank with the arts, esp. I'm not digging the stuff I read and then because its contemporary you are meant to agree with it all academically
Maiia: Yep my experience too. Steve Towson; "Yeah mate - uni's are often filled with intillegentsia that have great ideas that will sell or reflect postively on their organisations. It's all fucked - esp peoples views of the north, down south. The only communist elected to parliament - was from Bowen.
The guy who wrote DR WHO theme song Ron Grainer studied under Eugene Goosens at Sydney Conservatorium) was from Atherton. A dude from Atherton Alexander Prokhorov won a Nobel Peace Prize. Steve Towson: I find most people that are racist to a core, are people that don't know, or have never had contact with a person which they have a problem with based on race. Then if they are racist - "why are they so?" Which then surely brings the responsibility of the academia to justify "WHY" someone is racist - not just attacking someone because they are scared.
All I know in life, is I miss my loved ones - when I'm not with them or they are dead - and I know as a singular fact that feeling of emptiness- is universal - regardless of race.
Steve Towson: My Grandma's family hid run away kanakas, she ate dugong and turtle because of local Murri dudes popping round when she was a kid honkier then me. Though he was too young, my grandfathers elder brothers could speak 3 Indigenous languages.
Maiia Thank goodness for the net. We've been faceless statistics to Canberra. Lots of good work gets done in regional Australia
Steve Towson: CAIRNS has the POWER. There are dudes that care - up there - otherwise like so many other places I couldn't even get a space with my own PA to play for free - there would be no one tourin'.
Join us in 2012 for Season Nine at Brindle Style Artists and Musicians Forum as we take a world wide journey across the southern hemisphere tropics to Cape York and the top end of northern Australia.
Brindle Style - Southern Tropics
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