Shoalhaven music producer and drummer Syd Green has assembled a side project with three of the most recognised musicians in the country, all thanks to a Shoalhaven Arts Grant.
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Syd, along with Matt Tonks, Jonathon Zwartz and Stu Hunter banded together to create Bird and Tree Men.
Well known in the music scenes across Sydney and Melbourne, Syd said it was both a pleasure an an hour to work with Matt, Jonathon and Stu.
“They were amazing, and legends of the genre,” he said.
The group recorded an album titled, The Flight Begins, centered around the Steinway piano at Arthur Boyd's historical homestead.
The album was recorded at the famous Bundanon Trust and at recording suite in Nowra, and according to Syd, the resulting sound was a sublime example of kindred musicians feeling each other in the space, complimenting and expanding on a creative flow.
“Most of it is improvised, a couple of pieces were preconceived ideas but as we got to play together and feel each other’s movement with the instruments we created these really beautiful improvised sounds,” he said.
“Someone told me thee music sounds like the score to a film that hasn’t been made yet.”
When Syd first applied for the Shoalhaven Arts Grant, he said Bird and Tree Men was just a “pipe dream”.
“I’d played with the other musicians before and thought we were sort of kindred spirits, I’d always planned on putting a sort of ensemble together if I had the chance,” he said.
“It was just a side project, in the sense i didn’t have any goal, it was just to make beautiful music.”
The name of the band, matching the eclectic sound, was derived from an essay that caught Syd’s eye.
“The essay was about the first people of Wollongong and how the white fellas were called bird men or tree men depending on how they came down the escarpment,” he said.
“I’m also a very big lover of birds and nature, so much so that I named my son River Hawk Green.”
Syd said the aim wasn’t just to create beautiful music, but also show off the South Coast.
“We hope this project can bring people to the area and show them that there are great opportunities [for musicians] here,” he said.
South Coast residents have the chance to Bird and Tree Men perform live at the upcoming Jamberoo Music Festival and at an official launch at Upper Kangaroo River on July 20.
“We are looking forward to it,” Syd said. “The beauty of the project was that it was purely about the music, and there was no pressure for it to be anything other than what it is.”
For more information about the shows, visit Bird and Tree Men on Facebook.