Name
 
Germaine Png
 
Where are you based?
 
From Singapore, now living in Perth.
 
How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument?
 
I started playing around with it when I was 11. I watched my sister’s band at school and found that the drums looked very cool, and as a kid who always wanted to be cool, it was only natural for me to try my hand at it.
 
Do you play any other instruments?
 
I play percussion – tuned and untuned.
 
What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now?
 
I play drums in Ah Trees, a new-wave pop band, as well as percussion in orchestras (WA Youth orchestra, WA Wind Symphony, WAAPA Symphony Orchestra). I’m also involved in the orchestra in Perth Symphony Orchestra’s Girls’ Night Out at the Astor Theatre later in May!
 
I currently write pieces for theatric percussion and poetry.
 
What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)?
 
I’ve recently just finished the Speechless Opera by Cat Hope, played musicals such as Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Threepenny Opera, In the Heights, and Sunday in the Park with George. I also used to be the co-director of the City of Perth Thundercorps Drumline.
 
Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about?
 
I haven’t started this yet, but I’m kickstarting my percussion theatre career later this year. All of the pieces I will perform in this specific show will include poetry written by others. I write the percussion parts with reference to the poems. This time, its theme is Sexual Assault. I decided on this theme because I felt angry over some unfair experiences my friends have had regarding this issue.
 
However, on the other spectrum of things, I also make some electronic music that would be referred to by my friends as memes.
 
What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run?
 
Collaboration is an important aspect in music! The Sexual Assault themed show couldn’t be done if I didn’t have poets and dancers involved. How boring would it be if I just sat there and hit some stuff while saying some poems?
 
Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now?
 
I’m currently really vibing Caroline by the Belligerents, as well as some HOT Billie Eilish tunes. I always enjoy some prepared piano by Erik Griswold as well, to relax my soul.
 
Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why?
 
I love Ringo Starr’s simple yet groovy drumming. It shows that you don’t really need ‘show-off’ drum fills to make a song pop out. I personally prefer to be that one drummer in the background that no one pays any mind to. Adding just that tiny little shaker in a song makes a lot of difference!
 
How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs?
 
I’m generally involved in a very wide range of projects. From classical conservative orchestral music, to lively musicals, weird experimental projects, pop-rock music, music involving serious topics, and funny electronic music.
 
I think my percussion background brings melodic and sparse drumming to the pop-rock side of things. I really love accessories like tambourines and shakers.
 
Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises?
 
I love putting on a Vic Firth Youtube playlist of play-along rudiments, and playing beautiful slow notes on the timpani. I generally avoid dairy on the day of a concert because it makes my hands gross and sweaty. (Orchestra setting)
Before a show, I like doing cartwheels around the room, stretching all my limbs, and drinking strawberry milk. (Contemporary setting)
 
Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways?
 
Well, I haven’t actually created my solo page yet so I have no idea.
 
Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise?
 
I currently am a student and tutor drums and percussion at some primary schools and drum schools, so it is my main source of income. If I don’t score a full-time job at somewhere musically based (orchestra, school, etc.), I’m afraid, as a freelancer, I won’t quite have a stable income in the future :(.
 
Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you?
 
Probably going to the percussion convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis.
 
If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be?
 
Stop comparing yourself to your siblings. They’re smarter than you, and you were made for music, not architecture! 

Name
Bianca Billy Raffin
 
Where are you from and/or where do you live now?
I live in Melbourne, and my family is from Argentina.
 
How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument?
I’ve been playing the drums since I was 14ish. My older brothers both played the guitar and bass, so originally I wanted to play guitar, just because it seemed like a Raffin thing to do, I suppose (I’ve now started learning some guitar too). But one day they bought a drum kit and showed me some basic beats so we could play as a cute little family band, and it all went from there.
 
Do you play any other instruments?
Sort of! I’ve been learning guitar and a little bit of bass for just under a year. Soon, I will be my own damn band.
 
What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now?
Lots of fun stuff! As for musical projects, I’ve recently started a band with some friends, called BILLY CART. We have our first show in a  couple of weeks at the Tote! I also play in another band called Beautiful Dark – we play all the music from Twin Peaks. I’m a wild Twin Peaks and David Lynch fan (I may have a tattoo of Laura Palmer on my arm), so this is a very exciting band for me. Sometimes I also fill in for the drummer in Nicky del Rey’s Surf&Turf – very cool and fun surf rock.
 
What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)?
I’ve been in bands that no longer exist – Smiling Politely was a pop rock kind of band where we released one EP and then disappeared. I also played in a band with my brothers called Mama Golem, which cannot be put into words and must be seen to be believed. Maybe we will make a comeback very soon. For a short time, I played in a band called Alphington, which was fun too.
 
I’ve also played around with some one off projects – e.g. Belle Phoenix, Nicole Skeltys & the Disenchanted, and I’ve also done weirder stuff like play the bongos for Jo Beth Taylor, and play a couple of INXS songs with Ciaran Gribbin. I’ve also played some hip hop stuff with Dig Deep. There’s lots to play around with!
 
Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about?
I’m currently learning some songwriting, so that has been very fun. At this stage my musical ability is quite basic, so I make up for it with very sarcastic lyrics.
 
What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run?
Collaboration is a beautiful thing when it works well, and when the people collaborating are genuine equals. In BILLY CART, we collaborate on songs and no suggestion is stupid or pointless (except for the ones that are). That kind of environment makes it easy to write cool songs and make stuff that is genuinely good.
 
Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now?
Everything! I like listening to my friends’ bands. At the moment I am also obsessed with Marlon Williams’ singing, Molly Burch’s sweet vibezz, and MOD CON’s insane energy.
 
Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why?
Yes! I love Janet Weiss, Karen Carpenter, and Chad Smith. And many other drummers too. As for other musicians who inspire me, there are millions. At the moment I would say PJ Harvey, Angel Olsen, The Ventures, and Damon Albarn.
 
How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs?
They’re all different, but very fun and cool, in my opinion. I think I bring a very relaxed vibe to most bands, and people are usually surprised that I’m a drummer. Maybe it’s my pianist hands.
 
Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises?
This probably seems very boring, but I find it very satisfying to practice rudiments to a click. I also love playing triplets around the kit.
 
Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways?
Yeah, I suppose it does. And I think that has become a reality for everyone, whether we like it or not. I also love putting up my band’s posters around town. There’s something very fun and exciting about it.
 
Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise?
Nah, it’s not my main source of income. I’m not too fussed about that. I love playing music and making cool stuff. If money comes to me because of that, then cool, thanks. I’ve seen too many musicians and artists become overly focused on what will make them money, which is fair enough cos we all gotta live. But also, relax and just make some stuff worth listening to and we’ll figure out the rest later.
 
Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you?
I got to play at a school in London and make some kids dance, which was pretty funny. I also toured around with a hip hop collective, and we attracted such a big crowd on Swanston Street that we blocked the footpath completely, oops.
 
If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be?
Do some more practice. And also, don’t let annoying old man drummers try and intimidate you with useless facts about what kind of cymbals you should be using.
 
Other thoughts/info
I love all kinds of creative stuff, not just drums! I’ve directed a couple of short films, I like drawing and painting, and I’ve dabbled in projection art too. I’m always working on and looking for cool and interesting projects to work on.
 
Website
My instagram is @biancabillyraffin
 
These are the bands I play in:
http://facebook.com/hellobillycart
 
https://www.facebook.com/beautifuldarkband/
 

Name
Nissa Lài

Where are you from and/or where do you live now? 
Grew up in Sydney and moved to Melbourne in 2006.

How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? 
I picked up drums around 17/18 having seen Scum System Kill (original line-up) which was an all female crust band from Sydney for the first time. I’d never seen women/femme people playing heavy styles of music before and would have been about 16 at the time.

What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now?
I currently drum for Lái (not my surname!) which is a Swedish d-beat band, and do noise/grind vox in Occult Blood.

What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? 
My first band I was asked to drum in was a noise punk bad called Nuclear Sex addict around 2008, I was 19, never played in a band before and was given the opportunity by some of my older male punk friends who’ve been in many bigger touring established bands so I was grateful for the opportunity to get my foot in the door playing-wise. I started Occult Blood around 9 years ago, initially filling in for drums, then moving into vox shortly after which was terrifying cuz I’d never done that before. My next band drumming was a space themed crust-style band called Graveyard Orbit which like Nuclear Sex Addict was short-lived as people moved away.
Time to time I’ll play an improv set for MIUC, although not so much these days, as my current bad takes up a fair bit of my spare time outside of work.

Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? 
Musically my guitarist Timmy writes all our stuff and between them and myself we write drums (they’re predominantly a drummer in the style we play).
Shows we either are asked to play by friends/people we know or we organise ourselves locally.
Social media, previous bands we’ve played in and people we know have helped hugely in the progress of this band so far, as we’ve had so much positive feedback and response in a very short amount of time.

Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? 
Probably my favourite bands at the moment are Clagg (Melbourne), Bölzer (Switzerland), Ordos (Sweden), and  Lifeless Dark (U.S.). 

Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? 
I’m a very visual, aesthetic person so my most inspiring musicians are generally the ones with the most stage presence and strong looks to match, but my influences these days aren’t generally musicians. They’re internal forces, beliefs and interests. I really love and appreciate other musicians and enjoy their work, but these days (was very different when I was young), I don’t aspire to be like anyone else. 

Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises?
Before shows I have to warm up rigorously with a drum pad and push-ups otherwise my arms don’t maintain the speed I need them to.

Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? 
Social media has definitely aided in our journey for obvious reasons, but also in the sense that it’s exposed us to people in a more gradual sense (mostly femme’s and queers who would usually avoid shows that have never in the past been welcoming) and welcomed a wider demographic of people, based on the demographic of band-members we are.

Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? 
The style of music we play has always up until now been too niche to hit a wide enough audience to make money from playing. Our aim is to keep our music accessible to everyone which also means keeping show costs at a minimum, fundraising and donating money to various causes but also keeping a lot of it d.i.y. 

Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? 
Generally the coolest places I get to go with music is overseas with touring, although there’s an upcoming festival we’ve just been confirmed for that I’m not yet permitted to announce that I’m most excited for as I’ve really wanted to go the last few years!

If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? 
I’ve always been unwavering and head-strong in knowing what I’ve wanted to do and just done it, so I wouldn’t have changed the way I’ve approached things in a band sense. It’s the rest of life that I could have used help for when I was young! 

​

Name
 
Holly Harrison
 
Where are you from and/or where do you live now?
 
I originally grew up in Kurrajong, in the north-west, and now I live at the base of the Blue Mountains.
 
How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument?
 
I’ve been playing since I was about twelve. I began almost by accident – a friend of mine moved, and so I looked after his drum kit for quite a few months, before convincing my parents to invest in my own! I think I was initially attracted to the immediacy of making music with other people – the idea of jamming. I’d been improvising for a couple of years on trumpet with local musicians, and loved being collaborative and making all sorts of strange sounds.
 
Do you play any other instruments?
 
I sure do! My first instrument is trumpet and I play flute as well. I suppose I’m interested in bright and loud sounds. . .  
 
What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now?

I play drums in the experimental rock duo Tabua-Harrison with guitarist Joey Tabua. Our music is entirely improvised, and we released our debut album last year on Psychopyjama Records. 
 
What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)?
 
In earlier times, I played trumpet and flute in prog-rock bands Space Project and Snip Snap Dragon. More recently, I’ve played drums and percussion with improvising trio Espadrille and John Encarnacao, and have collaborated with taegum virtuoso, Hyelim Kim, and guzheng player Chiu Tanching, from Hong Kong New Music Ensemble.
 
Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about?
 
My main creative activity is as a new music composer, so yes! My music is performed throughout Australia, Asia, Europe, and the USA by chamber groups, soloists, and orchestras. This happens mostly via commissions from organisations and performers.  I write music which explores a fusion of styles, embracing the viscerality of rock (my inner-drummer!) and a whimsical sense of humour.
 
What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run?
 
Collaboration is one of the most exciting aspects of music-making, and means different things to me depending on whether I’m acting as a drummer or composer. In Tabua-Harrison, I love the spontaneity of playing with Joey, the electric sense of anticipation and possibility, of almost feeling out-of-control, but simultaneously in-control.  As a composer, the collaboration process is stretched over a much larger period of time, and I really enjoy the back and forth of working with a specific performer or set of performers.
 
Ultimately, music is written for people, not instruments. Collaboration provides a wonderful opportunity for thoughts to collide, explode, and challenge, and it’s always fun walking away with new ideas.
 
Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now?

When I start a project, I try not to do too much new listening so I can focus on hearing my own compositional ideas. Having said that, I also spend a fair amount of time listening to work when preparing for lectures, lessons, and workshops. For example, in the last week some of my listening included Scott Johnson’s John Somebody, Zappa’s Lumpy Gravy, Haydn’s ‘The Joke’ quartet, as well as Felicity Wilcox’s new album Moment.
 
Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why?

I’m a huge fan of Frank Zappa, John Zorn, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, and Freddie Mercury and Queen.  I suspect this is due to their genre-bending nature, and the way in which they are completely unapologetic!
​
Back in the day, I was also inspired by Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.
 
How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs?
 
As a drummer, I’m mostly involved in improvised forms of music. Tabua-Harrison explores styles that include (sometimes fleetingly) experimental rock, metal, jazz, electronica, hip-hop, and ambient, as well influences from art music. I find that there are many similarities between being a composer and an improvising drummer; there’s a certain sense of being in the driver’s seat in both roles, where drumming is like instant composition and orchestration rolled into one. Imagining the structure or phrase shape in advance, even for a second, can offer an almost bird’s eye view of the music and where I might be able to steer it.
 
On the flipside, I love reacting to an unexpected idea from Joey (Tabua) in the moment, and I enjoy the challenge of musical problem-solving. I feel very similarly about notated composition – I enjoy nothing more than surprising myself with a new idea – which happens more often than you might expect!
 
Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises?

I don’t have a specific warm-up routine, though I do always try and include paradiddles and some slow groove-based work, followed by stream-of-conscious playing to relax and loosen up.
 
 
Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? 

Yes, though this is through a combination of roles as a composer, sessional academic, and educator. Along with working as a freelance composer, I teach composition and performance at Western Sydney University, and am composer in residence at MLC School, Sydney.
 
Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you?

Outside my mind! In all seriousness, there is no substitute for making music with other people, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed heading all over the world to make it!
 
If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be?

Wear ear plugs! Get a great custom pair made.
OR
If you want to go faster, slow down
 
 
Website

www.hollyharrison.net