Duo’s ‘sunroom sessions’ success

 
PASTOR & PURCELL: Armidale-based duo Helena Pastor and Christopher Purcell recording their collaborations in a home studio (photo: supplied)

PASTOR & PURCELL: Armidale-based duo Helena Pastor and Christopher Purcell recording their collaborations in a home studio (photo: supplied)

 

A PAIR of Armidale-based musicians is producing quality recordings at home during a pandemic that has closed performing arts venues, thanks to a new user-friendly recording equipment made possible by micro grant from Arts North West.

Writer, songwriter and lyricist Helena Pastor has been working with composer and musician Christopher Purcell for five years. They are known as Pastor and Purcell.

“We’ve written an eclectic collection of 27 songs, including the song cycle ‘Lullaby and Lament’ and a series of songs for a ‘Tattoo Songs’ album,” she told Arts North West.


“Generally, how it works with us is that I write the lyrics and Chris sets them to music. The lyrics come first, then the music, and Chris and I really love the magic of bringing these songs to life together. Helena Pastor


“We’re hoping to collaborate with other songwriters and recording artists in the future.”

Helena used her grant to purchase a home-recording Tascam DP-03SD Portastudio 8-track digital recorder, and she said it was early audience responses to the duo’s music that inspired them to use the lockdown period in their impromptu home studio.

“Before COVID-19, Chris and I were regularly performing our songs in Armidale and the response was always resounding. We were encouraged to record our songs so they could be made available to a wider audience,” she said. 

“Although Chris and I had recorded a handful of our songs at a local recording studio, we wanted to record all of our material. Our new user-friendly recording equipment is now enabling us to produce quality digital ‘demo’ recordings at home that we can share with the New England community and further afield through online platforms. 

“We’re also planning to use the recordings for promotion and marketing purposes to build our careers as songwriters.”

Song-room central  

According to Helena, whose memoir Wild Boys: A Parent’s Story of Tough Love was published by UQP in 2015, the recording project is progressing well. 

“Chris and I are meeting up twice a week in his sunroom at ‘Invergowrie’, which is ‘song-room central’ for the moment,” she said.

“The sunroom windows look out onto paddocks, and Chris’s two dogs are our appreciative audience. 

“We already had microphones and microphone stands, headphones, and high-quality speakers for mixing, we were just missing the final (and most important) item for recording at home.”

The Tascam DP-03SD is light and portable, Helena told Arts North West, meaning the pair be able to take it anywhere once they start recording with other musicians and vocalists. 

“It only took a week to work out the equipment, and we’ve recorded three songs so far,  experimenting with different techniques to achieve the best results,” she said.

“Chris had previous experience as a sound engineer, so that’s made the recording process much easier, but the Tascam DP-03SD is a little beauty! We’re so happy!”

Songs are being uploaded onto the Pastor & Purcell SoundCloud account:

https://soundcloud.com/pastor_purcell with links on the Creative New England Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/creativenewengland/. For more about the project head to: http://www.helenapastor.com




 

 
IMAGE: Chris Purcell (photo: supplied)

IMAGE: Chris Purcell (photo: supplied)

IMAGE: Helena Pastor (photo: supplied)

IMAGE: Helena Pastor (photo: supplied)

Home is where the art is

 
ISOLATION CAPTURED: Tamworth-based artist Erika Sorby’s self portraits were a creative response to pandemic lockdown. (photo: supplied)

ISOLATION CAPTURED: Tamworth-based artist Erika Sorby’s self portraits were a creative response to pandemic lockdown. (photo: supplied)

 

A TAMWORTH-BASED visual artist will use pandemic isolation as a theme for a unique home-based artist-in-residency initiative created by New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), made possible by a micro grant from Arts North West.

“We were particularly interested in how artists have been creative during this time of lockdown and the experience of being in, and transitioning out of, isolation,” Belinda Hungerford, NERAM’s manager, exhibitions and curatorial, said.

“Artist Erika Sorby was the worthy recipient and she has been dealing with isolation by focusing on self portraiture.” Belinda Hungerford

An emerging artist with a double degree in secondary teaching and fine art, Erika is originally from Newcastle. She practices art around her teaching commitments and will begin her five-week ‘residency at home’ in July.

“During the residency Erika will continue to explore self portraiture and use the incredible portraits in NERAM’s collections for inspiration and experimentation,” Belinda said.

“Erika will share with us her progress through weekly blog posts and present a talk at NERAM at the conclusion of the residency. We’re really looking forward to seeing what she creates!”

NERAM recently reopened to the public, with COVID-19 visitation measures in place. The Arts North West micro grant will assist the gallery in its ongoing mission to support and promote local artists.

Follow Erica’s progress during the residency on NERAM’s website and social media: www.neram.com.au; Facebook @neram.art; Instagram: @neramuseum and follow Erika via her Instagram handle: @esorbyartist

Erika Sorby’s Self Portrait with Shower Curtain

Erika Sorby’s Self Portrait with Shower Curtain

Tech boost lets performance group shine

 
ZOOM STAR: Josh Ewen gets to grips with online rehearsals (photo: supplied)

ZOOM STAR: Josh Ewen gets to grips with online rehearsals (photo: supplied)

 

AN INVERELL performance project that puts artists living with a disability centre stage has taken its platform online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the help of a micro grant from Arts North West, the group has found the virtual rehearsal room has expanded its horizons.

Stephanie Marshall is the creative director of Unstop-Ability, described as “a celebration of ability and inclusion”. She spoke with Arts North West about the collaborative nature of a venture that brings artists and audiences together, those who identify as living with a disability, and those who don’t.

“The restrictions brought about by Covid-19 have meant that I can’t meet with my participants in person,” she said. “I applied for a micro grant to roll out the Zoom app as a platform to allow my collaborating artists to still engage with each other and work towards our next performance”.

“I have been working with my participants now for around three months on the Zoom platform. Many live with a disability and are among the most economically challenged groups in our community.

“We have found that it is an effective tool to allow for collaboration and connection, but there have been technical challenges,” she said.

Overcoming hurdles

Featuring the performances of around 60 youth and adults of all abilities from the Inverell area, Unstop-Ability asks audiences and participants to focus on ability.

“On what we can do, not what we can’t,” the group’s Facebook description states. “It is inclusion turned on its head, because we invite people into somebody else’s world to widen our perspectives on creativity.”

The group has been thrilling audiences since 2018, with dance, sound and light, but according to Stephanie, having fast and reliable internet is the group’s “biggest concern” when faced with not being able to meet in person.

“Many of the participants need to access public Wi-Fi, which during the strictest Covid restrictions found places like McDonald’s restaurants and public libraries closed,” she said.

“However, despite the limitations, it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience, with a lot of potential for continued use beyond Covid restrictions.

“Many of my participants are in remote rural communities, and it’s not always possible for them to get into Inverell to attend live rehearsals. Zoom allows them to still be connected and contributors despite the distance and their disability.

“It’s been a surprising thing to see how open the participants are to trying this new technology, and how easy the Zoom meeting lends itself to a rehearsal scenario.”

Find and follow Unstop-Ability on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unstopability/