People will tell you that Australia is the lucky country for a variety of reasons, one being that, as we are so isolated, we benefit from an unbiased appreciation of music from all over the world. Others will complain that this merely creates a bland, unoriginal stew, devoid of homogeny. This argument could be solved, once and for all, with a trip through the psychedelic mud being dredged up in the swamplands of Kyogle, on the northern rivers of NSW, by the floating members of the Musicyourmindwillloveyou collective. Head honcho, Michael Donnelly, runs his own CD-R imprint of the same name and plays on most of the hugely prolific excursions in improvised experimental space-folk, which are burning holes in CD players around the planet. Two of the most sought after MYMWLY projects are Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, whose
Animal Speak album is an exploration of organic composition and manipulation—like a tree cut down, splintered and re-born as a massive electric bonfire—and Terracid, a frightening amalgam of abstract jazz and rock shapes that successfully scrapes every thought from within your head.
VICE: There are so many bands on your label. Is it hard to keep tabs on them all?
Michael: Over the years, we have taken on many forms and produced so much art, including visual, written, performance and sound. It seemed like it was time to combine our efforts under one head and present it to the people. Basically, there’s 6Majik9, Terracid, Ffehro, Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, Planadin, Fleshflute and Blondecobra. That’s most of us but there remain others still hidden.
Some of Animal Speak seems pretty ritualistic.
It is and isn’t ritualistic. The songs are and aren’t psychological essays of our past, present and future. Animal Speak is a reference to the state of mind we are trying to achieve through ritualistic derangement of our minds—with the music being more akin to the nonverbal communicative abilities of animals. We love animals and plants and all things…except tics.
What if you could actually talk to animals?
I’d like to talk to my cats in their language. I’d like to know what they’re always so happy about. I like to speak to birds also because they can fly and sloths because they got it all worked out.
EVA WATSON
Musicyourmindwillloveyou have just released a new double disc compilation called Sound Surrounds Us Vol2. Their albums are available from http://mymwly.blogspot.com or at Synaesthesia Records in Melbourne and Sound & Fury in Sydney.
