When I was in Sydney visiting my brother I walked past a photography shop called Velvet Moth. It had an enormous photograph of this beautiful nocturnal creature enlarged to a size that as a passer by I could not ignore.
It led me to think about all the creatures that live their life in the darkness. In Australia, due to the lovely warm climate we have many insects and mammals that live by the moons light. Often the night is an incredibly noisy time with the pulsing rhythms of cicadas, frogs and crickets with the occasional screeching cry of a possum or fruit bat.
I then started to think about my work as a musician and how, like the insects we make a lot of noise after the sun goes down. Most of my performing work in the arts is for entertainment but I am drawn to the way music exists as central part of human night ritual.
Why do so many cultures seek spiritual experiences late at night? Despite our diurnal nature the night leaves a stronger impression. We find it easier to focus when sight is not dominating our senses.
With all these thoughts in my head it was time to talk to Sonia and together find a middle ground between life as a musician and experiencing and creating sound as a nocturnal creature.
Image (c) Laurie Campbell