Gathering of the wild seeds.
Last weekend I performed at a resilience gathering in a backways bit of big bush that they call The Nook—a collection of people building parallel systems in the forest. No phones allowed on the property. No documentation. Just presence and participation and listening.
I played six tracks: Mock The Set Up, On A Watch List, Doomsday Prepper, Bounty Hunter (spoken word), Banger in the Bush and Sleep Tight Sunshine. Just me, a mic, and backing tracks. I brought the guitar but there was a. fair bit of acoustic gentle music before my closing set so I read the room and we all needed to get off our arses and dance.
People were up immediately. They got the jokes, caught the references, understood what I was saying between the lines. This is what it feels like to perform for your actual audience—the ones who don't need footnotes to understand "Event 201" or "Hubbert's peak."
David Holmgren (co-originator of the permaculture concept) and his partner Sue Dennett stayed long enough to checkout the aggressive hip hop which I appreciated from a couple 70 plus years dancing like 35 year olds. Laughed through the whole set. I did pre warn people I would be swearing like a rapper though.
The night before, David and I ended up in a corner with a few shots of rum, talking gold markets, earth's magnetic field, bushfire behavior, virology studies. The kind of conversation you can only have with someone operating at the same level. My life-long mentor, passing the ball back and forth. That shift—from student to peer—doesn't happen often. But it happened that night. David always makes room and is very open but sharing info and insights grows both our awareness which I am most definitely about.
David and Beck, (the living legend who works with the Holmgren design services and education office) hit me up to do some future potential house tours, which is actually less pressure and more pump - in that I have more reason to dig into getting my permaculture tight after a few years in the wilderness reading about 7 hours a day.
David Thrussell (Snog, dissident artist for decades) was there too. Gave me props on the show - much appreciated. Then warned me: challenging content gets you dropped from festivals. It's happened to him repeatedly. He's lived what I'm entering.
His message: don't get a big head. Stay humble. Keep working. Expect resistance.
No footage exists. No proof. Just memory and the people who were there.
They got satellites but not permission. You just had to be there. Local and personal is the new black.
— Thumbnail Green