“It's been a trip”, clubland dance producer and DJ Paul Mac says about his latest project. He’s written the music, with David Page, for the Bangarra Dance Theatre’s new Blak production. Bangarra’s artistic director Stephen Page and he kept running into each other at events and promised to work with each other one day. Page rang out to of the blue to ask him to come aboard the Blak project. It’s his first project in this sphere. “Modern dance had passed me by as a viewer until recently,” Mac admits. “I had seen some Sydney Dance Company pieces and Chunky Move stuff. It struck me as a fun ‘genre’ to work in, as like film, you can be more abstract and explore musical ideas differently to how you would in a pop song. It's super liberating.”
Blak covers themes as culture, language and survival in the urban world of changing social behavior. What sort of "research" did he need for such a project? “My work ears are always switched on. I've been watching heaps of films and listening to scores a lot last year, and have seen a few dance pieces to see how it can work, but I've been learning on the job. David Page has been my guide through this process. He has been invaluable listening to my rough ideas and working out ways and structures to make it work with the piece. He has also given me heaps of source material to get me going.”
Mac as usual keeps himself busy. “I'm putting the finishing touches on my next solo album which I'm super excited about, and my production/DJ outfit Stereogamous has been writing and producing some exciting music with ex-Hercules and the Love Affair vocalist Shaun J Wright. I'm also helping Brendan Maclean with his debut album.”
Meantime, Blak plays the Melbourne Arts Centre May 3 to 11 and the Sydney Opera House June 7 to 22 before heading off to Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong; Canberra Theatre Centre and Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane.
- Christie Eliezer
