BRENDON DARBY

(Trumpet, Flugelhorn)

“As a musician and visual artist, I’ve always had a strong interest and concern for the environment. When my music publisher and very close friend Clive Hodson invited me to be involved with UPF, I of course, jumped at the chance. Any opportunity to shine a light onto the very real problems our planet faces is an opportunity not to be missed. When I add to that, the talent and dedication of the wonderful musicians involved, it’s an honor to be a part of this great endeavor.”

It was a stroke of luck that his father, a salesman by day, a drummer by night, showed great insight when at the age of nine Brendon started showing an interest in music. He took him to Musgrove’s music store, stood him in front of the window and asked, “Which instrument would you like to play?” Brendon immediately pointed to the beautiful gold trumpet, but was advised to start on a cornet, which is smaller, easier for a child to handle and to his father’s relief, much cheaper.

Brendon progressed well with private tuition, and by the time he was ten, joined a band called “The Orbiteers” with fellow trumpeter Clive Hodson. They played at several venues and made appearances on TV. One of his earliest memories of the band was playing at a New Year’s Eve party in the hills outside Perth. “While we were playing “Blue Moon”, away in the distance a large bushfire was burning across a ridge. I thought what a wonderful painting it would make and how much the image and the music were made for each other.” It was to be about thirty years before he would give this connection some serious thought again.

At school he joined the school band and found a certain aptitude for drawing and painting, finding he could appease his teachers by producing pictures. “Most of my projects were very heavy on illustration and very very light on text.” At age eleven, he formed a band called “The Young Brass” which did fairly well, with lots of national TV appearances. “In hindsight, I am quite sure our success was more to do with our young age rather than our talent.”

At this time Brendon started to write music as he now had a vehicle to present it. He had also started painting in oils and won a few local art awards. At 15 Brendon left school to study Graphic Design and play music when he could. “After two years of very little progress in graphics, a very wise teacher suggested I should in fact, pursue my career in music. I’ve never stopped thanking him”.

From ’69 to ’77 he played music full time in a variety of bands, did a lot of session work, backed many Australian and International artists and spent time in London, writing songs. Around this time, tiring of pubs, clubs and touring, he decided to paint again with less live performance and more time to write and record.

After returning from Austria in the mid 1980’s, another major interest entered his life – Julie. They were married in 1988 and soon built a studio behind their North Perth home. It was about this time Brendon started to consider the “Blue Moon” factor, that is, the combination of painting and music. The concept of music and image has been exploited successfully in film for years, but he realised it could be a powerful union, even with a static image. “I had no idea how to present or market this idea, but the seed was sown and I just had to do it”. A planned trip to Kakadu National Park in the far North of Western Australia seemed the ideal venue.

With Julie armed with field recorder and Brendon with paints, they flew to the Northern Territory to record the ambient sounds of the landscape. These were incorporated in the music he wrote and the end result “Listening To Paintings – Kakadu”, was exhibited at “Gallery Australia” in 1990 and since marketed as a CD/Book. This concept continued to occupy his thoughts and Brendon embarked on another series “Listening To Paintings – Australia”.

The resulting multi-media presentation, which integrated a live musical performance, the film and paintings, premiered in New York at the American Museum of Natural History in January 2007, to an invited audience of American and Australian dignitaries. The event was a major part of G’Day USA, sponsored by the Australian Government. The evening raised over A$1 million for Australian conservation. The exhibition then travelled to Houston as a part of Australia Day celebrations for the Australian American Chamber of Commerce, where it was exhibited at the JP Morgan Chase Bank.

Brendon has had over forty solo exhibitions across Australia and around the world. His music is published by Perfect Pitch Publishing.

For more:: www.brendondarby.com