The connection of the didjeridu to Arnhem Land remains strong as the instrument itself has spread far beyond the culture which invented it. Largely do to the efforts of people like Lars Wallin. People for whom, the didjeridu is not just a fascinating instrument, but a conduit into the lives of the friends he has made around the world and especially in Australia.

[Ed] Lars, how did you first connect with the didjeridu?

[Lars] My curiosity for Australia started very early, I used to spend the summer holidays at my grandmothers place and they had an old photography in their living room, it was my mothersgrandmothersbrother Arthur who 1900 ran away from the ship he was working on buy jumping overboard, swimming to land. I thought that was a great story and I always wondered what happened to him.
The first time a I really got hooked by the didjsound was when I saw Charlie McMahon playing with Midnight Oil in the documentary Blackfella Whitefella Tour, I think it was 1987. In January 1989 I went to Australia for the first time. After a few days I bought a didjeridu in Sydney made by Marcus Blanasi from Beswick. I did my first didj concert together with a guitarist from Scotland at a hostel in Surfers Paradise the week after. From that moment the didjeridu has been a big part of my life.

[Ed] You seem to have quite a strong connection with the Beswick Area. How did you become involved with the White Cockatoo group?

[Lars] Well that’s right, trough my first didjeridu I did form some kind of a connection with Beswick, but it took another ten years from the day I bought my first didj to form the circle. It was thanks to Randy Graves who 1999 sent me the email address to Geoff Toll (manager) that I got in contact with The White Cockatoo Performing. Group. Geoff asked me if I could help the group to set up a tour in Scandinavia, which I did 2000. During the tour we realized that we all got along very well so we started to talk about setting up a tour to Australia as well, a tour were people could learn about the Gunbork style trough the old master David Blanasi. We did our first didjeridu tour 2001 and it was when we went to see David and his family when I met his son Marcus who had crafted my first didj. We had a great time in Beswick, Tom Kelly and David Blanasi took us to the bush, we crafted didjes, swam at the waterfall and we also got to see an initiation ceremony. Since then we have worked together and I have traveled with them trough Europe, Canada and Australia. During my first visit Tom Kelly gave me a skin name. We have of course had a lot of fun on the road and in the bush and for the moment I'm writing a book for the Swedish market of what I have experienced.

 We are also planning this years tours 2005 in Europe and to Arnhem Land.
Nowadays it's Darryl Dikarrna Brown who teaches Gunbork and also keep the memory of the old master alive.

[Ed] Tell me about the Arnhem Land tours. How long are the tours and what kind of events are featured?

[Lars] The Arnhem Land tours that we do together with White Cockatoo has all been different, each tour is unique. This year June -05 Jack Nawalill one of the old songmen, traditional landowner and also owner of the white cockatoo corroboree has invited a small group of 8 people to come and visit his outstation near Maningrida. Darryl Dikarrna the mago player will also be there during the week and they will show us how to craft a traditional Mago. We will study the rhythms and play together with Darryl, we will also get the chance to play with Jack when he sings. The outstation is located near a river so daytime we get the chance to swim, walk in the bush and get to know the landscape connected with the songs and rhythms. We cook food on the open fire. First night of the tour will be spent in Jabiru where we get to see the famous rockart at Nourlangie and Ubir rock. On our way to Jacks place which takes about 6 hours from Jabiru we will stay at Oenpelli Community.
The first tour we did back in 2001 we went to Wugularr. Here David Blanasi and Tom Kelly took us to the bush and showed us how to craft didjeridus and how to play the Gunbork style. We were a group of 10 people from Europe, Japan and Australia and we stayed for a week. During our visit there was a initiation ceremony for a young man going on in the community and we were allowed to sit and watch, that was a magic moment! Three weeks after the bushtour the old master David Blanasi sadly disappeared. The terrible news made me really sad, he was such a nice, humerus and gentle old man who took his time to teach us Balanda about the didjeridu.

The second tour 2002 we first went to Maningrida plus a few outstations to pick up the members of White Cockatoo. The dusty road from Kakadu to Maningrida is so beautiful, you get to see wild horses, donkeys, kangaroos, crocodiles in the river, birds etc. From Maningrida we drove to Barunga community to participate in the big tribute festival to David Blanasi. This was a great and powerful festival with a lot of emotions from Blanasi’s family and friends. We also visited Wugularr and the waterfall were we swam. During our visit in Barunga we also crafted didjeridus.

The third tour 2003 we drove to Jabiru were we sat up a camp. First day we crafted didjeridus and then Darryl had Gunbork workshops with us each evening. We went to Oenpelli to visit the famous artshop, we also visited Ubir and Nourlangie.

We always start and finish each tour in Darwin and finish it at Mindil Beach at the sunset. During the tour we cook food together, sleep in tents.
I think this years tour might be the best one, Jacks place is so remote and beautiful, it will be pure magic! If you visit my website www.larswallin.nu you can see pictures from the tours plus videos from the imitation ceremony, and also a video with the last interview made with David Blanasi.

[Ed] What is the didjeridu scene like for you in your home country of Sweden?

[Lars] Like almost everywhere else the didj scene in Sweden started in the end of the 1980's, followed by a big boom in the mid 90's. I haven’t heard of anyone who played didjeridu in Sweden earlier than 1984 when a Australian guy called David Braunstalh moved here. In 1997 we started The Scandinavian didgeridoo association and since 1999 we have had a small didjfestival each year where the local players has performed. I think the didj scene is looking pretty good today, recently the group Giddabush released their debut cd, they are a great band and well worth checking out.
Another guy Joshua released his debut cd last year. This year two didjbands featuring Roland Nilsson in Stockholm and Thorolf Andersson in Malmo has been offered record contracts. Hopefully, I will release my book "Meeting with Aborigines and didjeridu" this year as well, the book will be in Swedish. So the scene is still alive and kicking. In January this year Charlie McMahon did a major tour in Sweden, later this summer The White Cockatoo will be here + the yearly didjeridu festival.

[Ed] What types of places does one typically hear the didjeridu in Sweden? In clubs? What is the typical venue and what venues did Charlie McMahon play in January?

[Lars] Well there is clubs for the world music scene like Jericho in Malmo, Nefertiti in Gothenburg and Stallet in Stockholm. In the old town of Stockholm they have a open stage at a place called Stampen where you can hear didjeridu quite often on Saturdays, otherwise there is no typical scene where you can listen to didjplayers. Usually when artists like The White Cockatoo and Charlie McMahon tour Sweden they perform at museums, schools and festivals. Charlie did six gigs in January this year and four of them where at schools, one at a museum and one at a nightclub. It's a very small scene the didj scene and you don't get the chance to see live artists that often.

[Ed] What aspects of the didjeridu will you be covering in your book? Can you give us a little preview of the content and also are there plans to make the book available in English (or other languages) at some point?

[Lars] Well the book will be a mix of facts and the history of the didjeridu, how to craft, where it comes from traditionally, traditional styles in Arnhem Land. Then there will be stories from the road with the White Cockatoo, the tours we have done together abroad plus the didj tours we have done in Arnhem Land. There will be interviews with Darryl and David Blanasi (the last one, I guess, it's done 3 weeks before hi disappeared). Hopefully a lot of pictures, I have plenty! There will also be a chapter about the didj scene in Scandinavia + more...
No one would be more happy than me if there could be an English version as well, but first a have to get the Swedish version ready and published, hopefully late - 05.
Here is a little preview...
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We had just arrived to Sweden from Italy and were now sitting in my livingroom watching tv. Everybody was exhausted from all the traveling we had done the last days. The old songman David Yirindilli had got sick while we were traveling by bus from Bologna to Rome in Italy and he was hardly able to do the show that was coming up that night. When we got out from the bus late in the evening he was shaking from fever, we sat down at some stairs outside a big building, I hugged him and gave him a blanket while I mixed a headache pill for him. I felt so sorry for him, around us there was total chaos, thousands of people were out in the streets, there were trumpet and drum players everywhere, so much nosie! Geoff our manager had mentioned a small outdoor gig plus some kind of a parade. It turned out that we were participating in the opening ceremony of the volleyball worldcup representing Australia. There was no chance that David could join the parade so we decided that I should walk with Didjeridu master Darryl Dikarrna and the two dancers Thomas Laiwonga nad Rex Wood, while Geoff would look after David. There were tv cameras and people everywhere when we walked in front of the Australian team. Gee, it was just minutes ago since I was sleeping in the bus and now this, me a Swede in front of the Australian team holding Darryls didj so he could play while we were walking, it was of course great fun. The White Cockatoo did three songs during the opening ceremony, David could barely sing but we did it. Now when we were sitting in my livingroom David was laying in front of the open fire complaining about that he had trouble breathing, this because he got hit in his chest by a bull during hunting a few weeks ago, plus the fact that he was sick.
Rex suddenly got up from the sofa, he asked me from some old magazines that I didn't need anymore. I gave it to him and then he leaned down over David and started to talk in a language I couldn't understand. Thomas whispered to me that Rex is a bushdoctor and that he was on his way to heal the old man. Rex moved his hand over David’s body talking to the spirits, then he leaned down and formed his hand as a straw and started to suck up the sickens and threw it away. After the treatment he took one of the magazines and spitted out a big pool of blood. I just sat in my chair with an open mouth thinking to myself, wow! The thing is that David got well after the treatment, no trouble breathing anymore.

[Ed] Wow, that’s really good! I don’t know if you could be any happier than me to have an English version available. When the White Cockatoo performed in Portland, I was struck by the accounts of that visit given to me by my friends and so forth after they left. Generally, they read a lot more significance into various things the Aboriginal performers said and did which I found very different from my perspective of helping organize the events and all. How is the reception to the group in Europe? Did you find people to be respectful of the culture and not project their own some what romantic ideas about Aboriginal people onto the group as a whole?

[Lars] I believe that there is a big difference from the late 1990́s when Mutant Message was a big seller and the new age scene were at it's top, nowadays most people have more knowledge about the Aboriginal culture. Those who had helped us lately with setting up gigs has most of the times been great people. The experience of people who still believe Mutant message from down under to be the bible is often happening after the gigs. Nearly every time, one or two from the audience is yelling at Geoff, calling him a racists bastard since he is talking for the group on stage. Believe me, Geoff has asked the group members hundreds of times if they want to introduce the song etc. We have even tried it a couple of times, but the group members are very uncomfortable to talk on stage in front of a big audience, so why should you force them? Geoff is certainly not a racists, he is a family member to the all of the group members and their families and the work he is doing is very important for the members and their families, not to mention the Aboriginal culture. Every time White Cockatoo is touring, people get taught about their culture which in a way makes it stronger. Other reactions we have got from the audience is that this is not real Aboriginal music, and that no women are allowed to play didjeridu (Interesting since both Blanasi and Djalu has done workshops for white women).

[Ed] So Mutant Message had it’s dubious influence over there as well? Another thing I’ve encountered here is that since Western Arnhem Land dance and didjeridu styles are perhaps different from what people have experienced in more touristed areas, is somehow not authentic and because it is presented in the context of a ‘show’ that it is somehow lacking in someway from a real experience. As someone who has seen Gunbork performed on these tours as well as in it’s native Arnhem Land, can you speak to the actual differences between the experience of seeing the performers on tour and at home?

[Lars] You're right the Western style is not that similar and common as the tourists shows you get to see in Australia. I have seen a lot of performances with the White Cockatoo during the tours abroad and in Australia. When we were in Wugularr 2001 I got the chance to see an initiation ceremony, it was a young boys first step to be a man, (remove the foreskin). There was no difference in the music or dance style except for that they spoke for a few minutes between each song which they do not do on stage. The whole village where participating, young and old and it was very beautiful, especially late a night next to the campfires. There is a few minutes video clip from the ceremony on my website were you can see for yourself. Of course there is a difference from what you get to see on stage to ceremonies like the Ubar, when a wood drum is used or other secret ceremonies. On stage they can't stop and talk about each song for ten or more minutes either, but otherwise I would say that you get to see the real thing when you visit a White Cockatoo performance.

              [Ed] Lars have you ever heard from the old songmen in the White Cockatoo what
ever happened to the old didjeridu master David Blanasi?


[Lars] Just once, tree weeks after he disappeared from his home in Wugularr. We were in Helsinki in Finland and the tour was just about to start. Jack Nawalill had decided to stay home looking for Blanasi but the other old songman David Yirindilli went together with Darryl, Mick, Thomas and Joe to do the tour. Everybody was of course very worried and ready to return back home straight away if they would have found Blanasi’s body. I had just picked the group up at the airport and we were driving in to town. They had already started to not mention Blanasi’s name, they just said the old man when they were talking about him. When we got in to town in Helsinki David asked us if he could make a phone call home, just to check for the latest news. We found a phone box, there was busy traffic, high buildings and a lot of business men running around the men. Geoff and I went back a little bit, we tried to watch the expressions of their face but we couldn't really tell. When David hanged up he first talked to the group members. Geoff and I then went up to them and asked if there was any news? We were ready to cancel the tour even before it had even begun. David looked at us with a big smile, good news we know where the old man is!
Now you have to picture this scene, here we were in a busy European city 2001, when David told us...
The old man (Blanasi) has been captured by the spirit of his old songman and friend Djoli Laiwonga (dead since a few years back) at the Mimi pool next to Beswick falls. David Yirrindilli told us that when the group get back from the tour they will have a big ceremony with the most powerful songmen and sing Blanasi out from the rock. No worries we can continue the tour.
This was back in 2001, nowadays they just say that the old man has went to the other side.