You never know who you are going to run into at Rosalind Park on a balmy April evening, though a small crowd probably was not expecting two drummers rehearsing with a rig made entirely from discarded junk.
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JUNKSTORM’s Dean Stanton and Bohdan Dower were preparing for a performance during a free waste warriors school holiday fun day on Thursday.
The day will also feature garbage trucks on display, craft activities from Plasterama and a jumping castle.
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JUNKSTORM’s distinctive rig is a concoction of bins, empty jars, pipes and other material which which sits in, or is lashed to, milk crates and hand trolleys.
“Where a lot of other junk percussionists will have their rig spread out all over the ground we thought it would be nice to have it all on wheels, set up and ready to go,” Mr Stanton said.
“That way we can fine-tune as we go along.”
The pair have had their ever-evolving rig for about a year-and-a-half.
“It started off with just one crate and a few bits and bobs. It’s slowly metamorphosised into the monstrosity it is today,” Mr Stanton said.
Mr Dower said part of the fun was walking around recycle yards looking for things that made sounds.
The trick was to find an item, give it a tap and see if there was music in it.
“An object has to sit on the ground, or it has to be attached to something. That often affects the tone, so something might sound good but you have to sit down and hit it a dozen times.
“It’s really just hitting things. Everyone loves hitting things.”
Foam had been attached with many items on the rig to help things bounce around freely, creating different sounds.
And when everything came together, it was easy to losing yourself in the rhythm.
“I’ve tried doing the junk thing by myself … and it’s so much better when you have two people playing at the same time,” Mr Dower said.
“There’s this sort of magic, syncopated thing that happens where you start hearing rhythms you never knew existed in what you were doing.”
JUNKSTORM plans to perform two half hour sets on Thursday in Hargreaves Mall, from 11.30am and 12.30pm. The Waste Warriors event runs from 11am to 2pm.