ADAM PAVITT

I once read a sticker when I was young that had a strong impact on me. The message was clear ‘disarm or peace will come in a flash’. It really is quite frightening to think that we as humans have the means to destroy ourselves at the push of a button. The advancement of the human race has seen some sinister twists.
We stand on Aboriginal land and so much has changed in just over two hundred years. Over ninety percent of the forests have been decimated and the land is divided up into salable lots. The indigenous people of Australia join others around the world caught in the turmoil of rapid change. We are trying to move forward together and yet so much has been lost. For a young country (from a European perspective) we have a shocking record. There are entire peoples, a generation of children, languages lost and even the Victoria Market stands on an Aboriginal burial ground. Aboriginal people now account for 1% of the population. These are people who have fought for survival and equality in their own land. We even allowed the British in the 1950’s to test nuclear bombs on Aboriginal traditional lands (around Maralinga S.A). These tests resulted in the local people being exposed to dangerous radiation, with some of the area being contaminated for and estimated quarter of a million years!
Ashes attempts to look at what it would be like to see your world turned upside down and divided up to create wealth for those who have stolen it. It is crazy to think about the massive imbalance of inherited wealth that has gone to people of a European background while Aboriginal people were only just getting the right to vote in the late 1960’s. Even the name of one of our states, Queensland hasn’t changed it’s name to accompany the official apology from our Prime minister…how about a state called Aboriginal-land? Some things change quickly and others change at a snail’s pace.
Traditional stories about the Ancestors in the starry night sky must be hard to tell in the cities, as the Milkyway seems to resemble a milky grey. For such a young country (from a European perspective) we have a shocking environmental record. We need to look at reforestation and a re-injection of organic minerals into the soil. The connection to our indigenous traditional owners and caretakers must be acknowledged and embraced. For too long the forests and arable land have been exploited. In a global sense we must look at look to the ancient wisdom and look after Mother Earth.
There is a very fine balance balance between humankind and nature. We stand poised to either destroy ourselves militarily and environmentally, or throw off all harmful practices. Organisations like the United Nations, Red Cross and Oxfam are working day and night to bring about equality and peace. There is hope for future generations and our own as we increasingly insist on leaving a legacy of positive change. We are beginning to expect those we support to represent this ethos of change and in our everyday lives. We look to those that represent us to act on our behalf, rather than just pay lip service to promises and that is important.
Ashes has some nice tribal vocals that drift over the last sections of the song. My friends and I enjoy having a tribal ‘hey yar’ as we call it, where we can explore our voices in a nonsense syllable sing/shout along. My friend Cameron Spike-Porter could feel a shuffling reggae vibe and so he added some acoustic over-dubs. For me the reggae helps the song reference the type of vibes that Bob Marley had in songs like ‘Get Up Stand Up’. A song where change is asked for from people. I was at a festival a few years ago and got to meet one of the original members of the Wailers (Bob Marley’s Backing band). In a conversation we had, I was told that Bob used to say that when you are singing you must sing as if you are in mourning, wailing and every part of your being needs to be released. Sometimes in ‘Ashes’ I feel as if my heart may break as i call for us to “bring in peace”. Recently while playing Ashes live a spoken word section has found it’s way into the song
that ties in with the themes expressed, it goes like this “Water, food, shelter, love. Family, good friend, keep you thinking of, All those who do not have enough, and we are sending it out in the hope that it does, remove some of these brutal border lines, all the fear and ignorance and greed that divides, maybe then we wouldn’t have to rely, on all the politician’s lies”.