A few words from Will.....
I have many good memories of being at Wangaratta, many great concerts and many great times. A few concerts that I remember fondly is Louis Burdett with NUDE, David Tolley's THAT, Dewey Redman, Ren Walter's TIP, Mark Simmonds, Arthur Blythe, Phil Treloar ... and many many more. Music aside maybe it is more the 'social' element that I remember clearer, as it is one of the only (if not the only) time where musicians and fans alike from all over Australia are in the same place at the same time.
I remember seeing the saxophone competition the year Julien Wilson won, and I remember thinking I could never do that, I could never put my music up there on the big stage in such a competitive situation. So when the year for drums came around I was skeptical, being a drum competion and all I was already having nightmares of who could play the fastest paradiddles etc (especially considering that I probably had the least chops of all the drummers who were in the competition!).
With encouragement from those around me (Tim Stevens, Julien Wilson, Ben Robertson) I sent off my tape, and hey, I was accepted ! In between then and the date of the competition I had the chance to play with saxophonist Mark Simmonds, who taught me more about playing music (play the music, not the drums!) than any drummer ever did!
At the finals just before I played I remember getting some crucial encouragement backstage from Ren Walters, Julien Wilson, Dure Dara and David Tolley to the effect of 'just be yourself'. I tried to do that on stage and with the incredible support of bassist Cameron Undy (musically and personally) who played in the backing band, I remember feeling pretty 'connected' on stage for the finals and being happy with my performance. I remember feeling that this is no longer a competition, but a chance to play some music with some great musicians, full stop! So being happy with my performance meant that for me I had already 'won', and the official 'winner' would mean little.
So who is to say why I was the official 'winner' that year? There were many other great drummers that I know and respect in that competition who also 'won' and continue to 'win' in terms of creating engaging and personal music. I would like to thank Adrian and the festival for giving me (and many other musicians) that chance to try to be myself, I was really really naive at that time (musically and personally) and rewarding and encouraging young musicians who try to be themselves is crucial to the developement of this music.
So my strongest memory of the festival (and the Australian scene in general) is one of mutual encouragement and support between musicians. Without this, and the passing on between generations of knowledge and experience what would this music be? What would it mean? No much me thinks.
Living in France for the last 5 years I haven't made it to Wang for quite some time, I really hope that changes soon!