Iva Davies last played in Tasmania at the ‘Breath of Life’ Festival’ in March 2012 but was recently here as a tourist, when he stayed at one of the MONA lodges, an experience which he calls ‘incredible’.
Nowadays, Iva is an enthusiastic traveller and is catching up on seeing what he didn’t see, while ironically touring many locations worldwide. He is now tour ‘specific’ and on his recent Tasmanian visit enjoyed the ‘extraordinary’ drive from Launceston to Hobart, stopping on’ a ‘whim’ to investigate an old working flour mill. Iva’s also interested in convict history so sees Tasmania as a place he wants to continue to explore. In fact Iva is also aiming to witness the conclusion of the Sydney Hobart yacht race next year as he enjoys the waterfront restaurants. He is also keen to return to MONA, this time as performer.
I am speaking to Iva Davies because this year is the 30th anniversary of two of his compositions, the movie ‘Razorback’ and his ballet ‘Boxes’.
It would seem that the two productions couldn’t be more polar opposites, the former a horror movie and the second, a ballet, but the thing that brings them together is another celebration, this time of a wonderful Australian invention created by Fairlight, so named for the suburb of Sydney in which it was created. This piece of technology is the music sampler.
Iva says this first sampler is one of the world’s most influential piece of recording equipment. It led to the emergence of new music tunes such as hip hop and was the device that allowed for distorting and manipulating sounds, such as reproducing the sound of smashing glass bottles and making cutting edge sound design.
Over time cheaper versions of the Fairlight have emerged but have been less comprehensive ,if more accessible. A resurgence in interest saw the Fairlight company re manufacture 100 more copies of the original sampler and one of those copies was a guest of honour alongside Iva as he lectured on the the sampler at Lismore university.
Iva was invited into composing for ‘Razorback’ by director Russell Mulcahy. With whom he had worked before, as Russell was an originator of the music video before the emergence of MTV. It seems fitting that later when Russell was making a movie he called on Iva to write the soundtrack ,a difficult assignment especially with the genre of horror movie. As Iva explains in such a case it is necessary to synchronise the music to the visual elements which can be very spontaneous and abrupt, with, in this case a wild pig wreaking havoc. Iva was given qiote a bit of leeway by Russell for his own creativeness.
Fast forward into the future and a very different project was when Iva was writing for ‘Master and commander’, a huge Hollywood film with its own orchestra and meticulous rechecking with Peter Weir . Iva felt equally at home with the more stringent control and felt safe with the iconic director’s vision.
On the other composition being celebrated, the ballet ‘Boxes’ Iva collaborated with Graeme Murphy. Graeme once again left it to Iva’s ingenuity to create a a contemporary dance which would appeal to a wider audience including younger people.
Iva wrote a story for the ballet and broke it down. The piece was about boundaries and gave Iva a chance to be the ‘triple threat’ as he also acted and danced in the production to add to his singing talents.
Iva talks to me about how he often finds recording a mechanical process but some where along the line magic happens and a light bulb moment eventuates, where it comes from is a complete mystery
To discover a bit more about the mystery behind ivas compositions get hold of copies of ‘Razorback’ and ‘Boxes’ both of which are out now.
Paula Xiberras
