Interview with Owen Ellemor (Stony Rises)
Hi Owen,
1. Thanks Owen to be able to come along to Songwriters Showcase this year, will you sing us a few songs from your Bicycles in the moonlight album ?
2. It must be a wonderful experience singing in the all abilities choir, tell us a bit more about it ?
3. You grew up in south west Vic Owen , and songs in your album were inspired by memories ? Tell us a bit more about your growing up in the area !?
4. You are a surfer too Owen? How is your thumb healing? we hope you will be back on guitar soon, but if not for the showcase there’s plenty of us guitarist to back you up !
1. No worries Fi and thanks for inviting me to participate in such a good project. Yes I plan to sing a few songs from the album and maybe a couple of others.
2. It is wonderful being a member of the All Abilities Choir. I began by just hanging around and adding to the male chorus and later ended up playing lap steel guitar to add to the music. We have performed at Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, to sell out shows at the Lighthouse Theatre and famously on Australia's Got Talent. Every time we perform we light up people's faces and make people cry, both in the audience and in the choir. It is a truly life giving experience, a great celebration of ability, life and human dignity. I feel so privileged to be a part of it.
3. I lived the first 18 years of my life in the heart of the volcanic plains in Derrinallum. I had quite a free childhood, cruising around the streets on bikes, playing nature strip cricket, kicking the footy with friends, looking for yabbies under rocks and stuff like that. As a musician though it was lonely.
My Grandma had a holiday house in Anglesea so I was lucky to be able to spend a lot of my holidays with extended family on that beautiful coast.
I moved to Warrnambool in 1989 for university, spent a year in Melbourne, came back to Warrnambool, lived in Cudgee (which inspired several songs) for a dozen or so years and then moved back to Warrnambool. I am drawn to the coast and the soil of this region.
There's something about the familiarity of home country that enriches the soul. It's always great to visit and observe other parts of the world but I've never been long enough in them for them to satisfy me in the same way as my home country does. I love the area.
4. I love surfing. I love being present in the natural world, sitting in the ocean, waiting. It's also a space of being vulnerable. I'm a crap swimmer so I also get plenty of opportunities to face up to some fears!
A month ago I chopped off half my left thumb with a circular saw. It was awful. I spent two weeks in hospital and have had to deal with some serious pain. The surgeons, nurses and other staff at the Warrnambool hospital were amazing. We are lucky to have the healthcare that we have here. My thumb was re-attached and it looks like sticking. It causes constant pain but that is slowly reducing. The wound is still raw so it's going to be a slow healing process. Hopefully, I don't need more surgery. I'll be surprised if I can play guitar at the Showcase but I'm chuffed by the offer for back-up if I need it. I've never been a lead singer without an instrument before so that will be weird for me if it happens! Either way, I'll be honoured to share some songs.
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