I’ve been meaning to write this post ever since a friend pointed out how little of my research I’ve discussed on here. I have previously justified this silence with the argument that my research focus is only going to change, and if I’m going to have a public record of it it better be good enough to do justice to all the people it involves and all the academics whose shoulders I’m standing on. However, a preliminary squiz at my blog statistics indicates that my blog readership is mostly friends and family outside of academia – a readership that I assume cares less for polished products and more about the actual everyday process of becoming a (better) researcher/person. Maybe this readership will change, but probably not before a safe amount of time has passed (enough time for me to plead naivety).
With this in mind, I’m going to tell you how it stands at this stage. Or rather, how it once stood and has now fallen scattered across various the darkest nooks of my mind.
In 2016 I decided to focus my research on the annual Kimberley Moonrise Rock Festival in Derby, WA, and “how it contributes to individual, social and cultural wellbeing” of the local people, who are mostly First Nations people (Ngarinyin, Warwa, Wororra, Wunumbal and Nyikina). I chose to conduct this research in Derby for a few reasons: the scarcity of musical opportunities for remote communities in the West Kimberley, the enthusiasm for contemporary music in Derby, and the prevalence of youth suicide in Derby and surrounding communities. The Kimberley Moonrise Rock Festival used to be a significant regional event, bringing together thousands of professional and amateur musicians from distant corners of the Kimberley for two nights. There were fireworks, a bar, and a live CD at the end of it. None of the musicians were paid and most of the music was written for the event. Local bands Gulingi Nunga, Silhouette and Mt Elizabeth Bushfires would headline the event and had legendary status. It was an institution.
My current issue, however, is with my research title and its use of ‘how’, because I daresay the festival contributes little nowadays to community wellbeing. The festival itself was three weekends ago. Due to sponsorship obligations, the event no longer has a licence to serve alcohol, which has completely changed the demographic of the audience. 10-15 families had spread themselves over the lawn by the time the first act had started. Bands these days are paid to play and brought in from outside the region, including the headlining act. Crowd participation was minimal, and the vast majority of the audience had disappeared before the two local bands started at about 10pm.
Even though it’s now only a shadow of its original realisation I still do want to focus on it, because it has previously played a significant role in community life, there’s lots of data, and the various ways it has fallen from splendor, more often than not, serve to reflect various challenges the town has had to overcome. I would prefer to showcase everything this town has going for it though.
b. c. s. 