Songs For A Sleeping Dragon

Recently, I released Songs For A Sleeping Dragon, a little collection of lullabies. It's the Year of the Dragon, and my sister is about have a baby - naturally, this Dragon auntie feels that it's her duty to weave some songs of love and comfort around the mother and child.

Almost all of my creative practice as a musician to date has centred around being a violinist. However, in the last year, I've enjoyed getting reacquainted with singing and playing the guitar - not least because I've been spending a lot of time out west in Cunnamulla and Charleville, on Kunja and Bidjara country, through my work with the Creative Change Project.

I knew that I wanted to write an original lullaby - and this was where I got stuck for a while. It was daunting, trying to create something simple and soothing yet meaningful at the same time. I knew I wanted to reference a dragon, but all the imagery that came to mind seemed too epic or ostentatious. I wanted this song to be intimate and comforting. Eventually, I got unstuck by allowing myself to be unashamedly inspired by some of my favourite dragons in popular culture - the ones the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I used the twinkling piano textures and the serene erhu melody in the games' soundtrack as a starting point for my song, and gathered some words that just hinted at the presence of a dragon on a cool winter evening.

Selecting other lullabies to include was relatively easy. Our dad used to sing Teresa Teng's classic "The Moon Represents My Heart" (月亮代表我的心) to us when we were little, so I had to get him to join me in the studio to sing it as a duet with me. "Bright Moon" (​月​光​光​) is a traditional Cantonese folk song that uses 蝦仔 (little prawn/shrimp) as a term of endearment for a small child, evoking family life in a fishing village. My sister and I went through a big Beatles phase and used to sing their songs together in harmony constantly, so "I've Just Seen A Face" seemed like a surprisingly apt song to turn into a lullaby, and I was introduced to Mark Seymour's gorgeous tune "The Whole World Is Dreaming" last year while playing with some local musos in Charleville.

Of course, in the end, violin still featured in the instrumental verses - but I also snuck in a bit of viola, and even an autoharp that I was generously gifted by George Balsillie, an avid Carter Family fan and stalwart of the Charleville & District Historical Society. All of these "facets of Flora" were beautifully captured by Daniel Kassulke at Gasworks Recording Studio, for whose infinite patience and wisdom I am eternally grateful.

​I turned to my dear friend Momo Sugimoto for the EP artwork - she captured the warm and whimsical nature of the release perfectly with her beautiful illustration.

I hope you and any small humans you might have your life enjoy the EP - you can find it on Bandcamp here, or stream it in all the usual places. If you do choose to purchase it on Bandcamp, all proceeds will be donated to Sisters Inside, an organisation based in Magand-jin/Brisbane, Australia that supports criminalised women and girls, and their children, both inside and outside prison.