Koorliny Arts Centre

[00:00:00] Speaker A: That was the New Radicals with you. Get what you give. Do you like music? Oh, sorry, Introductions first. Emma and Blake from calling Art center, correct? [00:00:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:13] Speaker A: Okay, so we're going to talk about what you guys do, but just before we do, are you music people? [00:00:18] Speaker B: Yes, very much so. [00:00:19] Speaker C: Definitely love music. Yeah, we, we constantly listen to different genres of music in the center every day. It could be musicals at the beginning of the day and then, oh, movie soundtracks at the end of the day. [00:00:32] Speaker B: Favorite take that. [00:00:33] Speaker A: You like take that? [00:00:34] Speaker C: Gotta have a bit to take that every day. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:36] Speaker A: Was that. It was Robbie Williams. Was Robin. What's his name? [00:00:40] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely Robbie. [00:00:42] Speaker B: Not Ruby. [00:00:43] Speaker A: Robbie Williams. Yeah, that's right. So you're a fan of him when he was. Take that. Or you prefer him without. [00:00:49] Speaker C: I. Robbie was always my favorite when I was a teenager, and then when he left, I resented him for quite a while and turned to Gary. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah, well, there's a photo of Gary on your desk. [00:00:59] Speaker A: It works. [00:01:00] Speaker B: That's pretty cool. With you. You met him. [00:01:02] Speaker C: So the only time. The only time I met him once I won tickets to a meet and greet. Oh, no. And then I met him. They came to Perth in November last year and I stalked them and I met them at the Crown. [00:01:15] Speaker A: This is fast. I'm like you. I, I, I could, I, I could stalk an artist who I really like. You know, a little bit too odd now, but I could have back in the day. Was that Gary Barlow? [00:01:27] Speaker C: Yes. So Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and. And Howard Donald, they. They did a gig at the rac. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Oh. [00:01:34] Speaker C: And I booked a night in the Crown just because I was going to the gig and it ended up that they were also staying there. Oh, so lucky. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Pretty cool. [00:01:40] Speaker C: Very, very lucky. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:42] Speaker A: Wow. He did a cover version of a Beatles song too, I think. Gary Barlow. [00:01:48] Speaker C: Gary. [00:01:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Definitely. [00:01:50] Speaker C: Quite possibly. He's done quite a few cover. He's in an album, I think, of different covers and I know that Robbie did quite a few swing covers. [00:01:57] Speaker A: Swing covers. Yes, that's right. Because he did. Here we're not even talking what we're going to talk about. He did a. Was it Nicole Kidman? Something stupid. [00:02:06] Speaker C: Yes. [00:02:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, they should come to Koolin. That's what they should do. [00:02:10] Speaker A: They should. [00:02:10] Speaker B: And they should perform there. [00:02:11] Speaker A: So what about you, your music? [00:02:13] Speaker B: What's my music taste? I think Carpenters is my song. Karen Carpenter. [00:02:18] Speaker A: You guys have got to come back again. You know, my favorite, just about my favorite ever artist is Karen Carpenter. [00:02:26] Speaker B: Just. There's no voice like hers, to be honest with you. [00:02:30] Speaker A: I'm liking Blake. [00:02:30] Speaker B: Perfect. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Pitch perfect, I tell you. I was just saying, bloke on the. On the air before. There's a. A bloke in England, his name's Phil, and he does a show called Wings of Pegasus and what he does is people sending clips of, you name the artist, Robbie Williams or whatever, and he would deconstruct the song about the notes they hit, whether it's been auto tuned. And I. I love it. Yeah, absolutely. Because he said there's no way known that that could be there. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:02] Speaker A: You know, they've actually added it in. And he said in the 70s, 60s. 70s to a degree. 80s. There was no auto tune. Was not there. [00:03:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:10] Speaker A: So all the quirkiness of the emotion you won't hear when it's been auto tuned. [00:03:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:15] Speaker A: But you go, but having said that, I watched the one on Karen Carpenter and he said that it is the purest voice that you could have. [00:03:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:03:24] Speaker A: Karen Carpenter. [00:03:25] Speaker B: I agree, hands down. [00:03:26] Speaker A: Oh, she's just. Yeah. And what makes it worse, Blake, is that her death. [00:03:31] Speaker B: I know. So sad, so young. [00:03:34] Speaker A: I read it, I've read a couple of books on her and it's. It's all. It's hauntingly bad. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:41] Speaker A: You know, wrecked with self doubt. [00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, sad, you know, and to sing, you know, all those love songs, all those years. And like, her one big thing was, you know, to want to settle down love. And she never really got to do that. So it's kind of tragic in a way. [00:03:53] Speaker A: It was because she got married and the bloke she got married to shortly after, but she wanted a child. [00:04:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:04] Speaker A: And that's why she got married. And then after I got married, he said, oh, by the way, I have a vasectomy. You can never have kids. [00:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah. It's horrible. [00:04:10] Speaker A: And why would I want to be with the Beg of Bones like you? It's sad, isn't it? [00:04:15] Speaker C: Really sad. It is tragic. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, luckily her music lives on. [00:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:20] Speaker B: She lives on in a special way. [00:04:22] Speaker A: She does, yeah. The reckon actually was saying sorry to hog record. They. They say that she actually sings better live than she does in the studio. [00:04:32] Speaker B: There were reviewers who used to say. They used to complain that they were too much like their studio recordings. I'm like, wouldn't that be a good thing? [00:04:39] Speaker A: Yeah, it would, of course, yeah. But anyway, if you want to look that up, Wings. I'm giving a bug a plug. Wings of Pegasus. And he put Karen Carpenter and he'll have it. So we go for about 15, 20 minutes, but you can pick any artist because he does them all, you know, from heavy rock to. Yeah, even Dick Martin and Frank Silhouette. [00:04:56] Speaker C: Some Gary Barlow in there. [00:04:58] Speaker A: Yes, I'm gonna do that. I'll have a look. [00:05:00] Speaker C: He does sing. He's very similar to his studio recordings as well. His voice. Whenever I've seen him live. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, there you go. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Do you. Wait a minute. So what are you. Sorry, we've been here for like five hours and haven't talked. [00:05:14] Speaker B: I can speak about Carry Carpenter forever. [00:05:17] Speaker A: You must leave your email address. Yes, and I'll chat. So what are we here for, Emma and Blake, are. You tell me A little bit to start, but just expand. [00:05:27] Speaker C: Just coming in. Just. Just have a chat about Kulin Arts Centre in Kwinana. Myself and Blake both work there. We've been there for about a year now. Absolutely fantastic place to be. And we're really trying to engage better with our community and let people know about what we're doing and that, you know, we're not just of a part place to come and watch a show. We are a community art center and we're really keen to get people to connect with us in, in new and. [00:05:51] Speaker B: Varied ways and activate all the spaces, you know, not. Not just Theater one and Theater two, but all the spaces that we have to offer at the center. Which is cool. [00:05:59] Speaker A: I've seen it, as in when I'm driving, I see your little sign up there for the art center. But I'm going to be. I've never been there and you have to come. I don't know what you do, which is good and bad. I suppose it's bad that I don't know. But it's good that you guys can come and you explain. So what are some of the things that you guys have done? [00:06:20] Speaker C: Well, we. It's. It's been in operation since about 1991. So it's been there a long 20. [00:06:28] Speaker A: Almost 25 years in. Really. [00:06:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:30] Speaker C: 25, 35. [00:06:31] Speaker B: 35, 35. [00:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:33] Speaker A: My maths is. [00:06:34] Speaker C: It's a long time. Yeah. And it's a. What you've just said is not uncommon. A lot of people know that we're there but have never been in or don't even know that we exist. Which is such a shame because there's very little places in Perth, very few communities that have a center like we've got, which is multi use. There's lots of different spaces. As Blake said. We've got two theaters there where we do live performances, live music, musicals, plays, conferences. You know, it could be Used in lots of different ways. We've got about three dance studios there which people run dance classes, performing arts classes, workshops, journaling, memoir writing, lots of different arts based activities there. We have a music room, a training room. We've got a beautiful outdoor courtyard which is a performance space as well. We've done live music, sundowners in the courtyard, We've done plays in the courtyard as well. And then we've also got currently the Sleeping Giant of Kwinana which is the 1000 seat amphitheater which currently isn't operational. But we're very. [00:07:38] Speaker B: We wanted. [00:07:39] Speaker C: We're working on it. Yeah, we're working on it at the moment. [00:07:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And what would you do there? [00:07:44] Speaker C: Probably a lot of live music, I imagine. But also as a community space, you know, it's a fantastic space for schools to do graduations because it's 1,000 seat. We could do movie nights there. We could do Christmas carols and they. [00:07:58] Speaker B: Used to do that, you know, they used to do like carols by candlelight and stuff. Out, out. [00:08:01] Speaker A: Did they really? [00:08:02] Speaker B: But yeah, just need to get it back up. [00:08:05] Speaker C: Just, just because of the age of the building. There's a few bits and bobs that we need to do to make sure it's up to code which you know, shouldn't take too long. It's just getting that, that investment at the moment is what we're working on. [00:08:17] Speaker A: Isn't that the hardest thing, guys? You know, there's so many worthy causes and I don't know about you because I'm probably going off the rails a little bit, but there's a lot of things that get money that you think, why on earth, you know, whether. Let's just take. I'm just. I mean I love my footy but football gets so much money thrown at it. [00:08:39] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:40] Speaker A: And I think. Yeah, but they actually make a profit. [00:08:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:43] Speaker A: I just. [00:08:44] Speaker B: Sometimes it doesn't feel very balanced. [00:08:46] Speaker A: I don't think it is, honestly. [00:08:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:48] Speaker A: And you guys, you know, it's so diverse, isn't it? And do you find that getting people engaged is difficult? [00:09:00] Speaker C: I think one of the things you've touched on there is people know the benefits of being involved with sport. So people will push their children into a sport. They know that those physical and mental well being outcomes from sport. But there's equally just as many with arts. But it's letting people know about that. And not all kids want to play sports. When I was a kid, that would have been my worst nightmare. I played the cello, I was in choirs, I played piano. I was performing. That was what made me happy but also kept me physically, physically active and healthy and mentally healthy. And it's let him. Yeah. And sometimes with funding streams, I think it's harder to show those outcomes in a tangible way. [00:09:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:39] Speaker C: That's why it comes sometimes can be a little bit easier to justify funding sports activities. [00:09:44] Speaker A: It does, doesn't it? [00:09:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:45] Speaker A: And it gets all the. And it becomes a little bit of snowball to fit, get to funding, gets on tv, get some media and it just becomes like a big snowball. You know, there you have a lot of people, places they're like to a degree, we're off, but we still like the same. We have no funding. And you know, we had something this morning, guys that does. He was from the Rockingham Penguins. And they. What they do is they jump off. Well, jump off actually. Every morning, 6, 7 or 8, they dip in the. In the ocean down at Rockingham Jetty. You know, now I think They've got about 200 people who do it. [00:10:22] Speaker C: Wow. [00:10:23] Speaker A: You know, not all the time. [00:10:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:25] Speaker A: And. But nobody knows of it, of course. [00:10:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:28] Speaker A: And it's, you know, I'm the best thing about radio or here is I don't mind. I'm not gonna lie. You know, I didn't know anything about you group like. Yeah. What you did. [00:10:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:40] Speaker C: And that's why we're here. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah. 100. To get the word out in any way we can. I think we're always trying to find new ways of how we do get the word out. I think, you know, there's such a big focus now on social media, but it's also remembering that there is. There are. There are other ways to get the word out beyond just social media. [00:10:58] Speaker A: Do you have a big following on social media? [00:11:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's growing. I feel like it's growing every day, to be honest with you. [00:11:05] Speaker C: Yeah. We do, we do have a big social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Blake's established a. A tick tock for us as well so that we can engage with younger audiences and let them know what we've got going on and through like joint. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Collaboration posts and stuff with the artists that are coming through the doors as well. You know, we're being exposed to audiences that might be following them, but not us. So, you know, there's okay find us, I guess. [00:11:31] Speaker A: And one of the things again, you know, being a lot older than you, like there were days when I used to go out and you would have quite. Artists who became quite famous. Well, you know, but they would Start off at local clubs and pubs and this, that, the other. I find. And that's really sad. I find that these people are still there and you know, like if you go and see, wow, that person's really good and they're, they're not getting any. [00:12:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:05] Speaker A: Following, for want of a better word. Do you find that? [00:12:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I think. And certainly just speaking from our own perspective from the Art center, we've got a dedicated following of people that come to us for performing arts. So they know that Cullen has a long history of doing its own productions, musicals and plays. But we also want to expand that and reach out to those live music audiences and provide a safe space for people to come. That's not a pub and a club, you know. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah, that's the other thing. [00:12:34] Speaker B: Yes, Accessible to all. That's what we would love. Yeah. [00:12:37] Speaker A: You know, because there was one and I'm sort of going off the. I remember, I mean, I don't think they do them anymore. I might be going back 10, 15 years. I used to have something at the Fremantle Arts center where they used to have like a auditorium, whatever you want to call it. And they'd have, you know, people like Paul Kelly would pop in and play a set and things like that. I mean, I think that'll be great. You know, like if a Sunday afternoon or Saturday afternoon we could go to there and listen to somebody and you know, grab a bite to eat. Do you have a. You don't have catering felicities yet? [00:13:13] Speaker C: We have a kiosk. We're currently working with a separate organization to see how we can make the most of that so that we can offer different options. We don't have a kitchen there, a commercial kitchen, but we do do, for example, every month we do our morning Melod program which is a daytime show which comes with a full sit down morning tea every. It's usually one Friday in the month every month. And we just bring in catering for that. So people come in, they sit down, they have a morning tea. We have about normally 110, 120 people there and then that's for the first hour and then the second hour is a live performance in the theatre and it's super affordable. It's $18 for the whole experience and we do that every month just as a way of engaging with people. Not everything that you do has to be in the evening or weekends. People are looking for activity, people are looking for activities in the day, during the week. [00:14:09] Speaker A: Well, there aren't there. I mean, and I'm sort of just Randomly picking subjects up. Like, I know there's Beauty and the Beast at the casino, I think, you know, and they're matinee performances. So I'm just saying during the day people will go and they, I mean, the tickets are really expensive. Yes, really expensive. And you know, you think that's worth that? And yet the people go, how do you justify charging me this for this? You know, it's funny, isn't it, the way it works? [00:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, Blake will probably agree with me as well that because we are a community arts center, we will only run activities that we know are not cost prohibitive to our community. We have to be mindful of our community. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's hard, isn't it really? You know, like, you know, do you have a lot of volunteers here? [00:15:07] Speaker B: Yeah, we do. Particularly with our sort of all our play and musical productions. That's all volunteer work. So that's, you know, people, you know, they do their nine to five and then they come down and, you know, join us, whether it's on stage, behind the scenes, you know, helping out in the foyer. It's all volunteer based essentially. [00:15:23] Speaker C: And that could be months and months of rehearsals. We've just finished a run of Guys and Dolls which was one of our community theater productions. So everybody on stage, the director, the choreographer, the musical director, the stagehands, people who arrange the props, the costumes, the makeup, the wigs, all volunteers. So, you know, we were looking at, I think all of the musicians backstage. They had a band of maybe 11. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it was, it was quite a big band. I think it was like 17. Yeah. [00:15:50] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:15:50] Speaker C: So, you know, nearly 50 volunteers working together over three to four months, three times a week, getting together to rehearse. And again, that's where those physical and mental well being initiatives come out. Those people are connecting with the community three times a week. They're physical, they're active, they're working towards a goal. Yeah. So all of our community theatre productions are super special to us because. [00:16:11] Speaker B: And the talent we're seeing amazing from each group that comes through with each new production. You know, we had come from away last year, which was the Western Australian amateur premiere of the show and the talent that walked through the doors with that one in particular was sensational. You know, there were people that were coming up to us after and saying they preferred that version of the production over the one they saw. [00:16:32] Speaker A: No. [00:16:32] Speaker B: The previous year at Crown. So, you know, it's really, yeah, hats off to the volunteers to show that, you know, there is so much talent beyond what's just filtering through in the bigger venues. [00:16:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:42] Speaker C: And it's, you know, it's very rare that you get the opportunity to get a paid job in that space. You know, it's. It's, you know, one in a million. So community theater gives people their opportunity to be on stage and to shine. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:58] Speaker C: And to show how professional and how much talent there is in our community. It's. It's very special. [00:17:03] Speaker B: We strive for too, you know, like, no idea is too crazy. You know, if we can try and elevate, you know, like, we don't want to, you know, it's not just community theater. It doesn't have to be amateurs, you know what I mean? Just reach for the stars, you know, and with the talent that's coming through, you know, they're very capable of producing work similar to what you are seeing at Crown and that, but just in a more intimate space. [00:17:20] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:22] Speaker C: With a reduced budget. [00:17:23] Speaker B: Yeah, we'd love a bigger budget. That would be nice. But we make do with what we've got. Yeah. And I think. Yeah, for what we've got and what we put on, I think it's pretty incredible, personally. [00:17:34] Speaker A: And the thing is too, being a nuts and bolts person myself, whether it be local business or that, I find that, you know, that if I don't watch them, because anyway, the little bit that I have seen, and I'll be honest, generally, they just. I just don't like them musicals. Oh. None of my is the talent shows like the Voice and. [00:18:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:05] Speaker A: You know, and I think, think. I don't think you're that talented. [00:18:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:09] Speaker A: And it's more a popularity contest than it is a talent thing. [00:18:13] Speaker C: You know, sometimes the ones that are the most talented don't necessarily get as far because sometimes it's personality over talent. [00:18:20] Speaker A: On some of those shows there was a bloke and I don't know whether you've heard of him, but he's. Oh, I'm going back 10 years. I saw him Bar Orient in Fremantle was Matt Gresham and he played the guitar and the thing and thing and just play out a pipe. Really, really talented. And I think he went on the Voice or something and. But he didn't fit the. [00:18:46] Speaker B: Sure. [00:18:47] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:48] Speaker B: And sometimes you do. Like we. Well, Damien, who we recently had at in, she was huge from a talent show and she did X Factor Australia. I think it was 2013 and the. [00:18:58] Speaker C: Mask and then Eurovision. Yeah. [00:19:01] Speaker B: Emma's favorite. [00:19:02] Speaker C: Yeah, Love Eurovision. Yeah. So we had Damien earlier this year. She was phenomenal. [00:19:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Performing. [00:19:09] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah, yeah. So we've got a series called An Evening with so Culling Arts center is paired up with Don Russell Performing Arts center in Thornley, as well as some regional performing arts center, Maura Harvey Beverly. And we work together to increase our buying power. So we will offer these bigger acts like Damien are guaranteed five or six nights if they come to WA and do a mini tour. And then that's how we're able to get some bigger named acts through. So our next one coming up in September is Lucy Durak, who's a big musical theater star. But we're also branching out. We've been able to use that same model to bring in another reality music star, Comrade Soul, in August as well. So we're able to. We're starting to be able to attract some of those bigger names. [00:19:55] Speaker A: And sometimes it's just. And that's the thing, isn't it? Like, you hear the name, so you might want to go. Because you've heard the name. [00:20:03] Speaker B: Yeah, very much. [00:20:04] Speaker A: And sadly, there's somebody really, really good, but you don't know them, so you don't go. [00:20:09] Speaker C: Yeah. But once you get people through the door and they start to realize, oh, this is the level of talent that happens here at the art center, it makes them more likely to come, even if they're not 100 sure of who the act might be. But if every time they come, they have a professional experience and a good experience, and that's certainly the level we strive for, as Blake said, with our community theater productions, because they're performing alongside the Damiens. [00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:33] Speaker C: So there's a certain expectation there of having that, you know, high quality and. And we're very lucky, as Blake said, that the talent coming through is more than capable of being able to perform to that level. [00:20:43] Speaker B: We are lucky. [00:20:44] Speaker A: It's. It's fascinating, the whole music thing, because it's sort of. Whether it be theater or plays or music, it all sort of can mold together, can't it? Like even back in the day. Back in the day, you had people who could sing and dance and act, you know, which I don't know. Oh, well, you'd know. Is there as many people these days who can do that? [00:21:10] Speaker B: All three? [00:21:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah. There's heaps. Heaps and heaps of people. But it's just. I don't think there's a lot of opportunity for exposure for a lot of those people. There's. The jobs that are available for musical theater performers don't compare to the amount of people that are going for those jobs. You know what I mean, so a lot of people are missing out on the opportunities to perform. But yeah, there's so many triple threats out there. I think nowadays with music theater, there's probably a bigger focus on the dance component. I think traditionally maybe the acting and singing component used to be a little bit stronger. But yeah, I guess every. If you spoke to any music theatre performer out there, they would just say, we would love more opportunity. [00:21:52] Speaker A: Yeah. So if you. You've been there just over a year, both of you guys. [00:21:58] Speaker C: Well, Blake's been involved with the center longer than that. But in our current roles that we're in now. Yeah, one. About 12 months, 13 months. [00:22:04] Speaker A: What would be. You say, wow, that was as good as gets and everything's. What was the best musical or musical performance or what. What would you. Would you have a highlight? [00:22:18] Speaker B: In my time there as marketing, my favorite experience has been Come From Away, which was last year. There was just something really. [00:22:24] Speaker A: What was it called? [00:22:25] Speaker B: Sorry, Come From Away. So it's a true story. The music was based on a true story. And it's about the events that happened following 9 11, actually. And it's about all the planes that had to land in a town called Gander. And it just follows that real life story, basically. It's beautiful. [00:22:41] Speaker C: It's a beautiful production. They had to land, I think they had to ground 36 planes. [00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:46] Speaker C: In this little tiny village on Newfoundland, you know, and the town more or less doubled in population due to these plains landing. How. How the. The people of that town welcomed all of these. Come From Away. That's what they called them into their lives and into their homes and. And took care of them, you know, while the world was falling apart, basically. And it's a beautiful, heartwarming story. [00:23:08] Speaker B: It's nice to highlight. Yeah. A heartwarming positive side to the story amongst something that was so tragic and they handled the tragedy in the show really respectfully, I think. [00:23:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:19] Speaker A: And that's the thing, isn't it? And the thing is like we're talking here. It's a. It's like you open the door a little bit, you know, you guys come in and all of a sudden go, wow. Yeah. I didn't realize that it was that diverse as in what you guys do, you know, if you said. Honestly, if somebody said to. You said to me, Nick, what do you think? The arts centuries. You know, I would. My immediate thing is they've got. It's like a. An art museum. [00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:23:47] Speaker C: Which is actually the opposite. We would love to have more art. [00:23:51] Speaker A: I think, oh, it's got to be an art museum with, you know, artifacts and things like that. Yeah, that would be my first thing. I wouldn't think of, you know, musicals, artists coming and all that. So. But it's hard to get, you know, it's hard to get that message across. It's so hard. [00:24:09] Speaker C: As I just said, we kind of are. People do come in and say, where's the art? Because the, the center has been predominantly because of the amazing theater spaces, it's been used for performing arts. But we're trying to increase again, just better ways of engaging with our community. So running new art classes, daytime art classes, evening classes. We're doing an exhibition next month, month after July with a local photo artist. So we're doing an exhibition over a long weekend. So we're trying to bring in the visual aspect of it as well as the performance side, which we're so well known for. [00:24:43] Speaker A: So I was going to ask. We have a lot of people, I interviewed a lot of people coming through, which is good because you all learn that much, which is really, really great. I've learned so much today is can we have somebody from Headspace comes in who looks after kids between roughly 15 and 25 who are suffering? Do you. And they do a lot of working schools. Do you guys. Can you guys get your message through schools or have you thought of it? [00:25:18] Speaker C: Definitely. So we've actually got Barking Gecko Arts coming through next week and they're doing a show for local high school students which aligns with a play that's on the curriculum. So we're trying to. Again, we. We're only a small team of five permanent staff, plus we have a whole lot of amazing casuals that work our shows. But we can't deliver a lot of the program. So we have to form really good partnerships with people like Barking Gecko, Western Theatrics, even WA Symphony Orchestra. We have a partnership with them so they can bring more diverse activities to engage. Yeah. With young people. And we're part of the city of Quinano. It's a. It's a local government run facility. So we link in very heavily with our youth team and our community development team and our events team and just being able to collaborate and really try and engage with as many, you know, different sectors in the community as possible. [00:26:12] Speaker A: It's really good. I mean, and it's an eye opener, you know, that's the, that's the thing. I'm just asking here, guys, a little random question the top of my head as I Do I live in a. And there's a lot of them about too. Now I live in an over 55 complex and when you're talking about afternoons, a lot of those people have free time. And I know where on our notice board there's always a. A sheet up for Rockingham Theater Company. Yes, yes, yes, always. You know, and it says, do you want to go? This is the price of the tickets, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. [00:26:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Can you guys do that? [00:26:54] Speaker C: Yeah, we'd love to. Yeah. We. We have started a connection with the local retirement village in Kwana. But, yeah, certainly looking at what the other options are. I've actually been in a couple of plays with Rockingham Theater Company. So you may have. If you've been there, you may have seen me. [00:27:12] Speaker A: But I just think those sort of things that sometimes you. Oh, you know, to get your message out there, you know, like the village I live in or whatever. I forget how many residents there are, but it only takes one or two to get the ball rolling. So you might not get 30 or 40 people, but you think, oh yeah, I might go along to that. You know, to get along to it. And then the word spreads, because it's a slow build is. It's a slow burn. [00:27:37] Speaker C: Definitely. [00:27:38] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Getting there. And I just think, yeah, every day just coming up with new as a team, just coming up with new ways on how can we get the word out. So, you know. [00:27:46] Speaker A: Yeah, there is. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:48] Speaker A: I mean, you know, like, do the people of the. I'm just asking. Not a lot of people read newspapers now, but do you get any, like the sound telegraph comes out and wa. Seniors, do you get any. What's the word one promotions through them. [00:28:05] Speaker B: We were advertising through have a go news. So sometimes, yeah, you know, we do get some audience members, I guess through that. [00:28:13] Speaker C: We have the Spirit magazine, which is the city of Kwana's quarterly magazine. It's online, in print. So we go in there. We've got connections with a couple of radio stations. We sometimes can get us up on the billboard on the freeway if we're very lucky. [00:28:30] Speaker B: I think that's probably the most exciting thing for anyone that's involved to call in. If you see your event on the billboard, you get very excited. Yeah. [00:28:38] Speaker A: Oh, look, it's. It, it's. It is so good, you know, the learning about these things. And have we got you now magazine? [00:28:47] Speaker C: I'm there. Yeah. [00:28:48] Speaker A: Look, look at that. [00:28:50] Speaker C: There's a couple of pictures of us in your magazine at the moment. [00:28:53] Speaker A: There we go. [00:28:54] Speaker C: A little bit of A behind the scenes of what happens at the art center. [00:28:57] Speaker A: Oh, I'm gonna have to. Well, I've got the magazine. I haven't read all of it yet. [00:29:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:01] Speaker A: But I will. So we just. [00:29:03] Speaker C: We're just about to launch our new brochure which will be our main events between July and December. And we also release a. Our daytime concert flyers as well, which lets you know about all the different daytime. You know that like I said, the morning melodies where you get morning tea. We also do a seated serenades, which is a sit down hot lunch and a show. Again, another daytime. We do something called midweek music, which is another. A Wednesday daytime concert. So you know, we have those on top of our kind of evening and weekend performances. The venue is also used a lot by schools. They hire the venue and then they're able to put on their school performances. And some of those are also open to the public. So that's always great to go and support young people that are keen on performance. [00:29:48] Speaker B: Yeah. And then workshops would be the other one. [00:29:51] Speaker C: Yes. [00:29:51] Speaker B: So like our art workshops and that's something we're trying to activate more throughout the center. We've got a new workshop called Cuppa in Canvas. So which is a paint workshop that you can do. It's in the day, isn't it? [00:30:01] Speaker C: It's a daytime. [00:30:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And it's a couple of hours. And that one is targeted more at beginners and I guess people that are just trying out painting for the first time. But you. Yeah, you work with a teacher and produce your own work there. We also have another program called Bubbles and Botanicals. That one is fine line botanical drawing, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. And that is with another local artist, Jane Lee, who is exceptional and she has done quite a bit of work in the center with us. [00:30:27] Speaker C: Yeah, she's a great artist. We actually do a 10 week class with her watercolor class. So people come every week for 10 weeks. So as Blake said, you can come as a beginner and you learn those fine line watercolor skills. Extremely popular. Whenever we do anything with Jane, she's a phenomenal artist, award winning artist. We're very lucky that she lives about one minute around the corner from the art center. People will follow her. She does workshops in Denmark and Albany and all over and people will follow her. So for her to be able to work in her backyard is. Is great that we're able to work with her on that. Yeah, yeah. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Will you guys. Your enthusiasm and your knowledge and your. Your keenness and that's what a Lot of it's about, isn't it? It shines through. [00:31:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:11] Speaker A: You know, like, I've heard both you guys, and it's just great, you know, like, it. It makes me want to think, oh, I not, you know, I should go there now, you know, so it does have an effect. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:22] Speaker A: And, you know, you think, oh, sometimes you think I'm doing all these little things here. And Blake and Emma, they're saying all these things and, you know, you're really chirpy. But it does work. [00:31:34] Speaker C: We're like this all the time. [00:31:36] Speaker A: But it does work. Honestly, you know, I love it. [00:31:38] Speaker C: We're. We're. We're both performers. We've all been involved in the art since we were kids. Everybody that works there has got some kind of connection or their kids have got connections. So everyone that works here is so passionate about what we do. [00:31:50] Speaker A: And that's great. [00:31:50] Speaker C: Really shines through, I think. [00:31:52] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:31:53] Speaker A: And that's the other. That's the other thing, you know, if. If you're doing it, you know, because it's a job, it's not so much fun. But if you're doing it because you love it. [00:32:02] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, makes it the best job in the world. Really doesn't. [00:32:05] Speaker A: I think it does. [00:32:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:06] Speaker A: You know, if you believe in it as well, that's the other, you know, and it's just been great having you guys in. I've absolutely loved it. You know. [00:32:15] Speaker C: Thank you any. If you want to ever come in, we will happily give you a tour. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:32:21] Speaker C: Anybody that wants to come through, we're normally there every day, kind of business hours, and then usually have activities. [00:32:27] Speaker A: I'm going to take. I will take you up on that Amazely. Yeah. Have you got a email address for your group or your. [00:32:38] Speaker C: Yep. So people can find us on. We have a website which is. So it's pronounced callin, which is a noongar word meaning come in, go in, walk in. So it's that kind of flow of people in and out of the art center, but it's spelt kulini. So K double O, R, L, I N, Y. So you can find us if you search Kulin in Kwinana. Our email address is kulinartsuinana.wa.govau but if you search kulini on the website, email address, our phone number. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Okay. Because that's what people need these days. Yeah. You know, even old people like me. You know, honestly, it's been great and just love the off air, guys. We chatted about with the Welsh and My best mate in Melbourne's Welsh, you know. Hey, before we go. [00:33:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:29] Speaker A: Can you. And can you pronounce that railway station, which is 300 letters long? [00:33:34] Speaker C: I can. [00:33:35] Speaker A: Here we go. [00:33:36] Speaker C: I haven't done it for a long time. Okay, let me think. Longer. I can't remember the rest for a long time. [00:33:49] Speaker A: If people Google that, you can Google this long. Welsh train station or Wales. And it's just enormous. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Yeah. We'll make a deal. Come to Kulin and Emma will. Emma will have the word. [00:34:02] Speaker A: There you go. She will. [00:34:03] Speaker B: So she can say it to you upon arrival. [00:34:05] Speaker C: Yes. [00:34:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And the gentleman who runs the radio station, he's got Welsh heritage as well, and his dad was born in Wales. [00:34:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:15] Speaker A: So there's a. He's got the big. Is it the Dragon. Dragon, yeah. Fascinating. And we should talk down there one day. Fascinating race of the Welsh. [00:34:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:25] Speaker A: You know, because my mate is Welsh there. Well, you still like me because I'm English. He goes, yeah. [00:34:33] Speaker C: Yeah, it's. I actually did my DNA test and I was 36 Welsh and 35 English, so that was close. [00:34:42] Speaker A: So what I got there. And Blake, if you don't have to. Of course. Yes, I know these days, if you want to give your email address, we can chat about Carrie Carpenter, because that was just absolutely gold. I've never known anybody who's liked her as much as I have. [00:35:01] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:35:02] Speaker A: Her voice. So, yeah, just. Yeah. Music's just so great. [00:35:06] Speaker B: Amazing, you know, feeling. I think there's something very special about music. Yeah. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Do you know, it's funny, you guys don't have to go yet, do you just. No, no, no, it was funny because, I mean, these are really important things in life, obviously, you know, like, you maybe get married or whatever. You maybe have kids, whatever they sort of write up there. But I reckon not far behind are some of the. The music concerts that I've been to. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:35] Speaker A: And it's like that feeling, that song, when they sang that song, It Will Stay With Me Forever. And that concert will stay with me forever. [00:35:46] Speaker B: Yeah. It's very cool. And it does. You know what I mean? Like, I think music, you can be exposed to a song when you're five years old. [00:35:53] Speaker A: Yes. [00:35:53] Speaker B: And it does. It can stay with you. Right? [00:35:55] Speaker A: It does, doesn't it? [00:35:56] Speaker B: And through all the ups and downs, you know, people can come and go, you know, different things can happen, but it's a constant. [00:36:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And the music you heard when an important news thing came on or whatever, or your wife gave birth, whatever the case. And yet that song Think. Yep. And I just get all teary because I just think, yeah, music can touch you so, so much. [00:36:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:17] Speaker A: You know, so very special. It is, isn't it? [00:36:21] Speaker B: Yes. And it's a call in. So come. [00:36:26] Speaker A: Okay, guys, than so, so much I'd love to have you back again, please. So many things that we can talk about, you know, Gary Barlow, anytime. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Yes. [00:36:40] Speaker A: Was it the one. Sorry? Was that the one where was he part of one of those bad members died. Is that. What was that him? [00:36:48] Speaker C: No, no, not from. Take that. Westlife. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Oh. [00:36:53] Speaker C: So was it Westloff Wonder or Boyzone? [00:36:55] Speaker A: Might be wonderful. [00:36:56] Speaker C: Oh, One Direction recently. Yes. [00:36:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:58] Speaker C: So I think Westlife lost a member a while ago, but yes, One Direction lost somebody quite recently. Liam Payne. [00:37:05] Speaker A: That's it. And what about the other boy bands? I'll call them boy bands. Like. Like NSync. And. [00:37:14] Speaker C: I actually saw the Backstreet Boys for the first time in Perth a couple of years ago. So that was dream come true again for me because I'd never seen them. Another one that I loved from a teenager who, if you're talking about emotional moments at concerts, it was always a dream to see Boys to Men. Absolute dream. [00:37:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:37:30] Speaker C: And they came to Perth as part of R B Fridays and I was probably screaming and singing the loudest of anybody in that auditorium because I was just in the zone. I was. Couldn't believe that I was actually in the same room as Boys to Men. Yeah. [00:37:46] Speaker A: And they. At the End of the road. Is that what it is? Yeah. Love it. I've got on my playlist beautiful singers, you know. Yeah, they. They. So many of them. I'll tell you who else was. Good God. I'm going on about music was. I took my wife. I wanted to see him too. I took a while to go and see Human Nature. [00:38:08] Speaker B: Oh, yes. [00:38:09] Speaker A: And they were so good. They actually can all sing. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. I think they were recently in mantra, weren't they? [00:38:16] Speaker A: I believe I know they played it. We saw in the RAC Arena. [00:38:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:38:21] Speaker A: But they can all sing. [00:38:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:23] Speaker A: You know, and that's. [00:38:24] Speaker B: It helps. You wouldn't want to go to a concert if they can't see you. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Well, we've all been to those. [00:38:32] Speaker B: Not naming names. [00:38:33] Speaker A: I can know what I want to see. Do you remember Paul Young? [00:38:38] Speaker C: Yes. [00:38:39] Speaker A: Everything has changed and all that. We see him in Perth and he can't sing. [00:38:43] Speaker B: Oh, dear. [00:38:44] Speaker A: Cannot sing. [00:38:45] Speaker B: That's okay. [00:38:47] Speaker A: It's not good because I hold out the microphone, I think. Yeah, that's because you can't sing. Right. A bit sad because I had, you know. You want to see them? At least be able to hold a reasonable. [00:38:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:57] Speaker A: Anyway, guys, thanks again. [00:38:59] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:38:59] Speaker A: And I'll tell you what, seeing that you've been such nice, I will play a couple of songs, please.