As we experience a cooler-than-expected start to summer off the back of seemingly endless La Nina rains, the weather seems to be occupying the thoughts of many of us these days. It’s certainly been on the mind of Hein Cooper, who collaborated with lifelong mentor and Yuin/Ulladulla elder Uncle Noel Butler and songwriter Rene Le Feuvre on his new track “The Weatherman.”
Uncle Noel Butler introduces the song by inviting the four winds to rise. He also plays didgeridoo on the track. While Hein and Uncle Noel’s names are the ones on the single, it’s much bigger than that. The voices you hear are those of members of the Yuin/Ulladulla and South Coast community, who joined Hein to write songs to release their frustrations about the way rain and the pandemic had impacted their region. Hein also collected ambient background noise from the Badawang Hills, ensuring even the flora and fauna of this area made its mark on the song.
“Who is the weatherman? This is the deep question behind the song,” Hein explained. “Is it the one who’s paid big bucks by large companies to read off a script? Or is it he who feels into nature, into the forest, the wind and the water, the animals and plants? I believe nature has all of the answers to our current issues, and this song is a mantra to tap into those secrets, especially through the Indigenous knowledge carried by elders still willing to share.”
“(The song’s introduction) is asking for help, for the creator to send a wind spirit, to bring the different winds from the different directions,” Uncle Noel added. “The North-East; can you bring the wind? From the North; bring the wind. From the West: only bring a little bit as it can be nasty – the fighting man’s wind. This song is about understanding what’s been given to you, understanding what’s called nature – it’s all there, the answers are all around us, even the weather.”
Kiarama/Kiama creative Mikey Conlon brought the song to life with a powerful video that uses an archaic TV as an effigy of the horrific fires that plagued the South Coast.
“I brought the initial idea of a TV in the forest to Uncle Noel and he loved it, because it really emphasized how out of place it would seem especially to him,” Hein explained. “He wanted to make sure we included the fact that these horrific fires had still just recently torn through most of the East Coast of Australia due to poor management and lack of controlled burning and not to forget that, as his property was completely decimated. He has these keys to a sustainable future that he’s desperately working to share. I feel the same now, not that I have the keys, but that I’m willing to listen and feel into what they are through people like him. This whole song is a mantra to that.”
Hein and Uncle Noel will celebrate the single’s release with a very special launch show at Barn on the Ride in Yuin/Morton on December 23.
Image used with permission from beehive; credit: Dane Singleton