Linsey Pollak is a musical oddity – fluent in musicianship, innovative instrument maker, consumate performer and stage comedian.
With another sell-out Maleny show just over (Passing Wind) and another seven projects on the go, this uniquely Australian artist has no time to slow down.
Linsey drills holes in a carrot to make a wind instrument
Community has been the ‘through line’ in Linsey’s career since starting his musical journey more than 30 years ago. And it is important to him. It goes in waves depending on his performing work and how many days he is out of the country on his one man shows. He says the overseas touring subsidises his community work, much of which is done from his home base in Kin Kin.
Linsey has a reputation for making and playing instruments made from rubber gloves, carrots, watering cans, chairs, brooms, bins, and other found objects. His outrageous mix of music, comedy and the theatre makes him one of the most innovative performers in the country.
Linsey has been fascinated by gypsy and Macedonian music for many years and he acknowledges its continuing influence in his shows.
“Even in the latest show – Passing Wind – I am making instruments from carrots, rubber gloves and so on, but a lot of the music that I play on those instruments is very much influenced by my time in Macedonia.
Linsey discovered his comic side while trying to make his music more accessible. In the process he acknowledges that his use of the synthesiser and other electronic devices shows audiences how music is created from nothing.
“All of my shows have that element of looping and recording what I am doing. That’s because I am solo and I want to make the music more interesting. And it is very educational because people are seeing the process of composition and how music can be built up layer by layer.”
Fans of Linsey can see him at the Woodford Folk Festival later this month when he will be launching a new group called Transfusion with international percussionist, Tunji Beier.
“It’s less world music, more dance music”, says Linsey. “More mainstream, electronic and lute-based. I thought it was time for a change but while the music is funky, it’s got elements of Macedonia and improvisation too”.
Never one to stand still artistically, Linsey is touring Canada next year and he’s developing a fascination series of what he calls ‘house concerts’. Called Extinction Room, each concert is for 18 people with headphones and blindfolds. Linsey uses the sounds of endangered and extinct animals to create an emotional impact on his small audience.
Ever since Linsey started out busking on European streets many years ago, the ideas have never stopped flowing. And as he says with a smile, “while I have the energy I will keep going.”
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