Photograph by Chelsea Hopper.

Craig McElhinney is an incredibly talented musician and sonic collagist. McElhinney has performed incessantly over the past few years in his “home town” of Perth (WA) and developed somewhat of a discographical bounty with releases on Meupe, Grave New World, Badminton Bandit, Friends in the World and a new release titled “Sore Loser” soon to drop on breakaway record label Twice Removed.

I’m here with Craig McElhinney to talk about David Attenborough and his affects as an icon on Craig’s life. Craig, how are you going today?

Very well thanks.

So I’ve noticed you’ve used the icon of David Attenborough not only in your recording space but also in your live on stage performances previously. I was wondering if you could tell me how you came to find out about David Attenborough and what kind of influence he’s had on you.

Well I guess for everyone it starts at a young age. Watching wild life shows on the BBC when I was younger, I didn’t really know too much about him – it was really just about watching the shows. But as I grew up and started watching more of them, I kind of got interested in finding out about him and how he developed the shows and what he was all about.

Do you think that growing up in the UK was something that maybe exposed you more to Attenborough in your youth?

Definitely – just ‘cos of the BBC. I guess everyone in the UK sort of grows up with Attenborough in one way or another. Wildlife television sort of begins and ends with Attenborough in the UK.

And in terms of your later life and Attenborough coming to influence your creative processes or your musical aesthetic – do you think he’s played a role in that sense?

One way or another he’s impacted what I think about the world. Not directly musically, but I guess just his outlook on life and… I don’t know – his passion I guess for just discovering. He never struck me as a person who was in it for money or power. I always trusted that he was passionate about discovering.

And do you think him as like an explorer and someone that is a discoverer is something that motivates you in terms of your artistic pursuits, perhaps?

Oh totally. His enthusiam for the unknown and just the look on his face, the way he talks about it and describes it… I trust that he’s passionate about everything he does and I guess that’s a quality of life that I try to strive for.

Passion?

Yeah and just discovery basically.

For sure. You said just before you don’t know a lot about him in terms of his biography – could you tell me a couple of things maybe that you do know about him that have stuck with you?

There’s so much to soak up for him. It’s been a career that’s been going for 50 years on television. He basically shaped the way the BBC is today. He’s the one that started it and gave it the network’s character I would say… I guess growing up in a successful family allowed him to start mixing with people who could give him the opportunity to share his vision of the world through British television.

Is there any particular Attenborough moment or trait that stick in your mind as something which is particularly characterising for him?

Well like what I was saying before about trusting that he is genuinely exciting and enthusiastic and basically lives on exploration and discovery – one of the scenes that probably struck home the strongest in that sense was when he was quite young. The BBC was first taking off and they went to some island to see this tribe that hadn’t really been discovered before – there’d been no cameras there, no civilisation contact. These were people he knew little about – he hadn’t met them – and they just walked straight up to them. He was just like, so happy to meet them – even though they were “savages”. That was one of the scenes were I was like “Wow, this guy really wants to find out everything and doesn’t care about getting hurt”.

So you think Attenborough is brave?

Totally.

I was wondering perhaps if Attenborough’s personal style in terms of his clothing has influenced you in any way?

(Laughing) No, not at all. But he did comment on why he wears that same arrangement of clothing every single show he’s done since he’s been filming and he just said it was for continuity. He’s always – in the fifty years that he’s been working – he’s always worn the light blue shirt and the khakis.

Do you think continuity is an important thing to practice in your own life?

Only if you embrace change equally – as much as you embrace continuity.

Can you tell me what you mean by that specifically?

If you’ve got something that’s working well for you and you’re rolling with it – there’s no reason to stop. But at the same time – you can’t get stuck in rolling with that same thing. You have to keep going to other things at the same time I guess.

So what would you say is more important to you personally: continuity or flexibility?

I’d probably say flexibility.

So you’re a person that embraces change and …?

Well I kind of have to for my situation. If I keep on going too much in to the same thing then I tend to over think it and sometimes get burnt out on it and question it. But if you embrace flexibility, you’re always in a situation where you’re uncomfortable in a good way. You’re trying new things that don’t always work or you might end up hating them, but I think you have to try it. You have to find out. I used to be mainly concerned with comfort but now I’m finding it’s mainly the opposite these days.

I listened to one of your new recordings last night and – speaking of this sort of duality between continuity and flexibility – the sounds you were using in the recording were completely new and seemed to be a new region of audio territory that you were crossing in to, but the style itself was very much the style you’ve been establishing over your solo releases in the past… So it seems perhaps that it is possible to be continuous and yet constantly evolving at the same time.

(Laughing) Yeah, you’re right. I’m glad you noticed.

That was Craig McElhinney talking about his own music and David Attenborough.  Thank you very much for your time Craig.

Thank you.