Greek-Australian poet and hip hop rapper Luka Lesson has teamed with indigenous musician Kahl Wallis for the single 'Living Artefacts'.
Luka says the collaboration has been a cross-cultural exchange between the two artists and that 'Living Artefact' connects the past of our ancestors with our present. “On a deep level I believe we have to look back in order to be able to look forward,” Luka says.
“I believe we are pretty much living examples of our ancestors; without them we wouldn't have been here or be able to survive. It's a song that [I] really tried to collapse time in a way and make the historical and the futuristic become one.”
Born in Brisbane to parents of Greek heritage, Luka maintains a studious interest in the history and culture of Ancient Greece.
Fascinated by classical orators and the craft of reciting epic poetry, Luka says the seemingly disparate cultures of ancient Greece and indigenous Australia share certain commonalities. “I see hip hop as an art form that's doing the exact same thing that Homer did,” he explains, “which is reciting a story to a set rhythm with music playing at the same time, which is basically what all the ancient storytellers did in Greece.
“Australia has a very long history of storytelling – 40,000 to 60,000 years of storytelling – and I think that's also overlooked a lot in Australia and that's one of the reasons I asked Kahl to be a part of it.
“I've known Kahl for a while and to me it automatically makes sense; it is one of the oldest, living cultures in the world and there are actually a lot of similarities in myth and story between Greek and Aboriginal storytelling.”
One similarity is the story told by both cultures of the Seven Sisters or Pleiades, an open-star cluster within the constellation of Taurus.
“Aboriginal people believe almost exactly the same thing that ancient Greeks believed, that the Seven Sisters were seven female figures being chased across the sky by an older male figure, represented by the star Orion. That's the same in the desert of Australia and the same as the ancient Greeks believed.”
Luka and Kahl will be on tour for 'Living Artefacts' from August to October with shows in both capital cities and regional areas as well as workshops Luka hopes will help strengthen bonds within remote communities. “We have planned a bunch of new stuff that we haven't performed before,” Luka says.
“I have a pretty large back catalogue so we'll be digging into some older stuff as well as some new stuff. We're really going to be connecting with communities in a pretty deep way in some sense.
“It's a combination between spoken-word poetry, slam poetry, hip hop music and Kahl obviously does this beautiful, folk rock somewhere between Ben Harper and Uncle Archie Roach.
“I think it's a really good juxtaposition and it's good for us to sit next to each other in a gig because he provides a great amount of soul and slow, heart-wrenching moments, and I guess I'm more of the intellectual, complex guy. Because I have so many words, I really love touring with someone who's less about the words and more about the spirit. It feels like a great match.”
Luka Lesson Shows
Fri 25 Aug - The NightQuarter (Gold Coast)Sat 26 Aug - Queensland Poetry Festival @ Judith Wright Centre (Brisbane)
Thu 31 Aug - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 8 Sep - The Jade (Adelaide)
Sat 9 Sep - The Workers Club (Geelong)
Sun 10 Sep - The Workers Club (Melbourne)
Fri 22 Sep - Full Throttle Theatre (Townsville)
Sun 24 Sep - Darwin Railway Club (Darwin)
Sat 7 Oct - Civic Memorial Hall (Mullumbimby)
Mon 9 Oct - Empire Theatre (Toowoomba)
Fri 13 Oct - Brighton Up Bar (Sydney)
Sat 14 Oct - The Nishi Playhouse (Canberra)
