Windang Island – Dharawal Country – Spanish Guitar Music

My name is Tomas Lorenzo Fernandez. My parents immigrated to Australia in 1960 from Spain. I was born here in Wollongong, Illawarra and we went back to Barcelona when I was a child in 1978.

I always knew I had to come back, as on the slopes of Geera ( Mt Keira)  is where I started hearing the beautiful gift of music.

I now know I was born on Dharawal country and all my life I have been sharing the language of music I heard in the ancient rainforests, the Merrigong, here in Illawarra.

I feel that there is a lot more in nature than what we can see.

Music is the language I feel comfortable with to express this connection to nature. Furthermore I am only able to compose and perform music that reflects the vast space, the anarchy and the serenity of nature.

On arrival in Wollongong I followed my pathway and met the aboriginal elders. They trusted me and I was taught some aboriginal values that have helped me be more at peace with myself and my music.

The Aboriginal language and culture is the ultimate connection gateway between what we see and is. It takes a lot of energy to understand one simple value and I do hope I have the patience to learn more.

Gang Man Gan is a dreamtime story of Dharawal Country, located in NSW, Australia.

After my meeting with the elders, I was approached by Jodi Edwards, as part of her doctoral fellowship for RMIT University  (please read the full story) to help her deliver this story, a song and dance that would reflect both indigenous traditional learning methods of Dharawal lore and  the collaboration of a non indigenous person of Spanish origin.

The Spanish people were warm and friendly to the Aboriginal community when we were kids so there is a connection she wanted to share with the broader community.

Personally I felt this collaboration would help me connect even more to where I was born and serve as an opportunity to reflect upon the common human values of a beautiful culture through my music.

I agreed to do this dreamtime story as there are no people or names involved, only totems and in this manner I would assure being respectful of the lore by not using names of people without permission and out of context.

Dharawal lore is based upon oral tradition so what is said is sacred.

The story of Gang Man Gan has taught me to see the value of friendship and sacrifice in nature.

Dreamtime stories are also lessons to reflect upon. It is the story sharer who can convey the message and explain it. In this case I chose to comprehend the essence of the story as one reflecting the value of friendship and sacrifice as I only have the capability of understanding something based upon my past experience.

The story can be read on public websites as Coomaditchie and I have added this public story on this page below.

The understanding of a story has allowed me to add value to what I see and feel around me and I must say it feels good to add warmth to the rocks, water, birds, and all nature I see.

In this case I see the Windang island which is the canoe on which the Dharawal people arrived on. It is hidden as a rock so the betrayed friend, the whale, burri burri can never find them. It is a reminder of tough and necessary decisions we all have to make in life for the best interest of our family and friends.

Personally, the Windang island reminds me of the hardship and sacrifice that my parents and many immigrants from Spain and Mediterranean countries endured to start a new life here in Wollongong, in Dharawal country back in the 1960s. They came over from Spain leaving a lot behind, all their family and when they arrived there was little time to rest and only very hard work to start over again.

This contemporary guitar composition also reflects the journey of my parents inspired by the story of Gang Man Gang.

This is an example of how I would tell the story as a non indigenous person. I have arranged my composition as a movie theme to enhance the words of the story.

My original objective was to have the storyteller use this as a guide and at a later stage, once the storyteller had staged the words in their own style, I would readapt my music in an improvised manner to the pace and emotion of the speaker.

This form of interaction will add great drama and value to the emotion expressed by the storyteller allowing him or her to deliver the message and words reflecting the flow of nature which is ever changing.

Also the story sharer can change the values to be shared and how it is delivered  to the audience so this interaction has to be improvised to reflect the Dharawal lore.