Ruasagavulu – with Snake Beings in Fiji

Made in Suva, Fiji – the new album by Dave Black & Dr Emit Snake-Beings

“So easy to get totally lost in this music, recommend for helping with your inner peace” – Andi Verse

Indo-Fijian inspired tropical devotional avant-garde instrumentals for keyboards, ukulele, dholak, duduk, harmonicas, DIY kitchen gamelan, and video.

This was one of the last in-person international collaborations from before the world ended.

The title ‘ruasagavulu’ means ‘twenty’ in Fijian, to kick off the new decade.

recorded in Suva, Fiji, 2nd November 2019

Suva, Fiji

Further listening

Our first duo recording was ‘Ngumbang‘ (2015) –

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New Year’s Day 2020

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The Land of My Youth (by John Collie, 1856)

Poem by John Collie (1834-1893),

from his book Poems and Lyrics in the English and Scotch Dialects, published in Banffshire, Scotland in 1856

Performed by his great-great-grandson Dave Edwards on banjo at Wairarapa TV in Masterton, New Zealand, 4 May 2019.

John Collie emigrated to New Zealand in 1858. This poem seems to anticipate his leaving Scotland forever, to start a new life in a new country on the opposite side of the world.

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아리랑

Live 4th May 2019 at Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon –

Banjo rendition of a Korean folk tune 아리랑 (“Arirang”). The banjo is not typically found in Korean music – this would normally be played on a gayageum.

Busan, South Korea

Korean gayageum, 2007

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Eastern

4th May 2019 at Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon

Solo guitar version of a tune by the Electricka Zoo, from our 2017 debut album:

It’s based on the hijaz scale and a 7/8 rhythm.

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2005

The year got off to a good start, with Ascension Band: Evolution

The successful collaboration with Nigel Patterson, Ryan Prebble, and over a dozen other musicians, from jazz-schooled to untrained punks, won the best music award in the NZ Fringe Festival.