Category: Entertainment

View gallery

The Last of Us episode 2 begins in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 24, 2003. Police officers come up to a woman having lunch. Her name is Ibu Ratna. She’s a professor of mycology at the University of Indonesia. They take her to a lab and ask her to examine a specimen.

“This is ophiocordyceps. Why did you use chlorazol to prepare the slide?” she asks. The officer says that is the preparation used to take a sample from a human. “Cordyceps cannot survive in humans,” she says. Until now.

Professor Ratna gets decked out in protective gear and taken to a room where a human corpse is being held. She’s asked to look at the bottom of the patient’s left leg. There’s a bite mark with a scar around it. She uses a scalpel to cut into it. “Is this bite from a human?” Professor Ratna asks. The officer nods yes.

She opens the patient’s mouth and sees the fungus living in her mouth. She quickly runs out. Professor Ratna asks when this happened. It all started 30 hours ago in a flour and grain factory in the west part of Jakarta. “A perfect substrate,” Dr. Ratna quips.

The officer says the woman who was bitten suddenly became violent and bit three co-workers. They locked her in a bathroom. The police came and shot her. Professor Ratna asks what happened to the people she bit. They were taken for observation, and then it became clear they had to be executed as well. No one knows who bit the woman. Fourteen workers are still missing.

Professor Ratna is asked to keep this from spreading. “We need a vaccine or a medicine,” the officer pleads. Professor Ratna responds, “I have spent my life studying these things. So please listen carefully. There is no medicine. There is no vaccine.” He wants to know what to do next.

“Bomb. Start bombing. Bomb this city… and everyone in it,” Professor Ratna urges. The officer looks shocked, but Professor Ratna is gravely serious. She begins to cry and asks to be taken home.

Ellie Claims She’s The Key To A Vaccine

In the present-day timeline, Ellie wakes up to Joel and Tess watching her intently. Joel has a gun pointed at Ellie. “Do I look like I’m infected?” she says. Ellie shows Joel and Tess her arm. It hasn’t gotten any worse. Tess wonders what Marlene was doing with an infected kid. Ellie explains Marlene found her after she was infected. Marlene had her locked up and tested every day. She never got sick.

Joel isn’t convinced that Ellie isn’t going to get sick. Tess knows that if they take her back, Ellie will be killed because she’ll still test positive. Tess wants to know why Ellie is so important to Marlene. “Joel and I aren’t good people. We’re doing this for us because, apparently, you’re worth something. But we don’t know what you’re worth if we don’t know what we have,” Tess says to Ellie.

Ellie reveals that Marlene told her not to tell anyone, but now she kind of has to.  “There is a Firefly base camp somewhere out west with doctors. They’re working on a cure,” Ellie reveals. Joel has heard this all before. Ellie is the key to finding a vaccine. Joel doesn’t believe her. He pleads with Tess to reconsider this mission. Tess wants to finish it. Regardless of if it’s true, they’ll still get payment out of it. Joel reluctantly agrees.

Joel, Ellie, and Tess head out. Ellie notices a huge crater in the middle of the city. Tess explains that most of the big cities were bombed to slow the spread of the infection. Tess asks Ellie how she got bit. Ellie snuck into a mall inside the Boston QZ. She wanted to see what it was like. One of the infected came out of nowhere and bit her. Ellie claims she was alone. She’s an orphan, so no one is going to come looking for her.

The trio hears a scream in the distance, but Joel insists they just keep moving. They have to cross through a former hotel that’s been flooded with water. They make it through without encountering any of the infected. Ellie tries to make small talk with Joel while Tess goes to do some investigating. He passes on answering most of her questions. Ellie asks how long the infected live. Joel reveals that some last about a month or two, and then some are walking around for 20 years. He’s killed lots of them over the years.

Ellie, Joel & Tess Fight Off The Infected

Tess returns with some bad news. She shows Ellie and Joel a swarm of infected lying on the ground below. “They’re connected,” Ellie notices. Tess says, “More than you know. The fungus also grows underground. Long fibers, like wires, some of them stretching over a mile. You step on a patch of cordyceps in one place, you can wake a dozen infected somewhere else. Now they know where you are. Now they come. You’re not immune from being ripped apart, you understand?” It’s essential that Ellie understands this.

Ellie, Joel, and Tess next have to make it through the Bostonian Museum to get to the State House where a group of Fireflies are waiting for Ellie. Ellie stumbles into a newly dead body that hasn’t turned yet. Joel and Tess are clearly spooked. They have to be silent as they make their way through the museum. There are piles of corpses covered in dead fungus. Ellie accidentally makes a sound, which stirs something above.

Just after Ellie and Tess make it to another room, part of the museum roof caves in. Unfortunately, more danger awaits them. An infected person heads toward them. Joel urges Ellie and Tess to be silent so the infected won’t notice them. Another infected comes into the room. Joel’s plan doesn’t work, and he ends up fighting one of the infected.

Tess and Ellie run. Joel reloads his gun and spots Ellie. He goes to fetch her. They start to walk away, but he steps on some glass. This sparks another fight with one of the infected, and it nearly takes out Ellie. Joel is able to kill the infected person. The other comes barreling in, but Tess stops it with an ax so Joel can finish it off.

Ellie seems to have been bitten again. “I mean, if it was going to happen to one of us,” she quips. Ellie, Joel, and Tess quickly make their way to the top of the building. Ellie walks across a wood plank to another building. Joel is still doubtful about Ellie. The second bite could take. Tess urges him just to accept this. This could be good news. Maybe once they could actually win.

Joel walks up next to Ellie, who is taking in the view. “Is it everything you hoped for?” he asks. She replies, “Jury’s still out. But man, you can’t deny that view.”

Tess Makes A Heartbreaking Sacrifice

They continue on their journey. They make it to the State House. Joel and Tess are immediately uncertain. There are no Fireflies around. It’s too quiet. Ellie notices a fresh blood trail. Tess grabs Ellie and takes her inside. There are dead bodies everywhere. Joel tells Ellie that one of the Fireflies got bit. The healthy ones started fighting the sick ones, and everyone lost.

All the Fireflies are dead. Ellie doesn’t know where Marlene was going to take her, just that it was out west. Joel wants to go back, but Tess is staying. “I mean, our luck had to run out sooner or later,” Tess admits. That’s when Ellie makes a startling realization. “F**k, she’s infected,” Ellie says.

Joel demands Tess show him the bite. She tries to go to him, but he flinches. Tess pulls down her shirt and reveals the bite on her chest. She asks Ellie to show her bite. Ellie’s bite mark isn’t getting worse. “This is real. Joel, She’s f**king real,” Tess says.

Tess begs Joel to take Ellie to Bill and Frank. Joel doesn’t think they’ll take her. Tess knows they will because he’ll convince them to. “This is your chance. You get her there. You keep her alive, and you set everything right. All the sh*t we did. Please say yes, Joel,” Tess says.

One of the infected comes to, but Joel shoots it right in the head. Unfortunately, this sets off a chain reaction with the fungus and other infected, just like Tess warned about. They only have about a minute. Tess takes barrels of gasoline and spills them onto the floor, along with some grenades. She tells Joel to save who he can save. He grabs Ellie and runs. “No, we’re not leaving her!” Ellie screams.

Tess is left alone waiting for the swarm of infected. They run inside. She’s trying to get her lighter to catch to set off an explosion. One of the infected notices her. He walks up to her and kisses her, allowing the fungus to get inside her mouth. Thankfully, the lighter finally catches. Tess dies in the State House explosion as Joel and Ellie escape. New episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

Click to Subscribe to Get Our Free HollywoodLife Daily Newsletter to get the hottest celeb news.

The MCU currently has 9 projects scheduled to be released in 2023 – but they’d be better off making a few of them one-hour specials

It’s no secret that the MCU has been one of the largest franchises of the past 15 years, but Marvel has been producing content lately on a scale that even they couldn’t have matched just a few years ago. The first three phases of the MCU contained 23 projects over 11 years – phase 4 alone had 17 projects that spanned barely two years, with phase 5 and phase 6 scheduled to have just as many.

The MCU has made it perfectly clear that they won’t stop mass-producing content anytime soon, nor should they since fans still flock to theaters to watch their movies and eagerly await every new show that arrives on Disney+. But with the different projects the MCU has begun to incorporate into their vast universe, the screen has gotten a little crowded, and audiences are finding it harder and harder to find the time to sit through 8-9 movies/shows a year.

As it’s scheduled, 2023 will be no different, with the MCU slated to air three new movies and six new tv shows by the time 2024 rolls around, and they’re all meant to kick off the start of Phase 5. But after the success that Marvel had with their one-hour specials last year (Werewolf By Night, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special), it might be to their benefit to lean further into that entertainment area. After all, one-hour specials are easier for audiences to find time to watch and Werewolf by Night and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special were arguably two of the best projects to come out of Phase 4.

With that in mind, which projects is the MCU scheduled to release in 2023 that would be better served as one-hour specials rather than full-fledged movies or tv shows?

Agatha: Coven of Chaos

With the conclusion of WandaVision back at the beginning of 2021 – the series that kicked off phase 4 – several questions were left unanswered about what would happen to some of the characters introduced during the series. Wanda’s story was wrapped up at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, audiences are still curious about what happened to the rest of the characters… and for some reason, out of all the possibilities, Agatha Harkness was chosen to get her own show.

Don’t get us wrong – Agatha was a great character, and the fate of Wanda leaving her trapped in a magical illusion was an interesting enough plot line for fans to want to revisit – but it wasn’t the most interesting one that fans were hoping for. There still hasn’t been a trace of White Vision since his disappearance. However, Paul Bettany’s Vision is rumored to return in the upcoming Disney+ series Vision Quest. Marvel has yet to confirm the Vision Quest series, though we’ll keep our eyes peeled for updates. Meanwhile, Wanda’s twin boys are still rumored to reappear at some point in the MCU’s future, and Monica Rambeau, it seems, won’t get any more screen time until The Marvels debuts later this year.

As it stands, Agatha was a very intriguing villain and played masterfully by actress Kathryn Hahn, but it seems like the MCU has bigger questions that it could have addressed. Not only that but any questions audiences might have about Agatha’s character could probably be told in a one-hour special rather than sit through an entire series. One final point is that Agatha’s ties to being a witch would have made her a perfect fit for another Halloween special.

Echo

It hasn’t yet been revealed what the story of the Echo series is going to revolve around. Still, with the announcement of Daredevil being revived for an 18-episode season, it seems like the Echo series will lean toward an unnecessary origin story. Again, this isn’t a critique on the Echo character, as Maya Lopez was an absolute scene-stealer in the Hawkeye series, but that’s exactly why this show (if it’s going to be origin related) should really be a one-hour special instead. We already got a ton of her backstory in the show, and it was explained succinctly enough through exposition so audiences would not have to be walked through it again.

If it isn’t origin-related, fans must remember that the Hawkeye cliffhanger of Maya shooting Kingpin in the face is taken directly from the comics. It’s highly speculated that Kingpin will return as the main antagonist of the Daredevil show – which also most likely means that Echo will be making an appearance in the show. So, suppose the Daredevil series will arguably continue the events that occurred at the end of Hawkeye. In that case, it seems as though the Echo series could be another excuse to showcase Daredevil before they throw him right back into his own series.

In other words, this series feels like it will be more of a filler to potentially showcase other MCU characters rather than give Echo the storyline she truly deserves. A one-hour special would be the perfect length to help remedy that potential situation.

Conclusion

Let’s be clear – we aren’t hoping or expecting the Agatha or Echo series to be stains on the MCU’s history, and all signs point to the shows being successful additions to the Marvel lineup. After all, Agatha and Echo are now firmly established characters who gained massive popularity as side characters in prior shows, and they’ve earned themselves more screen time. However, as stated earlier, the MCU has been producing a massive amount of content lately, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to find the time to watch every show and movie they crank out.

Also, remembering that the one-hour specials from last year were considered the best projects that the MCU has produced since Endgame, then it shouldn’t be that outrageous a claim to consider taking minor established characters such as Agatha and Echo and giving audiences quick 60-minute glances into their lives, rather than take us on multiple-hour journeys every time a new popular character is introduced.

One final thing to consider with these projects is that neither has a concrete release date. They’re both scheduled for “late 2023” – which means that these shows will have to follow up projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3, The Marvels, Secret Invasion, as well as the second season of What If…? and Loki. In other words, they will have big footsteps to follow, and one-hour specials might make it an easier task.

As the sun went down on the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, the way to the Natarani amphitheatre on one side of the river bank transformed into a mysterious pathway where a group of children and adults moved amidst the sounds of birds in bushes sparkling with fairy lights. They entered the world of a theatrical production, an adaptation of the 12th century Persian parable, The Conference of the Birds, by Sufi saint Fariddudin Attari. It was going to be a metaphorical psychological journey produced by the iconic Mallika Sarabhai. 

Director Yadavan Chandran of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, in this latest multiple-level and multi-art production, reflected the true spirit of the performance aesthetics of the Natyashastra, the seminal text of Indian performing arts. He explored the journeys of the human psyche playing with the metaphors of the mirror, shadow, mask, and reflection. His approach intertwined realism and symbolism, technology and performance arts of theatre, dance and music with his statement, ‘My aim was to make everything fly, the space, the characters, and most of all — the audiences’ minds!’ 

The twilight existence of reality and mental consciousness opened with a one-by-one introduction of the different birds and other characters. On one screen was the actor and the other screen depicted the person’s masked/ costume character. The masks designed by Margaret Matteson and executed by Pandarinathan brought out diverse human qualities reflected in birds, creating a magical reality of performed identities. For instance, Hoopoe stood for wisdom, the falcon for power, the parrot for freedom, the sprightly sparrow for energy, the peacock for pride, the nightingale for love, and the heron for self-centred existence. The birds’ conference worked under the leadership of the Hoopoe to seek their sovereign, a mythological bird ‘Simurgh,’ who lived beyond the existential seven valleys on Mount Qaf. 

Reaching out

The story where the birds’ journey evolved in which characters, props, music, dialogue, and lighting generated tension flowing into suspense, unfolding the odyssey of the spectacle. The use of Hindi and English languages created inclusive participation among the audiences. The range of emotions through stories that touched on repulsion, astonishment, and humour captured the young audiences’ imagination, who alternated between clapping, laughing and rapt silence. 

 In the first part of the production, for instance, the Hoopoe (performed by Mallika) urged reluctant birds to journey with her. Although individually, the stories convey the trappings of emotions and ego that prevent birds from agreeing to the venture, the Hoopoe counters each argument and releases the tension for the story to proceed. For instance, the falcon sitting on the hand of the king is filled with power and does not feel the need to journey to find Simurgh. The Hoopoe counters by explaining the illusion of control that the king focused on his survival will not protect the falcon if the king feels challenged or threatened. Alongside, the interaction of the dainty sparrow braving the journey in contrast to the mighty yet reluctant falcon brought out existing social challenges, such as the issue of the reality of a committed minority of weaker sections in society. Preeti Das, who played the sparrow, expressed, “on each level, it was a journey of personal growth. Although small, the sheer grit and enthusiasm communicated an iron strength.”

Another example is the heron hypnotised in self-centred territorial existence, begins from the point of a full stop to transforming into the shape of its own body, a question mark, and seeks to find himself on a magical journey. “We get so used to our everyday routines and situations that we resist change and limit our growth. The role of the heron has indeed contributed to my personal growth,” said Harsh Dharaiya, who played the role of the heron.

Mallika Sarabhai with the cast of her new work
| Photo Credit:
Darpana Academy of Performing Arts

Unravelling worldly truths

The third part of the production is the voyage across valleys of different existential worlds. However, the intermedial second part of the production connected the first and the third part by unravelling worldly truths surrounding each one and preparing for the valleys beyond. In this second phase of the production, for instance, the blind bat seeks light, only to be told, “how can you see Sun when you live in a well!”. In another story, on one side of the high wall in the amphitheatre sat the nightingale singing her love for the ephemeral rose soulfully, juxtaposed on the other wall where sat a princess wooed by a forlorn sufi. The costumes by Anshul Juneja complimented the perfect singing of the nightingale (played by Hiral Brahmbhatt), and the theme of love portraying two love situations drew the audiences to comprehend human foibles. 

The large bird flock seek truth and understanding, but the journey is challenging, and many fall on the way. By the time the congregation arrives to complete the last part of the journey of crossing the seven valleys, there are just eight birds to reach the gates of Mount Qaf, the home of Simurgh. The valleys of quest, love, understanding, and coexistence of opposed realities in the valley of harsh winds, the valley of unity, nothingness, and death are metaphors of existence. The essence of each valley unfolded with stories and symbolism heightened the tension and the curiosity about the world and reality of King Simurgh. For instance, the valley of Quest opened with drum beats, shadowy figures moving across the stage, unrolling blank paper creating paths to chart life.

The flock ‘flew’ to the music played by Manikandan Nair and Pazhanivelu. The synergy and energy of flying from one valley to another appeared as transcendental moments created by superb choreography by Hrishikesh Pawar. After that, it was yoga, dance and experience of physical and mental levitation. One of the most evocative experiences was at the door of the seventh valley of death, where the birds encounter the story of three moths (  parwana). The first moth goes near the flame and turns away from its heat. The second gets partially burned, but the third is burnt into ashes. He is the one who submits and dissolves the self in the heat of self-realisation. The intensity is further increased when the beak holes of the mythological bird phoenix become the holes where secrets of suffered life are heard in the wind, the fire consumes the phoenix, and from the ashes, a flame rises to give birth to a new phoenix. 

As the production neared the finale, the aesthetical use of light, shadow, and sound created a heightened poignancy in the dark and raised the power of mythic motifs. Metaphors of shadow and mirrored reality drew the audience is the surreal world of Mountain Qaf. The battered birds enter the world of Simurgh, the king of birds, only to find that the actual ‘king’ is within themselves. They look into the lake only to see their reflection. The backdrop screen reflected the bodies of the birds, and the mythic motifs merged into a single point of shadowed reality. Without being overly didactic, the production took the audiences on an adventure to question their present social validity and understand themselves. 

After the first successful run of the production in December, the second run is from January 26 at Natarani Amphitheatre in Ahmedabad.

Charlie sat down with FilmInk to talk about their career, and biggest project yet – a record-breaking 52-album collection entitled Constellation, set to be released in weekly instalments.

You have been playing music for over fifty years, and now you are releasing fifty albums in one year (under the collective name of Constellation), is this a coincidence?

“I’m releasing 52 albums! (laughs) Sorry to mess up the analogy! I had never thought about it like that. I improvised and recorded all of these compositions as sketches when I started in film and TV projects, and I had no intention of ever releasing them. During COVID, I reengaged with being a pianist, as it was a way of keeping myself centred, but I was also performing online just for fun and to help others. I literally came across a bunch of hard drives with so many recordings, I sort of dismissed it all as ramblings. Then, there was a moment – my studio engineer said, ‘Let’s take a peek at it all’, and I was humbled by that younger version of myself. I was just banging away at the piano, trying all these kooky nonconformist things. It was exhilarating re-acquainting myself with it all. Some of the performances are amazingly raw, and the compositions all have subtle types of concentration on a kernel of an idea. Seeing them develop in those recordings is something really special. I actually loved the process and was proud of myself for being so disciplined.”

You started playing the piano at the age of three and refer to it as an escape. At what age did you realise that it was more than an escape, but your life’s calling?

“I was working in a music shop (as a school holiday job) and I was playing the piano that was in the shop, it was an electric grand, a Yamaha CP70. I felt so cool playing it, as we didn’t have anything high-tech at home – just a garden-variety upright piano. Even in the ’70s, having instruments at home was not that commonplace.

“I used to stay back late and keep at it until they kicked me out of the shop. I remember doing this at Brashs in their synthesiser department in Melbourne and they eventually gave me a job, which for a fourteen-year-old kid was pretty amazing. I felt that I was already being called to the (digital) tools and I couldn’t stop that trajectory – it was forming into a career. People would come into that shop and it was like being in a musical Disneyland, with lots of flashing lights and interesting sounds coming out of PAs set up to impress the customer.

“Those were the heady days of the Moog Prophet, the Rhodes Fender, the Yahama DX7s, and everything electronic in music technology. All the instrument manufacturers were bringing out synths and this store was the biggest one in Australia at the time. Touring musicians would come into town and you’d hang out with them in the shop. ABBA, Split Enz, Colin Hay from Men at Work, and even Sammy Davis Jr came in to check out pianos. I got some of my best jobs playing in the backline of some pretty cool up-and-coming Aussie bands in the early ’80s because I had so much access – I met so many amazing musicians in that job.

“I met my heroes and was encouraged to experiment, visit their rehearsals, and do setups with them. Then on weekdays, I went back to school with my pigtails and gingham uniform. I played classical double bass in the school orchestra and focused on maths (which was my favourite subject then). Honestly, it all just happened by osmosis.”

As a child, you busked in Melbourne’s CBD with your siblings under the banner of The Chan Clan. What songs did you play, and did you have input in the song choices?

“My well-meaning but bossy father was the one who pushed us to all play together. I first learned the guitar and then my brother did. We’d all argue about the songs; my brother wanted to busk playing Led Zepplin but I was into ABBA, and eventually, as I got older, Jean Michel Jarre, Weather Report, Grace Jones, Prince, Laurie Anderson, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Dad would say ‘This is a hit, learn this song.’ so we were playing John Denver, Neil Diamond (who I met eventually) and lots of songs that were popular on the radio then. We made a lot of money playing hits.

“Then one evening at home I heard a pianist called Keith Jarrett on the ABC and he was playing all this improvised solo piano music, and at that moment, my life turned – I knew I had to play like this and project my own ideas into the world with a piano. The music I heard was the Koln Concert, it’s a very well-loved seminal recording and is still topping the charts nearly 50 years later. From that one performance, I realised that the piano held so much appeal to me that I never looked back.”

In your early teens, you played in-store keyboard demos for Yamaha, which led to a huge increase in sales. Do you think your prodigious talent led to many disappointed parents?

“I loved performing. I used to say that I hated performing but when I contemplate it and am honest with myself, I truly and absolutely love taking the audience with me somewhere in a performance. I love seeing how people connect to you when you play them something they remember or when they are hearing something new for the first time – it is amazing.

“Back then, selling portable organs and keyboards was a delightful and energizing job. I had no attachment to the outcome of sales, and I don’t know if I really understood it, but I did well at it. I played like my life depended on it. I played so many songs, I learned them all by heart. I learned them super fast in the mornings, and by the time the shop was closing, I had become an expert at the hits that week. That’s how I developed my ear and my ability to emulate just about any song I’d heard. I think it was a lot of learned behaviour for me, playing those songs and working out how to make them sound good on a portable organ.

“Parents are always disappointed when they decide to draw comparisons. I wasn’t the best player in the world, but I truly enjoyed showing off and performing. When I was playing the hits of the ’60s, and ’70s, I was bringing back all those memories for someone. I saw it as an opportunity for me, not a chance to sell something to someone. I apologise to all those kids who were forced to play their little wonder keyboards purchased by their parents and couldn’t quite get into it – forgive me!”

You were still in your early teens when you started working on Young Talent Time. Was that your first exposure to the entertainment industry? What were those years like?

“I pestered Television House which made Young Talent Time to let me come for work experience. I spent a lot of time writing them letters. When they eventually said yes, I worked with Greg Mills, the musical director (who was once a heartthrob), who then introduced me to Johnny Bowls (also a previous member of Young Talent Time), who was studying piano and orchestration at the Melbourne Conservatorium and was the in-house copyist.

“I learned to be a copyist from that work experience, and I just got better and better at it. I then found a teacher who taught me how to orchestrate and began writing for small ensembles. Even at a very young age, I had the chops to write out all that music for everyone to play with me.

“I met a lot of stars from Australian TV this way. I was pretty annoying at that age – I imagine them trying to grapple with this annoying kid – but to this day, I am always grateful they let me come in, sit in the studio, and watch them make, record, and produce the music for the show. It taught me everything I need to know about making music in the business and the technical side of recording too.

“I didn’t really know that I was in the music business – I thought I was just going to meet Jamie Redfern – but I had to make myself useful, so they’d let me stick around. I was a musician, but I didn’t expect to be discovered or go on any of the talent shows. There wasn’t a place for me, there was no synthesiser school, no how-to compose for film & TV or theatre schools then. You could go to the conservatorium and do the classical thing, learn how to play a classical instrument, do an undergrad degree, or you could become a musician playing for an established ensemble in clubs. The options were different, and they were polarising: be in a rock band or learn to be an orchestrator by going through triple degrees at Uni. It’s a very different landscape now.

“My exposure to the industry was a sense of freedom then. The chance to make something new. It was an exciting time. Also, I was an anomaly. I was female and into technology, I was androgynous, I played more than one instrument (ten or more in total), I was Asian, and I was a lesbian. I was a complete ripple, the trifecta of diversity back then.”

Did you find it difficult to transition from contemporary to classical music?

“There wasn’t so much of a transition as natural attrition. I wanted to be respected for good musicianship and I could only do that if I was working within some sort of creative infrastructure. You have to do the time, trip over your scales, and learn about Bach and the classics. You have to be very uncomfortable playing pieces you don’t know how to play. You need to really learn. Make loads of mistakes. This is the process of becoming good at an instrument.

“One day, I was finally signed to Sony Classics on the Masterworks Label in Australia. I remember waking up and saying to myself ‘I am on the same label as Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Horne.’ I had to respect where I had landed.”

You started recording solo albums in your twenties. What was the biggest challenge of working on your own?

“After playing in lots of bands and producing a lot of other people’s music, working on my own was quite liberating. Taking the music where I wanted it to go, experimenting, and finally taking the time to understand what I was doing. I think as creatives, we often don’t get the strength of our own convictions because there is too much riding on the outcome. Once, I was just making stuff for the sake of it, but then things changed for me.

“I recorded my first solo piano piece (which was released by Sony Masterworks) for the sheer joy of playing the piano. I broke out of composing compositions that were no longer than 3 minutes 30 seconds. Some of them were 8 and even 12 minutes long. Playing the piano solo and putting it online for people to enjoy is very raw and I always feel a bit naked. I’ve loved doing it, and I now realise that I am pretty good at understanding what is needed. My biggest challenge is always editing and curating what I do. I think the piano series in Constellation is a great way to focus me and my audience.”

What was your first work composed for the screen? What was your process?

“My first big break came with Me, Myself, I, a feature film directed by my friend, writer/editor/director Pip Karmel, which starred Rachel Griffiths. She and I had a wonderful time rifling around in each other’s music collections.

“I spent a lot of time with her working through all the music we liked and didn’t like, and our reasons. I wrote a lot of my own temp tracks and experimented with the placement of the chord structure for her title sequence – it had such a wonderful arch, leading the viewer to understand the context of the opening sequence with the music. We had a truly enjoyable collaborative experience.”

Do you have a favourite piece of scoring work?

“I loved working on the TV series Killing Time, produced by John Wild and Jason Stephens. We had an amazing working relationship. I sat down one day in front of one of their story arcs, which ran for about 4 minutes 30 seconds, and I improvised the music for it without stopping. I then moved it back 6 frames (as I was delayed with my transitions) and it was spot on emotionally. It was an uplifting and affirming experience. It helps that the performances were amazing on screen, you get a lot of help when the ensemble cast is great. You can hear the tone of the music and they lead you to it. I really loved working on it.

“I also really enjoyed Last Drinks at Frida’s, I composed the music for producer Lois Randall, director Bjorn Stewart and writer Kodie Bedford – all brilliant and talented humans. I wrote a song that was performed by Ursula Yovich, ‘You Put a Spell on Me’. It was a great experience working with such extraordinary people. We recorded a 1920’s 3-piece jazz ensemble, and I also got to be in the film as the Chinese piano player (alongside the band that recorded the music with me). It was scored with drums only in some parts to emphasise the PTSD and racism that the returning indigenous soldier experienced.

“It’s a collaborative experience working in film. The ensemble is collected from many departments. It’s a good feeling when you are a part of it all.”

Your new collection Constellation will see a new album released every week for a year. This makes it the largest release of albums by an artist ever. What made you undertake such a feat?

“There were so many tracks (600+), and I was looking at the best way to do it. One album a week had a good ring to it. And I wanted it to be linked to astronomy on some level because we live in a world guided by nature. Going around the sun once and releasing all 52 albums in an orderly fashion felt right and naming them after a constellation that is visible each day the album is released sounded so perfect to me.

“The works were already recorded, they just needed to find friends. Each of the compositions is also matched to a star by intensity. A chance for us to understand the night sky and connect to that time of the year with music and that specific constellation.”

Where or what do you derive the most inspiration from when making music?

“Nature is where I get my inspiration. I would then say meditation is in second place, and then the screen is in third place.

“I have spent a lot of time listening to nature, composers like Mahler took a lot from nature. Composing the ‘9th Symphony’ while at his summer house on a beautiful lake. Where his music describes the lake and the forest. The Beatles wrote the White Album while meditating in an Ashram.

“We seek the experiences that we have enjoyed the most and replicate them as soundtracks. It’s probably why I am a screen composer: I absolutely love setting the tone and enhancing the mood of what is on screen. You can make an enormous but quiet contribution.”

In 2022, you came out as trans non-binary. What effect has this personal journey had on your creative life?

“I spent a long time trying to understand what it all meant. Sony put me in a dress to market my music, and myself with it. I am not really that person in makeup with a frock on, that fits a typical version of what we see as a classical composer: serious and well-dressed. I’ve really begun to understand myself and my strengths as a creator by coming out and being my authentic self. I didn’t ever see myself as gendered. I felt that I didn’t belong in either checkbox.

“Now I see myself making music that is not gendered, but I know I am definitely athletic in my composition sometimes. My piano is a beast that takes some power to get going. I feel the amount of energy it takes to play long shows on the piano. After all, it’s a percussion instrument. When I am playing, I am not analysing the music in the way I used to. I am making music that makes sense to me and the audience. I think it’s forced me to stop thinking about what the outcomes are going to be.

“I think I felt a lot of shame for a long time being anything other than what the marketing department told me to be. Thank goodness to everyone who inspired me to see myself as I really am. My life and creative experiences are now enhanced, and I feel more connected to myself.”

Lastly, if you didn’t find the piano, what do you think you would have done with your life?

“Music is essential to all of life. It’s everywhere, from the patterns of the rain to the movement in the traffic. I don’t know if I could have done anything else.”

The first Constellation album, Orion, was released on January 20, 2023. Constellation #2, Perseus will release on January 27. There will be a new album dropping every Friday throughout the year, until Constellation #52, Andromeda, drops on Friday January 19, 2024. Constellation is released by MGM (Metropolitan Groove Merchants) and is available on Spotify, Apple Music and music platforms everywhere.