Music knows no boundaries
Meet Dan Richardson. He plays the didgeridoo on the streets of Melbourne.
“Cultural appropriation? Yeah, people ask me that all the time. I am a white guy playing the didgeridoo. It is a tricky question.
I learnt the didgeridoo in a remote indigenous community in Northern Australia where the didgeridoo originates. I asked permission from the elders and they said as long as you make it your own, go for it!
I love world music. I’ve spent time learning percussion in West Africa and traditional music in India on top of my training in the trumpet and flute from the Victorian College of the Arts.
It’s all about making it my own. Think of the violin, people may say that it is European, but there is no reason it can’t play beautiful Chinese music.
For me, music has no boundaries. My music is a fusion and genuine expression of all the experiences I have had.”