... summer is hot!
The last thing that I wanted to do is give the eat time to microwave my mind. Having an ABI with Aspergers to boot, I always had the dread of the Australian sauna. Somehow January was not in the Governments diary and Australia were all in a siesta. With two other colleagues we came up with a pilot program. And this is where SOS. began.
With a group of our young people, (who all happened to have an ABI from a car accident) we ran a short group of song writing workshops in the East of Melbourne. The interaction and creativity of the group was amazing. Two songs were created from subjects discussed only with people with a similar experience.

In 2009, we applied for an Vic Arts grant. Early 2010 with months of hard work the SOS group released there first raw and bold album 'Explicit Language'.

At the presentation, parents, family & peers were stunned by what the SOS group had personaly achieved. But this was just the beginning. Throughout 2009/2010 there were 2 other artists Gaetan Daniel & Selene Mathews released their own album. Selene Mathews is an extraordinary writer, and at 20 years of age, released her Album 'Beginning but never the End'. Selene had put down a bench mark for artists who have quadriplegia. The album took over 2000 hours of work with myself, and was placed on itunes.
So it was the end of 2010, same problem; no programs. Living in Werribee I thought the last try was my city council. Success! SOS moved west and we had our first ABI & aspergers workshop. There were 4 day workshops for each group, and to this day I am still amazed at what we finished. SOS West finished a whole album, like the other 3 albums, all was original, all produced for public broadcast.

The aspergers group, aSpiE aLLiancE was mainly teenage artists who finished a short film 'Mixed Emotions'. In April we released their work in the Wyndham Council. For most of the group, this was the first time to present their own work to family & community. In June they will perform their songs for the first time live at Club Wild, North Melbourne Town Hall.

eTribes (Electronic Tribes) aim is to provide a hub, community a link for artists who are differently able. I have been lucky to experience brilliant talent in a hidden community of people with Autism and an ABI etc. Linking with other groups such as wild@heart, Arts Access, Leisure Balance & city councils like Wyndham; develops a catalytic approach towards cultural development.