Having released this statement into the algorithmic void of FB, I might as well also release it into the non-algorithmic void of Mastodon.
At the end of this month I'm a hosting a very special exhibition and music launch night to celebrate the music of my late father Kydric. We lost him far too soon in 2018, to melanoma, just after he turned 70.
Amongst the many objects he left behind were a collection of four-track tape reels. He had been carting these around since they were recorded, throughout the 70s. A couple of these reels contained studio recorded tracks of his first band 'Axis' (named after the Jimi Hendrix album). Another reel contained a complete live set from the same band recorded at The Royal Hotel, Bondi.
I always knew that my Dad was a talented guitar player. Indeed, his blistering playing is the centrepiece of these recordings. What I didn't know was how many of his own songs he wrote and recorded. They showcase his ability to write a catchy hook, sing with heart, and most impressively for the time, self-record with a band and self-engineer to professional quality in a self-built studio (he was also an electronics prodigy).
Although he would go on to write and play in The Agents, who released a few EPs, these Axis recordings, to my knowledge, were never released publicly release in any form. With the help of his friend and contemporary Alan Arthur, I am finally giving these firmly analogue songs a well-deserved digital release.
These songs are a time capsule of the Sydney rock scene of the late 70s, but more importantly they speak to the singular, unique and largely unheralded talents of my dad. Throughout his life he was humble and generous to others, sometimes to a fault. In these early days though, just before I was born, his ambition, intent and raw talent was on full display, and is fully captured in these recordings.
These songs are worth hearing, and worth sharing. It's my privilege to finally be sharing them with the world.
More information: kydricshaw.com
Bandcamp: kydricshaw.bandcamp.com
מ 
Prompt 1: Read a book in your least-read genre
Loved hearing about the 
