FORMER Pinjarra boy and folk singer John Bulter was in Fairbridge on Friday for the opening of a recording studio named in his honour.
The Fairbridge Village studio, opened on Binjareb country, is the first of its kind in the Peel region.
The studio will enable anyone in the region to have a recording studio experience, whether they are a backyard band, a youth band, an up-and-coming artist, a church choir, a community choir or an established artist.
Aboriginal elders Harry Nannup and Koodah Cornwall opened the John Butler Studio on behalf of the Binjareb people, the original custodians of the land.
On behalf of their people they also named the studio “Kaya yarn noonook wandjoo Binjareb Boodja” which means “Hello, how are you? Welcome to Binjareb country,” in Noongar.
Butler said he didn’t think he deserved to have the recording studio named after him.
“In many ways my music started here, so it’s very humbling to be here,” he said.
The folk singer said “Sometimes when you are recording your mind gets busy and you just need a place where you can go and sit under a tree or by a river and clear your mind. Fairbridge is perfect for that”.
Butler’s great-great-grandfather was buried in Pinjarra and Butler grew up playing music next to the river.
“I still feel very connected to this place; it’s why I live close to the river now,” he said.
Other acts who performed in the opening ceremony were six-piece band and winners of the 2014 Fairbridge Festival Youth Band competition Raksha and Seychelles islander and singer Grace Barbé.
Mirina Muir deputy chairwoman of the Fairbridge board of governors said the development of the studio has been an important part of the Fairbridge Aboriginal Construction Training Initiative.
The program works with young people in the region giving them the opportunity to work in construction.
The recording studio boasts state-of-the-art equipment, including instruments, which enables users to record an EP, a single or an album that can be mixed or mastered by request.
Contact Elicia on 0406 319 611 or via email on elicia@pirate88.com for more information or bookings.
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