Wednesday, June 8, 2016

DRUSILLA JONES


Design student and non-musician Dru met design student and sound engineer Mitch Jones at Sydney College of the Arts in the mid-'70s. He was the amicable one playing obscure import singles on a plastic turntable in the classroom; she was the diffident one dragging lumpy college projects into town on the 190 bus.

At M Squared record label, she collaborated with Patrick Gibson and others on recordings under the name Height/Dismay. A witness to most of Scattered Order's early recording sessions, she occasionally provided lyrics and backing vocals, but remained mostly observer and number one fan until January 1984 when, in some alarm, she attempted her first live performance in front of a large audience of Nick Cave supporters. Often frustrated by her limited range as a keyboardist, Dru's lateral approach tended towards haunting wisps of melody, or odd highlights and textures. Much like Mitch Jones, she was eventually galvanised by the dual possibilities of sampling and sequencing, giving her access to unlimited sounds and ways of combining them. As a lyricist, she complements Mitch's 'channel-changes' style with rich and often dark narratives.

Much of the cover art and other graphic design associated with M Squared and Scattered Order has been Dru's work. She formed Lint with Mitch Jones and Tim Whitten



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