In this final episode, we reflect on what making this season has meant to us. Step inside our last story meeting for Season Two, to hear the team’s rose (highlight) and thorn (challenge) moments. Also in this episode, we reflect on body positivity, which leads Agum, inevitably, to a story of bikinis and coconut-butter. We part ways over the plucked notes of Reggie’s final ‘update’. Having just taken-up the piano again, Reggie decided to take a “different approach”. This many episodes into lockdown, they know what sounds they want to make

Braided

Episode 6: Roses, Thorns and Cocoa Butter

Join us for this sound-led episode of Braided. The producers turn their microphones on the foregrounds and backgrounds of their lives, from purring kittens and lighting, to British cooking shows, and a featured sonic outing by musician Danny Hillyer. When Danny begins creating an original track, he often starts with a single element. It might be a looping guitar riff, an individual sound effect, or a driving drum pattern. The layers build from there, and eventually, the track’s mood reveals itself. In the case of A Tension and the Talisman, though, Danny’s eight-minute sound-piece, it began, instead, with a mood. Specifically, panic. Feeling intense anxiety one evening, Danny decided to go out for a walk along a nearby creek. By the time he returned home in the early hours of the morning, his mental state had shifted. In the three-part structure of the piece, Danny tracks the three stages of nights like those: the panic that leads him outdoors; the moment of peace when beginning the walk, and the elevated mood by the time he returns home: ‘the clearing of the mind’. The walk, Danny says, ‘has an effect like a talisman of sorts’. Over reverb-soaked guitars, electric buzzing, synths and programmed beats, we hear sounds recorded in the surroundings of the creek near Danny’s home in the early hours of the morning. Music and sound design meld to evoke the physical and emotional landscapes he traverses on those nights. The piece takes us out, and brings us home. Finally, listen in to the latest of Reggie’s ‘updates’, as they let us in on the inner sanctum of their dietary world. Credits: Produced by Danny Hillyer with soundscapes by Kim Handley, Georgia Wilmott (spelling) and Elijah Augustine?

Episode 5: A Tension & The Talisman

Incense is a commodity which is widely accessible and has been used for centuries to celebrate rituals, perform sacred ceremonies, and invoke sensory pleasure.  Growing up in West Footscray with Asian heritage, incense was always present in Kim’s life—in the homes of her family members, at the temple during Chinese New Year, and in the shopfronts of local business. She didn’t question the Buddhist ceremonies, and offered incense at her grandparents’ funerals, along with the rest of her family. These days, Kim lives in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Collingwood where a box of incense can retail for as much as $42 at nearby boutiques. When Covid-19 began, she noticed incense appearing on more lifestyle instagram accounts. One was selling a French incense under their own brand for $60. Stripped of any religious significance, Kim began to wonder what the meaning of incense was all those years ago when she was first exposed to it. During lockdown, she sits down with her mother, Binh, to learn about its cultural significance and examine the disconnect between her past and present, bringing old memories to the fore—along with new insights. Also in this episode, Georgia and Elijah find common music-video ground in Green Day. Agum lets Matisse in on the ‘next level’ challenges of living with young kids in a high-rise during Covid19. And we bring you part four of ‘Reggie’s Update’: musings on life in lockdown from Reggie’s desk. It seems that reading The Empath Experience by Sydney Campos has given Reggie some food for thought/insights. Credits:Contributions from Binh and Paul.Music by FoolBoy Media, Shane Ivers, Joe Bae, Jesse Sullivan & Danny Hillyer.With thanks to Anastasia Charisiou, the Charisiou family and Jack Gilbert.

Episode 4: Between Heaven and Earth

‘Welcome to our podcast, bitches.’ Meet Matisse Laida and Mary: two young, funny, unapologetic, twenty-one year-old, black women with … some things to say. Mary, who is South Sudanese (and a Taurus) and Matisse, who is Mauritian (and a Pisces), met during a Braided workshop and instantly gelled. ‘So we decided to keep talking.’ The result is Vibe—a fast, feisty, candid exchange that pulls no punches. What began as a plan to discuss an experience they have in common—navigating share-house dynamics as a young, black person—shifts into something else when Matisse describes a recent frustration. She found herself in lockdown during the recent, global Black Lives Matter protests in a household of predominantly white people. ‘I [was] losing my mind.’ As the banter continues, Mary and Matisse discover in each other an outlet to air the things most pressing on them at this time: the death of George Floyd and the ensuing discussions sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement. They speak to systematic oppression, challenging the status-quo, and their own first-hand experiences of racism. Hear these women tell you how to check your friends, ‘start learning about the culture, take accountability’ — and vibe with these two. Also in this episode: reminiscing on a 90’s Spice Girls cassette; Agum checks in with Jenny from season one; and Reggie talks gender fluidity via onyx black fingernail polish in the third instalment of Reggie’s Update.  Credits:Vibe: Matisse and MaryWith music from Jesse Sullivan, The Desolettes, Savage the GirlAlso in this episode Musings from Jenny Curran, Reggie, Danny, Agum and Elijah singing us out.

Episode 3: Vibe

In this episode, we plumb the unconscious realms of the Braided team, from their earliest memories to their recent, quarantine dreams. Georgia Wilmott gathers the dreams of her fellow Braided producers, along with some of her own, to bring us one fantastical, giant dream. ‘Dominoes With Toast’ takes you into our personal dream-tributaries, and to the collective dreams we make together, while we are apart. Every morning, when Georgia wakes, she has a story to tell. She is a prolific, vivid dreamer. But while she’s always had an interest in our nightly odysseys, she decided, during Covid19, to bring us a portrait of dreams under lockdown. Vivid dreams have been a well-reported phenomenon of lockdown the world over. Many have noticed a change in the tone, quantity or content of their dream, spawning twitter hashtags like #quaran-dreams, #coronadreams, and #pandemicdreams. Confined to our homes, the far reaches and landscapes of dreams may be the furthest we venture; they are, after all, the places in which we can freely move. Also this episode, we hear the second instalment of Reggie’s Update: missives from their desk during lockdown. Reggie reflects on the past, a time when they were standing in the front yard of youth services.  Credits: Memories from Georgia, Danny, Reggie. Dreams from Georgia, Reggie, Jenny, Udhara and Danny. With music from Danny Hillyer.

Episode 2 ‘Dominoes With A Side Of Toast’

‘To be honest it’s driving me slightly insane. I feel like the world is collapsing … I understand why we have to do it, I just feel like it’s harder day in, day out…’ — Reggie In this first episode of Braided Season 2: A Little Life During Lockdown, the show’s producers reach out to one another across a quieter, hushed city bracing itself for the uncertainties of the weeks ahead. They speak of their days, their fears; the work they miss; the physicality of friends, or of getting one’s hair braided. ‘But I feel more connected to people through this [pandemic] than I do apart.’ This is the sound of Braided in lockdown, as the makers share news of their buzzing fridges; the saving grace of Animal Crossing; and the peculiar camaraderie of this solitary time. Join hosts Matisse Laida and Agum Maluach as they introduce you to the other members of the Braided team: Georgia Willmott, Reggie Chang, Kim Handley, Danny Hillyer, Mary, and Elijah Augustine. Scattered around Melbourne’s inner and outer suburbs, the group connect over phone calls, video chats, and for virtual story meetings that become as much about themselves and each other, as the stories they’ll go on to tell throughout the series. These are, after all, stories from lockdown—the things that have occupied their hours, their thoughts; the things they have chosen to hold up to the microphone—to shed light on, as it were, in darker times.Also this episode, we hear the first instalment of ‘Reggie’s Update’, one of many missives from Reggie’s desk you’ll hear throughout the season. The update for the month of May makes mention of a meteor shower, a queen bed, and a tenor saxophone.

Episode 1: Reshuffle the Podcast, Reshuffle the Mind

Welcome to Braided Season 2: A Little Life Under Lockdown, launching August 5th 2020. This season, we bring you six episodes that take you inside the homes and lives of a group of young people, set against the backdrop of Melbourne in the early months of the coronavirus lockdowns. 

TRAILER Season 2: A Little Life During Lockdown

 In our season 1 finale of Braided, we hear from Aaron B as he recounts how his past experiences have shaped who he is today. Music has always been a part of Aaron’s life, from singing as a child to learning how to play guitar as a teenager, it’s been a way to communicate thoughts and feelings without having to just use words. In this heartfelt episode, we take a journey through Aaron’s repertoire and hear the how these songs score the events of his life, showing the unique ability of music to share our inner pain to the outside world.

Double-edged Sword

 How can we communicate what we can’t see? It’s a problem we run into a lot with talking about mental illness since – unlike a broken arm or leg – there’s no straightforward way of physically representing emotional pain. So, how can we make these feelings more relatable, and thus understandable? In this episode of Braided, Georgia Willmott asks two participants what would happen if their mental illness, as a character, entered their house. Alongside 2 participants, we embark on a journey into a tangible representation of their mental illness, hearing the physical and emotional aspects of their “guest” and how it affects their lives. All of us experience reality differently based on our backgrounds, experiences and relationships, and mental illness can make it even more difficult to discern what’s going on for ourselves and other people. This episode, however, questions our pre-existing understandings of mental illness in an effort to better understand – and empathize – what people go through. Home Invasion was produced by Georgia Willmott with mixing and editing help from Michelle Macklem at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Georgia would like to thank her family, friends and her social worker for supporting her through the making of this podcast. She couldn’t have done it without them and their wisdom. She would also like to thank the participants and the crew for being courageous and amazing. This was definitely a work of collaboration and everyone involved either indirectly or directly are very much appreciated.  If anyone has listened to this and feel like might need mental health support, here are a few suggestions to get started: headspace – an Australian non-profit organisation for youth mental health. Check out the website and you can contact the nearest centre to you.Kids Helpline – Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25. Call 1800 55 1800 or check out the website. Beyond Blue – an Australian independent non-profit organisation working to address issues associated with mental disorders. Check out the website for more details. Lifeline – a non-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour Telephone Crisis Support service in Australia. Call 13 11 14 Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

Home Invasion

 Music can act like a backing track for our lives, providing context and insight into our pasts and memories. For Dut Garang, songwriting is a way to talk about his stories and the people in his life. He collaborates with his friend Cassie to make these stories come to life through sound. Dut’s song “Up All Night” is an exploration of an important relationship in his past, but with a very present emotional sensibility. As Dut and Cassie write and record this song, this piece reflects on the role music plays in our lives. How do we communicate our stories through lyrics and melodies? Up All Night was produced by Dut Garang with Joel Supple at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

Up All Night

 About a year and a half ago, Kaeleb Ngatai was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. He’s struggled with the ups and downs of depressed periods throughout his life, but this diagnosis put a new name to something that’s a part of him. Being diagnosed hasn’t meant that Kaeleb’s found the cure to an illness; instead, it’s marked the start of a slow process that recognises a gift he’s had all along. He’s getting closer to knowing who he is and the potential of what he can do – even if it’s not always a clear path forward. In this episode, Kaeleb takes us through that journey and how its affected his perceptions, sense of self and connection to the world around him, asking: how do you find yourself … when you don’t feel like yourself? The Bipolar Experience was produced by Kaeleb Ngatai with Jon Tjhia at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

The Bipolar Experience

 Australia is a country full of immigrants and contains a vibrant culture of young people from overseas working and traveling throughout the country. But what attracts people to come here? Udhara was born in Australia so she doesn’t quite get the appeal of actively choosing to move here. But now in her twenties she’s encountered and befriended many people who’ve moved to Melbourne from overseas, and she’s continually curious about why. In this episode, Udhara searches for explanations and tries to answer a daily pickle: why choose to move to Australia despite the insurmountable odds and effort it takes to stay? Daily Pickle was produced by Udhara Samarasekara with Michelle Macklem at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

Daily Pickle

 A desert flower must be strong and robust to survive, able to withstand roaring winds and drought-filled days. But it also offers optimism to those who encounter it; it shows the possibilities of life even in the harshest environments. Zeinab Mourad relates to this flower. Even though she was born in Australia and hasn’t lived anywhere else, the climate here can feel, at times, unkind and raw. But it’s finding strength in herself and the symbols that inhabit her life – like the flower – that have given her the fearlessness to pursue a life full of meaning. From the poetic to the personal, Zeinab ruminates on what it means to truly be ‘Australian’ in a nation founded on violent colonial myth, asking those around her, what is home? Like the desert flower, Zeinab’s exploration of home asks, how do you find hope in an environment that feels hostile? The Ocean and the Desert Flower was produced by Zeinab Mourad with Bethany Atkinson-Quinton at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

The Ocean and the Desert Flower

 Three years ago, Daniel Kanani left the world he’d known in Uganda behind. Boarding the plane to Melbourne, Daniel wondered if he’d see any Black people – if he’d be able to find a place in a totally new culture. Moving to Melbourne has meant that Daniel’s been able to pursue his dreams of making rap music. Since arriving, he’s thrown himself into the hustle, making connections, playing shows and recording tracks on the side of working another job. He’s built a reputation as a hard working and dedicated rapper – with a fan base to prove it. But he still feels like he stands out sometimes – for the wrong reasons. ‘The Process’ wonders, does making your dreams come true help you feel more accepted? How do you find ‘home’ in a place that makes you feel like a tourist? Stay tuned after Daniel’s piece to hear an interview between host Agum Maluach and Daniel about living in Uganda and the cultural differences they’ve both experienced moving to Melbourne. The Process was produced by Daniel Kanani with Joel Supple at Artful Dodgers Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Braided is hosted by Agum Maluach and Aaron B. For more information on this episode, visit braidedpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and extras.

The Process

Our lives aren’t straightforward and our stories aren’t simple. Braided threads together intimate, challenging, and triumphant stories of young people living in Melbourne, Australia.

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Braided

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