Memories of Miss Memory

written for redbullmusicacademy.com

I am sitting in the booking office at Amsterdam Centraal to book my train ticket to Cologne, and so far, everything this morning has been tinted with inspiration, and anticipation. In the cafe near Dam Square, I heard a gorgeous track playing whilst I ordered my coffee. I asked the girl behind the espresso machine what it was. She told me in broken english it was Belle and something, “Jazzanova”, she added. I smiled, of course! Sensing she had found a kindred spirit, she asked me to wait while she ran off to play me her favourite track on the album. It was a slow piano and voice number about a girl missing a guy. We both nodded to each other knowingly. We were feeling it. Mental note was made to track this “belle and something” album down. The singer reminded me of Andreya, an Academy participant I met in Melbourne last year. It seems my extended RBMA family gets bigger every year, and being Australian means I am 15,000 km from most of them which makes it even more special to be able to see some of them again. I wonder if the rest of the 15 people arriving this Sunday to the Mothership in Cologne are as mystified as I am about what the ensuing 10 days will be like.

Back to reality, the guy sitting next to me also asked for a ticket to Cologne, He was stylishly dressed, musty smelling and was listening to a Cassette Walkman. I secretly wondered if he was one of my compatriots, or at least, by the very act of listening to a cassette made me feel some kind of kinship that I couldn’t possibly explain to a stranger. Am I able to make the rest of my life as memorable as a Music Academy experience? This morning it felt almost possible!