On the Couch with Josh Bond

Josh Bond AAR ON the CouchWho is Josh Bond?
I am a father of 2, an Artist, Maker, Director and Producer. I’m from a small Island in the south and grew up between there and a smaller island in the north. I make shows with my family and tour them around Australia and the world. I live in a small town population 1300. Ex-circus acrobat with company’s such as Lunar Circus, Circus Monoxide, Circus Oz as artistic associate, taught movement at NAISDA, worked creatively in Dance, Physical Theatre and Puppetry – from small events to large scale arena spectacles, games and ceremonies. Managed bands, sung in bands, energy goes where energy flows. I tend to just go with the momentum in whichever direction as long as the passion is there. I have been with Djuki Mala for over 10 years, and now have a new show that I have taken to Legs on the Wall to create called The Man With the Iron Neck – which premiered in Brisbane and has just finished the Sydney Festival to critical acclaim – it’s on its way to Adelaide Festival along with Djuki Mala which is in the fringe festival… Can’t Wait!

What would you do differently to what you do now?
I’m not 100% sure but it would still definitely involve my family. I’m feeling a huge sense of frustration with the state of our environment, and sometimes feel that the message doesn’t come through strong enough through our art – so maybe some more front line work in that area – from the death of the great barrier reef to the dying rivers the staggering rate of extinction of our plant and animal species. Yet we are still allowing our governments to push through sites like Adani, coal mining, cotton farming, we are still allowing the deforestation of our old growth forests.

Who inspires you and why?  
My children inspire me with their lust and love for some of life most simple pleasures. My family inspire me, as do the people, producers, dancers, actors I work with, anyone that is brave enough to go for what truly makes them happy inspires me – in my experience its not always the easiest choice to pursue your actual dreams. What makes you actually happy, we all have that self doubt and insecurity, but those that risk it all to be truly happy inspire me. Life is so fleeting, feels like a waste not to spend it being as happy as you can, and if you’re not then there is no doubt some part of you that starts to resent yourself for not doing that thing, whatever it is that makes you happy. I believe this is directly linked to that self love, for if you don’t have that then how can you have empathy, this is where our humanity comes from. So in a nut shell – follow you dreams and dream big and beautiful.

What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I bought myself a vasectomy for Christmas… Do it gents! I’m not your real mum, but if you are at a place in your life where you can, I highly recommend it.  Or… As I mentioned in Q2 – it’s a fact that we are all a product of our environment and experience. When you look at the state of the world, the rate of extinction on the planet but even more locally within humanity – what are we losing?

The facts are in people and its very f%#king real – the rates of suicide in Australia, let alone Indigenous youth suicide are amongst the highest in the world – so much so that it is referred to as a contagion, an epidemic, our Indigenous languages are on a rapid decline, the government is pulling funding from bilingual education, but at the same time our prime minister wants to throw 7 Million dollars to “re-enact” Cooks circumnavigation of Australia that he never actually completed… another 50 million on the revamp of the captain cook monument in Sydney, not at all interested in any discussion about the inclusion of aboriginal people particularly around the change the date conversation let alone treaty. Then in 2020 it is scheduled to pull 20 million from the federal budget allocated to aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources.

So my question is what are WE going to do to make a difference. We have been marching, we have been protesting, we have been making noise for years – we need to continue to have these discussions, to raise our collective consciousness, because there is no other way, the world is predicted to to be 1.5 – 2 degrees warmer in 20 years – shit will be crazy and people will be desperate and at that point, whether or not you are gay straight, trans, Islamic, Buddhist, Christian, Black, White, what tribe you are from, rich or poor, the earth wont discriminate. Just like the chorus from High School MusicalWe’re all in this together.

So again I believe if we have that self love, we will naturally have more love/empathy = humanity for each other and the environment and maybe we can turn all this shit around? Or then again, maybe we are just a terrible plague on the earth and are destined to die and be scorched from the face of the planet for eternity. “Ouch” my head hurts…

Favourite holiday destination and why?
Anywhere with coconuts and a surf break!

When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
Down to the river or the surf – because it is stunning and to be surrounded by nature as much as possible is good medicine… for everything.

What are you currently reading?  
God Star by Dwardu Cardona – If controversial subjects are not your cup of tea, read no further and put this book down right now – because what this work has to offer is revolutionary in the extreme. God Star sets out to show that the sky that ancient man remembers was entirely different from the one that now stretches above us. This is demonstrated through ancient texts from all over the world which deal with the astronomical lore of our forebears. As if with a single voice, these texts proclaim that the present planet we know as Saturn once shone as a sun in Earth’s primordial sky.

This claim receives credence through the fact that astronomers now view the planet Saturn as the remnant of what had once been a brown dwarf star. It also goes a long way in explaining why Saturn was considered the “ruler of the planets in mythology”, and why the god of that planet is found at the head of every ancient pantheon on earth. Astronomically, it is then deduced that Earth used to be the satellite of this proto-Saturnian sun, which mini-system then invaded the present Solar System, and that this transpired during the age of man.

As bizarre as this scenario appears, it is lent credibility by the hard sciences through the unmistakable signs encountered here on Earth and also by what is constantly being discovered out in space. In fact, the likelihood that such an interloping planetary system might have been captured by the Sun is even now acknowledged by a new class of trailblazing astronomers. Thus, apart from the mytho-historical record, the theory presented within the pages of this book includes evidence from geology, palaeontology, astrophysics, and plasma cosmology. It also serves to elucidate various dilemmas that presently encumber these and other disciplines.

What might be seen by some as of greater importance, the reconstruction of the primeval events that took place beneath the proto-Saturnian sun, goes a long way in disclosing the origins of religion, including the very concept of deity. While, for the sake of scholarship, the book includes the odd technical tract, it is nevertheless written in a manner that will be readily understood by the intelligent layperson. In fact, it almost reads like a detective novel.

What are you currently listening to?
Woman’s Worlds 2.0 – Okenyo.

Happiness is?
My kids asleep on my chest / coconuts and a surf break.

What does the future hold for you?
Who can say? Hopefully more of the same, just better and happier, or maybe something entirely new? I’m totally up for flipping the script doing something new – Make a film? Release an album? Run rock climbing tours… Who the hell knows? All I know is a lot can change in a short amount of time and whatever you are doing, love what you are doing, do it well, it’s never too late to F%#k it up!

Josh’s latest work, Man With the Iron Neck will be presented in the Dunstan Playhouse – Adelaide Festival Centre as part of the 2019 Adelaide Festival from 8 March. For more information, visit: www.adelaidefestival.com.au for details.

Image: Josh Bond (supplied)