In 2002 Carolyn Windy and the Areyonga Gospel Singers began some recording with Paul Eckert in the old manse at Areyonga. Then Paul and David Roennfeldt, a Finke River Mission (FRM) linguist from Ntaria, began talking about getting more involved with recording Aboriginal choirs and singers.
They began investigating what sort of recording equipment they should acquire. It was decided that a portable digital recorder would be the best way to go as the aim was to do recording out in the bush communities where people lived, rather than expecting them to go into Alice Springs to record in a studio. Subsequently a Fostex Hard Disk Recorder was purchased along with other necessary equipment like a pair of high quality microphones, stands, monitors and headphones.
Then came the Hermannsburg 125 year Jubilee Celebrations held at Ntaria in September 2002. One of the events of the weekend was a Gospel Music concert to which indigenous bands and singers from all over Central Australia were invited to participate in. David Roennfeldt had organised to have the weekend recorded (including this concert). Meantime Paul had made contact with a musician in Alice Springs called Peter Hacquoil. He'd found out that Peter had bought himself a Roland Hard Disk recorder and was keen to try it out. All things combined and this concert was recorded by Peter. This first album was to become only the ninth album to be released by Tracks.
Meanwhile over at Areyonga the Gospel Singers were doing serious recording now on the Fostex. News of the project began to spread to other Aboriginal singers in communities as far away as Indulkana and Ernabella. A number of groups started asking to do recording. The number of potential projects grew to the point where it was not possible to include them as just a part of Paul and David's FRM work. So in October 2002 Paul, knowing of Peter's interest in getting more involved, put a proposal to him which teamed up his dreams and expertise with David and Paul's contacts with Aboriginal singers and musicians. Peter knew this was of God's promptings and was keen to embark on the suggested one year trial to see where it went. He participated with Paul in 2 recording projects as a start. Paul and David, in the midst of their other responsibilities, were relieved to have Peter take up a lot of the work.
Early in 2003 Peter, David and Paul formed a support group inviting several people to meet with them on a semi regular basis to provide support and expertise to guide the development of Tracks of the Desert. They developed a mission statement for the recording service (see below), and after a number of attempts came up with the name Tracks of the Desert - Tracks referring both to music tracks on an album and road tracks to the communities. They wanted a logo as a label to identify recordings and so engaged the Yirara College art students to come up with some designs. A composite design of their creativity was finally settled on and from this a final design was prepared by a graphic artist.
In November 2005 Tracks of the Desert became an incorporated non-profit association.
By March 2007 Tracks of the Desert had released 14 albums by singers from many communities - Indulkana, Ernabella, Areyonga, Ntaria, Mt. Liebig/Papunya/Haasts Bluff, Stirling and Mimili. The number of requests for recordings has increased. There's lots of exciting work still to do.
Albums currently being worked on include:
- a live album from Titjikala, south of Alice Springs
- an album from Irrultya in the Sandover north east of Alice Springs
- an album from Balfours Well, a homeland south of Ernabella
- a second album from the Mimili Gospel Singers, west of the Stuart Highway in northern SA
- an album from Newcastle Waters, north of Tennant Creek
- an album by a Warlpiri artist living in Alice Springs
- a re-release of the 1967 Hermannsberg Choir Tour record
Mission Statement
Music is an integral part of the life of the church as it shares the Gospel and worships God.Tracks provides a recording service for Christian Indigenous musicians and singers:
- That produces and markets quality recordings.
- That is accessible and affordable.
- That works with artists and other interested people in all aspects of the recording, production and marketing process.
Tracks encourages and assists artists:
- To develop their own musical skills.
- To write songs that are true to the message of the Bible and use the language of the people.
- To use their music in their local church community.
Tracks is committed to telling the recording money story to each group:
- Indicating the costs involved.
- Explaining the various possible financial outcomes.
- Exploring the options of what to do with money received from projects.
People
There are several people that keep Tracks of the Desert on track.Peter Hacquoil is the key person that keeps Tracks going. He is the Public Officer and is involved almost full time in recording, mixing, administration, marketing, etc. Peter is a gifted musician and is fast becoming an experienced recording engineer. Peter truly espouses the Tracks mission statement. His vision is that this service be beneficial first and foremost to Aboriginal Christians and secondly that it become something sustainable and not reliant on him.
David Roennfeldt is another key liaison person having been involved at Tracks' inception with Paul and then Peter and now the support group. David is the Chairperson and has been key in projects like the Celebration album recorded at the 125yr Hermannsburg Jubilee, the project with the Ilewerr Gospel Band, and the re-release of the Radke choir record of 1967, not to mention his work with the Ntaria choir who are also in the process of recording a new album.
Bev Battams works part time in the role of Marketing Officer. Bev keeps contact with established customers as well as finding new customers and generally helping Tracks of the Desert become known.
The following people are also on the Board and help keep things on track:
David Woods (Treasurer and Vice Chairperson), Amiuus Lennie (Secretary), Simon Dixon (Indigenous Liaison Officer) and David Ezard (Publicity Officer) meet with the above three approximately once a month to provide spiritual, technical, financial and other support and advice for the recording service.
Finance
How is a project financed? It works like this - firstly, some expenses of the recording and distribution are paid by Tracks of the Desert and some are paid by the group. Tracks of the Desert pays for the manufacturing process (ie. the actual making of the CDs and tapes, which, at present costs about $2800-$3400 for 500 CDs and 500 tapes), as well as the cover design by a graphic artist, promotion of the album, distribution and administration (such as accounting and stock records). The artists pays for the expenses up to the production of a master disc, including the recording, editing, mixing and mastering engineering time, travel expenses and equipment costs. All these different jobs take time and cost money.As the sale of the album begins to happen, the income from the sales is split in two ways: 25% goes to the artist/group and 75% goes to Tracks of the Desert Inc. Tracks of the Desert uses it's 75% to pay for the manufacturing, cover design, distribution, marketing and administration work. In this way, Tracks of the Desert can continue to be financially sustainable and thus continue to help grow the music of Christian Indigenous musicians. At the same time, the 25% that the artist/group gets to keep provides the musicians with money from the sale of the album, that can be put towards new instruments, new albums, or completely different things.
