This piece is housed on the entertainment website Music Love – a platform for women, by women and about women in music.
Steve
Balbi with Jessica Irwin. Image by Russell Cherry
There is no way you could keep up with everything Jessica
Irwin does; just writing it down could make you weary. An accomplished
musician, author, illustrator, photographer and web designer, she has
established her own business, the appropriately named DARE2BU, specialising in
landscape photography, portraiture, prepress design, website design and website
development.
Irwin's Cerebral Palsy means that the only parts of her body
she has full control over are her eyes and mind but she’s not daunted. By
anything. And now she’s got the technology to make even better use of her
talents and determination.
Dr Jordan Nguyen and his team at Psykinetic, a company aimed
at creating inclusive, futuristic technologies, have developed the
ground-breaking program ATMOSPHERE. Operated entirely through eye movements,
the software allows people with high-level physical disabilities to create
music with eye power.
ATMOSPHERE gave Irwin the chance to accompany the Australian
Piano Quartet at the Sydney Opera House, TEDx Salon and Telstra Vantage 2017.
With the software she can create music in real time, add instruments, play
individual notes, chords and layer tracks to produce complex musical creations.
Now Irwin has collaborated with Steve Balbi to create Winners (Psykinetic Mix),
the first single to be released and recorded with ATMOSPHERE. The track is a
reimagining of Winners, from Balbi's debut solo LP Black Rainbow.
Irwin can now continue to expand her repertoire and pursue
her musical dreams. Far from being held back by her disability, Irwin is
thriving. She spoke to Music Love about her music, her business and how she
manages to do it all.
You’ve just released a fantastic single
with Steve Balbi, Winners (Psykinetic Mix), using the
revolutionary ATMOSPHERE technology. Can you tell us about how the
ATMOSPHERE program works and how you use it?
Psykinetic ATMOSPHERE is eye-controlled music creation
software that allows you to produce and play music in a live setting. The
program works by tracking your eye movements and blinks using an external eye
tracker and a Windows PC or Tablet. On your screen, there is a pie circle that
is divided into twelve segments. Each segment represents an individual note or
a sound sequence that musicians can preload to create their own unique musical
creation. To activate a sound you look at it and blink. So in theory, making an
individual sound isn’t that hard, but to do an entire performance requires an
extremely good memory because you can't look away from the screen whilst
playing with your eyes! Furthermore as I have athatoid cerebral palsy, physically
playing in time takes an extraordinary amount of energy to attempt to control
involuntary muscle spasms whilst keeping count. It is like running a marathon
every time I perform! But that is how it should be…I believe you should give
everything you have when you are on the stage, especially when that is with
Steve Balbi!
What was it like to hear the results
for the first time?
I remember when I first triggered a sound on Psykinetic
ATMOSPHERE, our software engineer Nick Temple, quietly recorded some electric
guitar chords. Nick placed Psykinetic ATMOSPHERE in front of me so I could do
the initial tests. So, I looked at a key and blinked and all of a sudden a
gnarly electric guitar chord shook the table and I thought, “Yep Nick, this is
definitely my type of sound!”
How did you get involved with Steve
Balbi and Psykinetic? What does it mean to you to be involved with such a
ground-breaking first in music production?
I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have an army of
the greatest mentors behind me. One of these amazing humans is Steve Balbi. I
attended a Led Zeppelin tribute show five years ago where Steve was performing.
Every time he came on stage he had the audience’s sole attention. However, I
could definitely tell there was so much more to him than what I was seeing
during that set. At first I saw this bizarre, energetic rockstar bouncing
around the stage, then as I got to know him more I loved listening to his
stories, admire his honesty, and strive to be such a good human as he is.
Steve and I always entertained the idea that one day I would
join him on stage, however, realistically we both thought that wouldn’t be
physically possible. BUT… Then Dr Jordan Nguyen, Founder and CEO of Psykinetic,
attended a gig and saw first-hand just how strong my desire was to join Steve.
So, Jordan went away and made it his goal to create software that could allow
me to perform with Steve! And he did!!
Psykinetic is a social business that aims to create a more
inclusive society through creating empowering technology. I am really
passionate about my involvement with Psykinetic. Technology truly means freedom
when you have a severe physical disability. I first became involved in
Psykinetic when I received a phone call from Dr Jordan asking me if I would
like to be involved in Psykinetic’s eye controlled music project. As you can
imagine he didn’t even get to finish that sentence before I cut him off with
“YES!” As well as being a musician with Psykinetic, I am also part of the team
as a website developer and photographer.
Psykinetic ATMOSPHERE will unlock so many more hidden
musicians that now have the opportunity to let their inner musician shine! I am
really keen to spread the word about this software because it has the potential
to have a wonderful impact on so many. To give somebody the ability to play
music is something really special! I can’t wait to jam with more eye-controlled
musicians and see what they bring to the table. Music is not just about a cool
groovy beat … when you add a piece of you to that beat suddenly your inner
voice takes the stage. It truly is an awesome moment.
Dr
Jordan Nguyen, Steve Balbi, Jessica Irwin and team. Image Russell Cherry
Why
did you and Steve decide to reimagine Winners, a song from Steve’s
2014 debut solo LP, rather than create a brand new piece?
Both Steve and I have a really strong connection to his
song Winners, so it was only natural that would be our first song.
This song symbolises how sometimes you are forced to fight with everything you
have just to survive, then when you do finally win you are too exhausted to
realise you have done so!!! I have to fight the same fight everyday, to prove
to the public what I am capable of because of my cerebral palsy and it does get
exhausting. However, then I turn around and see Steve with boxing gloves on too
fighting his own completely different fight. That encourages and inspires me to
turn back around and tackle my round #96587 with full force!!!!!!
You accompanied the Australian Piano
Quartet at the Sydney Opera House last year using the ATMOSPHERE program. What
was that performance like and what has changed for you since then?
My first performance with the Australia Piano Quartet at the
Sydney Opera House was back in 2016. Everything was extremely new to me at this
stage, and my introduction to playing music was classical with an instrument
that nobody had witnessed before.
The weeks leading up to that performance I was thinking
“Yep… We are going to make this work… We always do!”. On the day I was sitting
on stage in a nice elegant dress confident that I had given everything I had,
and we received a standing ovation! Then I proceeded to sleep for a week after
that performance!
I feel it has been really valuable to play with both the
Quartet and Steve because in many ways they are polar opposites, so I have been
able to build two completely different skill sets! The Quartet have a very
traditional style that taught me discipline in the classical environment. And
then there’s… Steve!!!! Steve and I are really similar, I don’t even need a
communication device when I am with him – he just knows. Steve is extremely
knowledgeable with the tech side of music production, I love collaborating with
Steve which has given me more of an insight into music production and I have
had a lot of fun embarking on the ProTools journey and creating performances
with him. We did this at the launch of Psykinetic on April 11th, as I started
our set completely with my own composition. Hearing our creations bellow out on
stage has the ability to shake the whole room! And plus I really love my skull
skirt and leather jacket!!!!
In a changing world where music can be created in so many
different ways by people with completely different visions and skillsets, what
does music mean to you?
Music for me is the freedom to let my inner voice escape! As
humans we tend to bottle emotions up, but when you are creating music, whether
it is writing lyrics or laying down a groove, your emotions finally see the
light. Then other people hear your songs and take ownership of the story
because it is their tale as well.
You’ve created your own business,
DARE2BU, which specialises in a variety of visual design platforms from
landscape photography to portraiture and web design. You’re also recognised not
just as a musician but as an illustrator, author, photographer and web
designer. How do you have time to pursue all your passions and is there one you
focus on more heavily?
I don’t sleep… EVER!!!!! I am a really creative person,
music and photography are my passions, while my web development pays the bills.
However, lately the music side of things have really taken over. Two years ago
playing music for me was physically impossible, and today with Psykinetic’s
creation it has become my reality!
Together with Psykinetic and Steve I really would like to
push this as far as we can, showing other people in my situation that it is
definitely possible!
You are going to be inspiring countless
other musicians and performers to pursue their dreams and you’re showing them a
way to do it. Who are some people in music who inspire you?
I have a handful of musicians who really inspire me: David
Bowie, Mi-Sex, Steve Balbi, Pink and Keala Settle!!! Keala Settle’s version of
“THIS IS ME!” is the bomb!!! Keala puts so much raw emotion into that
particular song!!! When I am fighting nerves before a big performance, Keala’s
voice pops into my head “When the sharpest words wanna cut me down, gonna send
a flood , gonna drown ‘em out… I am brave, I am bruised, I’m who i am meant to
be, THIS IS ME!”
What comes next for you?
That is always a really interesting question!!! I would love
to grow my knowledge using ProTools, and collaborate with Steve so much more.
Create our own songs together!!!
I would love to perform with Steve, Keala Settle and David
Duchovny on one stage, that would be really interesting!
In all honestly I just want to set an example for the
younger generation, to keep fighting the good fight and you will be able to
achieve your wildest dreams!
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