Debris
Little Brother
Harry’s descent into heroin started around his mid-twenties. Initially I didn’t have too many thoughts on his drug use. He was the same, more distant perhaps, but he hid it well. I thought of it as an extension of his creative pursuits. He loved the Beats, Charles Bukowski, and Nick Cave – art made by heroin users and working-class underdogs. I thought of him as uncovering the depths and secrets to euphoric spaces, like the artists before him.
Interview with Barkaa
BARKAA: I was always writing. In jail I was writing music. I’d rap in front of these two sister girls there. We would have a Koori meeting and we’d all sit in a circle. Afterwards, I’d be like, 'I wanna rap sis.' So, I’d spit a rap and it brought the jail closer. I felt like I had something there. I could draw them in with what I was saying. When I got out of prison, I started doing my community services course because I wanted to do youth work. It was a huge adjustment for me to read again. I started rapping freestyle, recording videos in my bedroom when my kids were asleep and putting them up on Facebook.