Larry Heath is the founder of Heath Media, a company which publishes a series of books called Australia’s Year in Music, the website the AU review and more. This April, they will be releasing a coffee table book called “percussion.”, which asks a series of musicians from around the world a very simple question: what is your favourite percussion instrument and why? The eclectic series of answers – from artists as diverse as DZ Deathrays, PVT, Andrew W.K. and My Jerusalem – are accompanied by photographs and artworks. The book serves as a fundraiser for the charity “SoundSchool”, with 100% of the book’s profits going to the Australian-run initiative which provides musical education to deserving children in Africa and India.

What Does SoundSchool mean to you?

I came across SoundSchool when I was travelling around India with a group of Australian musicians as part of the international “Aussie BBQ” series. In this instance, they were forming the music portion of a series of cultural events called “OzFest”. We were kindly invited to attend the SoundSchool in Delhi during this trip, and it was an emotionally powerful experience. To see the children at that orphanage find so much joy in something I definitely take for granted, was a reminder of how important music is in our development. Where would I be now if my parents hadn’t put me in front of a piano, or played me The Beatles? I couldn’t imagine growing up without music around me. Shouldn’t every child have the opportunity to develop their minds creatively? And when you meet these kids, I couldn’t think of any who deserve it more.

Where did the idea for the book come from?

When I first started interviewing bands, I would generally get to interview the drummer, with the lead singers talking to the more established journalists. Out of this I developed a question to ask each of them: what’s your favourite percussion instrument and why? It humoured me that after doing a good dozen of these, I’d never received the same answer twice. I always though that it could make an interesting compendium of percussion based knowledge one day. When I came back from Delhi, I started thinking of a way to raise money for SoundSchool, and this small idea grew into the project it became.

Have you ever undertaken a project like this before?

I’ve released two coffee table books in the past (“Australia’s Year in Music” editions in 2011 and 2012), but never done anything as a purely philanthropic endeavour. It’s from the production of the past books, however, that I knew it would be something I could put together without too much cost or back breaking labour!

Tell us about the orphanage in Delhi, what does it provide and how important is that it gets financial support?

The orphanage – like many in regions like India – is full of children who in many cases were abandoned, and without it, they’d still probably be living on the streets. This particular orphanage – Salaam Baalak Trust – DMRC Childrens Home – is a boys only facility, and SoundSchool is just one aspect of what they are able to offer their kids. Without financial support, the project can’t grow to other orphanages, nor can new equipment and education programs be sent to and developed for the existing locations. It’s a phenomenal program. I can’t recommend enough seeing it in action for yourself.

You pose the question in the book, ‘what is your favourite percussion and instrument and why?’ What’s yours?

The cowbell. You always need more cowbell. Fun fact – I once played cowbell for a band from Texas at a show in Vancouver.

You’ve got a great roster of Australian and International artists that feature in the book, what’s your favourite submission by a band?

It’s hard to choose a favourite because the answers were so eclectic! I’d probably have to say though that I love the answer from Jo Syme from Melbourne duo Big Scary. She was one of the members of the Australian contingency to travel around India, and had the chance to drum for the boys at the orphanage (you better believe they were surprised to see a girl on the drums!). She speaks on her love of the drum kit in the book, and the passion she speaks with is infectious; as is the case for many who speak in the book.

What will buying this book mean to SoundSchool? What will the proceeds be spent on?

The proceeds will go towards sending new equipment to existing SoundSchool locations and help them in setting up new locations in the future.

 ‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?

My parents proudly own every Beatles album, and so this gets routinely raided. I don’t think I need to say why… it’s The Beatles, come on!

What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?

There’s an artist out of LA called Big Black Delta. He’s one of the touring members of M83’s group, so you can kind of start getting an idea from there – French Electro influenced LA Electronica. Incredibly addictive and in the right hands, has the potential to be huge. On the local front I still can’t stop listening to Alpine’s debut from last year, and the new Hungry Kids of Hungary record is golden.

Could you see yourself doing similar charitable projects like this in the future?

If successful, there’s no reason we couldn’t do a second percussion. book. We were on a tight timeframe on this one so there were a lot of artists who weren’t able to get back to us in time to be involved. So there’s always the chance to develop plenty more content for this project, and I definitely have a few other ideas up my sleeve, too.

When will the book be released and where will it be available from?

The book will be released in late April. All the details will be at: www.heathmedia.com.au/percussion  – so keep your eyes on that.

You can also find a comprehensive list of all of the artists involved there.

You can also find out more about SoundSchool at: www.soundschool.com.au