Richard – Auckland
“The last message I sent to someone was organising band practice for the next couple of days, so just trying to figure out who was coming, where we’d meet up, and what equipment we were going to bring.
My band is sort of an experimental project. It’s a bit weird. We use banjo synth – a whole bunch of different things, and it’s just something we do for fun, really. We record our music and then send it around and hope that it gets somewhere.
Check out White Jacket Rabbit on Facebook, YouTube, and Bandcamp. I’m lead vocals and banjo. It’s weird, but it’s cool.
I’ve had a couple of health issues over the last year or two, which involved a health scare having to take medication which caused my bones to have some issues. I’m currently on crutches. It makes every day an adventure trying to get around. Makes life a bit of a challenge, but I guess that’s all part of the fun, really. I used to be really sporty. I used to represent Auckland in football, played a lot of cricket and badminton, and spent a lot of time on stage with my band touring and traveling. I guess when you have a health issue it makes a bit more difficult.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s put me in a disability category; it just makes everything a lot harder and means that people have to be a bit more conscientious around me knowing that I’m not able to do things as easily as I used to. I find that getting around every day, getting into university, using public transport, people are generally really helpful and offer to open doors for you – offer to give up their seat – that sort of thing. I guess it really tests what sort of people people are; what sort of morals and motives they have in life.
I guess when you do have a health issue, some people really get behind you and really rally behind you. Mine was quite serious. I guess being young they don’t really understand that people who are young aren’t invincible, and that they are prone to health issues. Some were quite wary and sort of backed off a bit, whereas others really rallied behind me and really helped out. I guess there was that sort of dis-balance there.
There’s a whole bunch of different ways that we can connect people around Auckland. Just understanding that everyone’s different and has their own story. Not letting your own issues get in the way of everyday, and taking it out on other people. Just knowing that there are things that you can learn from other people. I guess going around and trying to understand a bit more about other people’s cultures and just respecting everyone on a daily basis. It just helps us to get along and makes every day that little bit easier.
I guess it’s the small things which can accumulate and can make someone’s day and can just make everything a whole lot better and a whole lot easier.”
