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 Dylan HarriganMain vocalist and rhythm guitarist.Also plays the bass and drums Main songwriter.  Dylan wrote most of the songs for the
band's first album. He says he usually comes up with a tune then
writes the lyrics to go with it. He writes about indigenous issues
like reconciliation but mostly likes to write about "happy" songs
or songs people would like to get up and dance to. He writes songs
about Wujal Wujal, Hopevale and Cooktown.First Gig Dylan first played with Country Unknown when he was in Grade 8 and would fill in on the drums. At 14 to 15 years old, he played permanently as bass guitarist and drummer to fill in for Clifford who had left for university. School Life Dylan loved school. He was good at English and loved sports. He was very keen at rugby league, athletics and basketball and was age champion every year for athletics. Dylan also played the drums in the school band. During recess, Dylan says he would go to the library to satisfy his curiosity and read newspapers and books to find out what was going on in the world.  He became the first
indigenous School Captain at Cooktown Primary School, thus becoming
a big role model for younger indigenous kids who started nominating
themselves for such roles. Being outgoing and involved in sports
and the school band, he was able to make a lot of friends of all
races. He says there may have been some kids who minded an
indigenous boy being school captain but it didn't bother him. He
was also School Captain in Mossman High School.Dylan also went to boarding school at Peace Lutheran College in Cairns for Year 9 and 10. He mentions missing his mum and dad in the beginning, but says he loved it and thrived on being independent. After high school, Dylan went to the University of Melbourne. There he studied Arts majoring in Criminology. The experience was a "big eye opener" for him. He loved college life and being in a big city. He made many very good friends in uni including a lot of international students at the college. A lot of them have visited him in his home turf. He enjoyed showing them around his family's land. He also plans on visiting them overseas one day. Dylan talks about mucking around with his brothers and using their imagination and having pretend concerts in their room. He says the three eldest brothers used to look after three younger brothers and they all had fun. He is proud of the fact that most of the band members are multi-talented and can play a lot of instruments. He says this comes in very handy as they can swap around when someone can't make a gig. Musical Influences Dylan says his biggest influences were his dad and other Country Unknown members such as Gerhardt Pearson and Bennett Walker.  Dylan loves rock and roll, the blues,
country music, alternative music, pop and reggae. He listens to
Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He also
likes Lucky Dube, Dire Straits, ACDC, Deep Purple. Dylan is
particularly interested in bluegrass music of African Americans of
Southern USA.Soundhouse Project Dylan had a dream to record traditional indigenous music and language and " put it in today's technology to preserve it ". Dylan let people know about his idea and with the help of Gerhardt Pearson, Balkanu and Soundhouse, he is now making this dream come true with the use of a portable mobile recording studio. He says he aims to enhance and preserve culture especially for indigenous kids in Cape York. Through this project he hopes to promote traditional indigenous music from Cape York both nationally and internationally. He is currently recording hymns sung in their language by Hopevale and Wujal Wujal choirs and produce their CD. What's Important  Dylan believes in "
Respecting your elders, achieving your dreams " and "
Always remember your culture ". He was taught to never
forget the people who were there to help you get where you are.He says, "Stick to school and get a good education because today you need education to get a good job or be able to go to university ". Dylan also takes great pleasure from cooking for the family. Dylan's big on watching cooking shows like Jamie Oliver's. |
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