BUSINESS HISTORY
Written in 2002 . reflecting on our first decade didging.
~~~~ or check 2012 rave & 2nd Decade ……..further below.
FIRST DECADE
~ I’ve been making didgs since 1993, and have always made didgs from a passionate players perspective. I started out, making didgs to build my own playing collection and before long I had more than I needed.
For the first couple of years as a hobby business I’d sell word of mouth and journey to the Down to Earth Confest -a large festival twice yearly that attracted large no’s of didg players. It was a place where us folk would connect up and we’d exchange much in 10 days camped together. The didg makers would often set up in the market place and the 5-10,000 festival goers would keep us didging strong and passing on many a good instrument. It was real grass roots happening with the festival becoming a way of life over such a time camped together. It wasn’t a music festival so folk everywhere would gather organically in groups and there would be jamming most everywhere. These times set the scene for Heartland Didgeridoos and what we’re on about. Connecting up with and supporting fellow players.
Also from very early on didg has been a family affair. My brother , Kevin and I were building farm sheds in the years before didging and so when I got my first didg it wasn’t long before he was into it. He went on to be a full-time didg maker, workshop facilitator and top player and our father Tony also plays, and when he can, supports finding and making didgs.
From early on I ran workshops teaching didg and also sold via markets and other festivals. Word of mouth built momentum and from 1995 overseas orders kicked in with regular orders from Europe initially then the US and now from many corners of the globe. In 1997 we started working towards our web site and launched it in 1998. This further allowed us to continue to develop our focus on quality didgs and to feature other makers instruments.
We were the first on the web to develop the sale of individually featured didgeridoos and have continued to expand this focus, and we still have one of the largst displays of indivdual didgs on the web. Many others have joined the web didg scene and there are some brilliant web sites out there and Heartland still remains one on the cutting edge.
Because of the ever increasing amount of didgs in our home , in 1999 we leased a shop In Bellingen to to better service our web business.
Heartland Didgeridoos was also the first to instigate a world wide didg jam, which occured at the turning of the Millenium new year in 2000. This was an exciting moment in time to bless with the sound of didgeridoo encircling the earth. Since 2000 Didj shop in Queensland has done a great service in furthering what we started.
Via the web, didg players saw the quality of our work and custom orders became a key focus of our business which led to countless exciting projects , even the making of a special 3 piece didg that went in the Space Shuttle to the Mirr Space Station in 2002.
Aside from making our own didgs, we source from other makers who approach didg in a similar way. At different times we have didgs from the far North Queensland or Northern Territory to the far south in Victoria to the west over in Western Australia, so we’re renowned for the range of didgs we stock.
To keep it alive , I continue to go bush myself and make, paint and play, as well as support with indigenous and non indigenous comings together. This way I stay connected to didgs roots.
Its more than an instrument, a product , or cultural symbol or ritual object; it continues to be a mystery, which keeps it so alive and fun., Tynon
Written in 2012 reflecting on a 2nd decade didging.
8/8/2012
Last ten years went in the blink of an eye, and didg making, teaching and selling is still a blessing. A lot has unfolded in that time, & there has been significant growth in the art of making, and lots of learnings, and yet at the core we are still on the same course. I can read our Vision statement and it still rings true and guides our journey.Over the last decade we have helped 1000’s of didg players and taught countless how to play, and yet whilst there is always the outward side of running a business, in many respects the last decade has been the in breath as the first decade was the out.
This last decade was an in breath in many respects. Heartland was the most stable as in based purely in the country township Bellingen and we travelled less for festivals and more so just hunting good logs in the bush. My outward didg energy channelled quitely in less seen ways, for example working with developing rites of passges for teenage boys and finding myself using the didg the way it has been used for milleniums. Also building my families home in that time and seeing our children , grow up and even leave our nest, all made for a rich dynamic time, where the chop wood carry water of life allowed me to drop the ego of the journey and be a simple didg maker & provider for my family. Over that time, aside from retailing out of our shop, I wholesaled more than ever, which supported simply honing my making & keeping busy.
The first decade was so web focused and into the personal connections here there and literally everywhere, culminating in even a client flying around the earth in the Mirr space station sending me emails. It was a fun period. The second decade though, I gradually then consciously pulled away from the web. I desired more personal face to face business or more grounded connections & in its simplicity wholesale became part of that.
Over the last two years the urge to return more to the web world increased and I’m now in a breath out phase again, and desiring to share and connect more widely. I’m looking forward to my 3rd decade didging and where it takes Heartland. There is a lot I look fwd to sharing, that deserves to be distilled on the site, & will be there for the reading or watching soon.
happy didgin, Tynon