By Vicki McKay

Donna and the Aspinauts; they have been described as Talking Heads meets Rocky Horror, they are mostly made up of members who are on the Autism spectrum and they are gaining a rapid following around Melbourne. I asked Donna Williams, lead singer and world renowned author on autism, how they came together.

“Donna and the Aspinauts formed in 2008.  The goal was to organise a sort of expo with autism-friendly performers – dancers, singers, bands, comedians, artists, poets.  At the first meeting Earl Wollff was there.  He had wanted me to form a band with him for about two years and this time I said yes, even though I was certain we wouldn’t actually end up in a band. Our keyboard player, Russell and I met after he attended a big autism related lecture I was presenting at Knox.  Russell brought along his friend Dan and two drummers and a guitarist later, we have a pretty solid 5 piece band.”

Social barriers are common for the autism spectrum, Donna explained how these were over come by the members of the group. “The social difficulties? Well, we each have our own.  Earl is typically Aspie (person with Asperger’s Syndrome). He’s a walking trivia encyclopedia and rather monotone; quite the professor/inventor type.  I have receptive language processing disorder due to visual processing disorders (agnosias) so Earl’s long detailed Aspie-isms would constantly be over my head and drive me nuts; having Asperger’s he won’t stop until he’s done, but we each understand the other’s issues so we take it all in good humor. Earl has been a muso forever. No Exposure Anxiety at all.  His big moment was as nude bass player in an all nude band at a nudist convention – true story.”

”Russell and I both have high social anxiety. Andrew Sherman, our lead guitarist, was interesting because the day he arrived he just literally brought in the guitar, didn’t converse or really even introduce himself, he just started playing.  It took him several rehearsals to really start to speak to us.  Then mostly he wanted to talk about aviation, which is his great passion.”

Not all members are on the autism spectrum though. They are what Donna likes to refer to as “aut-friendly”. She describes another band member this way. “Paul Spears is a local hill’s muso with a recording studio up here who is currently doing drums for us.  He’s not on spectrum but that doesn’t matter.  He is so wonderfully diversity friendly, and what’s a diversity friendly band without the whole social mix?  People are all just people in Paul’s world, able to cross bridges between different ‘normalities’. He’s an observer and he doesn’t judge. In an autistic’s world, that’s gold.”

Then Donna attempts to describe her own ways. “As for me, I’m blunt as a butter knife, completely literal and highly organizational and methodical.  I’m also as bipolar as I am autie (autistic) so its probably a bit like Bette Midler meets Liza Minelli meets Spock. I guess I’m more ARTistic than autistic and that’s fine with me.”

Two fairly common problems that people on the autism spectrum have are dealing with crowds and noise. These are two components which are unavoidable in the live music industry however Donna explained how the members, and audience, dealt with the inevitable.

“That was really scary.  At our first public gig certainly two of us felt really socially nervous in a mainstream environment.  But when 70% of the people arriving there were ultimately on the spectrum or autism friendly, it was like anything goes.  It’s that thing where there’s far less to fear in the company of other weirdo’s or those who love diversity.  That’s infectious and moving.

What about the people on spectrum who are fans and followers? “Well the noise of other bands has been pretty overwhelming but there’s such a desire to be there that they hang around even though they’re obviously struggling with the noise.  I say headphones welcome” Donna laughs. Headphones are a way for people with severe noise sensitivity to cope with mainstream life, and now it would seem, mainstream style social activities.

Donna explained further, “In contrast we don’t play at an overwhelming volume and as for being in crowds, I grew up in a household where parties were the norm.  So I can cope provided I’m not stopped or touched.  Even then, in previous years I’d have flung the arm off, even had a spitting tic trigger if someone touched or grabbed me and stomping suddenly on feet would have been possible.  But I’m quite tame now.”

”I still cringe and groan a bit if a stranger touches me, but mostly I can move away and stay calm.  At our second gig a woman who knew me arrived, hugged and kissed me on the cheek.  I froze, cringing a bit, wide eyed and spooked.  Sorry, I said, I’m face blind, I have no idea who you are.  Turns out I’d spent 3 hrs with her a few weeks back, lovely woman, really liked her.  But being face-blind I had no idea who she was in different clothes or atmosphere.  So being partly meaning deaf, fairly context blind, completely literal, face-blind and nursing Exposure Anxiety, agoraphobia, social phobia, rapid cycling bipolar and some Tourette’s tics, its certainly a very weird occupational choice.  But as an artist none of this matters.”

So who will be attracted to what the band offers? “We appeal to several niches.  Many of our songs are socio-enviro in nature so everyone from greenies and activists to anarchists, sociologists and leftists or those who dare a challenge.”

There’s a difference to most band performances though, it’s the way they can appeal to a wider group. “50% of our shows are gestural signing, characterizations and avant-garde poetry, which appeal to those into inter-arts and genre crossovers.  We also have a massive range of material so no two shows are the same.”

”We’re very surreal, often satirical (yes, another autism stereotype broken) so we appeal to the surrealists, those who love social diversity, theatre, spoken word, sign language, even linguistics and Chanson.   Those who like people like Piaf, Laurie Anderson, Ani Di Franco, Rocky Horror fans would all love us.”

”But we’re also so off the wall, so rhythm driven, so atmospheric that fans of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Queen and bands like Madness, Split Enz, Skyhooks, would also love us.”

That’s not all though, there’s more depth to what they do than the style of music. “There’s also what we stand for. Equality and diversity. We appeal to fringe groups and marginalized populations, including those on the autism spectrum but at our last gig we also had people advocating about mental health and four wheelchair users with Cerebral Palsy who use Augmented Communication came along.”

Donna finishes with this observation. “My ARTism is so huge, it demands a place in my life and pushes to the side the barriers my autism stuff would put in the way.  And that’s also incredibly inspiring to those who come to the shows.  They can see I’m doing my best socially with only half the information processing equipment, but my personality, my love of people, my love of the art and commitment to the band and the show, is also really present too.

Upcoming Gigs.

South Melbourne, Victoria – Wednesday, 4th March 2009
THE BUTTERFLY CLUB presents Donna & The Aspinauts
Wednesday 4th March 2009 – 8pm-9pm
Tickets $22  ($17 concession and for groups  of 8 or more)
An evening of irreverent avant-garde poetry  and flamboyant musical surrealism with a satirical bent.
204 Bank Street, South Melbourne  (just near the South Melbourne town hall)
Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com/

Hurstbridge, Victoria – Saturday 7th March 2009
Topic: Rock n Rebuild Bushfire Benefit
Time: 12 noon – 12 midnight
Venue: Hurstbridge High Oval,
Cost: $5 ($20 per family) All proceeds to Bendigo Bank Bushfire Relief Appeal
More info: www.myspace.com/donnaandtheaspinauts

Belgrave South, VIC – Fri 20th March 2008
Topic: Introduction To The Autism Spectrum
Time: arrive 7.45 for 8pm-9pm
Where: Belgrave South Community House, Glimore Court, Belgrave South.
Cost: Gold coin donation.
Phone: (03) 9754 2274

Belgrave, Victoria – Tuesday 21st April 2009
Topic Donna Williams & The Aspinauts play Ruby’s Lounge
Time: Between 9pm-9.45
Cost: Free

People can hear samples of live ambient recordings at http://www.myspace.com/donnaandtheaspinauts