Presenting: Mr.Crosby

Written by Lily Smith

Presenting: Mr Crosby

Since the bittersweet departure of Uni High’s resident piano teacher, Mr Dorn, his spot has been replaced with a certain Dave Crosby. Let’s find out all about him. 

Do you mind introducing yourself to everyone?

My name is Mr Crosby, Dave Crosby, and I have been working at Uni High since the start of this term and I am the new piano teacher and accompanist for University High School.

What made you choose to play piano in the first place?

I didn't specifically want to do it, it was just an activity I did as a kid, the same way you start soccer or tennis or anything, and my parents were just like hey, you should do piano this week, and I was like alright, sounds cool, let's check it out, and I just really took to it. I really enjoyed having that creative outlet, because I’m from a little country town, where sport was king, and I was never any good at sport, so yeah, I just continued pursuing it, and yeah, just stuck with it. That's my main reason for starting it, it’s not like I had a big moment where I saw someone play piano and I was like, wow I really want to do that. I always really enjoyed music, there was always music around at home, and all that so yeah.

Is your family musical?

They’re into music. My dad worked in radio, he worked at a radio station, so there was always lots of music in the house. They didn’t really play music, my mum played a little bit of piano, but nothing too crazy, so yeah.

Was there any specific reason why piano, compared to other instruments, stuck out?

I think it's because we just had one in the house. I’m really happy that I did start with piano, because, I’m a bit biased as I’m a piano teacher, but I think it's a really great way to understand how music works, it's sort of like a blueprint for music out in front of you, whereas other instruments, like guitar, or wind instruments or what have you, it can be a bit more obscure. So, I think it was really beneficial that that was the first instrument I learnt, and from that I could teach myself a couple of other instruments through that knowledge. Like I said, I’m biased, but I think all musicians should have a little bit of knowledge of how the piano works and how to play it.

What other instruments can you play?

I can play guitar, which I think is a great instrument to teach yourself, because there’s lots of great resources online, tabs, YouTube tutorials and that sort of thing, and through that you can play the bass, and then I was lucky enough that there was a drum kit available at school, so I sort of taught myself the drums, pretty much the rhythm section. I also did trumpet many, many, many years ago. I haven't played that in a very long time, I don't think I can make a noise on the trumpet anymore. But yeah, the rhythm section is my specialty, I suppose.

How did you go from being an enjoyer of music to becoming a music teacher? What made you want to continue to that degree?

That’s a good question. It's honestly the thing I was best at. It was the path that I went on. I started piano, and got into the AMEB grades and went through all of those, I never really saw myself doing anything else, and the natural progression is then you go to a conservatorium, and I went to the Australian National University School of Music and studied classical piano. That was actually fantastic, because I came from a small town, so I had a bit of a big head and a big ego about how good I thought I was. I was pretty good, but when I went to uni, there were some amazing players here, which was very inspiring, and put a bit of a fire in my belly to keep practising and continue getting better. Then with the natural progression, you finish uni, and you leave the conservatorium, and it's not like you can really just fall into a performance job, the same was you can with architecture, or engineering there's sort of path beyond your tertiary studies, so to pay the bills, most musicians do teaching work, and I was like, oh that's just the job I had to do, but over the years, I really just enjoyed it more and more, it became less of a chore, and more of a really enjoyable thing to do, so I feel very fortunate. They always say you never want to do a job that feels like work, so you'll never work a day, and I feel like I've been able to do that, which I feel is very cool. 

What do you hope that your students get out of your lessons?

That’s a really good question. I’d say at the most basic level, is that they’re an appreciator of music. They don’t have to be the best player of all time, or anything, but an appreciator and an understanding of how music works. I’m a big believer if your a classical player, you should still have an understanding of how chords work, and have a little bit of knowledge about other styles of music, like jazz or contemporary, and the same for contemporary players, they should have an understanding. (of classical music) I like the idea of lots of different styles working in parallel to each other because they can only create a better musician. It's also really fun where you teach a student from the very beginning, and then I've been lucky enough that I've taught some students almost through their entire school career, and you from a really great connection with these students, it's really fun to be able to guide and shape their development as a musician, and it's a nice thing to look back on all the students I've had in the past  and it's like a really cool thing that I've been able to help with in their life. 

So you've taught at other places before UnIHigh?

Yeah. I was previously working at Richmond High School, and what was cool about that was that it was a brand new school when I had arrived, it had only been opened for a year, and I came in the second year, so it was basically an empty room, the music department, and I got along really well with the head of music, a guy called Thomas Williams, we actually studied together for our masters of teaching, and so it was sort of his project, but it was really great I could help with that and give ideas and that sort of thing. I've also worked at Collingwood College and previously to that, I did a lot of private teaching. So teaching privately for a long time I wasn't really able to break through into working in schools in Melbourne, and the best way to do that was to get the masters of teaching which I did, and so that was good, and opened up a lot of opportunities. And funnily enough, you know how you do placement? You have student teachers that come through, my first ever one was at UnIHigh. I had Mr Dorn, who was an amazing mentor to me, and I'm very thankful for his teaching and mentorship. He was a great teacher of how to become a better teacher. 

Is it a bit intimidating to fill Mr Dorn's shoes?

Massive shoes to fill. He's a legend. Mr. Dorn’s awesome. So yeah, a little bit, but as you know, a very nice, sweet guy so he's been really supportive with me transitioning into this role. I keep in touch with him now and then. He misses his old students as well. I think he was pleased that he knew me coming into this new role.

How are you finding UnIHigh so far to teach?

I really like it! Like I said, coming from a new school had a lot of positives, but coming into a school with a really well established music program, and an older school, it's fantastic, and I think all the students here, and I really like the vibe of the school. All the music staff are really nice, they've been very welcoming, so I'm really enjoying it here. Having the performance evenings the last couple of nights, has been great to see all the different ensembles and what everyone’s been able to do, especially after the lockdown. It was really great.

How was being an accompanist for the choirs?

It was great! I really enjoyed doing the accompanimbg, and I hadn't been doing as much of that at Richmond, but I think it's great to be performing a little bit more again, and working closely with Ms Potter with their choirs. Also the VCE class. So if you know anyone who needs accompanying, I'm the guy! Come and see me! What would also be cool would be to get some of my students to help with the accompanying as well. It's another really great skill as a piano player specifically. Another skill to add to your list. You can do accompanying, you can do teaching, you can perform, yeah. It's been good.

Was there ever a point where you didn’t want to do it any more?

Definitely. Definitely. Especially younger, growing up. I think everyone has a moment where you hit a wall with your practice. “I don’t want to do this anymore.” I had some strong encouragement from my folks, which was good long term, for sure. But like I said, I don't know what I'm trying to say, but it was all I had ever done really, so it’ll be silly to stop now. But the teaching element has been really good because that's a new skill that I've been able to develop and work on, which is connected to the performing. But I don't actually do as much performing anymore as I used to. Teaching has sort of taken over that role, and I couldn't be happier about that. It’s a good thing for me.

Who is your favourite musician and why?

Ooh that's a hard question. That's a really hard question. There's so many. In general, my favourite band is a Melbourne band called King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. They don't have that much piano, but I think that they're brilliant. Their output is amazing, they put out so many different styles of music, multiple albums per year. I think that it's a really exciting thing that they’re doing. They do a lot of, not only rock stuff, but they do some microtonal work where they alter their instruments to create a whole new set of sounds to be playing with. Who else do I like? There's a cool scene happening in Coburg at the moment, called the College of Knowledge records. That's the record label. There's bands like Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo, you probably don’t know any of these bands, but I'd encourage you to listen to them. It's all instrumental soul stuff which is really fun. Who else? I don’t know, I like everything. This is such a hard question. I could do a whole interview talking about all the different types of music that I like. I'd probably say King Gizzard at the moment.

Do you write your own music at all?

A little bit, yeah. More so just for me, I suppose. I've got a little recording set up at home, and that was a fun thing to do during the lockdown, actually. But it's also that funny thing where I spend a lot of my day at the piano or teaching next to the piano, so sometimes when you get home, it's just finding the motivation, I suppose. It’s something I'd like to get into more, I think, doing my own recording and all that kind of stuff. I need to set up a bit more of the studio equipment, and that stuff’s quite expensive, but that's probably just an excuse. At the end of that day all you need is a laptop and a little microphone. So yeah. A little bit, but nothing current.

Were you ever in bands growing up?

I was in a lot of bands in university, which was really fun. Like I said, I was studying in Canberra, and because Canberra’s a smaller town, what's cool about it though is that it has a really great music scene, so whenever there's a new band or a gig, a lot of people come out and support it, which was a really fun, creative space to be playing in. So most were just  indie rock bands, where I played bass, drums in a few keys in a couple of them yeah. You know, we did a few little tours, and made a few EPs but nothing crazy, but it was just really fun to be having at uni. Occasionally I sit in for people in Melbourne if they need someone on the keys or whatnot, but I'm not currently in any bands.

Tell me about your piano teachers. Were there any that really stood out to you, and influenced you musically?

That's a really good question. The first teacher I had was very sporadic, she was essentially the lady who played piano at the local church, you know, really nice lady, probably not the best teacher, but you know, got me started and set up, which was cool and eventually I moved on to a lady called Catherine Kerr, who was really really influential. She was a really dedicated teacher. It was amazing the amount she’d work. She’d start at like six in the morning, and she was a primary teacher as well, and then go to her school and then teach in the afternoon and into the evening, like every day of the week. A bit of a workaholic, I’d reckon, but she had a great library of music, very supportive. Then I went to university, and  usually you have only one teacher, but I had two. A guy called Arnold Weasel, and Jeffrey Lancaster, who was very cool and funny enough we’re both from the same little country town. Very coincidentally. So they would be my biggest influences. I probably shouldn’t say this in the interview, but growing up on the internet, downloading and torrenting and stealing music essentially. The internet was like a great teacher for me in a weird way just because before I was limited to whatever cds were in the house or at the library or whatever but now I had access to all this music, and I would spend hours, and hours just researching the hundred best rock albums or the best drum solos or whatever and really just sinking my teeth into that or even best classical pieces or composers or whatever. So that was a huge influence over me. So not specifically a person, but just the rise of Bearshare or Kazaa or whatever, I can't even remember what it was, it used to take an hour just to get one song back in those days, but that was a big influence for me as well. Just all of a sudden just having access to a huge range of music that previously I had no idea about. Especially being in a small town as well. That was cool. 

This isn't related to music, but since book week is coming up, what is your favourite book?

My favourite book? That's a tricky one. What have I been reading recently? (thinks) This is probably really hacky, and it's not my favourite book, but since the film came out, I was rereading Dune which is a pretty heavy, pretty fun book, but it's not really my favourite book. I don’t know. Can I email you? I’ll let you know because I want to give you a good answer, I don't want to give you a hacky answer. (Edit: it’s Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain)

Thank you so much, Mr Crosby, for taking the time to be interviewed.