Kazya Karski

I went to Albany Senior High School. I liked school but it was a bit difficult after being homeschooled. I found great solace in the music department. My teacher Sheena Prince was instrumental in keeping me in school. Every recess and lunchtime I would go to the music area. We had a great band section where students would get together and play songs we wanted to play. I did quite well until I had to do homework or study because I didn’t have any practice in that and I wasn’t really interested, music was all I wanted to do. I dropped out in Year 11, started working and playing music in pubs. I played music with my dad and had a cover band for a while.

 

My parents moved to Lismore in 2011 and I stayed In Albany. Mum was a mental health Nurse and Dad being a Muso so there was lot’s of work going here and it’s pretty central to all things. I joined them here in 2013. I did the long drive over the Nullarbor by myself, 4,000 kms I think, picking up a CD at every truck stop. Took me 4 days but it was so beautiful. It was March and everything was blooming, just a really gorgeous experience.

 

I was really drawn to Lismore being a young queer person because I’d heard so much about Tropical Fruits. There wasn’t a lot of queer representation in Albany. It was quite redneck and it was a bit rough there for me. When I moved here I went to my first Fruit’s party, I think it was a Queens Ball and saw my first Drag Queens in real life. They were so lovely and it was so great to see people celebrating themselves and each other. I ended up playing music 4 or 5 years in a row at TF’s New Year’s Eve parties. I loved seeing people walking around town and feeling comfortable and I felt at home finally. I went to one of the Carboot Markets and just seeing the life, people in their hippie dresses and everyone wearing whatever they wanted to wear. It’s just one of those places that has this electric energy and it keeps drawing you back.

 

One of my first friends here was Harper Dalton. He took me to all the waterfalls and the markets and he introduced me to a lot of people I still connect with now. I have a lot of social anxiety so I have a bit of trouble making friends but he would drag me out. He’s a gem.

 

I went to move to Sydney and I dropped in to my friends to say goodbye. It was John Lush’s share house and we ended up taking a bit of acid and playing Foosball all night. I never left and couch surfed there for a while. That’s when Human Dinosaur Machine started in the lounge room and also The Humans of Lismore band (not affiliated) started there too. It was a crazy time. That was about 2015.

 

Then the 2022 flood came. I’d been around when the 2017 flood hit and the community spirit was so beautiful. I wasn’t in the trenches like the ’22 flood but everyone was looking out for each other. My dog Bam was swimming everywhere. I’d be like, Has anyone seen a Labrador? The next person calling, anyone seen a Labrador and then there’s trail of people calling out Bam. He came back all happy.

 

In the ’22 flood we had put our cars up at my Mum’s place on Dawson St. I wanted to go but my partner at the time thought we’d be ok. I decided to stay up and play my new video game as the rain was making me feel uneasy. We had a couple of friends who normally weren’t fear mongering, telling us to get out. We battened down the hatches and at 2am the water started rushing in underneath. That was mental and I was a bit misplaced after that. We didn’t have a skylight or anything to get out of so we’d made a bed on the top of the cupboard with a step ladder. We had to lift the dogs up. I’d packed a bag with meds, change of clothes, dog leads and a bit of food for them and some chargers. The water kept rising and I had this idea to smash the window and tie a rope so when the water was high enough we could float out and hold on tight to the rope. That didn’t happen. The current was so strong. There were whirlpools at the back of the house and a shipping container took the side of the house off. It was really, really scary. We smashed a window at the back. There was no way for us to get up on the roof because the gutters weren’t strong so there was an add-on section at the back where we had to haul the dogs up including my 45 kilo Lab and his Staffy who did not like water. We ended up getting onto the roof. The roof was steep so I couldn’t haul the dogs higher. We were up there for 4ish hours, hearing people calling out for help. The lovely people at the Garden Centre sent the rescue boat to us first which was really nice. We had to walk across the solar panels holding the dogs with a bag on my back..please don’t fall, please don’t fall! That was definitely interesting.

Now when it rains I have to go downstairs and show Bam that the ground is still there because he still freaks out a bit. We lost everything. I lost all my writing books from my whole life and my very first diary I owned from 1999. I saved my guitar. I didn’t really have that much connection to my stuff but my partner did so we saved some of his stuff. I lost all my gig clothes, my PA and the hundreds of dollars I’d spent on makeup, all gone. The town was generous after as a bunch of friends bought me makeup palettes and I had people trying to save my clothes. I found my favourite pair of pants just chillin’ in a tree across the road. So many good people walking around handing out food and water. Someone walked in with a 6 pack, Anyone want a beer? Hello!!!

 

I feel for my ex partner as he owned the house and had to deal with that. We broke up so I sort of got away scot free. I didn’t have to deal with the aftermath though I did really want my own space to fix. I was so misplaced and everything was so broken. I had nothing tangible to put together again. I ended up in another flood house in South Lismore pulling out nails from the floor so we could put an air mattress down. Ultimately my mental health was so bad after that, my substance abuse issues really flared up. I’d spent a lot of time before then trying to get it together and get jobs and have a really good structure going so I could function as a person but that all went out the window.

In August of 2022 I got pregnant. Helena was born in May 2023 and that sorted me out. I had no choice then. I got out of the flood house. My bass player Isaac let me move into his house. He’s no longer there but I’ve been there ever since. I’m on the lease and I have a little veggie garden going. My daughter is 15 months old now and she’s very cute. She’s my karmic lesson. Sorry Mum for all the things that I ever did (laughs). It’s so awesome. Nothing has made me want to get myself together as much as she has.

 

I’m learning to navigate life and myself sleep deprived and sober and I feel that it is my duty to get myself together. I wish I’d done it before. She’s worth it. She comes to all the gigs with her headphones on. She falls asleep because she was around when we were recording the album. She loves the songs.

 

The band went to Canberra recently on a tour. Isaac took his baby down as well. It was fun. We’ve been doing some gigs with Total Buzzkill in Brizzy. We’re hoping to do some collaborative shows with Gusset Rats.

 

Apart from that I like baking and cooking and I’m trying to get into gardening. I’m so torn between wanting to live in the country and have this quiet life, be self sustainable as possible, have animals and grow my own food, and also be completely immersed in the music scene. Go to gigs all the time, stay out all night. It’s interesting trying to find the balance between both. I think it’s doable.”

HDM’s new video Paradise link in comments. Filmed by Kazya’s partner St John.