IF NOT NOW, THEN SOON
creatives from our extended community share the passion projects they are currently working on 

BY Rosie Dalton

‘All struggle, all resistance is — must be — concrete. And all struggle has a global resonance. If not here, then there. If not now, then soon. Elsewhere as well as here.’
— Susan Sontag

Creative work is work that stems from the heart. And often it involves the pull of both resonance and resistance. This is especially true for passion projects that bloom alongside other work or familial roles that we inhabit in life. But, in dedicating some time to allowing our passions to unfold, we also tend to the creative universe inside.

For Chapter 12—Strange Self—JANE asked four creatives to share a little bit about the creative pursuits that personally light them up and respond to four prompts around the passion projects they are working on—now or soon. 

Melissa Mikletic

Melissa Mikletic is the curator of beautiful Melbourne boutique Before March and she also makes transcendent music with Serene Dreams. Here, she takes us behind the scenes of her musical dreamscape and shares how she juggles both the resonance and resistance. 

NOW — Could you tell us about your project and what stage you are currently at with it? 
I am a lyricist and singer. Serene Dreams is a long-term collaboration between myself and my dear friend Alan, who is a guitarist. We recently released an EP, a little triumph and a long time coming. 

Like most creative modalities, there are two strands to our work—the doing and the documentation. The latter process takes a long time, recording and crafting the songs to freeze them in time. Alongside this process, one's practice evolves, creating a temptation to make the work reflect the ever-changing now, you continue to push the readiness to release. There's a grappling with letting go, but it's important to forge on. Releases are steps in a path.

Since our release, we've been learning a new program together, to add another dimension to our project. This has been humbling but necessary—to delve into the unknown, it feels like the only way forward.

RESISTANCE — Sometimes our passion projects can be a real labour of love, but there is beauty in the journey. What is the most important thing you’ve learned along the way?
Self-expression is an act of devotion. Like tending to a fire. Negotiating with doubt is constant work. 

Rick Rubin articulated that ‘Turning something from an idea into a reality can make it seem smaller. It changes from unearthly to earthly. The imagination has no limits. The physical world does. The work exists in both.’

We become protective of our projects, sharing them is an act of vulnerability. We are extending an invitation to others to engage. There's an electricity in the reverberate quality our ideas have when they resonate with others but, to be pure of heart, our work cannot anticipate public sentiment, it will find its audience naturally.

RESONANCE — Often the concepts that stir us creatively tend to reverberate around our minds for a while before coming to fruition. When did you first dream up this path and what keeps you feeling inspired?
We've been music collaborators for around ten years and five years on this project. It happened naturally, as an extension of our deepening friendship. It was inevitable. A feeling of communion has continued to keep me going. I just have to do it; music has always been there for me. It has sound-tracked elation, grief, falling in love, falling apart, colouring the mundane. 

What we've done hasn't been tethered to commerce or specific outcomes (hence the glacial speed). It is medicinal. The inspiration comes from the undeniable need. 

SOON — What do you hope the future will hold for your project?
Ever rambling exploration and curiosity. A sense of refuge and connectivity.  I would like to plan more gigs and events, there is a universal need for creative communion.

I want to keep adding colours and textures to the palette, learning instruments, finding the patience to handle being bad at them for a while.

There are certain people I'd love to play with of course, but that kind of networking tends to feel elusive. There's that trite, Hallmark-like saying: ‘If you never have a dream, you never have a dream come true.’ I couldn't tell you who said it—for all I know, I got it from a rom-com—but in honour of said quote, here's looking at you Warren Ellis. Name the place, we'll see you there. 

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