| Description |
Tape#1: Musical Journey and Experiences of Julie ToLiman
Side A: Julie Toliman was born on 26/04/1960 at Paparatava Health Centre to parents Michael ToLiman and IaLingling (Anne Marie) and is the 11th in the family our of 13 children. The family are from Bitakapuk village in the Toma area. Four in the family have since passed away. She attended Paparatava Primary School to Grade 6 then Kokopo High School to Grade 10 then Port Moresby (Wards Strip) Teachers College. She was posted to Gerehu Community (Primary) School but withdraw from teaching to attend University of PNG to study music at Creative Arts faculty in 1979. She however did not complete her studies due to lack of resources at the faculty so she left and joined the National Office of Tourism. She got married in 1984 and worked for Talair Airlines as international ticketing officer in Lae then transferred to Rabaul with family where she stayed home as housewife but focused on her music and started her recordings.
Julie spoke about her musical journey and experience from childhood to all female stringbands to recordings. Growing up in a musical family influenced by her father Michael, her sisters also became musicians taught and performed music, composing songs and conducting choirs from early age by their father to performances at festivals and competitions. Her father, Michael was a school teacher, a church choir master and played guitar, ukelele, mouth organ and accordion instrument playing with Bitakapuk Club Stringband. Her musical influence was also from her uncle, Tirpaia and her father was also engaged in traditional music in song and dance as a "tena buai". All his family went through the initiation by the transfer of "tena buai" for the traditional dances.
Julie learnt playing guitar, composing songs and conducting choirs at Grade 3 (9 years old) and always performed with her sisters all musically talented in local choirs, stringbands and traditional dancing events in primary school years to Kokopo High School where she led a KHS Girls stringband. Her stringband was then formed for competitions and cassette recordings called Lonely ML Daughters and at that time other women stringbands were getting on the scene such as Line Cousins of Vunadidir. Women talent in music was begin to be recognised and accepted by the Tolai society as this was only for males.
Julie's stringband, Lonely ML Daughters entered the Tolai Warwagira competition as well as choral singing and were successful in winning top prizes and continued with the annual event. They then recorded in NBC and CHM studios producing 3 cassette albums of their own compositions.
Side B: The traditional Tolai song of "a Lili" was also integrated into Julie's composition of songs for her stringband music. The songs will style, theme and melody are consistent to uphold the ToInara as 'tena buai, a bita buai and tena pinipit" for cultural and spiritual connection and significance. This also reflects the linkage and uphold the credibility of musicianship. Compositions are also based on people who have a story, an experience or situation they want to share through song and music so people who hear it can know about whether love, a death, a celebration, an accident and others where they write what they want to sing about and it is at the discretion of Julie to compose or record. A token of payment is directly given to Julie so her sources of income are through songwriting and records sales and live performances.
As a female artist and public exposure and identity, her clan relatives are always around her for any risk of sorcery or magical influence that will jeopardise her as a musician due to jealousy so for protection, she is also is safeguarded with spiritual and cultural processes and application of such practices.
Christian faith also plays an important part of her musical skills, talents as these are gifts from God as a musician and artist.
(Steven Gagau, January 2019) |
