By Abbey Cannan
Organising festivals across the globe, breaking world records, fundraising for charities and building an orphanage in Nepal… it’s all in day’s work for long-time Noosa local, musician Oz Bayldon.
Oz grew up in Noosa attending Tewantin Primary in the ‘70’s and since then he has organised and broken a number of musical world records which have fundraised to build a shelter and help fund a school in Nepal, a conservation centre in Peru, a free creative school in London and a disabled sports program in Noosa.
“It’s in my nature wanting to work with charities… without having that I sort of feel like I’m dying,” Oz said.
“All of my teachers at school said they weren’t surprised when they found out what I was doing. I guess I must’ve had a charitable heart when I was at school without even knowing.
“Noosa was the best place in the world to grow up. Noosa was a fishing village back then and it was still a community which can be hard to see now but I think that goes for everywhere in the world.”
Oz went on to build, renovate and launch some of London’s biggest music venues, becoming one of the highest award-winning operators in London over the last 20 years, including gaining the title of ‘Venue of the Year’ UK wide.
“I first got into music when my mates and I started a band when we went to school at Noosa High. I was the lead singer and I played guitar. In our grade there was three bands, and we played gigs everywhere in Noosa when we were 16. We took off and moved to Brisbane for university and eventually the band broke up,” Oz said.
“I then went to Greece for eight months where I set up a bar.”
And in what sounds like a scene from the movie Mamma Mia, Oz said the bar owners just gave him the keys after he renovated the place and let him run the bar.
“After Greece, I went to London and worked behind the bar in a pub and that bar won the best pub of the year,” he said.
Oz then went on to run a number of award-winning music venues in London, including; White Lion in Streatham, Tabernacle in Notting Hill, Bedford in Balham and POW in Brixton.
“I turned an old gothic church into a gig venue, which was really cool and we had massive artists like Adele play there. That venue had a large community aspect to it which I really liked and that’s when I realised I wanted to do work for charities,” Oz said.
“I then started the first charity pub in the UK, which was all donated and recycled from the public. When setting it up, I’d turn up at the pub each day and there would be more paint or furniture on the door step which had been donated from the community. The venue had 28 rooms upstairs for homeless families and we opened up a music venue that got named as the top five best music venues in South London.
“We then started a free creative school for kids that did street dance, film and television, editing, studio recording and we even built a radio station. So, I sort of gave all these kids a home away from home where they could hang out together, be creative, and stay out of trouble. I ended up getting invited to Downing Street Reception as we were the only charity educating kids without using a public purse. I spoke in the House of Commons to try and educate other charities on self-sustainability with shelter and education.”
Oz is also the creator of the Active Community, a platform where he organises musical fundraising treks, community festivals, an ethical program for school leavers and more extreme gigs.
These extreme gigs have seen Oz break three world records, including the highest canyon swing playing an instrument, the highest altitude gig on land, and the longest gig performance at 44 hours non-stop.
The journey to these world records began when Oz was on a solo tour on the Sunshine Coast.
“Noosa local Ian Farrington came to one of my gigs and he said he was organising an international music tour in Nepal so I decided to join him and brought acts over from the UK.”
“We did a lot of gigs in Nepal and on my day off I went for a walk-through Katmandu where I spotted a malnourished, homeless child with a disability on the street. He needed help so I picked him up and carried him to a sandwich shop where there was a bunch of other hungry kids. I fed them all for less than 30 pounds and that changed my life there and then. In that moment I knew this is what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life.
“I decided I wanted to build my own orphanage in Nepal and Ian had the idea to do the world’s highest gig to raise money. I went and broke the world record with 10 other musicians and that funded the build of the orphanage. In 2009 someone beat my world record so I went back again in 2012 and claimed it again by hiking up 6654m to the summit of Mera Peak, near Mount Everest, before performing a 40-minute gig in freezing temperatures.”
Oz plans on beating his own record again, by doing a gig on top of Cho Oyu, a mountain on the border of Tibet and Nepal, which would add 2000m to his record.
His record for the longest gig was also broken which is why he plans on sailing down the Amazon River while performing for 65 hours nonstop with talented musicians from villages.
Oz said the key to this extreme gig was simply staying awake.
“Imagine a gathering of musicians from refugee camps from around the world, who play traditional instruments and music; different religions, languages, cultures and histories, brought together for charity. Proving that music is the only positive international language and a great healer of all differences,” he said.
“We will go into the refugee camps across the globe to see the devastation and hardship that these people endure every day, and the daily battle to survive, highlighting the great work being done there by world organisations.
“The whole process is to promote peace, highlight the great work that is being done in the refugee camps and to raise money for conservation of the Amazon. It will have an emphasis on teaching the locals eco-tourism and sustainability, so they can get away from logging which is all they know after generations of losing their culture. Our goal is to help preserve their culture, which in turn will protect the local jungle.”
And it doesn’t stop there, the next extreme gig Oz plans on doing will take him high in the sky in a hot air balloon, to do a gig and then continue playing while parachuting down to land on stage for a concert.
“This extreme gig is to raise funds for a self-sustainable educational music hub,” Oz said.
It seems like the constant planning and ideas never stop as Oz has already planned another extreme gig which will be a concert on a boat made from plastic floating in the North Pacific gyre.
“Plastic has a huge detriment on our environment and nowhere more evident that in the North Pacific Gyre. We will look at alternatives to plastics, education programs, clean up models and what the future has to offer with and without an alternative,” he said.
Back home in Noosa, Oz is planning the fourth annual Noosa Come Together festival, which will take place on the weekend of 8-9 June raising funds for the ‘Sailability’ sailing program for children and people with disabilities to continue on the Noosa River.
This event provides an affordable day out for local families in Noosa and across the Sunshine Coast with activities including; children’s rides, international food stalls, and two music venues showcasing local and disabled artists.
“In the first year we raised $10 grand and it just keeps on getting bigger and better. The festival is a celebration of being local as it is the only festival that is not targeted at tourists,” Oz said.
“When I see kids doing outdoor activities that’s what makes me happy, that’s why I decided I was going to do my best to make more of it happen.
“At the festival there will be a Noosa High School 30-year reunion of the 1989 graduates. The idea of the festival is to bring the old community together with the new community.
“We are trying to recreate an old festival that was in Noosa when I was a kid, called Noosa Waters. It was a great community event that everyone looked forward to every year.”
And like any regular person, Oz has a day job, on the organising comittee for the Gympie Music Muster.
The Gympie Muster (August 22-25) is the biggest charity-based festival in Australia, with every aspect run by community groups.
“All of the money from the Muster goes back into the community and is run by the charity APEX,” Oz said.
“The planning is going awesome and we’ve got a few international acts this year which we haven’t had before and we’re aiming at getting a huge act for next year.”
For more information on Oz’s initiatives, go to www.theactivecommunity.org
