Albany's in his blood

Saz Lockyer is a man with an infectious passion for Albany.

The talented musician and coordinator of the Open Access Youth Arts studio spent his early years in Albany before moving to Perth, but never lost his love for our town.

“I think when you have those few years in Albany as a young person it gets in your blood,” he said.

“I have grandparents down here and my father lives down here too, so every holidays I was coming back down to Albany.”

Saz said he finished his secondary education at Denmark Agricultural College, after he did not settle at private school in Perth.

“As soon as I finished I just wanted to come back to Albany,” he said.

“The whole idea was to spend a year in Albany enjoying the lifestyle before travelling around Australia, and I ended up having a son down here, so fate sort of took its path and I ended up staying here and here I am 10 years later.”

Saz said after working at Bunnings for a while he had an epiphany.

“I ended up finding music, I always did music but I was out of work and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I didn’t want to go back to working a job where I was just serving customers, I just felt like I had some skills that I wanted to bring forward, some talents,” he said.

“I started trialling that idea of taking music publically.”

Saz said after splitting with his partner and having part-time access to his son, he used guitar as an outlet.

“I spent six hours a night playing guitar every night, and in the blues world that’s known as selling your soul to the devil, I think they say,” he laughed.

“In 2006 I went to the King River Tavern, and the crew out there just completely embraced me, not only did they give me a venue to play and practice and learn, they supported me, they basically sponsored me to get going.

“I’m indebted to them, they got me equipment that I’m still using today.”

Saz discovered another passion when he was asked to perform at the Open Access Arts Studio in 2007, a facility designed to help young disadvantaged people express themselves.

“First of all I thought that’s really good, I’d love to do that and what a way to get some extra cash,” he said.

“I really did see it as a way to get some sustainability as a musician.”

He was supposed to rotate weekly sessions with local musician Geoff Waldeck.

“But I just loved it so much, I used to just rock up every week, and I almost kicked him out I think,” he said.

Saz quickly discovered he had a special talent for engaging with young people.

“I actually got this kick out of it,” he said.

“With music performing there’s a lot of ego involved, you get thecheers, you sell CDs and it’s really quite ego-ish, which is fine, but you have to manage it because it’s not reality, you have to sort of come back.

Saz said music had peaks of happiness.

“You have these elated moments after shows where, for me, I had so much adrenaline I wouldn’t sleep.

“But then you fall off really quickly, whereas when I started doing youth work I’d write songs with young people or I’d see particular clients that were dealing with issues and getting something out of musically.

“The enjoyment I got out of that was much more long term, it was a sustainable happiness, so it was very rewarding for me, and it was a contribution to community.”

Saz said youth work quickly became his core passion.

“I’ve actually gone on to become the co-ordinator of the studio,” he said.

“Now my primary goal is to engage with disadvantaged youth.”

Saz said Open Access attracted an ever-changing rotation of young people.

“They often have a lot of negative things around their lives, and we can put a bit of positivity in their lives, show them some ways to express themselves and discover some talents they have and try and improve their self esteem,” he said.

“Essentially we’re there to help them and then they fly away.

“I’ve got the best job in Albany no doubt, I love it.”

Got a story? Email keir.tunbridge@albanyadvertiser.com