When Rudi Louis Taylor-Bragge was approached to create the theme music for the APA’s new podcast series, the brief was to celebrate our Indigenous history, the magnificence of storytelling, connection to Country and the positive power of truth-telling.

Rudi heard this calling, creating a magical soundtrack that captures the heart and soul of The Deadly Physios series.

Born and raised in Euro Yuroke (St Kilda) on Boonwurrung Country, Rudi comes from a long line of musicians including his grandfather; his mother, who was a successful jazz musician; and his father, a sound engineer and radio technician.

Rudi says his grandmother was a supremely talented, classically trained musician who bought him his main guitar, with which he still performs.

Now living in Kulluk (Hastings), Rudi’s family are lowedjeri Boonwurrung from the Bass Coast of Victoria.

This connection to family and Country is a powerful force in Rudi’s life and his music.

In the early stages of creating the soundtrack, Rudi says he came up with a fusion of contemporary plus Indigenous elements.

‘My mind instantly gravitated towards something funky and upbeat, but also throwing together some rhythmic things such as the didge (didgeridoo) and clapsticks.

‘The tal-kalk (clapsticks) that I used for the piece are raw, filed and sanded eucalypt wood taken from felled branches of smaller trees around the Ngargee Tree, the corroboree tree in Euro Yuroke.

This is a beautiful red gum which is hundreds of years old and was used by people of the Kulin Nations to gather on Country, meet up, catch up, celebrate and make plans.

Local shopkeepers would interact with my ancestors, meeting at this tree during colonial times, and it remains a significant gathering place for my people to this day.

‘I will eventually burn a message and polish the wood so it keeps longer and hopefully preserve it as a piece of history and a representation of my connection to Country.

They are a small slice of home that I can carry with me wherever I go and are represented in this musical piece accordingly.

‘Understanding the stories that come behind it, understanding the layers of Country that are embedded in things even as contemporary as this, it’s all part of this broader narrative.

It’s another layer of Country when you hear those clapsticks in the song.’