Creator Tales

To exist between worlds is to constantly translate oneself. In this expansive conversation, we sit down with improviser, creator, and former finance worker Rushdi Rafeek. Abandoning the rigid predictability of spreadsheets for the radical uncertainty of improv, Rushdi shares his transition from the gleaming, hyper-regulated mirage of Dubai to the visceral, grounding, and occasionally overwhelming rhythms of Sri Lanka.Together, we explore the heavy cost of chasing algorithmic virality versus the quiet poetry of ten-year storytelling. From surreal coastal sound-system buses pulsing against the Indian Ocean to a chance encounter with a Punjabi chef living in Croatia, and the humbling, bureaucratic odyssey of renewing a passport independently, this episode is a meditation on displacement, belonging, and the art of unscripted living.We also trace Dylan's extraordinary six-month reverse migration: sailing across oceans from Australia to Sri Lanka without flying—a deliberate rejection of modern velocity in search of a deeper, slower connection to place.What does it mean to finally arrive where you started, only to find you must learn how to speak all over again?Guest: Rushdi RafeekHost / Production: Dylan Prins - Kaju CreativeIf this conversation resonated with you, consider subscribing and sharing your thoughts in the comments.#CreativeJourney #SriLanka #Dubai #Storytelling #Improv #TravelNarrativesYouTube Chapters 00:00 - Cold Open & Introduction00:35 - From Finance to Improv Comedy in Dubai03:20 - The Content Game: Virality vs. Authentic Storytelling05:06 - Sunset, Bus Parties, and Overstimulation in Weligama11:05 - Meeting Pradeep: The Chef from Punjab in Croatia13:05 - What Does "Content" Mean?16:56 - The Epic Battle with Sri Lankan Admin (Passport Office Saga)20:00 - Moving Back to Galle and the Reverse Migration Reality20:34 - The 6-Month Overland Journey from Australia to Sri Lanka Without Flying26:20 - Language Barriers and Translating Empathy in Sri Lanka30:47 - Artist Hustling in Colombo vs. The Financial Realities of Dubai(Gemini Generated Description)https://www.instagram.com/rushdirafeek/https://www.instagram.com/kaju_creativekajucreative.net

IYRE is a Sri Lankan-born drum & bass producer and DJ known for weaving emotionally resonant, cinematic soundscapes that blend the soulful depths of liquid DNB with South Asian musical textures, along with a deep and minimal flair. His style is melodic, percussive, and unmistakably narrative-driven, crafted for both the heart and the dancefloor.He was named "One to Watch" by DJ Mag in 2024, featured in Mixmag’s Breakthrough DJs list in 2022, and nominated twice for Best Newcomer at the Drum&BassArena Awards (2021 & 2023). His music has been released on esteemed labels including Hospital Records, Goldfat Music, Soulvent Records, UKF, Elevate Records, Vandal Records, and Pilot UK. IYRE’s work has earned widespread support from BBC Radio 1 UK, UKF, DJ Mag, Mixmag, Drum&BassArena, KISS FM UK, and Rolling Stone, among other leading voices in the scene.

One should expect such a sharp writer to pull no punches, however Imaad Majeed gives equal parts flowers and flames in this classically uncensored deep dive where they re-connect with an old creative co-conspirator and friend, Dylan Prins (FKA Larry T Hill).This episode shot by Riyal RiffaiImaad Majeed is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They are Director and Curator of the trilingual performance platform “KACHA KACHA”. They are one part of the artist collective “The Packet” and VJ/DJ of “Packet Radio” (SUPR FM). They enjoy making playlists, DJing as “imaDJinn”, and writing about musicians from Sri Lanka for international music blogs. They are Project Coordinator and Co-Curator of Thattu Pattu, a platform for music from the fringes of Sri Lanka. Their poetry has been published in “Out of Sri Lanka: Tamil, Sinhala and English poetry from Sri Lanka and its diasporas”, “CITY: A Journal of South Asian Literature”, as well as the local small-press chapbooks “Lime Plain Tea” and “Annasi & Kadalagotu”. Their artwork, in various mediums, has been featured at NeMLA, Tamil Studies Symposium, Queer Tamil Collective, Eternal Internet Brotherhood/Sisterhood, Theertha Performance Platform, Colomboscope, Chobi Mela, Art Dubai, Queer Arts Festival, Serendipity Arts Festival, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka, BuchBasel, and Spielart Theatre Festival, among others. They are presently working on “KANNOORU”, exploring Sri Lankan Sufi/Muslim identity, community, memory, erasure, ancestry and mysticism through sample-based music, a project supported by a grant from Experimenter’s Generator Co-operative Art Production Fund.

Featuring RINA. Nejmere, Megan Cope, Sirena Varma and Facilitated by Dylan Prins. The role of the artistic collective in the current arts landscape”. In today’s CALD arts scene, collectives are redefining collaboration, creativity, and community. This panel brings together artists to discuss the power of working collectively—how it fosters innovation, amplifies voices, and shapes the cultural landscape.Sirena VarmaSirena Varma is a multidisciplinary designer with a background in architecture and a decade of experience across graphic design, branding, and exhibition design. She co-founded Twig, an interdisciplinary collaborative offering flexible design solutions for global brands and academic institutions. Her commitment to community care and creative activism also led to Magan-djin Creatives for Palestine, a grassroots collective that unites local creatives in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Through projects like Blatt & Matonelli, Sirena’s work merges traditional practices with contemporary design, using interdisciplinary collaboration to explore identity, heritage, and the power of collective art making.Megan CopeA Quandamooka artist from Moreton Bay/Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). Her site-specific sculptural installations, video works, and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment and mapping practices. In 2024, she received the Creative Australia Award for Emerging and Experimental Arts and in 2017–19, she was the official Australian War Artist, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial. She is a member of Aboriginal art collective proppaNOW, recipients of the 2022–24 Jane Lombard Prize for Arts and Social Justice, and is represented by Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane.NejmereA Magandjin-based DJ and co-creator of Yalla Collective – an Eastern Mediterranean collective that focuses on community building and cultural exchange. She has been a member of our music scene for many years, first starting out at 4zzz and now DJing at clubs across magandjin and interstate. As a co-creator of Yalla Collective, Nejmere has felt what it means to create meaningful spaces together and the importance of this work.RINAA singer, songwriter, and poet from Far North Queensland, grew up on the ancestral lands of North-East Arnhem Land, planting her roots in Brisbane. Her soulful sound and captivating storytelling explore themes of love, vulnerability, and personal empowerment. Her music embodies divine femininity, encouraging women to honor their truth and follow the voice of their spirit with conviction. Recently, she released Heal Sistah in collaboration with SOLCHLD – a heartfelt love song dedicated to sistahs in need of extra love and support. As the co-creator of Soul Deep, RINA helps cultivate a space for creatives to explore decolonial and holistic practices, honoring connection, community, and healing through art.Dylan Prins, ModeratorThe Founder of Kaju Creative and the host of the Creator Tales podcast, which platforms underrepresented artists. “Kaju” is the South Asian word for Cashews which is probably also his favourite nut. Dylan was born in the UAE to Sri Lankan parents, grew up in Western Sydney, Australia, and completed a 4 year motherland stint in Sri Lanka prior to moving to Magan-djin / Brisbane in 2022. He rekindled his love for filmmaking in Sri Lanka after a 10-year break and started Kaju Creative in 2017 as a digital nomad at the time. He is also an audio engineer in broadcast radio, and closely connected with local community groups such as Pedal Party Magan-djin and Bring a Plate dance. Produced by Aleea Monsour + Eyal Chipkiewicz for Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC). Live stream feed by BEMAC. Podcast recording produced by Dylan Prins for Kaju Creative. https://bemac.org.au/event/bemac-discussions-why-collectives-live-and-streamed/

Roman MC is an award-winning artist, freestyle MC, and storyteller who has been performing on international stages and engaging with diverse audiences for over a decade. Alongside a career in higher education and award-winning outreach programs workshopping with primary and high school students around aspiration, pathways, and careers, Roman MC has engaged with diverse communities across Australia and abroad using creativity and self-expression as vehicles for the development of self-belief, resilience, and a growth mindset. As an active lead performer in nationally renowned acts like BULLHORN brass band and the breakthrough improvisation project Life On Earth, to the internationally-acclaimed urban circus 360 Allstars, Roman’s explosive freestyle rap performances have impacted audiences from Australia to Asia, and Europe - including sold-out solo performances at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland (Best Of Fest ‘18). Roman MC has also held the first formal tertiary education role of Rap Lecturer in South East QLD at JMC Academy Brisbane. As a storyteller and freelance filmmaker, Roman MC has made award-winning short films and documented the stories of global communities while empowering new storytellers teaching filmmaking at the University of Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology, while also empowering global communities across the Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and America through an innovative global storytelling tech startup (Folktale). Whether you are an aspiring artist experiencing a transformative one-on-one masterclass, a workshop participant at an arts festival, a school student embracing the power of showing up in life for a rewarding career, or an organisation building your team’s resilience and relationship in a fun and creative way - Roman MC is above all things a passionate human, encourager, and a champion of creative expression as a way of sharing one’s voice and story. Instagram Rollcall https://www.instagram.com/roman.is.alive/ https://www.instagram.com/kaju_creative/ https://www.instagram.com/dylanjprins/

This Creator Tales episode is going to be quite different. Instead of the signature session with Dylan hosting a conversation with one artist, this time we are throwing two artists on the table to meet and hold space themselves. It's rare to find improvisational performance artists and yet here are two in the same city who have never met. For our 25th Creator Tales podcast we wanted to capture this moment of these creative powerhouses meeting for the first time with a flowing, electric and deep conversation that only two artists like Roman MC and Huda the Goddess could have. Their two bios are listed here: Huda The Goddess is the 2022 Australia Poetry Slam Champion and two-time QLD champ. Huda is a spoken word poet, educator, mental health advocate, dancer and workshop facilitator. she describes poetry as one of her senses that has allowed her to turn her experiences into art. and maintain her connection to her people. Roman MC is an award-winning artist, freestyle MC, and storyteller who has been performing on international stages and engaging with diverse audiences for over a decade. Alongside a career in higher education and award-winning outreach programs workshopping with primary and high school students around aspiration, pathways, and careers, Roman MC has engaged with diverse communities across Australia and abroad using creativity and self-expression as vehicles for the development of self-belief, resilience, and a growth mindset. As an active lead performer in nationally renowned acts like BULLHORN brass band and the breakthrough improvisation project Life On Earth, to the internationally-acclaimed urban circus 360 Allstars, Roman’s explosive freestyle rap performances have impacted audiences from Australia to Asia, and Europe - including sold-out solo performances at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland (Best Of Fest ‘18). Roman MC has also held the first formal tertiary education role of Rap Lecturer in South East QLD at JMC Academy Brisbane. As a storyteller and freelance filmmaker, Roman MC has made award-winning short films and documented the stories of global communities while empowering new storytellers teaching filmmaking at the University of Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology, while also empowering global communities across the Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and America through an innovative global storytelling tech startup (Folktale). Whether you are an aspiring artist experiencing a transformative one-on-one masterclass, a workshop participant at an arts festival, a school student embracing the power of showing up in life for a rewarding career, or an organisation building your team’s resilience and relationship in a fun and creative way - Roman MC is above all things a passionate human, encourager, and a champion of creative expression as a way of sharing one’s voice and story. Instagram Rollcall https://www.instagram.com/roman.is.alive/ https://www.instagram.com/stories/hudathegoddess/ https://www.instagram.com/kaju_creative/ https://www.instagram.com/dylanjprins/

A multi-talented creative visionary, rapper, singer and writer, MUDRAT has gained acclaim for blending of punk, metal & hip-hop influences alongside passionate delivery & raw lyricism. Creating music that draws from his perspective of the world, life experience and cultural roots and political beliefs he has quickly cultivated a reputation for his versatility, raw energy & powerful live performances. IG Rollcall Mudrat Kaju Creative Host : Dylan Prins

Hailed as "one of the freshest feeling projects in Australian music right now" (Happy Mag), Meanjin/Brisbane cult favourite artist-activist Matt Hsu is a 2022 & 2020 QMA winning Taiwan-Australian composer, multi-instrumentalist, alt-orchestra leader and anti-racism activist. His project Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra is both his solo artist moniker and 24-piece orchestra underpinned by inclusivity, gender diversity, community-mindedness and DIY ethos. Matt’s mythos as an inimitable music auteur creating unpredictable and exquisite music way off Australia’s well trodden ‘indie path’, is rapidly snowballing with comparisons to genre-defying artists like Andre 3000 (both his Outkast and ‘what-even-is-music flute era), Cosmo Sheldrake, Shugo Tokumaru, Mid-Air Thief, and Alabaster DePlume, with the live presence of Kokoroko meets Polyphonic Spree — zig-zagging from whimsical ‘gnome-core’ bedroom pop, second-line horns, socially conscious collabs, found object soundscapes, to Studio Ghibli-esque sweeping symphonies, all imbued with distinctly ‘Matt Hsu’ sensibility. In solo artist mode, Matt uses the moniker Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra as his multi-instrumental exhaust valve, creating otherworldly music that celebrates difference and the juicy spaces between cultures, drawing from his ‘punk-trained composer’ roots as a founding member of beloved protest band The Mouldy Lovers. With a signature maximal-minimalism and uncanny hungriness for weaving found objects, odd instruments, eclectic collabs and DIY ethos into strange aural alchemy, Matt enraptures music lovers, musicians “who know” and audiophiles with an offbeat sense of adventure. The radically-inclusive 24-piece Obscure Orchestra gang might be Meanjin’s most eclectic lineup of alternative/experimental musicians, queer noise artists, indie figures, conservatorium defectors and hip hop luminaries; comprising of First Nations, BIPOC, disabled, neurodiverse, non-binary and trans artists. Surfacing as one of Australia’s most sought after projects (recently opening the 2024 QMAs) Obscure Orchestra challenges both the ‘white dudes with guitars’ indie music canon, and the pomp and formality of classical orchestras, bringing a fresh burst of joyful anti-colonial noisemaking, DIY spirit and POC-led diversity to the Australian music landscape. MHOO are steadily usurping cultural meccas like a trojan horse - a ‘really really big indie band’ in the vague outline of an orchestra, gleaming with alt-pop/ hip hop/weird folk/activist/noise experiment weirdness - gaining the attention of ABC’s Art Works and the ABC Classic 100. When Matt isn’t making sounds, he can be spotted in Meanjin floating on a handbuilt bicycle, craving ramen and Taiwanese fried chicken. IG Rollcall Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra Dylan Prins insta Kaju Creative insta

Sashi Perera is a Sri Lankan Australian comedian, writer and recovering lawyer. In 2023, she was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for her debut show 'Endings' which sold out its runs in Australia and the UK. The improviser and yarn spinner was featured as 'One to Watch' at the UK Funny Women Awards and hits stages around the world in 2024 with her second show 'Boundaries'. She is one of Australia's fastest rising comedians with over 50 million views on social media.  Links: https://www.instagram.com/sashbomb/ https://www.instagram.com/dylanjprins https://www.instagram.com/kaju_creative/ https://www.kajucreative.net/

Imraan Paleker is a songwriter, composer, producer and session musician based in London, UK. He primarily works as a session musician, co-writer and co-producer with UK based artists including Jordan Rakei, Barney Artist, Priya Ragu and a handful of others. As a session musician, Imraan has toured globally performing music he has written and produced for the past 15 years. He has also produced, released and toured his own music under his solo project "Street Rat", having released the self made EP "This Dance" and his debut album "Nothing As It Seems", demonstrating a powerful blend of modern soul and alternative rock with jazz and electronic sensibilities. Imraan was previously based in Brisbane, Australia where he worked non stop with many local artists as a session player and as a producer. He also worked as a session player for television composers and worked as a composer for a handful of contemporary art performances. https://linktr.ee/streetratmusic https://www.instagram.com/streetratmusic/ https://www.instagram.com/dylanjprins/ https://www.instagram.com/kaju_creative/