On a school excursion to the beach Eliza Hull remembers her Wodonga teacher ensuring she could get down to the ocean in her wheelchair.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The former Wodonga High School student, then aged 13, had been nervous about the trip.
Diagnosed at five with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve disease that impacts movement mostly in the arms and legs, Hull had used a wheelchair for some time.
"My teacher Mr Fox helped me get down on the sand where I could splash in the water with the others," she said.
"It was a turning point because the other kids started seeing disability as not something to be feared but instead something that could be fun."
On the flip side, there were times she was excluded at school such as in physical education classes when all she could do was watch her peers.
Today the award-winning musician, writer and disability advocate said there had been many changes since her school days.
"We've all become better educated about disability and diversity," Hull said.
"It took me a long time to identify as having a disability because of the lack of representation in the media and in movies."
Now married and raising children of her own at Castlemaine, Hull had honed in on her musical career during the past few years.
In December she released her fifth studio EP, Here They Come, which featured Running Underwater, the exquisite song portraying disability that she performed on ABC's Q&A.
Produced by Pip Norman (Baker Boy, Missy Higgins), Hull said she was proud of the record, which represented an ongoing passion for championing the unseen.
"I'm a musician with disability and am passionate about making change so that future generations can see themselves represented and know what's possible," she said.
"Running Underwater is completely about my disability and growing up in Wodonga; it's all of the feelings that came with that as a child and growing up as a teenager.
"It can feel like you're running under water; also the weight that lifts with self-acceptance."
Shining a light on disability, Hull wrote a children's book Come Over To My House with Australian Children's Laureate Sally Rippin in 2022.
Her podcast series on parenting with a disability, We've Got This, was one of Radio National's and ABC Life's most successful series while her book of the same name, We've Got This: Stories By Disabled Parents, was the first major anthology by parents with disabilities.
Now Hull will return to the Border to share her new and old music in a performance with her full band at The Cube Wodonga on Saturday, February 24, from 7pm.
The new album features co-writes with Gordi and Odette.
"When you have a disability you can feel ignored and stared at, at the same time," Hull said.
"It's an interesting space to be in and both Gordi and I could relate to it."
Having toured Britain for five weeks last year including a placement at Brighton festival, The Great Escape, Hull said she relished the songwriting workshops with emerging artists with a disability.
She will run her first songwriting workshop in Australia at The Cube Wodonga on Sunday, February 25, from 11am, in partnership with APRA AMCOS.
Open for anyone but designed for people with disability in mind, it will cover collaborative rhythm making, lyric writing, melodic hooks, writing to a brief and song structure.
Bookings for the show and workshop are available at The Cube Wodonga or online at thecubewodonga.com.au.
Hull's support artist for the show would be Border musician Josh Campbell.
