about wah

Wild At Heart supports artists who experience injustice and exclusion through visible and invisible disability. We help create original music which challenges artistic expectations, leading change for access and equity in music culture, industry and society.

Wild At Heart is a vibrant creative community of songwriters, singers, musicians, performers, bands, hip hop crews, film makers, dancers, event makers, project managers, volunteers, staff and directors.

Wild At Heart is committed to being an organisation led by artists and other contributors with lived experience of disability. Artists and others with lived experience are Board members, leaders, staff members, tutors, program managers, participating artists, volunteers, interview panel members and more. All those engaged in Wild At Heart are invited to contribute to the governance, management and creative direction of the organisation.

Wild At Heart is built on welcome and access. Firstly by creating friendship, trust and intimacy amongst people who commonly experience being loneliness and stigma. Wild At Heart creates a space where it’s safe to share, to be creative and to share their life experiences and learn the skills to shape these into beautiful, powerful songs.

Wild At Heart helps to break down barriers to arts making for people with disability by ensuring they are in charge of the process in setting their goals, influencing the shape of programs and leading the organisation’s direction. WAH carefully selects and trains a cohort of professional artists to mentor artists, ensuring authentic and self determined music making.

We know from our own impact measurement and the extensive body of international research that music making in itself, and even more so as part of a community, is hugely positive for mental well being, friendship and belonging, physical health, economic and cultural quality and representation.

Wild At Heart anthem music video

Wild At Heart is a not-for-profit Australian Company. We are governed by a Board of Directors and guided by an Advisory Group made up of the artists we work with. Our team of project managers and artists run and deliver our artistic programs.

meet the team

Phil Heuzenroeder

ARTISTIC & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Phil is our conductor, leading the vision and making sure everyone’s got a part in it. His passion is to tap into and elicit that powerful human capacity to make stuff up, to be original, make music, make dance and tell stories in order to bridge the immutable boundary between one human and another.
Tamara Issa

PROGRAM MANAGER
Tamara is deeply passionate about music and dedicated to social advocacy. Her experience working in disability and mental health support gives her an insight into the changes needed within society. As our hip hop Program Manager, she combines her love of music with community outreach, striving towards equity for all artists. Tamara is a singer-songwriter and musician in Australian band Obscura Hail.
Laura Hudson

PROJECT ADMINISTRATOR
Laura administers our music programs, wrangling the documentation and numbers to make sure everything’s ticking along nicely. She is a songwriter who uses her classical voice and theatre backgrounds to strengthen her storytelling. Laura is a neurodivergent person who draws on her empathy for people who also experience mental illness and disability in her work.
Domini Forster

FINANCE MANAGER
Domini's long-standing connection with WAH has seen her manage our Songwriting program for 2 years before taking on her role as Finance Manager. With a passion for storytelling as meaningful connection and the nourishment of spiritual wellbeing, Domini is a songwriter and performer. She has recently collaborated and toured nationally with the ARIA Award-winning Lior, with her new solo album slated for release in 2025.
Rhys Renwick

LIVE MUSIC MANAGER
Rhys is a musician and disability advocate with 10 years experience in songwriting, events and performance across Melbourne venues. Highly knowledgeable in navigating the challenges in live music faced by our artists, through his own lived experience with physical disability. His passion for rock and roll is matched by his desire for greater inclusiveness.
Simon Karis

COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Simon J Karis is a composer, designer and manager with 20+ years experience in artist liaison, events, production and marketing. With a profound functional understanding music and its industry, Simon is a wealth of information and assistance. Simon assists WAH and its artists in proudly representing their work by integrating and expanding their potential audience.
Tim Karmouche

LABEL MANAGER
Tim merges his two great passions at WAH, supporting others and music, with 15 years of extensive industry experience as a performer, songwriter, producer and label manager. As a member of The Murlocs, Tim has recorded extensively and toured successfully internationally, which assists our artists directly with his wealth of experience. As a trained mental health support worker and psychosocial recovery coach, Tim’s capacity is perfectly paired to assist WAH’s artists.