Football duo open for Midnight Oil as first act from Womadelaide and Northern Sound System academy

Two indigenous Glenelg footballers will get to show their musical side when they open for one of Australia’s biggest international rock bands at Womadelaide as part of a new training program.

Indigenous footballers and musicians MRLN (Marlon Motlop) and RKM (Rulla Kelly-Mansell) will open for Midnight Oil as the first participants in the new WOMADelaide x NSS Academy. Picture: Keryn Stevens

SANFL footballers Marlon Motlop and Rulla Kelly-Mansell will showcase a different side of their talents when they open for Midnight Oil at WOMADelaide.

The pair, who play for Glenelg, are the first musicians in a development program launched by WOMADelaide and Northern Sound System.

The WOMADelaide x NSS Academy has selected 10 artists from First Nations and multicultural communities to take part in a year-round program of workshops and professional mentorships.

Darwin-born soul and R&B singer Motlop goes by the stage name MRLN while Kelly-Mansell, who was named Tasmanian Aboriginal of the Year in 2020, uses his initials RKM when he performs as a guitarist and rapper.

“Honour is an understatement – I don’t think there’s the words to express what it means to open for Midnight Oil,” Kelly-Mansell said.

“It’s a supercool opportunity,” added Motlop – who played five games for Port Adelaide in the AFL – about the concert, which will also feature Vika & Linda at King Rodney Park on March 6.

MRLN (Marlon Motlop) and RKM (Rulla Kelly-Mansell) will open for Midnight Oil as the first participants in the new WOMADelaide x NSS Academy. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Midnight Oil will perform with Vika & Linda at WOMADelaide in King Rodney Park on March 6. Picture: Daniel Boud

MRLN and RKM have already done sessions with singer-songwriter Felix Riebl from The Cat Empire, African-Australian hip-hop artist N’Fa Jones from 1200 Techniques and Brian Dubb, founder of artist management app Centralized.me.

“It doesn’t matter how musically sound or how talented you are … unless you do a program like this you are really going to be thrown into a hornets’ nest in terms of the industry,” RKM said.

Motlop and Kelly-Mansell first met as coaches at a national Indigenous football camp in Darwin, but didn’t realise their musical connection until they were both at Glenelg two years ago.

“Being Aboriginal, we draw on similar upbringings and emotions, and some of things that we’ve experienced,” RKM said.

“Rapping and playing the guitar has been a point of difference … not many people do it.

“I had a song that I wrote called Black Swan – I’m not a great singer, so I’d always wanted someone to sing the chorus. There’s a line at the end of the song that refers to Larrakia, which is Marlon’s mob up north, so it kind of made sense in my mind that he would sing the chorus.”

Marlon Motlop scores a goal for Glenelg against West Adelaide last September. Picture: Sarah Reed

Glenelg Football Club player Rulla Kelly-Mansell at the Bay Oval last year. Picture: Sarah Reed

Kelly-Mansell also said music had provided a therapeutic way for him to help deal with depression and his treatment last year for a rare form of testicular cancer.

“Music has always been the thing that bounces back, almost like a voice of reason, no matter what the situation is.”

MRLN, who also plays guitar and keyboards, said there had always been music at Motlop family gatherings.

“It’s just a natural progression for one artist in the hip-hop industry to find another artist in the rhythm’n’blues industry … I guess that’s what myself and Rulla have sort of done,” he said.

“The Motlop name is always connected with football, but if you went to a family get-together, there is always music playing, there are always guitars out.

“In our household there was a lot of soul and rhythm’n’blues mixed in with country music as well.”

Kenyan singer Elsy Wameyo will also take part in the new WOMADelaide x NSS Academy music industry training program. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

WOMADelaide director Ian Scobie said he was thrilled to join forces with NSS, the City of Playford’s industry training hub in Elizabeth,

“Over many years we have nursed an ambition to help build the future careers of young musicians,” Mr Scobie said.

Multicultural acts taking part in the academy will include Ugandan dancehall-reggae artist Jimmy Jamal Okello (aka Sokel), Liberian hip-hop artist Barnaba$, Kenyan hip-hop/soul singer-songwriter Elsy Wameyo, and Malaysian pop/soul artist Estee Evangeline.

Other Indigenous participants include Ngarrindjeri singer-songwriter Katie Aspel, Nukunu indie-folk artist Tilly Tjala Thomas, Pitjantjatjara rappers DEM MOB and fellow APY Lands hip-hop group Sonz of Serpent.

Tickets and further information at womadelaide.com.au