Australian rocker Dan Sultan has spoken out against indigenous stages and segregation in the music industry
AUSTRALIAN rocker Dan Sultan has spoken out against indigenous stages and segregation in the music industry.
AUSTRALIAN rocker Dan Sultan has spoken out against indigenous stages and segregation in the music industry.
Sultan, whose latest work Blackbird debuted at No. 4 on the ARIA album chart last month, told Confidential: “I don’t agree with indigenous stages (at music festivals). Either you’re good enough, or you’re not. The first time I played the St Kilda Festival, they put me on the world music stage. I’m in a rock and roll band.”
The two-time ARIA Award winner added: “I think people’s hearts are in the right place, but at the end of the day, it’s segregation. I don’t think people are inherently racist, but having an indigenous stage is misguided.”
Sultan will always be heartbroken about seeing Archie Roach and the late Ruby Hunter getting dressed in “a marquee, ankle deep in mud” at a major music festival because “no one on the indigenous stage had a change room”.
Sultan’s comments came at a call for nominations for the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) at Federation Square yesterday.
DAN SULTAN HEADLINES NATIONAL INDIGENOUS MUSIC AWARDS
Former AFL footballer and director of Payback Records, Nathan Lovett-Murray showcased a new rap act, Miss Hood.
The NIMA event, to be held in Darwin on August 15, will pay homage to Lovett-Murray’s role in promoting indigenous hip hop.
Lovett-Murray said: “To be recognised at a national event is great. Indigenous hip hop is an untold story that deserves to be shared with the world.”
People can nominate artists for the NIMAs at nima.musicnt.com.au