Mambali’s big sound at Bigsound

Award-winning indigenous octet Mambali is one of 150 acts at this year’s Bigsound music festival in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

Mambali is winning fans with its energetic style of music, sung in Nunggubuyu language. From left, back row, Don Nunggarrgalu, Preston Wurramura and Hamish Huddleston; middle row, Roderick Nundhirribala, Nickodemus Darcy and Brad Bara; front row, Dean Bar and Joseph Numamurdirdi. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

As the eyes and ears of the Australian music industry turn towards the Queensland capital this week, few of the 150 performing artists at the annual Bigsound music festival and conference have travelled farther than Mambali.

“We’re from Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory,” says singer Brad Bara. “It’s a pretty small community where we come from, only about 300 or 400 people.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the eight-piece band kicked off four nights of live music in the centre of Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley by opening a showcase of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander acts.

Its upbeat arrangements feature the traditional rock ’n’ roll instruments of drums, bass, key­boards and two guitars, as well as two vocalists and a dancer.

Now in its 18th year, Bigsound has emerged as a key event on the annual music industry calendar. It attracts hundreds of interstate and international visitors, all searching for the next great artists — and hit songwriters — of tomorrow.

While some of its peers are likely to be limbering up in anticipation of climbing the greasy ladder of the music business, the aspirations of the Numbulwar octet for this week are much more modest and straightforward.

“We want to share our music and our culture to everyone down here, and hopefully take some memories back home,” says Bara.

“Mambali is the name of a tribe back home, so it’s important for us to carry that name, especially for this band and the songs that we sing. They’re all connected through songlines, and through family as well.”

Between two more perform­ances booked for Wednesday and Thursday night, the musicians are aiming to catch some new sounds themselves, with a special interest in cheering on fellow Territory group Black Rock Band. Then it’s on to Alice Springs for the Bush Bands Bash, followed by a two-week tour through the desert as part of the Sand Tracks program co-ordinated by Country Arts WA to visit country these eight saltwater men have never seen before.

Last month in Darwin, Mambali was named the inaugural winner of the Archie Roach Foundation award at the National Indigenous Music Awards, where it received $2000 and mentoring from industry professionals. Its Bigsound performances, then, come as the band is cresting a wave of interest that began late last year with an appearance at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria.

“Meredith broke them because suddenly they were in front of 10,000 people who had no idea who they were — but these guys just cranked the best set, and I think that put them on the map for WOMAD (in March),” says Mich­ael Hohnen, creative director at Darwin-based record label Skinnyfish Music.

With plenty of songs already recorded, the next step for Mambali and Skinnyfish is deciding how to package its energetic style of music, most of which is sung in Nunggubuyu language.

“There’s an album’s worth of material, but a lot of work goes into every song, so we’re being careful that we don’t do too much and try to concentrate it,” says Hohnen.

As for how he prefers to describe the eight-piece group to the uninitiated at Bigsound this week, Hohnen has a hot line that even rhymes: “They’re a party band from Arnhem Land,” he says with a smile.

Beginning on Wednesday morning with a keynote address from Bethany Cosentino, the frontwoman of US indie rock group Best Coast, the two-day conference is packed with informative panel discussions. One forum is bluntly titled Why Should Media Give a F..k About Australian Music?, while another posits an equally provocative query familiar to many artists: Why Isn’t My Music Making Me Money?

Once the sun sets, 18 venues throughout Fortitude Valley will host performances by the likes of pop singer-songwriter Tones and I — whose song Dance Monkey has held the No 1 position on the ARIA singles chart for five consecutive weeks — as well as Adelaide rock band Bad//Dreems, Brisbane artist Sycco and Canberra quartet Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.

While some of these performers aren’t quite at the level of being household names, that’s something they’re each hoping will change after this eventful week.