Arnhem sisters doing it for themselves
Getting nine-piece rock act Ripple Effect Band on the road is no small endeavour, but its hunger for taking its songs to the people is of a piece with the band’s goal of breaking down gender barriers.
Getting nine-piece Arnhem Land rock act Ripple Effect Band on the road is no small endeavour, but its hunger for taking its songs to the people is of a piece with the band’s origins to break down gender barriers.
Established in 2017 in the NT community of Maningrida, the group’s intention was to reignite a passion for music that was sparked in its younger members at school, but had been extinguished due to Indigenous cultural restrictions that prevented women from travelling with men. Their solution? Create a women’s band, so that these sisters had the space and time to do it for themselves, without restraint.
Having recently released its debut album Mayawa, the group will perform these songs – which have a reggae-rock feel with beautiful vocal harmonies, sung in English and several traditional languages – on a 10-date run of east coast shows starting on November 7 in Sydney and ending in Geelong on November 25.
Everywhere they perform, these nine women are inspiring the next generation of daughters, mothers and sisters. At a recent concert in the NT town of Tennant Creek, young girls watched wide-eyed from the front row as they drank in the confidence of their elders.
“When they see us on stage, they want to make their own band and start to be like us,” said bassist, songwriter and album co-producer Tara Rostron. “When we feel confident on the stage, that’s how they feel strong, and that’s how they’re going to be strong and show the others when we’re not there. Keep going; keep showing the others, through teaching.”
Guitarist, songwriter and band manager Jodie Kell – who first worked in Maningrida as a music teacher in 2001 – is among the nominees at the Australian Women in Music Awards, to be held in Brisbane on Wednesday night. She is a finalist in the humanitarian award category, which recognises significant contributions in assisting female artists in remote communities.
“We’ve made some big steps over the past eight years since the band started, but there’s still an incredible amount of gender inequality in the Australian music industry,” said Kell. “You look at rock bands and it’s all blokes, all the time.”
Ripple Effect Band, she said, is “not about being really big and famous. We wanted to control the music. It’s our perspective: write the songs, play the songs, and produce the album. We tour with kids; we work around everybody’s commitments. This band is a community, really.”
Rostron agreed: “We like to inspire the girls and young women to be strong and healthy; we want to inspire them to be a good role model … for the people; for the community.”
On Wednesday night, the fifth annual Australian Women in Music Awards ceremony will include performances from artists including Kasey Chambers, Sarah Blasko, Sarah McLeod and opera soprano Nina Korbe.
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