Think you know First Nations music? This block party will blow your mind

Soju Gang was probably always destined to become a DJ.

“When it comes to blackfellas, we grew up listening to everything. We grew up to blues, Motown jazz, but then heavy metal, rock, rap, hip-hop. Some people like folk music, some people get into more electronic music as well.”

Artists Nimkish, Amos Roach and Sky Thomas with YARRAMBOI co-lead Sherene Stewart at rear.Credit: Justin McManus

But, she says, music by First Nations artists is often “pigeonholed into either a very specific rock sound or hip-hop R&B”.

Soju Gang – real name Sky Thomas – hopes to shift that perspective. She’s producing the Uncle Archie Roach Block Party at this year’s YIRRAMBOI festival of First Nations artists.

The block party will take place on May 10 across three CBD venues and feature more than 30 musicians and DJs, with acts ranging from neo-soul punk (DANCINGWATER) and glittery indie pop (Jem Cassar-Daley) to bad girl rapper Miss Kaninna.

Rapper Miss Kannina is among the eclectic array of acts playing at The Uncle Archie Roach Block Party.

Then there are the international artists such as Kwakwaka’wakw/Cree vocalist Nimkish and her trashy bedroom pop, Canadian duo PIQSIQ, whose elaborate live looping of Inuit throat singing defies written description, and up-and-coming Kiwi DJ sensations Katayanagi Twins.

Thomas travelled to last year’s International Indigenous Music Summit in Toronto as part of the YIRRAMBOI team. “We were there to showcase who we are and what we do, but it was also a way for me to properly interact with other First Nations artists across the waters.”

It was a chance to learn more about the practices of other artists and see them perform, she says, but just as important were the stories behind the music. “It’s not just like, ‘Oh, I like their sound, that’s it.’ It’s about who people are and what they offer. When it comes to First Nations people globally, we are not a monolith. Everybody has their own specific story to tell.”

Stories can overlap, however. While in Canada, the YIRRAMBOI team met Leonard Summer, the Anishinaabe singer-songwriter who weaves together breezy hip-hop with folk instrumentation and country ambience. When Archie Roach’s name came up, says Thomas, Sumner began pulling out pictures, saying: “I know exactly who it is. Here’s me at his house.”

Thomas can relate. Her grandfather’s brother played for Coloured Stone, her grandmother’s brother for Warumpi Band. “I used to get dragged to the Roachs’ house all the time to be babysat,” she laughs.

Canadian duo PIQSIQ will astound with elaborate live looping of Inuit throat singing at the Uncle Archie Roach Block Party.

It’s why she has been determined not just to push the hottest new talents but to hold them up alongside the trailblazers. “We had to have a lot of our older artists because of the social and political climate that existed in the times that they were first creating music. These artists were told by radio stations and record companies that nobody wants to listen to blackfellas on the radio.”

That’s why Legend Kutcha Edwards will be playing at this year’s Block Party. So will Uncle Archie and Ruby Hunter’s son, Amos Roach.

It’s in keeping with this year’s festival theme of “Futures, Past”. YIRRAMBOI co-lead Sherene Stewart says the festival “is a gift to our future generations. It’s that continuation of the legacy that we have inherited from seniors and elders, and the path that we’re forging in that space, too, and what we’re leaving for the next generation so that they can stand on the shoulders as we do for our past”.

In an industry dominated by algorithms that serve us up more of what it thinks we already like, it’s refreshing to see a festival line-up so radically eclectic. “It’s not just about picking up a show and going, ‘Oh yeah, this is really cool, it might sell tickets.’ No, it’s really deeply rooted in purpose. The thing that we ask ourselves is: what is the purpose of YIRRAMBOI right now, in the now?” says Stewart.

“It’s also acknowledging that First Nations artists work through all different practices. They might be a musician, but they might also be a visual artist or performing artist. That’s another thing that we like to foster in YIRRAMBOI, not siloing our artists into one genre or one practice,” says Stewart.

The digital era does offer unprecedented opportunities for First Nations artists to bypass the old gatekeepers of old – those dismissive record companies probably don’t exist today – but Thomas says that this year’s Block Party offers something more.

“If you’re hearing a song, you’re hearing a song. But if you’re watching Uncle Kutch live, to hear what these songs are about and his stories, and to see how he lights up when he sees certain people walking through the crowds, that is such an important connection. Music is great individually, but I think it’s far more powerful when it’s experienced as a communal thing.”

YIRRAMBOI runs from May 1-11. The Uncle Archie Roach Block Party is on May 10 at Section 8, The Toff and Golden Square.

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