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.'
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.
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.'
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