Aboriginal musicians doing it tough
Aboriginal musicians struggle to get their music played, one barrier being the large distances in remote Australia.
Deadly Sounds is a radio programme trying to give Aboriginal music more airtime.
While there are plenty of Aboriginal musicians playing all sorts of styles only a fraction of them get the rewards and airplay they want.
Attitudes, physical distance, training and education are among the significant barriers that prevent Indigenous artists from reaching wider audiences [1].
"If I knew you were Aboriginal, I wouldn't have booked you," a promoter told musician Dr Mark Bin Barker [1].
Little to virtually no Aboriginal music is broadcast in Australia. Volunteer-run community stations play 4% Aboriginal music, the ABC less than 2%, and commercial radio only 0.14% [1].
Consequently Indigenous musicians are disenfranchised at every stage—training up, playing live, recording, airplay, distribution, equipment access, production and touring.
With 27% of Aboriginal people living in remote locations, the distance to gigs and the costs associated with this mean they rarely reach the spotlight.
We need to work with broadcasters to open the airwaves to more quality Indigenous content. —Mark Bin Bakar, Aboriginal musician [1]
Deadly Sounds
In 1993 Gavin Jones founded Gavin Jones Communications Vibe out of a deep interest in Aboriginal music which still carries him today.
"Back then about the only Indigenous band people recognised were Yothu Yindi, and I knew there was so much more. So I bit the bullet and started the radio show Deadly Sounds," he reveals [2]. ('Deadly' means 'great, wonderful'.)
For the first anniversary of the radio program he awarded the best musicians, a celebration which became the well-known Deadly Awards, for which 29,000 people voted in 2010 [2]. The first Deadlys was at Boomalli, an art gallery, in 2010 it was at the Opera House with live SBS coverage.
In 1995 Gavin started publishing about Aboriginal music with the Deadly Vibe magazine.
I never thought [Deadly Sounds] would go as far as it has. It just underlines how much our own people—and the rest of Australia—have been starved of legitimate positive images and stories about Indigenous peoples. —Gavin Jones, founder of Deadly Sounds [2]
Tip Explore Aboriginal musicians in my resources section!
[1] 'Odds stacked against Indigenous musos', Koori Mail 478 p.63 [2] 'The Man behind the Deadlys', Koori Mail 485 p.21