RISING 20, Running Touch 22, Outright + Maple Glider 24, The Curtin 26, Smith Street Band 27, Dr Lou Bennett AM

DR LOU BENNETT AM

Wurukur Djuanduk Balag – Ancestors Are Calling

Words by Christine Lan

Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung artist and academic Dr Lou Bennett AM has devoted her life to music and language.

Appointed as a member (AM) of the Order of Australia in 2019 for her significant service to the performing arts, music and Indigenous community, Bennett has been instrumental in recovering multiple Indigenous languages through the power of music. “A part of my whole purpose is to teach language through song,” says Bennett. “I sing about 15 different languages because of all the different compositions and different communities that I’ve had relationships with. English has its limitations, so being able to learn languages as much as I can while I’m on this earth – that’s my purpose.”

Alongside her own languages of Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung, Bennett speaks and sings in many other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages as well as Welsh, Spanish, Italian and French. Bennett’s PhD examined the importance of retrieving, reclaiming and regenerating Indigenous languages through songs, stories and performances. Her latest research project explores the use of song composition in rematriating Aboriginal languages to their respective communities. Bennett has revitalised the importance of embracing First Nations values and practices.

Inspiration to retrieve and regenerate Indigenous languages came from her grandmother. “When I was a kid, my nan lived with us and I remember every night she would speak beautiful, comforting language phrases to my sister and I,” says Bennett, “but she never used to speak a lot of it. I used to get so sad and so upset that we’d go to school, but we weren’t learning Yorta Yorta. It not only saddened me, but it drove me to ask why. Why aren’t we learning how to learn my language on my country? From a very early age, I’ve been driven by wanting to understand why that was so.” Bennett’s connection to country is profound and insightful. She speaks to her ancestors before every performance. “It’s so important for myself as a Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Warrung singer or woman of song to be able to connect with spirit,” says Bennett. “It reminds me every time I get on stage: remember who you are, remember where you come from, don’t get too big for your own boots, don’t boast – it’s about coming to something with humility and integrity and truth. When I’m having a conversation with my old people, I ask for guidance for presence of their knowledge. It reminds me every day to stay grounded, be respectful to the earth, and be respectful to every living being on this earth.”

Composed in multiple First Peoples languages by Bennett and making its debut at RISING, Wurukur Djuanduk Balag – Ancestors Are Coming is a profoundly moving work that responds to the cultural belongings of First Peoples held in the Melbourne Museum collections. Bennett invited a broad range of collaborators, including Uncle Herb Patten (Ganai-Kurnai, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri), Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy (Wurundjeri), Allara (Yorta Yorta), Deline Briscoe and Silo String Quartet. The languages that the poignant composition will be sung in are Dja Dja Wurrung, Yorta Yorta, Woiwurrung, and Gugu-Yalanji.

Kimberley Moulton – artistic associate of RISING and curator at the Melbourne Museum – came up with the beautiful idea for Moving Objects, a collection of new work by First Nations artists of all different disciplines – music, sound, spoken word, visual, dance – and Bennett was quick to accept Moulton’s invitation to be involved. “I feel very grateful to have been able to do that – to go and sit with objects or what the western world considers an object, an artefact, whether it be a stone, axe, a spearhead, a woven basket, a grinding stone, shields and digging sticks – and to respond to those particular pieces,” Bennett reflects. “For me it was a really beautiful moment to sit with the ancestors and to listen and respond with how I felt from holding these pieces, so it became quite a beautiful journey for me and for those I wanted to invite to be a part of that. This is the musical outcome of those visits with the old people.”

“The western world takes many things for granted,” says Bennett. “If we don’t take care of what is living and what is here, then nothing comes back in return. If we continually take, it depletes, and this is what we’re seeing – the evidence of that happening now with climate change and it’s because we’re consuming too much. When we start to honour and worship the dollar over life, then we’re in a very bad position. We know that we do need an economy to survive in this world, but we also need each other; we also need clean water, fresh air and good, healthy nutrients from the country – if we’re not looking after the country, then we can’t get that and that’s the basis. It stems from such a big circle of ideas and practices and knowledges that I know my old people have passed down to me and my other ancestors and community members: Look after the land like your family because it is our family, and in return she will provide for us.” Across more than 30 years, Bennett has inspired countless local and international audiences through the magnificent harmonies of fearless and acclaimed music trio Tiddas, as co-founder of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performing arts company Black “English has its Arm Band, and through her various roles as limitations, so singer-songwriter, musician, artistic and musical director, composer, actor, being able to soundscape designer and academic. learn languages “I never stick to one thing,” says Bennett. “I go where my heart takes as much as I can me. That tells me that I’m listening to my anceswhile I’m on this tors. I try my hardest to listen to my instinct and say I want to spend more earth – that’s time with that person, or I want to spend more time my purpose.” understanding what that means or how that will sound with my music – trusting my instincts and trusting my ancestors to guide me to places. I’ve tried different music, and I’m enjoying the relationships that I’m setting up now with classical musicians. I have, in a sense, more freedom. I can explore storytelling in a different way, and I can also utilise my ancient knowledges of First Nations people, Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung people, in my collaborations. I can come to those collaborations as myself without feeling that I need to either code-switch or jump to someone else’s tune. That’s a really beautiful transition and growth that I’ve been very blessed to have and experience. “That’s how I like to live my life: never push the river; always go with the flow,” Bennett muses. “We all need music. And when I say all of us, I mean every living being, not just human beings, but the birds every morning sing to us, and every evening when the sun sets, they sing their evening song. The insects, the cicadas, the crickets – they all have their own song, their melody, their language, their story. It’s embedded in the country; it’s a part of who we are, and we need it for our wellbeing.”

Wurukur Djuanduk Balag – Ancestors Are Coming by Dr Lou Bennett AM (Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung) is on at the Melbourne Museum on June 3 at 7:30pm as part of RISING.

CONFIDENCE MAN

From Blue Light discos to changing electronic music.

Words by Lucas Radbourne

Photography by Jamie Heath

Laser beams surround Confidence Man, but they’ve avoided every single one to become one of the most exciting Australian acts today. So what’s their secret? “Electronic music doesn’t have to take itself so seriously,” enigmatic frontwoman Janet Planet says. Her celestial name is one of the quartet’s four pseudonyms. Her vocal partner is ‘Sugar Bones’, while the other members – who remain hidden behind ghoulish cloaks – are referred to as ‘Clarence McGuffie’ and ‘Reggie Goodchild’; names stolen directly from graveyard tombstones. “Pseudonyms definitely give you more freedom,” Janet continues. “It’s just a bit weird. When we first created these names, it wasn’t to give us more confidence, it just happened naturally.

“A lot of us came from a guitar background, so we were looking at electronic music thinking you could combine elements of Talking Heads. We were trying to do electronic music that has a live music element to it, with dancing and costumes and all the things that I love that are in theatre. I watched Paris Is Burning, Grace Jones, all that kind of stuff.

“When I walked on stage I became this other person. It’s really weird because I’ve seen pop stars say the same thing; this isn’t who they actually are. It’s the same thing with me.” Confidence Man’s courageous aesthetic is Janet’s vision (“the boys let me have free rein”), but the music is a team effort. The quartet are a Brisbane sharehouse supergroup, made from members of The Belligerents, Moses Gunn Collective and The Jungle Giants. For Janet, familial ties abound; the band consists of her partner, her brother, and her best-friend, while her mother makes their costumes.

Unlike most supergroups, Confidence Man are unique. With imposing anthems like ‘First Class Bitch’ and intentionally awkward choreography, they formed in an attempt to revitalise Australia’s electronic music scene and so far, they’ve lavished in originality.

“I remember when I was a kid going to Blue Light discos, I always wanted a certain outfit that didn’t exist,” Janet continues. “Mum would make me them so I could go and hook up with the hot guys.

“The first few gigs we did were warm-up shows and I’d never even played in a band before. We were buying shiny gold outfits, doing ABBA covers and smiling lots. The feedback we received was that we were enjoying ourselves too much. So after that, we did the exact opposite. “It was in good contrast with the music. It was completely different.”

While their personas clashed with their outfits, their bouncy, guitar-driven electronica perfectly complimented Janet’s lackadaisical vocals. The strategy quickly proved a critical and commercial hit. Within a year of their first single, the quartet won Live Pop Act of the Year at the 2018 National Live Music Awards. The next year, their debut album Confident Music for Confident People, won the AIR Award for Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album. Success hasn’t affected the band’s intimate relationships, with Janet explaining “we’re probably all closer now because when you’ve been on tour with someone for six months, you know the good parts and the bad parts.” Still, for a meteoric success story, Covid should have been a career-halter.

Janet says it was a necessary productivity booster for the band’s acclaimed sophomore album, Tilt, which could easily be titled after the group’s unwavering desire to plunge full-tilt into their brash, confronting and exceptionally fun style. Tilt is all we’ve grown to know and love about Confidence Man, only more so, and the public agree; Tilt hit number seven on the ARIA charts (bettering the group’s debut by 24 places) and topped the UK Dance Chart. Unsurprisingly, Janet’s feeling confident.

“We had all our plans changed, we weren’t able to tour overseas, everything was pushed back and we were actually mildly relieved,” she says. “We’ve been chased up about our second album for so many years now so we finally had the chance to finish that off; it’s been surprisingly productive.

“Now that we’ve finished the second record, we know exactly what we’ll be doing. It’s kind of exciting…to be thinking about the fact that the record is done. Now we can [continue] working on the live show. I’m working on all new costumes at the moment…they’re very sparkly.”

Tilt is out now through I Oh You. Confidence Man are playing at Splendour In The Grass in July, and are coming to Northcote Theatre in August.

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