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All Hands on Deck By Juliette Brown Juliette Brown interviews local musicians on diversity and inclusion in the Canberra music industry. The local Canberra music scene is fertile ground for new artists, experimental sounds and for finding collab opportunities with different and creative talents in music, art, production and animation. Yet female, Queer, differently abled, BPOC and Indigenous artists still face a number of systemic barriers within the local music industry, which preclude exposure, innovation and the reflection of Canberra’s diverse cultural voices. I had the opportunity to chat with local experimental hip hop and RnB artist Ikenna Enyi, or Ike(from)Pluto, as well as the founders of Vessel, an inclusive DJ Collective that seeks to ‘dismantle systemic isms and phobias’, about their work in the Canberra music scene, hoping to gain some insight into its level of inclusivity, how far we have to go, and what venues and consumers can do to help break down the systemic inequalities in this space. Pluto raps, sings and produces, ‘as well as doing audio engineering for not just [himself] but other artists as well.’ When asked what kind of music he creates, he states, ‘I love to push the boundaries of what music is “supposed” to sound like and create authentic records. I pride myself in creating songs about my real life and the world around me. I feel like my music is very honest – I have a new single, ‘Kill Me Softly’ being released this month.’ Regarding his involvement in the Canberra music scene, he sees himself as ‘just as much a consumer as a creator, constantly trying to find the super talented unknown bedroom musicians in the city and show love to them.’ He comments: ‘I go to as many love shows as I can and I’m always putting my friends onto local artists. I also feel like I’ve
played a role in connecting Canberra musos with each other to work, as well as connected musos with local artists in other mediums as well. Other than that I have recorded with, mixed and mastered music for many talented Canberra artists including ChiefMaez, Partyateleven, Genesis Owusu and YNG Martyr just to name a few.’ This shows the benefits of a smaller local music scene, in which artists can feed off each other’s creativity, fostering community and collaboration. However, Dot, one of the founders of Vessel, mentions that this ‘insularity’ is also one of the problems with the Canberra DJ scene, which is male-dominated and primarily straight and white. These people then pass on their knowledge, opportunities and gear to their friends. This compounds issues of accessibility to expensive gear – ‘decks are often around $5000-10,000 and even beginner gear is around $400’. Niamh, another of the founders, mentions that this creates an echo chamber of the same kinds of representation, music and values, ‘replicating the same structures that have historically oppressed minorities’. This is one of the reasons why Joanne, Dot and Niamh decided to start Vessel just under a year ago. The extremely bright, colourful and switchedon trio of ANU students wanted to create a DJ collective focused on workshops and discussion, where people could share knowledge and space equally, with the freedom, tools, guidance and confidence to try out new things and play the music they wanted to play. They wanted to create a space in which women, BPOC, Indigenous and Queer DJs felt comfortable and didn’t feel like they were getting opportunities due to ‘diversity boxchecking’, or that the people giving them these opportunities didn’t really care about them or their music.
