Fresh off curating Australia’s inaugural festival celebrating First Nations musical talent, First & Forever, Briggs is intent on keeping the conversation going, and is calling out for all festivals, to follow suit.
Briggs, aka Adam Briggs, takes multi-tasking to the next level, known best for his rap, record label, comedy writing (he has worked with Matt Groening on Disenchantment), and acting, he can now add festival curator to his belt, was pivotal in bringing the First and Forever festival to Hanging Rock.
The inaugural festival held at the Gathering Place, Hanging Rock, in Victoria, was a celebration of Blak excellence, featured, Baker Boy, Budjerah, Jessica Mauboy, King Stingray, Thelma Plum, and Dan Sultan, alongside some of the most progressive songwriting talents Australia has to offer.
Putting his values upfront, Briggs placed his entire ethos into the festival and was guided by what is important to him, to lead the process.
In a recent interview with the Brisbane Times, Briggs opened up about what he would like to see going forward when it comes to the music scene. “I knew the idea of putting this together was going to move the needle and put other festivals on notice about their inclusion of Indigenous artists, you know what I mean? There’s no excuses, we just put on a whole day, and we had too many”.
When asked about the progress that is being made in terms of greater visibility for Indigenous artists, Briggs responded, “Honestly, I think blackfellas are making their own way. And the audiences, especially over the last five years: they’ve grown up differently. They’ve had different experiences, so they’re way more receptive to Indigenous stories and Indigenous artists. We’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s much better than when I was coming up, know what I mean? When there were only token stages and token spots, filling the quota.”
For those of us, that didn’t get the chance to travel to VIC, luck has it, the ABC filmed First & Forever, which you can catch on iview from Wednesday and on ABC on Thursday, December 22, at 8.30pm.
