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Interviews

Ahead of Jirrmujina Liyan at Darebin Music Feast next month, we caught up with Dani Sib for a chat

Next month, as part of The Darebin Music Feast, Dani Sib will be curating and producing Jirrmujina Liyan; a showcase of the greatness and power of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People through music.

With a stacked lineup featuring such names as Bricky B, Drmngnow, Kee Ahn, Kalyani, Maylene Slater Burns and Soju Gang, this is not an event you want to miss. So we caught up with Dani Sib to chat about the new event.

Photo: Naomi Lee Beveridge

Ahead of Jirrmujina Liyan at The Darebin Music Feast next month, we caught up with event’s curator and producer Dani Sib for a chat.

HAPPY: Hey, how are you? What are you up to at the moment?

DANI: I’m really well thanks, just trying to get everything organised for Jirrmujina Liyan and sort out my work schedule at the same time haha.

HAPPY: What exactly is the Jirrmujina Liyan show that you’ll be presenting at this year’s Darebin Music Feast?

DANI: So Jirrmujina Liyan is the Yawuru phrase for ‘Songs for Spirit’. As a proud Baad and Yawuru woman from the Kimberley in Western Australia, I wanted to share a little bit of my language with the First Nations peoples here. So the event is a showcase of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander musical artists and I’m really excited for the lineup of this event because I feel like all the artist’s music really fits well with the name of the event. I’ve either heard or seen these artists perform before and their music really hit me and made me feel strong and proud. I’m hoping that the audience will feel that same way on the night of the event!

HAPPY: What is the significance of the show?

DANI: First Nations Peoples are underrepresented in the music industry, yet we have so many amazing artists. Jirrmujina Liyan hopes to showcase just a little snippet of the amazing talent we have. The artists also have important messages about things from global warming to remembering that this is not crown land, this is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land that we live on.

HAPPY: Who are some of the acts to keep an eye out for during the event?

DANI: In terms of Jirrmujina Liyan, ALL OF THEM! Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen all of these artists perform before and they inspired me and made my Liyan feel good.

HAPPY: How did you come up with the idea to put together Jirrmujina Liyan?

DANI: So I was successful in my application for the AMPLIFY Mentorship program and this year it was focusing on wanting to amplify the voices of First Nations Peoples within Darebin. Even if this wasn’t the case and I got the mentorship I still would have made it an all Blak lineup. As an artist I’ve always been passionate about playing music but there’s never really that many opportunities to play with or alongside an all Blak lineup so I thought it’d be pretty cool to do that with this opportunity.

HAPPY: How does AMPLIFY address inequality in the music industry?

DANI: I think by creating an opportunity so that underrepresented or minority groups can put their ideas into and create an event supports us into breaking into the space and getting our names out there. You know a lot of us have these great ideas, and especially for me, I don’t really have the means in the monetary sense to put on something without a load of stress, so it’s been really great being selected to do this and gain more experience in the music industry.

HAPPY: What opportunities does AMPLIFY offer to music event producers?

DANI: We get to work with a mentor who has been in the industry for a while. In my case it’s Jessie Lloyd which has been really great. Jessie for me has been more someone I run my ideas past to make sure I’m on the right track and it’s a relief knowing I have someone with ample experience to be able to do that with. As I said before as well, it means we get more experience under our belt and for me, I have only ever created one event previous to this. So it’s nice to be able to do something again as I’m figuring out now that this is something I really enjoy doing and can actually see myself wanting to pursue this as a career in the future.

HAPPY: What is something you would ask viewers to take from the show?

DANI: I’d just ask that viewers leave the show thinking about the content and how it actually made them feel and respect the voices that are there.

Jirrmujina Liyan:
Saturday 27 October, 7pm – midnight
Northcote Town Hall, Main Hall, 189 High St, Northcote

More info here.