Mixing EDM & Manikay To Touch The Heart Of The Country

In 1991 Yothu Yindi blew up internationally with a club remix of their protest song Treaty by Filthy Lucre, Melbourne DJ Gavin Campbell's vehicle. The iconic Arnhem Land collective now has an adventurous new electronica spin-off - Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project.

Returning are longtime members Witiyana Marika on vocals and bilma (clapsticks), Malngay Yunupingu on yidaki (didgeridoo), and bassist Stuart Kellaway. They're joined by blues singer Yirrmal (Marika's son), vocalists Yirrnga Yunupingu and Constantina Bush (the cabaret alter ego of Kamahi Djordon King), multi-instrumentalist Ania Reynolds (Circus Oz' moonlighting music director), and guitarist Megan Bernard. Campbell is the electronics guy. "It's a short-form electronic version of Yothu Yindi," explains Kellaway. "So it's not the full band. But it's a different spin on it. It's very contemporary."

Kellaway and Yirrmal are calling from the ABC Studios, where Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project are to jam on the radio program The Friday Revue. Yirrmal is a bona fide ABC star, his recent performance of Spirit Of Place (co-written with Goanna's Shane Howard) riveting Q&A viewers. Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project officially premiered at Strawberry Fields, a rave. Kellaway quips, "[For] some of the young fellas straight outta Arnhem Land, it'll be a shock, that's for sure!" Yirrmal erupts into laughter.

Back in 1986, two bands - one Indigenous, the other white - unified to form Yothu Yindi in the Top End. The late Doctor M Yunupingu - educator, activist and musician - became their engaging frontman. Yothu Yindi merged its Indigenous members' Yolngu traditions with rock. Astonishingly, they toured North America with Midnight Oil before signing to Mushroom Records.

Doctor M Yunupingu wrote Treaty in response to the Australian Federal Government's reneging on a promise by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1988 (known as the Barunga Statement) to initiate a treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Campbell, his Razor Records sponsored by Mushroom, remixed the track on spec. The ensuing Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix) rocketed up the Australian charts and was a US club hit. It rightfully scored the ARIA for Single Of The Year over Daryl Braithwaite's The Horses. In 2012 Yothu Yindi were inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. Last year, Campbell assembled a remix package to mark the 25th anniversary of the first authentic tribal house anthem.

Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project will also perform at Homeground, a free Sydney Opera House event celebrating First Nations culture. Says Kellaway, "It's gonna blow people away, our set, because it's a combination of that really good electronic music with lots of [Yolngu] manikay traditional songs and traditional instruments - all live." Yirrmal feels that Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project's "positive songs" will resonate with young people, engendering understanding and furthering reconciliation. "There is a river, and we can build our bridge." Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project have secured a special guest in Shane Howard, whose seminal Solid Rock is about to get EDMed.

For Yirrmal, Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project is bound up with his heritage. "This band is pretty much a family, you know?" He welcomes being able to follow Indigenous musicians like Jimmy Little, Warumpi Band and Archie Roach, travelling and telling stories about his country. "We can build that legacy towards the next generation and keep telling the white people in Australia about what we're sharing."

In 2017 Australia is the only Commonwealth country that hasn't recognised its Indigenous people constitutionally - Malcolm Turnbull lately rejecting a proposed referendum to introduce an advisory body. Coming from the small community of Yirrkala, Yirrmal is more vested in the cultural than the political. "Look, I'm just a young Yolngu fella going into a bigger Western music world," he begins. "My role is to share the story and try to inspire the white people [about] what's deep in this country - the core or the backbone of this country... No doubt, I play around a lot and a lot of people come up to me and say, 'Hey, can you lead us?' I'm not a political person, but my heart is so sweet - like I can sing and touch the heart and take you to that place where we're going to."

Kellaway believes that Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project can continue to raise awareness. "Our role, I guess, is just to talk through our music and let people know what's going on with the treaty," he posits. "People voted 'yes' a couple of days ago for Australia [in the marriage equality plebiscite] and hopefully it's gonna be 'yes' for a treaty soon."

Aside from Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix), Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project's show includes other freshly remixed classics - such as Djapana (Sunset Dreaming) (covered by Birdz for triple j's Like A Version), Mabo and Timeless Land. However, they've also prepped new songs - Yirrmal writing Warwu to honour both Doctor M Yunupingu and Doctor G Yunupingu, who played in Yothu Yindi early.

And Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project will be releasing music. They've cut a hip hop rendition of Treaty with buzz rapper Baker Boy. In January Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project will play Sydney's Enmore Theatre alongside The Herd. And beyond that? "We're just going with the flow at the moment," Kellaway says. "We're seeing how well received this project is. Then we're gonna assess it and maybe get some of the other original members back from the band and take it further. But obviously people haven't forgotten about us. And, with all the new fellas in the band now, it's fantastic."