Meet The Legends At The New Label Bringing Indigenous Dub & Reggae To The People

It's no secret that metropolitan Australia could be doing a whole lot more for our rural communities, and particularly our predominantly Indigenous ones. 

While there has been an evident upswing in the amount of attention being paid to the country's far-flung townships and other isolated locales of late, and despite the organic growth of the internet and digital media as a viable platform for aspiring musicians, physical distance can still prove a challenge for an artist trying to get their music heard.

"What we found was that there was some great music being produced, but … we needed a distribution label to promote this fantastic new sound." — Ali MC

However, we also know that from adversity, ingenuity and innovation prosper, and the challenges of isolation have ripened the scene for the arrival of Manta Tutura, a recently formed record label and distribution services company whose name means "Beat of the land" in Ngaanyatjarra language. 

Founded by and for Anangu (indigenous) musicians, the label has grown out of a purpose-built studio, created by independent organisation Ngaanyatjarra Media (NG Media), in a small community in the Western Desert called Irrunytju. The community lives about 1700 kilometres east of Perth and near the 'tri-state border' of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

According to NG Media's Alister McKeich, aka Ali MC, the idea for the label developed out of a desire to see more recognition for the abundance of talent in the Western Desert — especially within the nascent genre of 'desert dub reggae' — that otherwise had been going untapped.

"What we found was that there was some great music being produced, but due to the distance and isolation — we're talking about some of the most remote communities in Australia — we needed a distribution label to promote this fantastic new sound — desert dub reggae," Ali told The Music.

"The idea came from a number of people and the name Manta Tutura … was given to us by one of the community elders." 

Noting that pioneering artists such as Warumpi Band and Gurrumul have "paved the way" for increased attention to Indigenous music, Ali says that, "unfortunately, it still seems to be a struggle for Indigenous musicians to get heard on the airwaves".

To that end, the empowerment and involvement of Anangu tjuta (all the people) is a core tenet of Manta Tutura's operations, with Ali explaining that even the studio itself was built — by a multicultural group — under the guidance of NG Media's board of Anangu elders. 

"We really want people to hear our language even if they can’t understand it; they can dance to it." — Chris Reid, Irrunytju Band

It's a song with a message, imploring the Anangu people "to give up 'ukiri'", Ali says, which is a Pitjantjatjara word "literally meaning 'green', referencing ganja". The label also put out a reggae tune, Kapi ("Water"), from the Irrunytju Band — a highlight of this year's Bush Bands Bash in Alice Springs — and they've got plenty more up their sleeves in the future as they continue their work to put a spotlight on the country's best-kept musical secrets.

"At this point we are concentrating on releasing some great reggae and dub songs from a variety of artists and bands," Ali explained. "The musicians would really like to see their music reach a wider audience both in Australia and internationally, as well as promoting the culture, language, and sense of community that exists in the Western Desert."

If you'd like to proactively help them do just that, check out the clip for Wirura Nyinama below, and get across all the channels on which you can connect with the talented team at NG Media and Manta Tutura, including their SoundCloud, Vimeo and Facebook pages, as well as NG Media's official website and the Indigenous Community Television YouTube channel.

To explore more of Manta Tutura's growing catalogue, check out their SoundCloud page.