Hot on the heels of a very successful performance at The Woodford Festival, Wild Water recently sailed into Sydney as one of the premier acts at the annual Survival Concert.
So three years on, what is happening with Wild Water, the band who won Most Promising New Talent at the 1996 Deadly Sounds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Awards?
In short, heaps. And judging from their on stage performance on 26 January, heaps of personal and musical development as well.
They have been performing as support to international acts such as Maxi Priest, writng new material, marketing and selling their much acclaimed album BALTPA as well as touring. That’s just for a start.
Wild Water have been collecting a few high profile awards along the way as well, winning a Northern Territory Reconciliation for youth award earlier in 1997.
Pretty busy times for the reggae, funk, and rock fusion, that’s fast defining a new sound in Australian music and calling it Saltwater style.
Wild Water are an Indigenous and multi cultural masterpiece with members hailing from the South Pacific, Torres Strait Islands, Papua New Guinea, Central Australia as well as Arnhem Land.
And that cultural make-up takes the audience on a real journey. The live journey usually starts with the charismatic lead singer Djulpa performing the traditional Maningrida DIYAMU song.
The entire Wild Water live show is very Vibey.
‘We are very much about reconciliation and our music sings that and the structure of the band represents that,’ lead singer and Wild Water heartthrob Djulpa explains.
‘We are all people from different cultures coming together to make great music. And that is a lot of what reconciliation is all about, and a lot about what Wild Water is about too.’
Their debut album, BALTPA (1996) has received much acclaim in the Australian music industry, and the band has developed a loyal following up and down the East Coast of Australia.
This following could easily be seen by the huge audience response at the Survival Concert (for a complete Survival report read next months Deadly Vibe).
Developing an audience is so important for young Indigenous acts such as Wild Water, and a very difficult job as well. Audience development is an aspect of their music that the young proffessionals take a very mature view on.
‘When you are Darwin based, its not always just a matter of jumping in a van and taking off to do a gig. A tour to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane is a big and expensive deal,’ Djulpa explains. ‘Until audience actually see you perform, they are not committed to you and your music.’
So its gig and tours to build that Wild Water east coast audience.
‘Of course our NT fans are very important to us, and we always love performing up there.”
In 1998, Wild Water plans to do a tour of all members’ homelands. With the huge Wild Water cultural diversity makes for a very big job.
‘We are also planning to try and tour Europe and entrench ourselves in the World music scene. But we really have to make sure we have a strong home base first’ ‘We want to keep developing our own style, our Saltwater style.’
It’s more than worth a mention that Wild Water enjoys the support and professionalism of a tireless and dedicated manager Rose Pearse.
Well done Rose and well done Wild Water!
Left to Right: Phillip Eaton (Fiji), Noeletta Young (Alice Springs), Djulpa (Maningrida N.T.), Airi Ingram (PNG), Geoff Barrett.
‘Of course our NT fans are very important to us, and we always love performing up there.”
In 1998, Wild Water plans to do a tour of all members’ homelands. With the huge Wild Water cultural diversity makes for a very big job.
‘We are also planning to try and tour Europe and entrench ourselves in the World music scene. But we really have to make sure we have a strong home base first’ ‘We want to keep developing our own style, our Saltwater style.’
It’s more than worth a mention that Wild Water enjoys the support and professionalism of a tireless and dedicated manager Rose Pearse.
Well done Rose and well done Wild Water!
Above – Left to Right: Phillip Eaton (Fiji), Noeletta Young (Alice Springs), Djulpa (Maningrida N.T.), Airi Ingram (PNG), Geoff Barrett.
Comments are closed.