Ahead of a massive performance as part of Brisbane Festival, Gavin Campbell of Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project chatted to Tone Deaf about the resurrection of one of Australia’s most beloved indigenous bands. Here’s what you can expect from their show at The Tivoli, as well as what’s next for the group.
TD: Obviously a lot of people have credited you with bringing Yothu Yindi their original international success with your remix of Treaty. Did you ever expect it to become as big as it did?
Gavin: Look, no, not really. I knew that it was going to work because it just – the idea obsessed me, when I realised that Yothu Yindi were signed to Mushroom. I was also signed to Mushroom, I just targeted that.
I said to the head of A&R, “Can I please hear the catalogue of this band?” I just had this vision. I knew it was going to work but there’s no way I could have envisaged that the song would be getting more and more popular.
That’s the reason why I came up with the idea to approach the band for me to licence Treaty again, for the 25th anniversary remixes. It was getting more popular as the years went by because we’ve got an incredible outdoor music festival scene in summer.
TD: Obviously as you said, bringing the group back together and also the new remixes 25 years later. In terms of regrouping, was that all inspired just by the 25th anniversary or did that just coincide?
Gavin: It all came from the 25th anniversary remixes. Elliott from Strawberry Fields started talking to us back when they were released. but it took Yothu Yindi and I another full 12 months to get our heads around how we’d do this, they wanted a live Treaty moment.
So, it didn’t happen in 2017 for Strawberry Fields. We talked a lot with Elliott and a couple of other promoters like Queenscliff Music Festival about what they would like to see on stage and how many people. And so, we figured it’s going to take 12 people on stage.
TD: This Brisbane Festival show promises an electronic twist and a cross-generational cultural celebration. A lot of people on stage are younger members of the indigenous community. Was that important to you, to give these younger artists a chance and have them be a part of this?
Gavin: It was actually the genesis of the idea. Elliott reached out and with that in the back of my mind, I then went home to Geelong for a weekend and my sister said to me, “Oh, there’s a guy who’s connected to Yothu Yindi performing and his name is Yirrmal.”
Lo and behold, Yirrmal is the son of Witiyana Marika who is actually one of the founding members. There were three founding members – Witiyana, Stu Kellaway, and Doctor M who passed about five years ago.
I saw them (Yirrmal and Witiyana) on stage together and they did Treaty. I’m now thinking, “Oh my god, I can see the future.” I had Elliott’s request in the back of my mind and I thought this is perfect. Because I know in indigenous communities there can be three generations of the one family on stage performing together, and it quite often is.
I knew that Doctor M’s daughter was also a folk singer. Our guitarist now is Roy Kellaway – Stu Kellaway’s son. So, we’ve actually got kids of the three founding members in our band and I love it.
TD: Do you think it’s fitting to have family members performing with the group, especially in the space of Doctor M?
Gavin: I’m particularly rapt to have Dhapanbal. She’s representing family. She’s representing clans. She’s representing Yolgnu women who have never really toured music.
She’s really very charming with her devotion to the culture, we’ve made her and Yirrmal our spokespeople, so they talk in between songs. She talks about her dad a fair bit and of course, Yirrmal is onstage with his dad.
TD: You’ll be performing some brand-new material at Brisbane Festival. Is it likely that we’ll be seeing any of that released in the near future?
Gavin: Yes, with the electronic twist, what we decided to do was basically remix what I think were the best Yothu Yindi songs for this show.
So, I gathered a bunch of producer mates and everybody basically remixed the songs with me or went off to their own studios and did it. One of those mixes is for “Tribal Voice” by Phil Kaye and Luke Chable. It’s just so bloody good that it needs to be heard.
We also created songs for the young singers, so they could all have their own song to sing. Dhapanbal has one called “Gurtha” about her personal journey as a Yolngu woman – and her totem. Yirrmal has another really amazing ballad called “Waawo” which is a song about one of the spirits in the sky.
And the third original song is a house track called “Firewalker” that’s all about having to walk on eggshells, walk around white people and feel like they’re walking on hot coals. It’s all not meant to be negative music with a negative message, but some of it is quite sharp and quite stinging.
There is another song in the show which is actually the best song, in terms of the best song to perform and the one that gets the biggest reaction. It’s called “Mabo” which is an old Yothu Yindi song that was never released as a single.
So, what I want to do is get the three best of those four songs I just mentioned and put them out as an EP. So, we would have a Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project EP which would have “Mabo” as the lead single because it’s a tribute to Eddie Mabo.
TD: And you’re putting together what sounds like what is going to be an incredible show. Will we be seeing more gigs from you guys after the Brisbane festival?
Gavin: Yes, well the idea is – as I say – it’s quite a big show to move around, especially if it’s just one show. So, what we want to do is we’ve got three or four shows this year, including Brisbane Festival, and I just can’t wait to play at the Tivoli because it’s such a charming old theatre.
Beyond that, I would like to actually do a proper tour where we get on the road for two months, that would be to support the Mabo EP. Carl Cox has done a remix of Treaty as well, it’s like techno, but with indigenous chanting on it. It’s really cool.
TD: There’s so many people involved from original members of the band to younger generations of people who have ties to the group. It seems like you’re showcasing the full variety of music that the band has created and how that can be translated to a modern era, is that right?
Gavin: Well, look, this is exactly the way I see it too, to be perfectly honest. When I think about what we’re doing, I picture a big swirl of things getting more and more momentum. We go out and do shows once a month and the music has already been made. We’ve just got to figure out when we can record all the vocals for it all. All the music is done, the vocals just get performed live.
We’re not in a hurry. With time, with indigenous culture as you know doubt know and the Dreamtime, time is not linear, like the way we see it
TD: It sounds like you’re so happy and you’re so passionate about what you’ve got coming up now and about what you’ve done already, and just knowing that there’s even more to come. And it’s hopefully going to get bigger and bigger for you guys. It’s great.
Gavin: I actually have a feeling that the height that Yothu Yindi reached in the 1990’s in particular – I think we’re going to actually see that again and perhaps even more. Because as you know, the world – Australia and the broader global community – is very switched onto Australian Aboriginal culture. Everybody is really excited by it now and oh, fuck, the music scene is incredible. We’ve just got to get in there and be part of it too – you know, continue it on.
Yothu Yindi and The Treaty Project play Lismore City Hall on September 15th ahead of their massive show at The Tivoli on September 16 as part of Brisbane Festival.
