Blekbala Mujik (Black People's Music) are an Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

group formed in

Barunga, Northern Territory Barunga, formerly known as Beswick Creek and then Bamyili, is a small Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal community located approximately southeast of Katherine, Northern Territory, Katherine, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is part of ...

in 1986. They fused rock and reggae with a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

sound and have support base for their live shows and recordings. They are cited in the ''World Music: The

Rough Guide Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...

'' as next best known to

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...

. The band sings in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and in Kriol (a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

based on

and

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

languages). At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1996 The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Presenters distributed 28 award ...

their album, ''Blekbala Mujik'' (May 1996), was nominated for Best Indigenous Release.

History

Blekbala Mujik were formed in 1986 in the rural community of Barunga (Gulin-Gulin) in central

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

. The founding member, Peter Miller on vocals and guitar, lives in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, and was a member of the

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strug ...

. The band sings partly in

and partly in Kriol, which is a

based on

and

languages. ''Blekbala mujik'' means "blackfella music" in Kriol. The group signed with

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in ...

(CAAMA) and, in 1990, they issued two albums, ''Nitmiluk'' and ''Midnait Mujik''. In 1993 they issued a seven-track

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

, ''Come-N-Dance''. In May 1996 they followed with their eponymous full length album, ''Blekbala Mujik'', via CAAMA and distributed by

Shock Records Shock Records was an Australian independent record label, branded with the logo Shock or Shock Australia. Founded in 1988, it traded as Shock Records Pty. Ltd, and its publishing arm as Shock Music Publishing Pty. Ltd. Its most prominent sublab ...

, which Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, described as "a mix of catchy Aboriginal pop, reggae, techno-tribal dance material and bright funky rock." At the

in September, ''Blekbala Mujik'' was nominated for Best Indigenous Release. Alongside Miller other members have included Dwayne Billy on percussion (

clapstick Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as , , clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremony. They ar ...

s), Johnny Blanasi on lead guitar, Jason Fuller on percussion (clapsticks), Lachlan Gela Lawrence on bass guitar and vocals, Wayne Kala Kala on drums, Allen Murphy on drums (ex-

Warumpi Band Warumpi Band () were an Australian country and Aboriginal rock group which formed in the outback settlement of Papunya, Northern Territory, in 1980. The original line-up was George Burarrwanga on vocals and didgeridoo, Gordon Butcher Tjapana ...

, Village People,

), Lazarus Murray on yidaki (see

didjeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed ...

) and Thomas Valandhu on drums. In June 1997 they issued "Walking Together" as a CD single. In February 2013 they issued a new album, ''We Are One'', and followed with a compilation, live album, ''Greatest Hits Live'', in September 2014.

Band members

* Peter Miller –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Lazarus Murray (a.k.a. Gulindirriy) –

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

, vocals * Lachlan Lawrence –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, vocals * Johnny Blanasi –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Michael Havir – keyboards,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

* Dwayne Billy –

s * Jason Fuller – clapsticks, vocals,

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

* Allen Murphy –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, vocals * Sammy Bush – lead vocals * Ngarritj Ducky – clapsticks

Discography

Albums

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987.Aria Awards
, Blek Bala Mujiks award history , - ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, ''Blekbala Mujik'' , Best Indigenous Release , , -

Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards The Deadly Awards, formally titled National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Arts and Community Awards and commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ac ...

, (commonly known simply as The Deadlys), was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1996 to 2013. , - ,

, ''Blekbala Mujik'' , Album of the Year , , -

Bibliography

Blekbala Mujik have been cited in numerous articles on

Indigenous Australian music Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their culture, cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their ind ...

References

External links

Promotion of Arnhem Land Music
{{Authority control Northern Territory musical groups Indigenous Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 1986