The premiere of First Nations contemporary music concert Warriors leads a list of ground-breaking acts at this year’s Clancestry.
At QPAC, Warriors will deliver audiences the music of four exceptional First Nations acts – the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band, J-Milla, Jungaji and Radical Son – with each act drawing on personal and powerful messages about mental health.
Jungaji is a multitalented performer – a Gu Gu Yalanji song man, visual artist, playwright and activist – also known as Troy Brady. His unique R&B and soul sound showcases his cultural roots.
“It’s a blessing to talk about mental health, the Black Dog,” Jungaji says. “You know its impacts and how it affects our community, and it doesn’t discriminate. To sing about that on stage, to have the illuminating conversations and putting in place measures to ensure that the losses within our community are minimised – it’s a place of responsibility.
“It’s going to be sincere. It’s going to be honest. There’s going to be some tears. There’s going to be some laughs. There’s going to be some truth-telling exchanges and conversations and I will be counting my sleeps leading up to when we all get together.”
David Leha, aka Radical Son, says he hopes that by hearing each performer’s journeys with mental health, people will be more open to seeking the help they need.
“I just hope they realise there’s people here that are there for them and hope that they’re inspired and in that sense that they have some hope,” Leha says. “We are going to be there, open to meet anybody who may have any questions.”
He says Clancestry gives the opportunity for all people to meet and find common ground. “Warriors, for me, means something connected to our culture,” he says.
Radical Son wants to share his emotionally charged blend of soul and hip-hop, channelled from his challenging upbringing, by showcasing music from his new album Bilambiyal.
“Mum’s Kamilaroi Coonabarabran. Dad’s Tongan and he came here in the early ’70s but I was raised by a single mother,” he says.
“Mum moved to Sydney as a young woman, moved off country. She never moved back. I wish I’d had a stronger connection to culture and country. Still, so much of my music is about my mob, my culture, my heritage.”
QPAC’s head of First Nations programming Bradley Chatfield says he is proud of the diverse program of acts at this year’s Clancestry.
“We have all those artists coming together to tell us their stories, sing us some songs and tell us of some of their struggles with men’s mental health and how they’ve changed and turned those struggles into their music,” Chatfield says.

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“I think it’s a great conversation to have with that focus and obviously it shows that you can also be creative in how you get through that with the celebration of art.
“We’ve also got our Mob Music Stage, which is a fantastic program. We have three or four performers a night at our Melbourne Street Green, which reopens especially for Clancestry.”
Also featured this year is Bangarra Dance Theatre with their new work Horizon, and the opening night work First Gathering – a vibrant celebration of the First Nations cultures of Brisbane gathering in the South Bank Piazza. There’s also Clancestry For Kids and Clancestry Conversations.
Clancestry runs July 30 to August 9 at QPAC; qpac.com.au
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