First contact was established earlier in the year, as part of the Song Nation initiative in partnership with Vibe Australia and The Smugglers of Light Foundation. The Gowrie Boys produced their first track ‘The Brotherhood’, which won The Australian Indigenous Hip Hop (BUMP) Awards in the Urban Youth category.

Two weeks ago, DPM Director Toby Finlayson and new blood film maker Mitch O’Hearn spent 3 days at the school creating a new song which focuses on the challenges and threats associated with being a young indigenous man finishing at boarding school and paving a new path in the world.

The outcome is a really provocative, bold film clip directed by Mitch O’Hearn which pushes the work into a new category.

The clip has had over 800 views in one night – 600 of which come from overseas.

Please watch it, share it, spread the word…

The song has also been entered in the Triple J Unearthed Competition. Please follow this link to rate and comment on the song.

Let’s make sure these strong young men are heard. How often does the media show strong, capable, deadly, talented indigenous young men? Attack formation!!!! Let it be known!

Images to come….

See an article here on the awards

The song was created as part of an ongoing mentoring program with Toby Finlayson and students from Collarenebri Central School, which has developed over two years, and continues today.

The awards were hosted by Redfern Records, this year in Adelaide.

The song was ‘The Brotherhood’ By The Gowrie Boys from St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie QLD.  The track was produced as part of the ‘Song Nation’ project – a partnership between Desert Pea Media, The Smugglers Of Light Foundation and Vibe Australia.

See the clip below…

This hip hop track is an outcome from a project called ‘Song Nation’ — A collaboration between Toby Finlayson and Matthew Priestley from Desert Pea Media, The Smugglers Of Light Foundation, Vibe Australia and APRA/ AMCOS.

Created as part of a mentoring process with young people from St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie North QLD, the song was written as part of a unique process with Desert Pea Media and yr 12 students.

Song Nation culminated at The Vibe Festival in Townsville, where the young people were invited to screen their clips and perform in front of over 2,000 people. Look out for other clips on this channel soon.

Proudly supported by APRA/AMCOS

desertpeamedia.wordpress.com.au

smugglersoflight.com.au

This is yet another outcome from a long-term cutural media mentoring initiative developed and delivered by Toby Finlayson and Matthew Priestley from Desert Pea Media, with young people from Collarenebri Central School in Collarenebri NSW.

In June 2011, Desert Pea Media co-director Toby Finlayson and multi-platform producer Emma Morris spent 7 days in Collarenebri mentoring young people, songwriting and producing a short documentary about the journey of ‘The Colli Crew’ from young people at a small Central School on the QLD border, to a sought after hip-hop act at some of Australia’s most prominent music events such as The Aria Awards (2010) and The Stylin Up Festival (next week!).

Exciting indigenous singer/ songwriter Evie J Willie joins the kids on this new track, called ‘Talk Of The Town’, which looks at encouraging other young people to think about their decisions carefully, and contribute to creating change in their community.

Beats by Marz 1.

Please send this track around and keep promoting Australian hip hop, and the voice of indigenous young people around the country.

Keep an eye out for the Roc West remix of  ‘Change The Game’, out soon.

The Moree project was a 3 day hip hop literacy program designed to engage local young people in a school holiday program, and to creat some dialogue around local social and youth issues.

See the clip here

Watch this space for photos and new media from The Colli Crew and The Big M Crew…

“Toby and I are like a negative and positive. Without either one you don’t get the positive. Our relationship works, but it spins people out. An old blackfella and a little whitefella trying to change the country for the better.” – MatthewPriestley

The article was written by freelance journalist and family friend Carla Grossetti, and looks at the close friendship between Toby and Matthew, and how their relationship spawns innovating, culture-shaping community programs alla round Australia.

So far, the phone has been off the hook with responses to the article.

Angela Walsh from NAPCAN wrote this in her letter to the editor of SMH

“Thank you for sharing Toby and Matthew’s story and thank you to Toby and Matthew – Desert Pea’s work is extraordinary and so empowering for young people. They have worked alongside our LOVE BiTES program to support young men and women’s to find their voices to speak out against Violence against Women and walk and talk a respectful path. Their work has brought our work to life and always brings me to tears – these are tears of hope and change and that we can all live our lives free from violence and and racism.”

National Programs Manager – LOVE BiTES & Growing RESPECT
NAPCAN – Preventing Child Abuse

So a huge thanks to Carla for her hard work.  To Maf and Toby for their vision and their committment to creating change despite a long list of complicated and multi-faceted complications.  To all the people who have believed in us and supported our mission.

Cheers.

Working closely with AEO Roslyn McGregor and the other staff at Collarenebri Central School – we workshopped and wrote/ recorded a new track called ‘Change The Game’.

The Crew’s 4th track was Inspired by the recent 40yr anniversary of Charlie Perkins’s revolutionary ‘Freedom Rides’ in the 1960′s through Moree and Walgett.

The song was about educating and acknowledging the struggle for rights and equality over the past 200 years in Australia.

It also looks at the fact that there is still a long way to go before indigenous people are able to access the same social, political and economic opportunities as the rest of Australia, and change comes from each and every person – including indigenous people making good choices and being supported.

“Change comes from you, from me, from us, and that’s fact.”

The beats were written by Joel Westlake, and are still undergoing composition work – to be mixed and mastered and released ASAP.

Check the ‘Change The Game’ Clip online now…

During the week, we also produced a short docco called ‘Big Bruz, Little Bruz – Didge Project Cuz’. This was a cultural re-engagement program led by a group of uncles in Collarenebri, including star performance by ‘John Boy’ McGregor.

The piece features a trip out bush to find and cut didgeridoos (yidaki), and show local young men how to take responsibility for culture and community.

Here is the Youtube Clip

We need your vote!!!!  Desert Pea Media has a new track on Triple J Unearthed….  Please check it out and vote for the kids from Collarenebri…  They have been working really hard and their new track ‘Close That Gap’ is a really special commentary on indigenous issues…

If you haven’t already, then vote for the other two tracks ‘Aboriginal Justice’ (number 1 for 3 weeks last year) and also ‘A New Dawn’.

Dont forget to review and rate the tracks…  VOTE HERE

Appreciated….

Also, look out in The Good Weekend for a ‘The Two Of Us’ article on Desert Pea Media after Christmas – Thanks Carla!!!

Latest project in Collarenebri has been postponed coz of the rain, but we’ll be back out with “The Colly Crew” early next year.  Have a great holiday…