Volume 28#28 Š 2013 Echo Publications Pty Ltd
P : 02 6684 1777 F : 02 6684 1719 adcopy@echo.net.au Editor : Mandy Nolan gigs@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au
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DEC 17 – DEC 31
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C O A S T A L
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HIP-HOP SISTAS NORTHERN RIVERS-BASED FEMALE HIP-HOP CREW SISTAGURL ARE GAINING MOMENTUM AND ARE SET TO TAKE THE AUSSIE HIP-HOP SCENE BY STORM. WITH THEIR FIRST EP JUST OUT, SISTAGURL ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AT THE WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL AND THE BYRON BAY FALLS FESTIVAL AND AN UPCOMING EP LAUNCH AT KULCHAJAM IN BYRON. . p45
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.... MUSIC
CULTURE .......... p62 GIG GUIDE ...... p64
CINEMAS ......... p66 STARS................ p68
GOOD TASTE ... p69
The core crew is seven with occasional guest dancers. Penny Skehan, Nadine Smith (Muana MC), Phaedra Craig (Shorty), Tanina Millis (Pyxidata), Zahra Smith (EllaPink) and Elsie Smith spoke with The Echo about what it means to be part of the crew. Tell me how Sistagurl came into being. PENNY (17, lead singer): Sistagurl started with Zahra and Nadine wanting to empower young women. They recently had a creative activations project that consisted of amazing workshops, opportunities, plays and showcases for young people and their talents. But not only the youth of society; they gave everyone the chance to shine. Sistagurl’s real passion was empowering the women of the world to step up and be equal with the men! Spreading our views and beliefs and being able to have a say. The girls of Sistagurl then started to rake in Nadine, Zahra, me (Penny Skehan), Elsie Smith, Phaedra, Tanina etc, and we keep spreading. Our youngest member is Aisha, Nadine’s daughter, who has already started to display her opinions and feelings about some of the big issues in life. All in all we started from a dream and have been working our hardest ever since to achieve it. What is it about hip-hop as a genre that resonates with you all? MUANA MC: To me hip-hop is an ultimate platform for expressing the mixed-up nature of me. Rather than a genre hip-hop is a tapestry woven with threads from anywhere – through hip-hop I can explore musical styles, explore my cultural heritage‌ I think that it defies simple definition makes it resonate strongly for me and also that for me hip-hop is grounded in sharing messages and using the power of music and performance to invoke thought‌ ELSIE (16, from Yamba): Hip-hop brings out who I am and it is why I am this person I am today. PENNY: Hip-hop is not just about girls in little dresses like on the film clips these days; it’s about the rhythm, the beat, the expression of both love and disappointment, the exploring of world issues. It’s a way to help underprivileged people to be the best they can be. We all believe in showing what we’ve got, and working together and nurturing each other’s spirit is the best way. You all seem to have fabulous voices and would stand alone no problem if you wanted to take the singer/songwriter, band type route. SHORTY: Sure, we could all do solo stuff and probably will at some stage, but the vibes and creative visions we share are undeniable and we have lots we want to share as not just a crew but as Sistagurls our aim is to inspire open people’s hearts and minds to positive change‌ And to be a voice for young women that feel they don’t have one, we wanna show them that da lady’s got just as much skill as the fellas‌ What do you think are the major strengths of your creative collaboration? ELLAPINK: The energy that we bring to the stage is authentic and phenomenal – though we are all females we are a very diverse group (in ages and backgrounds) – and we are also not afraid to incorporate other art forms into our hip-hop sets (eg sampling like a hip-hop DJ), for example aerial circus arts and contemporary
dance. Another strength is that a lot of us are actually related by blood and that makes us be able to be really honest with each other and helps with practicality. Having the young people in the crew can be challenging sometimes re logistics and limitations to places we can perform but I think it is the key to why we are still together and going so strongly – there is no getting caught up in a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle when you’re on tour with your six-year-old daughter and teenagers in your care. So we are able to stay focused on the artform! PYXIDATA: I believe we have a united message and share similar views, though we have quite different voices and experiences. I dig the grassroots nature of Sistagurl, how we make it all happen ourselves, with our own resources, money, time, and commitment. We do it ’cause we love it; for me, that’s what it’s all about. Do women hip-hop artists face different challenges from men when it comes to getting their work out there? MUANA: Yes, I feel a little, expectations about type of vocals you will do, the sort of image you will project – if you are not coming across feminine then people think you are trying to emulate men‌ too feminine and they will say you’re just getting somewhere on that‌ also when people think Aussie hip-hop they do not think of women artists so there are fewer avenues opened to share your work – ie Aussie hip-hop festival Sprung in 2012 had NO female artists and in 2013 just one. What are the topics and the stories or messages that you like to share with
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DAN HANNAFORD BAND VERNAS KEEP STICKY FINGERS BONJAH AYSHA & DR BAZ ‘FROTH & ROLL’ w PILOTS, WAXHEAD, THE LOVELY DAYS & THE SINGLE FINS MT WARNING BOOTLEG RASCAL HALF MOON RUN STONEFIELD CALLING ALL CARS & KINGSWOOD MAT MC HUGH JIMEOIN BUSBY MAROU KIM CHURCHILL
Thu 19 JASON DELPHIN 2 JAN Fri 20 THE VON VILLAINS 3 JAN {ĂŠ Sat 21 MY XMAS BYRON RIOT 9 JAN FAIT ACCOMPLI, THE RUMOURS, 10 JAN 7 ĂŠÂŁnĂŠ ,ĂŠ THE OWLS & PIRATES ALIVE 11 JAN BRIAN JONESTOWN Sun 22 THE FIRE TREE 12 JAN ÂŁĂˆĂŠ MA SSA CRE Mon 23 DAN HANNAFORD Ă“{ĂŠ /Ă•iĂŠĂ“{ MATT BUGGY "/ ĂŠ , /ĂŠ ",/ , ĂŠUĂŠĂŒÂ…iÂ˜ÂœĂ€ĂŒÂ…iĂ€Â˜Â°Vœ“°>Ă•ĂŠUĂŠĂˆĂˆnxĂŠĂˆ{x{ 44 December 17, 2013 The Byron Shire Echo
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