Hydrofunk Records is currently Australia’s longest running independent hip hop label and they’re celebrating their 20th anniversary with an east-coast party tour featuring their latest signing, Indigenoise.
Indigenoise hail from Byron Bay and are a five-piece collective made up of indigenous poets, artists, producers, musicians and practitioners.
Vocalist for the group, Roslyn Barnett says Indigenoise is about celebrating the mixed ancestry of all peoples.
“We’re all young indigenous people from Byron Bay and one of our big messages, and a strong message for myself as well, is just bring forth the attention [sic] that everyone is from everywhere,” Roslyn says.
“We’re all one people, we’re all one mob, one tribe. We try to portray that message through our words and our music, how we deal with the public and how we love everyone and all races.”
Also featuring Coedie McCarthy, Minjarrah Jarrett, Jannali Doncaster and Benjamin Robinson, Indigenoise collectively represent a diverse mix of cultures and creeds. The group’s own mixed ancestry is a defining element of the music they produce.
“For me, I’m trying to find connection to my race. But also the boys, they have Aboriginal, Asian and Maori in their bloodlines so as a collective we’ve got so many different links to so many tribes and cultures, so we just love to share that.”
The musical blending of their various cultures has resulted in their latest track produced with Hydrofunk Records, ‘Wildfire’. “The song’s about the father, son and the kookaburra and kind of along the line of Aboriginal story,” Roslyn explains.
“My partner Coedie – the producer in the band and [he’s] also a rapper – he made the beat and we all just jumped on and wrote what felt right and it correlated all together.
“Jannali, his totem is the kookaburra and it’s sort of his song; he’s the one that brings in the sunrise and calls out to that.
“We like to have fun with it. We don’t like to put a genre on our music so we like to change to up; you’ve got the boys’ epic rapping style then my kind of angelic vocals over the top with some sexy-ass bass.”
With their signing to Hydrofunk Records, Indigenoise have taken a big step toward further spreading their message of unity and have already seen a hugely positive response to ‘Wildfire’.
“People are freaking out and I’ve had so many people come up to me on the street congratulating me, it’s just such a surreal experience,” Roslyn says. “The response and the love for it has been so incredible, it’s amazing.”
Indigenoise head out on tour for the Hydrofunk Records 20th anniversary east-coast party tour. “I personally am not 100 per cent sure what to expect, but we’re playing with some epic and diverse bands.
"We’re so psyched to kick off our live shows, we’ve been anticipating it for so long and you can expect some high-quality bass and epic fun.”
Hydrofunk Records 20th Anniversary Shows
Fri 10 Nov - The Zoo (Brisbane)Sat 11 Nov - Beach Hotel (Byron Bay)
Fri 17 Nov - Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 18 Nov - The Workers Club (Melbourne)
30 Nov - 2 Dec - Jungle Love Festival (Sunshine Coast)
