Born in Daylesford, Victoria on Jaara land, Corey Theatre first picked up the guitar at age 17 after his uncle taught him to pluck the strings to the sounds of 'Candyman' by Reverend Gary Davis.
It was later in life when he attended the Centre of Aboriginal Studies (CASM). While studying psychological sciences, Corey started listening to music from the APY Lands including Frank Yamma and Irrunytju Band where he learnt to fluently speak and sing Pitjantjatjara.
Singing in language sparked Corey’s interest in his own Gunditjmara heritage as he set about talking to the elders and looking through historical documents, where he discovered Barry Blake’s book 'The Warrnambool Language'.
The Gunditjmara language currently has no fluent speakers, but Corey is creating resources and songs as means for others to learn.
Using Blake’s analysis and old sentences recorded by James Dawson, Corey has written his first song in Gunditjmara, ‘Ngathuk Ngalina’ the first single and title of his upcoming album.
Your debut album 'Ngathuk Ngalina' is being this month; how are you feeling about the release, new batch of music?
[Corey] I’m really excited to get the tracks out. We recorded them about two years ago, so glad that they’ll be out in the world for people to hear soon.
How has the preparation/ lead up to the album been? A long process?
Yeah, it’s been a slow process but it has been worth the wait. I was fortunate enough to secure a record deal with Impossible Odds and recently got a manager, so it’s really been a matter of waiting till the time is just right.
What can listeners expect? Is the material much different from your previous work?
The material on the album is quite different to the EP 'Let It Fade'. Stylistically they are probably similar, but the execution of these [new] tracks is much more polished. I’ve had to time to develop since the release of 'Let It Fade' six years ago and I feel that this really comes through in these new songs.
I also had the opportunity to work with professions that are at the forefront of the industry, such as the producer Steven Hadley and legendary Archie Roach.
Speaking of Uncle Archie Roach; how did that collaboration come about?
A big thanks to Nancy Bates for helping that become a possibility. Uncle Archie and I are both Gunditjmara, so it just kind of fit. Uncle is very support of the language-revival work I’ve been doing. I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with him on a few projects.
You've used music as a way to learn the Pitjantjatjara language; that's pretty amazing, can you tell me a bit about the language and your history with it?
Pitjantjatjara language is one of the few Australian Aboriginal languages still spoken fluently (if you’ve heard Aboriginal language in the streets of Adelaide it’s most probably Pitjantjatjara).
My first exposure to Pitjantjara was on the 100 circle-line. I went to Woodville High School where the Wiltja programme is located and every day after school I’d catch the bus and hear the Wiltja kids talking language on the bus home. However, it wasn’t until CASM that I actively engaged with the language and began learning it.
We would have Anangu lecturers come down from the APY Lands and teach us Inma and through learning these traditional songs and stories, I began to develop an understanding of the language. Since then it’s been lots of books such as Wangka Wiru and just trying to talk Pitjantjatjara as much as I can, with whoever I can.
How did you go about learning it; how difficult was that process?
Initially it was quite tricky and I found it somewhat difficult getting all the sounds right. I remember in my first Inma session looking at the words thinking: ‘How do you say that?'.
You didn't start playing guitar till you were 17; was it a quick transition to become proficient with the instrument?
It took me a bit of time. The first tune I learnt was a track called 'Candyman' by Rev. Gary Davis. I learnt the song in a couple of days, but to actually be able to play the song well took me close to a year.
What's the longest you've gone this year without picking up a guitar?
I play most days and I take the guitar with me whenever I travel. I’d probably say that I haven’t gone longer than a week without playing the guitar since I picked it up 12 years ago, probably a day or two in the past year. Something just doesn’t feel right if I don’t play, I get sad. It’s almost like an addiction.
You studied Psychological Sciences with the interest to use music to heal as a therapy; can you tell us more about that?
Music makes you feel good (that’s probably while I play most days). A happy song can make you feel happy and a sad song can make you feel sad. I think people often underestimate the extent to which music effects our mood.
It’s really about using music to cope with life, whether that’s just listening to music that effects how you feel, writing songs to express your feelings or what you’re going through, or even just having a dance.
You recently released the new single for the album, 'Music'; can you talk about the song and it's personal meaning to you?
‘Music’ is a laidback track. When I wrote the song I wanted to create something that people could sing-along to and feel happy that’s when I came up with the line: ‘I’ve got music in my finger and I’ve got music in my toes.' It’s really just about the way that music makes you feel and enjoying music.
I put the language in there too that’s just a translation of the chorus, but it’s also a salute to the role that music plays in traditional Aboriginal cultures as a means of storing knowledge and information, such as song-lines.
You've been nominated for this year's Most Popular Blues/ Roots Artist at the SA Music Awards; that must've been a satisfying moment to receive that type of industry recognition?
Yeah it’s such a privilege to be nominated; it’s kind of like a little pat on the back.
In 2013 you won Australia's Got Language Talent competition; what was that experience like?
That was such a great experience and unexpected. I’d just written ‘Ngathuk Ngalina’, so it was still quite raw. It was the first time performing the song to an audience of that size. The way that it was received really encouraged me to continue writing in [this] language.
You've been doing some gigs raising awareness for homeless women at Catherine House – Solutions For Women Experiencing Homelessness; that's amazing. How did you get involved with the cause?
I’ve been doing quite a few gig for homeless lately; there was the meet me at the Woodstock Cross Road festival and the Adelaide Uni Homeless Expo coming up on the 19 October. It just kind of happened.
If I get a request for a gig that’s supporting a good cause then I'm more inclined to take the gig. You can feel good knowing that your music is contributing to something bigger.
‘Ngathuk Ngalina’ is released 20 October. Corey Theatre launches the album at Nexus Arts (Adelaide) 21 October.
– written by Grace Purvis
