Bart Willoughby

Bart Willoughby

Bart Willoughby is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia.

He was born on 12 September, 1960, a Pitjantjatjara man of the Mirning dreaming and his totem is the Great White Shark. He grew up at Koonibba Aboriginal Mission near Ceduna on the South Australian edge of the Nullabor Plain on the Great Australian Bight and at 14 years of age after spending some time in a Boys' facility found his way to CASM, University of Adelaide, South Australia where he was introduced to music then drumming, singing and guitar playing.

Career

1970s

Willoughby's musical career commenced in 1978 and in this period he developed as a distinctive Indigenous Australian musician notable for his pioneering fusion of reggae music with Indigenous Australian influences. Willoughby formed his first band, and the Australia's first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address in 1978 although in 1978 and 1979 Willoughby played with Broome composer and musician Jimmy Chi's new band Kuckles. In 1979 No Fixed Address played its first large concert The National Aboriginal Day held at Taperoo, South Australia and over the years has played at numerous concerts for Aboriginal causes including Rock Against Racism, The Artists Newsletter Association, Campaign Against Racial Exploitation and the National Aboriginal Country Music Festivals.

1980s

In 1980 Willoughby then starred with another indigenous band Us Mob in non indigenous director Ned Lander's movie about Aboriginal musicians "Wrong Side of the Road" (1980). This film was a semi biographical drama concerning the racism levelled against Aboriginal musicans trying to get gigs in country pubs and won the Australian Film Commission's funded Australian Film Institute's (AFI) 1981 Jury Award for its director Lander.

In 1982 Willoughby and his band toured Australia in support of Peter Tosh and a documentary of this tour was screened by Special Broadcasting Services (SBS-TV) "Peter Tosh in Concert" (1982) featuring Willoughby and No Fixed Address and during 1982 Willoughby also played drums with Shane Howard the The Goanna Band. After the success of the Peter Tosh tour Willoughby and his band became the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas becoming cultural ambassadors for their people while touring Great Britain playing at nine cities including London, Bristol, Leeds Plymouth and Manchester. They played at "The Elephant Fair" and appeared at a concert for striking miners. A documentary of this tour "No Fixed Address in London" (1983) was produced and screened on Special Broadcasting Services SBS-TV.

Returning to Australia Willoughby joined his cousin, Bunna Lawrie, and his newly formed band Coloured Stone playing with this group in 1984 and 1985 and on its Scottish tour where they appeared with k.d. lang at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival then returning to Australia where the band was awarded the 1986 Australian Music Award for Best Indigenous Album - "Human Love".

Willoughby reformed No Fixed Address in 1987 and in 1988 the band toured Europe especially through Eastern bloc countries where Willoughby made his wry comment about "being hungry in Hungary" while appearing at the 1987 East Berlin Music Festival. Returning to Australia he directed, composed and recorded the music track with his band for "Always Was - Always Will Be" (1988) produced / directed and written by Indigenous filmmaker Madelaine McGrady and screened on SBS-TV in the same year.

Late in 1988 Willoughby was asked to join the newly formed Yothu Yindi as drummer on their American tour "Diesel & Dust". The band visited 73 cities throughout the U.S.A. and a feature length documentary was produced "Into the Mainstream" (1989) directed by Lander and dealing with the band's experiences on the U.S. tour. It was screened internationally through its distributor Ronin Films.

In 1989 Willoughby left Yothu Yindi to form a new band Mixed Relations, a band he still leads today although at time he has reformed No Fixed Address. From its inception Mixed Relations toured extensively throughout the Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Hawaii and Mixed Relations was chosen as the closing act for the 1989 inaugural [Invasion (aka Survival) Day]] Concerts at La Perouse, Sydney and then every Invasion Day concert until its final date at La Perouse in 1994

1990s

In 1990 Willoughby was cast as "Ned the Computer Expert" in German director Wim Wenders "Till the End of the World" (1991) starring John Hurt, Sam Neill and Indigenous actor Ernie Dingo as well as Aboriginal icons actor David Gulpil and Aboriginal Australia's first gold record singer the elder Jimmy Little. Following work in Alice Springs, Northern Territory and Surfers Paradise, Queensland on this movie Willoughby was invited to tour Australia with Shane Howard and The Big Heart Band before returning to his work with Mixed Relations opening the inaugural 1991 Stompen' Ground Concert, Broome, Western Australia and representing Australia at the 1990 and 1992 South Pacific Music Festival and the 1990 and 1992 Asian Music Festival. All of these festivals have been documented by ABC-TV and SBS-TV and screened by these television stations in the year that the festivals were held and have had repeat screenings over the years.

In 1992 was invited by Australia's first Indigenous feature film director Brian Syron to become the first Aboriginal to compose, play and direct the music track of a feature film "Jindalee Lady" (1992). The film was invited to the International First Nations Art and Film Festival, "Dreamspeakers", in Edmonton, Canada in 1992 where it was acknowledge as the first feature film to be directed by a First Nation's director, Syron, and to to have a music track composed and directed by a First Nations composer, Willoughby. Following this festival it was invited to nominated for the East West Award - Best Feature Film at the 1992 Hawaiian International Film Festival where toured the Hawaiian Islands. "Jindalee Lady" (1992) was invited to screen at the Tinker Theatre, Woodstock, New York as part of the Woodstock International Year of Indigenous People (IYIP)

In 1993, IYIP, Willoughby and Mixed Relations were invited to attend the Los Angeles Indigenous Arts Festival, the London Indigenous Festival England and the Wanchai Music Festival, Hong Kong.

Willoughby was awarded the 1993 Inaugural Indigenous ARIA Australian Music Lifetime Achievement Award for his Ouststanding Contribution to Indigenous Music in Australia. Sol Bellear, Commissioner of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC - Acting) in presenting the award to Willoughby said : <backquote> "Indigenous music has certainly come a long way in recent times. From 10 years ago out back of Australia, in outback hotels to internationally through Yothu Yindi, through Kev Carmody, through Archie Road and many, many more. Let me tll you that the recipient of this very first Indigenous trophy has stood out clearly as an innovator for those people. He notched up a list of firsts that paved the way for a lot of Indigenous artists. He was the first to perform on Countdown, his was the first Aboriginal band to make a documentary, the first Aboriginal band to sign a record deal and the first, the very first, to tour overseas and Willoughby was the first, the very first to score, play and direct the music track of a feature film itself the first to be directed by an indigenous director. Bart's contribution to Aboriginal music in Australia is prodigous in book, film and record." </backquote>

Bart Willoughby is one of Australia's leading Aboriginal rock composers and performers and is widely known, loved and respected by Aboriginals for his work which includes Aboriginal classics such as "We Have Survived", "Aboriginal Woman" and "My Father is an Aboriginal Man".

During 1995 Willoughby took time out to work with his Pitjantjantjara community as Music Instructor to secondary school students at Yalata Anangu School, South Australia where he taught drums, guitar and songwriting.

In 1997 Willoughby was represented at Nygaramang Bayumi - an exhibition about Indigenous Asutralian music and Dance at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney. he was nominated for 1998 APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) Best Indigenous Album for "Pathways" and in 2004, 2005, 2006 he was nominated for the Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indigenous Deadly's for his contribution to Indigenous music in Australia.

Awards

Won

• 1986 Australian Music Award for Best Indigenous Album - "Human Love".
• 1993 Indigenous ARIA Australian Music Award for his Ouststanding Conribution to Indigenous Music in Australia.

Nominated

• 1998 APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) Best Indigenous Album for "Pathways".
• 2004, 2005, 2006 Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indigenous Deadly's for his contribution to Indigenous music in Australia.

Discography

Film Sound Tracks

• Special Treatment - Locking up Aboriginal Children, Dir. Margaret Smith, Music Bart Willoughby - documentary
• Always Was, Always Will Be, Producer Australian Broadcasting Commission ABC-TV, Music Bart Willoughby - documentary
• Jindalee Lady (1992) Dir. Brian Syron, Music Bart Willoughby - feature film

Records / Cassettes / CDs

• Wrong Side of the Road, film sound track, EMI
• Rock Against Racism, Vol. 1, Sound track from concert - ABC Records
• National Aboriginal Music Festival, Sound Track from concert - ABC Records
• Stompem' Ground ABC Records
• From My Eyes EMI
• Take It or Leave It, Polygram
• Aboriginal Woman. Polygram
• Love, Polygram
• Jindalee Lady, Donobri International

External links

• VIBE Australia biography
• Bart Willoughby's blog
• IMDB listing
• Media Ethics, An Aboriginal Film and the Australian Film Commission, Thomas G. Donovan / Brody T. Lorraine, ISBN 0-696-25266-4
• Kicking Down the Doors, A History of Indigenous Filmmakers from 1968 - 1993, Brian Syron / briann kearney, ISBN 0 646 26594 6
• Our Place, Our Music, ed. Marcus Breen, ISBN 0 85575 197 5