In Arnhem Land, 500km east of Darwin, you’ll find Maningrida, population 2,518. It is a place rich with history and culture, with dozens of languages spoken. The name Maningrida means “the place where the Dreaming changed shape”.
Ripple Effect Band is an example of radical change: the first all-female band from Maningrida, where playing music is traditionally a male pursuit. Their sound is influenced by other Arnhem Land acts such as Letterstick Band and Wirrinyga Band – a saltwater blend of reggae and blues.
Six of the nine band members are Indigenous multi-instrumentalist musicians and songwriters, who sing in English and multiple First Nations languages including Ndjébbana, Burarra, Na-kara and Kune. The band’s origins stretch back to the early 2000s, when Jodie Kell, a Balanda (white person), began teaching music at Maningrida’s local high school.
“One of the teachers was [Wild Water frontman] Djolpa McKenzie – he’s pretty relaxed with women playing with him, so we’d jam,” Kell says. “There were women playing music, and I think that was a really big thing [for the students to see].”
During this time, student Jolene Lawrence began learning electric guitar and drums. Various student bands formed within the school, including Front Street Girls, which featured Kell, Lawrence and her sister Rona, and several of their peers. They won best high school band at Arnhem Land’s celebrated Garma festival in 2006, but life happened: Kell moved back to Sydney, some in the band started families, and music became less of a priority.
When Kell returned to the community in 2017, she was determined to get the band back together – “a bit like the Blues Brothers”, she laughs.
“I had a job, and Jodie came to my house all the way from Sydney,” Lawrence remembers. “She was talking about getting the girls together to make a band – she had to come to my place and then kept begging me.”
Kell got most of the original members back on board: the Lawrence sisters, Patricia Gibson, Stephanie James, Tara Rostron and Rachel Thomas. The lineup is rounded out with Kell and two other Balanda musicians, Harriet Fraser-Barbour and Annastasia Lucas.
The band began playing shows and released their first EP in 2018, produced by Paul Mac. Their debut album, Mayawa (which means “down the beach”), was released this September and tells stories of community and family – from a cyclone that devastated Maningrida in 2006 to remembrances for loved ones who have died.
Lawrence’s language, Na-kara, is spoken by only about 50 people; Ripple Effect Band has written the first Na-kara songs to ever be recorded.
“Language is attached to Country, so when you’re writing about it you sing in that language,” Lawrence says. “I go to Rona’s grandparents, and that’s where I get all the knowledge and all the words … It’s got the meaning for the countryside and fishing and hunting.”
One of Lawrence’s songs on the album, Na-meyarra, is dedicated to Rona’s late sister and includes the sound of the milawarrddjawarra (sea eagle).
Language stays alive through music, which can also help it transcend cultural barriers: in 2021, Ripple Effect Band released a Na-kara children’s song, Nabárrdja (The Little Crab), for an ABC Kids album – now, even toddlers know the language. “When we went to Womadelaide, there were all these kids and families singing it together, which was really special,” Kell says. “We’ve got our lyrics up on our website, so audiences everywhere are really into learning the songs.”
Ripple Effect Band’s success means several of the band members, including Lawrence, have travelled outside the Northern Territory for the first time – they have performed in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, and their first ever show in Canberra on this tour. They hope to one day tour internationally. “It’s big and exciting, going everywhere,” Lawrence says. “In the city, I feel happy and comfortable.”
Maningrida has been supportive of Ripple Effect Band; the group performed at the local AFL grand final event last year, where a women’s team competed for the first time. “The community is very proud that women and men can work together and play music,” Kell says.
True to its name, the band hopes to encourage a cultural shift in Maningrida and beyond. “We love being in the band with all the girls, because it’s inspiring all the young people,” Lawrence says. “When we get old, maybe our children, the next generation, will be up on the stage.”
Mayawa is out now. Ripple Effect Band is playing various dates around Victoria between 21-25 November as part of Always Live. See here for more information
