Budding musicians on NSW far south coast create songs about First Nations culture
The vocals are recorded in a cupboard, there is a drum kit in the bedroom and the lounge room is a makeshift studio.
A house at Merimbula on the NSW far south coast has been turned into a music studio for three days so a group of First Nations teenagers could create songs about cultural connection.
For high school student Peter Longbottom, the experience of writing, recording and producing music for a week in has been a first.
"I think it's pretty cool. The way it all just works and all the engineering and software," said the 15-year-old, who has played drums for eight years.
Grow the Music transformed a home in Merimbula into a recording studio. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
Peter was involved in writing some of the lyrics, and one of his peers rapped in local Djiringanj language, which he said was "pretty powerful".
"The song is about staying black and staying proud. Don't be ashamed to show who you are,"he said.
For Nevaeh Cunningham, the week solidified her passion for music.
"I started off on guitar and then went to keyboard and now I'm on drums," the 16-year-old said.
"I could start my own band at home because I've got all the instruments."
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The program was run by Grow the Music, an initiative trying to make music accessible for people from diverse backgrounds and First Nations communities.
Peter Longbottom said he wanted to see more First Nations music make it to the mainstream.
"I just want to see more cultural music, more cultural songs,"he said.
Bassist Isabella Cartwright said fostering young people to make the music themselves could help bring more Indigenous talent to the fore.
"I feel like if young people get to do stuff like this, it would inspire more ideas," she said.
The high school students say they want to see more First Nations music in the mainstream. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
Lizzy Rutten co-founded Grow the Music in 2012, and has since donated instruments and taught kids across Australia.
"Music is a language that connects us all and it's based on a vibration," the Coffs Harbour-based Ms Rutten said.
"It's really important that we hear Aboriginal music in this country because it's ancient. The art form is ancient here."
Ms Rutten said the kids grew in confidence over the course of the three-day program, and she hoped the skills they learnt would live on.
Lizzy Rutten wants to help kids believe that anyone can make music. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
"By the end we were just mates and experienced something super connected," she said.
"They shared vulnerable stories and they wrote those stories in their songs."
Mentored by Docker River Band
The high school students were also mentored by the Docker River band, from the remote community of Kaltukatjara in the Northern Territory.
The band travelled from the small desert community to the NSW far south coast to help mentor the kids, and play at the Giiyong Festival in late November.
Roy Jugadai (left) and Thaddeus Mitchell from the Docker River Band. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
"We live differently than coast people. It's really new," Docker River Band keys player Thaddeus Mitchell said.
The band has opened a shed in its own community to inspire the next generation of musicians, and wanted that enthusiasm to spread to the far south coast.
"Music changes people, so we're hoping that it'll change the kids as well," Mr Mitchell said.
The First Nations high-schoolers found spending time with the band helped them see a potential in the music industry.
Giiyong Festival is the largest Indigenous festival in southern NSW. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
"It's cool to see it because then it's like, maybe that can be us one day," 15-year-old Isabella Cunningham said.
"I would like to try and be in a band one day and let my stories go through lyrics and be out there for the world."