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Jake: From music practice to making a difference in First Nations communities
Jake has always been musical but sought to strengthen his connection to culture. With a scholarship and support programs at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, as well as opportunities to spend time on Country, he’s learning how music can connect young people with education in remote Australia.
Jake first picked up a musical instrument when he was in Year 8. He started with bass guitar, then quickly moved on to ukulele and guitar before discovering songwriting.
“I started out writing surfy, indie, punkish music that was big around the coast near Ulladulla where I grew up,” Jake says. “Then for my Aboriginal Studies major work, I wrote a reggae song which was about how I felt about the representation of Aboriginal people, as an Awabakal-Garigal man.”
He finished Year 12 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as communities along the NSW South Coast were devastated by a catastrophic bushfire season.
“For about three years we weren't really at school,” he says. “I wasn't even sure if I would get into university.”
He was nervous about applying to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music due to its prestigious reputation but applied anyway for the Bachelor of Music as well as to the Gadigal Program which supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to gain entry to the University.
“I couldn’t believe that I got in,” Jake says. “I struggled at first living in the city, so far from home. I was playing with my band, working part time, and trying to write my own music outside of university, while living in a share house paying rent. It’s definitely been a challenge doing all that as well as uni. The scholarship helps ease the pressure.”
Jake on stage playing yidaki (didgeridoo) with his band, Lemonise with a band member on guitar beside him. Photo:Stefanie Zingsheim.
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Jake sings and plays yidaki (didgeridoo) and guitar in the funk-rock band Lemonise.
“When I moved to Sydney, I started writing songs based around the didgeridoo and trying to bring more language into our songs to honour my ancestors and heritage,” he says.
As part of his studies, he has also travelled twice to the Aboriginal community in Maningrida, 500 kilometres east of Darwin. There he taught music to local school children, learnt about their languages and musical influences, and reconnected with his First Nations heritage.
“It’s great to give those kids the opportunity to create the music they want to make,” he says. “It also gives them a taste of what it’s like to have a relationship with institutions like the Con and built-up, colonial areas like Sydney. It might feel a bit daunting to leave your family – but there is the opportunity to work in both worlds.”
His experiences have inspired him to consider graduate opportunities in remote Australia, where he hopes to integrate cultural activities and knowledge into the education curriculum.
“I’d love to be a teacher. At the Con, it’s great when teachers have quite obviously had their own steady commercial success and unique careers, it’s good to have those tangible role models. I’ve found that my mentors and people I’ve been able to relate to have been teachers in creative professions.
“For me, the best thing about teaching is that it’s about giving back and building people up into their best possible selves.”
The artwork on Jake’s yidaki is by Noel Butler from Ulladulla, Budawang Elder, Yuin Country.
