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The new single “Speak To Me” from GANGgajang, released today, results from their journey and conversations with First Nations and non-Indigenous friends and colleagues. The result of their journey, their process, is a song. They say, “Speak To Me”, that the time has come to listen. To listen to the Voice from the heart, and soul of Australia. To a Voice calling all of us to a better future.

“Speak To Me” results from an ongoing, decades long conversation within GANGgajang – and among our friends and families – about Australia, its history and, in particular, the place of First Nations peoples in that history. The result might be a 3-and-a-half-minute song, but the process of creating it and the conversations it embodies began as far back as 1989 and the BUILDING BRIDGES album, to which bandmembers Mark Callaghan and Graham ‘Buzz’ Bidstrup both contributed songs.

Listen here

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Reflecting a growing understanding within the broader Australian community, those conversations continued as GANGgajang guitarist Robbie James performed around the world with Yothu Yindi for five years; as Mark, then A&R manager of Festival Records signed legendary Indigenous performer Uncle Jimmy Little and his hugely successful MESSENGER album. Those conversations deepened when Buzz became Uncle Jimmy’s manager, when he and Uncle Jimmy established Uncle Jimmy Thumbs Up!, a charity to deliver nutrition education to children and families in regional and remote communities. A charity that continues to this day with Buzz as its committed CEO.

This has been our journey to a deeper understanding of our country. It can be seen in the ‘Deserts’ paintings by artist and GANGgajang keyboardist Geoff Stapleton. It can be felt in GANGgajang’s music video for “Circles In The Sand”, the first to be filmed in front of Uluru with the permission of the traditional owners.

But this is just our story, one of many journeys to this point in Australian history. This moment is when all Australians can connect to the Voice from the heart of the magnificent and generous Uluru Statement.

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Before he passed in 2012, Uncle Jimmy Little wrote to every politician in the Federal government asking for one thing: that they listen to Indigenous people on matters that affect them. We stand with Uncle Jimmy and say Yes to the Voice.

GANGgajang pay our respects to the elders, past, present and emerging, on whose lands our recording was made. We thank everyone who contributed to our ‘Speak To Me’ journey. In particular to Jack Thompson for his heartfelt spoken word contribution and to William Barton for his virtuoso didgeridoo performance.

“SPEAK TO ME” AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES NOW!

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AMNPLIFY – ML