Speaker 1: I record this podcast on Gaetgol Country. I'd like to
Speaker 1: pay my respect to the traditional.
Speaker 2: Custodians and I'm recording o Urando Country, part of the
Speaker 2: Cooler Nation.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 1: I know you're going to dig this. It's like I've
Speaker 1: been given like an extra sprinkle of something.
Speaker 3: You've got layers, Yeah, I got layers.
Speaker 2: I was just thinking, I'm like, we're just such beautiful storytellers.
Speaker 1: You're making a lot of sense to that girl. No,
Speaker 1: I'm done.
Speaker 3: I've been too honest to go.
Speaker 1: All right. We are so excited because we have Leah Purcell,
Speaker 1: who is an internationally acclaimed actor, director, producer and writer
Speaker 1: on stage and screen.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, my mob Go Gungri and Walker Walker.
Speaker 4: So that's three three clans from different parts of Australia
Speaker 4: due to stolen generations and being you know, my grandparents
Speaker 4: being tossed around.
Speaker 2: With your experience. Now there's so many opportunity opportunities flying
Speaker 2: at you, like, how do you navigate that and choose
Speaker 2: what you what you do and what you don't do
Speaker 2: is with what I'd love to know.
Speaker 4: You know, I've been what is it thirty three, thirty
Speaker 4: four years in the industry now, so you've got to
Speaker 4: earn your stripes. You know, there was times where you
Speaker 4: had to do things because you've got to keep relevant,
Speaker 4: You've got to keep your your talent honed, you know,
Speaker 4: your skills up. But it does get to a point
Speaker 4: that the that the roles become repetitive, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean. And it is about going what do I
Speaker 4: want to do as a performer, because I was sort
Speaker 4: of going to semi retire from acting and to focus
Speaker 4: on my direction and writing. Just before I got went
Speaker 4: with like, can you believe it? I made this big
Speaker 4: speech debay and I went, right, that's it. I'm going
Speaker 4: to just hang the acting add up for a minute.
Speaker 1: And you know, as ye worth in that change.
Speaker 3: And then that phone call went worth to be fair.
Speaker 4: And then to get that phone call and you're kidding me?
Speaker 4: And then I and then what are you going to do? Yeah? Oh,
Speaker 4: they had me in mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, I mean it's perfect.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I said, well, if I put my actor's
Speaker 4: hat back on, I said, mate, a television show that's
Speaker 4: already established number one drama around the world, a role
Speaker 4: where I collaborated on and they you know, they had
Speaker 4: me in moment.
Speaker 5: They wrote it.
Speaker 4: I would be stupid not to take it, wouldn't I?
Speaker 4: And then away you know that sort of thing of
Speaker 4: course with lost Flowers of Alice Heart. You know, when
Speaker 4: the phone call come in, I went, who's in it?
Speaker 1: Big?
Speaker 4: That was after I was a big note and going,
Speaker 4: I was big, going who's in it?
Speaker 6: Who?
Speaker 3: Who's the lead?
Speaker 4: Then if I've just got this little support role and
Speaker 4: they went Sigourney Weaver owent yep. I said, I will
Speaker 4: carry oxygen for her, I will give her water. I'll
Speaker 4: just stand beside her. She can have all my loans
Speaker 4: if she wants. Yeah. So that that sort of thing
Speaker 4: where I was wanting to be. But every role that
Speaker 4: I take, I want to be challenged. And I think
Speaker 4: that's what that's where I I what I look at
Speaker 4: now in a role is won the writing?
Speaker 1: Of course?
Speaker 4: Is it something like how much work will I have
Speaker 4: to do on the script for someone else?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: So I do look at the writing and that that
Speaker 4: that collaboration if if there's an urge to do it.
Speaker 4: But then someone of Sigourney Weavers, you know, legend Hollywood
Speaker 4: and her talent, and you know, I go, I want
Speaker 4: to be challenged I want to be nervous again. It's
Speaker 4: nice to go in and be nervous, you know on
Speaker 4: your first day when Sigourney Weaver walks in, you know,
Speaker 4: for you growing up? Oh mate, I was, yeah, in Mergan,
Speaker 4: like I think Alien first come out seventy nine, so
Speaker 4: by the time it got to Mergen it was eighty four.
Speaker 4: I was fourteen. Saw her and went and into my
Speaker 4: acting at this stage and I went, oh, my god,
Speaker 4: that's me, Like, I've got to I've got to meet her.
Speaker 4: I said, We've got the same jaw, we got curly hair.
Speaker 4: And at that stage when I watched Daily and of
Speaker 4: course they had already started Alien too, but I went,
Speaker 4: there's going to be a second I know it. And
Speaker 4: I said, and I'd walk around Morgan going how do
Speaker 4: I get a letter to Hollywood? And they went, what
Speaker 4: do you want to get a letter to Hollywood for?
Speaker 4: I said, because I've got to tell them that I
Speaker 4: should play her daughter, because there's a daughter in that
Speaker 4: at the end of that thing, and I think it's
Speaker 4: got to be me.
Speaker 1: This is so freaking yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And then I said to her when when we
Speaker 4: met over over Zoom, I was playing very cool as
Speaker 4: you've got to do. And then I went to goourney
Speaker 4: before before we go, she because there there anything else
Speaker 4: with you? You know, we've talked about the script. And
Speaker 4: I went, yeah, there is one thing I said for
Speaker 4: me to be able to do my job right, You're
Speaker 4: going to give me one thing. And she goes, what's
Speaker 4: that and I said a fangirl moment and I said,
Speaker 4: just one. I got to tell you this good yard.
Speaker 4: So I told her and she kissed us off, laughing
Speaker 4: and yeah. And then it was And that sort of
Speaker 4: broke the eyes for me too, because I could just
Speaker 4: be me, you know, And and she was great.
Speaker 6: We've got Kirby Bentley in studio today. Kai a Mob, Yes,
Speaker 6: who's in mob?
Speaker 3: Where you're from?
Speaker 6: Nunga Yamaji from Western Australia. I grew up in a
Speaker 6: cracking country. It's renowned as cracking country in Mount Barker.
Speaker 6: So a country girl, let's.
Speaker 1: Go to Survivor talk about the game with us. So
Speaker 1: there's no producer saying to you should do this.
Speaker 6: No, wow, no, And I love that because it allows
Speaker 6: you to be creative, to know people and work people.
Speaker 6: And that's the whole reason why I sort of applied
Speaker 6: because I was at a stage in my life where
Speaker 6: I'd gone through a breakup. I had fallen into a
Speaker 6: bit of depression. So it's not just from the breakup,
Speaker 6: but being over here, being by myself as.
Speaker 3: Well, away from home, way from country.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, and I just I just felt really alone
Speaker 6: and I started to get out of that. And then
Speaker 6: once I applied, I actually didn't. I've never watched it.
Speaker 6: I've only ever watched our season.
Speaker 3: See, so I had to do what he said.
Speaker 1: I've been watching every country and how.
Speaker 3: These motherfuckers get through this, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be good because I can't hold a lie in,
Speaker 1: you know, lie.
Speaker 6: So the way that I did it was I would
Speaker 6: tell someone I was working with, Say I was working
Speaker 6: with Brooks for example, I'm like, oh, you tell Ferris
Speaker 6: or you tell Rachel that we're actually gonna write this
Speaker 6: person's name. Done.
Speaker 7: But that's a lie.
Speaker 6: So then I would get Brooks tell on how she
Speaker 6: would lie. So when she would lie to me, I
Speaker 6: would see what she's doing, so I would just avoid that.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's so.
Speaker 6: Good ione to know how brook lies, which is which
Speaker 6: is what I'm looking for.
Speaker 2: How do I think I find like I can't really lie,
Speaker 2: but if I am lying to protect someone, I will.
Speaker 4: I can.
Speaker 3: It's very different. Is it is very different.
Speaker 2: If it's to protect someone else and it's to take
Speaker 2: care of them because I care about them, I can
Speaker 2: do it. But if it's to lie because I'm protecting myself, fuck,
Speaker 2: I'm done. Like oh, it's like like you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's a bit uncomfortable, but I've also I feel like
Speaker 2: it's such a survival thing too, like me like not
Speaker 2: to use the fun like you know. I feel like
Speaker 2: in my my younger years in high school sometimes I
Speaker 2: had to lie, you know. I had to lie to
Speaker 2: the department to protect my mom. I had to lie
Speaker 2: to school teachers to protect my brothers, you know.
Speaker 1: And that happens to school saying they're like, what does
Speaker 1: your dad do? My dad didn't work, you know, stick
Speaker 1: picker on the farm, and I was like, he's a detective.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, yeah, and you'd try to Yeah, we
Speaker 3: talked about this and he got.
Speaker 1: Caught when he came to school and they were like,
Speaker 1: your dad's really a detective. I was like, yes, under cover,
Speaker 1: so good.
Speaker 3: And okay, so you've just gone to worlds so you've
Speaker 3: just come back. How do you also? Can I ask
Speaker 3: a dumb question? No question is a dumb question.
Speaker 1: What do you eat? Like?
Speaker 2: I've been asked to do a survivor, but I have
Speaker 2: also rejected it many times because I just don't think
Speaker 2: that I could starve myself.
Speaker 6: Well, technically, you don't starve yourself when they would never
Speaker 6: let that happen, right, perfect, But they give you a Russians.
Speaker 6: They give you enough Russians to feed your tribe. So
Speaker 6: there's fourteen on a tribe. There's rice, and there's beans.
Speaker 6: And if our first three days it rained, we had
Speaker 6: no shelter, which meant that we're wet. There was no
Speaker 6: wood to light fires, which means we didn't eat. So
Speaker 6: you can't cook food with wood, right, So it's on
Speaker 6: you whether you cook it it, whether you eat it,
Speaker 6: whether you don't. And there's coconuts like you can eat.
Speaker 6: You're obviously really hungry, and you smell.
Speaker 4: You smell so bad.
Speaker 6: Not today you smell.
Speaker 1: So there's no light coming in with the quick fix
Speaker 1: and the producers going, we've got a little gas.
Speaker 6: Sto absolutely no rice off, rude, no so whatever, So
Speaker 6: we're shaving. Can you shave no, you can't brush your teeth,
Speaker 6: you can't shave, there's no soap. If you lose your clothes,
Speaker 6: you lose your clothes.
Speaker 3: That's all you have, won't so we pay.
Speaker 6: We take seven items or nine items, and if you
Speaker 6: lose them, like one of the one of our contestants,
Speaker 6: throw another contestants close out. So that's all she had,
Speaker 6: So she was missing strategic I don't know if they
Speaker 6: liked each other that much. So yeah, she ended up
Speaker 6: throwing it out and this Kelly you jo names. She's like,
Speaker 6: I can't find my clothes anywhere, and I think someone's
Speaker 6: throwing them out. I was like, I think someone's throwing
Speaker 6: them out as well. And we're freezing out ALFs off too,
Speaker 6: So she's standing in like her baby bottoms and Raymond's
Speaker 6: T shirt. So that's all the clothes. So once they're gone,
Speaker 6: they don't get replaced. Nothing gets replaced. I burned socks
Speaker 6: by accident. They didn't get in a place and it
Speaker 6: gets cold. But I recommend playing it though, yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so wait love of the game if you
Speaker 2: haven't watched it, yeah, In terms.
Speaker 1: Of the crew, so bird's eye view, there's a camp
Speaker 1: and then is there like producers and TV directors and
Speaker 1: everyone around set.
Speaker 6: You know, there's there's a camera with a producer like obviously,
Speaker 6: because that's how they catch us, catch the filming. And
Speaker 6: we're not at a talk without without a camera. Otherwise
Speaker 6: the game isn't played right because they don't get to
Speaker 6: pick up on any conversations that might have been had
Speaker 6: that results in somebody leaving for example. Yeah, so no camera,
Speaker 6: no talking.
Speaker 2: How many cameras too, Oh it could be up to
Speaker 2: like six seven, quite a few, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Getting every one's conversations.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And yeah. In terms of the idols, are they
Speaker 1: like strategically placed and you can see them putting them there?
Speaker 1: Or no?
Speaker 6: Absolutely not because I'm a tracker and I could not
Speaker 6: find one. I looked and I needed one I needed
Speaker 6: I needed five of them, but yeah, I couldn't find
Speaker 6: them anyway to save myself. So wow, I was just
Speaker 6: relying on my gameplay and my manipulation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and people went you went far like you were
Speaker 2: top five? Yeah, and then who got you out?
Speaker 1: I was.
Speaker 3: I was very lucky.
Speaker 6: I managed to play big and be able to step back,
Speaker 6: and people wanted to, you know, play their game as well,
Speaker 6: So I sort of moved in ebbs and flows with that,
Speaker 6: and then eventually I got to a tribal council. I
Speaker 6: don't know if you watched it, Maddy, but Alex started
Speaker 6: to just be like, Kirby's the biggest player, and I
Speaker 6: was like, shut your mouth, Alex, keep your lips tight
Speaker 6: like what I were doing.
Speaker 1: Yeah I wish, I wish.
Speaker 5: I could, but no.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so he just threw me under the table completely,
Speaker 6: and then from then they just wanted me gone. So
Speaker 6: I was relying on winning necklaces and yes, staying on
Speaker 6: top of things. But I ended up getting to the
Speaker 6: fifth last tribal council and Ferris was going to play
Speaker 6: his idol for me up until he had said I'm
Speaker 6: not scared of Kirby, like I wouldn't flinch, and then
Speaker 6: he looked at at the jury villa and they all
Speaker 6: looked at each other like he's nuts, Like absolutely, you
Speaker 6: should be flinching, And then I think you're backtracked, so yeah,
Speaker 6: hang out and then.
Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, okay, yeah, in terms of worlds, what.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us? Yeah, what can you anything different
Speaker 1: about the game? I mean, it's Survivor people from all
Speaker 1: over the world, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is it's World Survivor seven Australian seven World
Speaker 6: players and it was fast play. It was filmed that
Speaker 6: the entire game was sixteen days and it was hectic.
Speaker 6: It was so much fun.
Speaker 1: Sixteen days yeah, two weeks just yeah, it's amazing. So
Speaker 1: Queen Kirby and King George, how did they go?
Speaker 3: Yeah, because you guys are big?
Speaker 6: Uh no, no, so King George actually helped Ferris like
Speaker 6: sort of mentor mentored him port going out. They're not
Speaker 6: like I didn't know anyone when I went. My sole
Speaker 6: goal was not to get voted off first.
Speaker 1: That was itau the Black Fellows always.
Speaker 3: Do like movies when Black Fellows die first.
Speaker 1: If I ever done a reality TV show in my
Speaker 1: contract will be not the first step.
Speaker 6: You're gonna have to play well, we'll have to go
Speaker 6: out there with bloodsbee water or something.
Speaker 1: Oh my life. I would love to, but I would
Speaker 1: also just be hilarious, like I feel like when I
Speaker 1: mean hilarious, like they'd be like, oh, this blackfellow should
Speaker 1: now to survive. Could I get a towel? Yeah, blanket,
Speaker 1: you have the hair dry?
Speaker 3: That's crazy. I mean I really want to do it.
Speaker 7: I feel like I will like take a bit of
Speaker 7: Kirby mentality into that game.
Speaker 2: I'll be like, Okay, I'm here surviving literally I mean
Speaker 2: some im and for sixty thousand.
Speaker 1: Plus year the big spill at the end, I mean
Speaker 1: here for sixty thousand plus years.
Speaker 3: Run through my veins.
Speaker 8: My name is Lela. I am a very proud West
Speaker 8: Paplind woman. My dad comes from Biak Island in West
Speaker 8: Papua and my mother is from the one Dumma tribe
Speaker 8: in West Papla as well.
Speaker 5: Beautiful Yamiyama, I'm mitched Tambo praud gonroy Man and yes,
Speaker 5: I honored to be here today to share and yearm
Speaker 5: with you too.
Speaker 1: Deadly Mob twenty nineteen. Obviously you know the Australia's got talent. Yes,
Speaker 1: tell me about that experience.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Look, I got asked to appear on the show
Speaker 5: after maybe doing like three of my very first live
Speaker 5: shows as a so called singer songwriter. They reached out
Speaker 5: and said, let's do it. You know, let's see what
Speaker 5: let's see what happens, see if we can survive it.
Speaker 5: And little did I know, some gold confetti was going
Speaker 5: to rain down upon me and we'll go to the
Speaker 5: next round and end up taking on your the voice,
Speaker 5: which was it was a crazy journey. I obviously let
Speaker 5: as my wife. She was with me throughout this big journey,
Speaker 5: and I remember sort of taking it on, just going, man,
Speaker 5: this is kind of like, you know, the unsung anthem.
Speaker 1: Of every B and S ball out in the bush.
Speaker 5: I don't know, I don't know how this is going
Speaker 5: to go for me right now, let's do it. It's
Speaker 5: like the most karaoke song you'll ever come across. And
Speaker 5: we went for it, and yeah, it's just it's been
Speaker 5: an incredible chourning.
Speaker 3: But you translated it, didn't you?
Speaker 5: From my memory, yes, yes, I got the song. I
Speaker 5: was put on the table. You know, should we do this?
Speaker 5: I said, yeah, let's do it. So we translated. I
Speaker 5: got with Arnie Burnaett Duncan out there and Boggabilla shout
Speaker 5: out to arn and translated and put it out there
Speaker 5: and the rest is kind of history.
Speaker 3: That's crazy. Were you really proud?
Speaker 2: So right?
Speaker 3: Where were you sitting like in it? Were you behind
Speaker 3: or were you so?
Speaker 8: I wasn't there at the first audition.
Speaker 5: No, you left me to go do a gig and
Speaker 5: how dare you go to come first? Going to pay
Speaker 5: ver and singing and I'm just there alone in some
Speaker 5: bathroom trying to just remember the lyrics.
Speaker 1: But I was.
Speaker 5: I'm very proud.
Speaker 8: And yeah, I wasn't able to be there for a
Speaker 8: few of the big performances, but I was definitely there
Speaker 8: in spirit, and I was always on the phone. But yeah,
Speaker 8: I think it was the final, the final. I was
Speaker 8: there in the crowd and I.
Speaker 1: Thought, you got who?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: What was my placement in the end?
Speaker 5: I yes, great, I think I made the finals and
Speaker 5: they gave me the boot.
Speaker 3: Who was judging.
Speaker 5: Nicole from Cat Dolls? Yeah, she was up My biggest
Speaker 5: supporter on the show. Shane Shane from the toilet, Shane
Speaker 5: How from the toilet, from the toilet?
Speaker 3: What do you mean from the toilet?
Speaker 5: Kenny Kenny, Yeah, yeah, toilet Yeah.
Speaker 3: Music.
Speaker 5: Sorry, I'm terrible surnames. I'm like Shane Jacobs.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 5: I'm saying, Shane how I just make sure.
Speaker 3: There are people listen.
Speaker 5: Yeah, sorry, Shane, I saw you the other weekend with
Speaker 5: Sundays and it's out right now. And who else mine?
Speaker 1: Who? Ye?
Speaker 5: And I'm so bad with names. There was the I'm
Speaker 5: going to say, sister, I shouldn't say sister.
Speaker 1: But Lucy, oh yeah Lucy from Wicked. Yes, yes, physical
Speaker 1: she did. Glinda Glinda pretty sure.
Speaker 5: I'm going to say yeah, X Factor Glindough.
Speaker 7: Well that was what year was that, twenty seven nineteen.
Speaker 3: I was on Look a long time and.
Speaker 7: Like, how has music changed like since for you, like
Speaker 7: from that experience.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Look, it's changed heaps. Because obviously when I went
Speaker 5: on there, I had no sort of intention to end up,
Speaker 5: you know, signed one of the biggest record labels in
Speaker 5: the world and go on this crazy journey. At the time,
Speaker 5: I just really wanted to just share culture and just
Speaker 5: really showed. My whole intention of going on there was
Speaker 5: just to show the world and wider community that our
Speaker 5: culture is alive, it's thriving, and you know, you can
Speaker 5: have light skin and look like me and be a
Speaker 5: proud blackfellow and carry culture because I think a lot
Speaker 5: of the times, people you know that don't know much
Speaker 5: about us, they look for someone that's visibly black to
Speaker 5: go I'm going to get culture from you, because you know,
Speaker 5: but in the way that things have happened, you could
Speaker 5: see someone that appears that way and they know nothing,
Speaker 5: unfortunately because they've been taken away or things have happened,
Speaker 5: or you can see someone like me that's light and
Speaker 5: you've been lucky to grow up in community and have
Speaker 5: a great immersion, you know, and understanding. So I just
Speaker 5: really wanted to get out there and just represent and
Speaker 5: be true to me and be all of who I am.
Speaker 5: And I had no idea of what was around the
Speaker 5: corner and what was about to happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, the nation really connected with that performance. You know,
Speaker 1: you're the voice, so you obviously then went on to
Speaker 1: perform it around the country, you know, at big events
Speaker 1: like the NRL and stuff. So has that moment would
Speaker 1: you say that was the like the the moment that
Speaker 1: sort of was the springboard into music for you because
Speaker 1: before you're talking about you know, culture is music is
Speaker 1: our culture. But you know, were you always wanted to
Speaker 1: be a musician or did you realize something in that moment?
Speaker 5: Yeah. Look, it's not the sound arrogant, but I've never
Speaker 5: once said in my life, hey, I want to be
Speaker 5: a singer. Yeah, I want to be a songwriter from
Speaker 5: about the age of fifteen, and I knew that for
Speaker 5: the rest of my life. I just wanted to know
Speaker 5: and understand who I am as an Aboriginal person and
Speaker 5: be able to share and celebrate that. So when this happened,
Speaker 5: you know, my first time, you know, actually singing was
Speaker 5: your the voice in our language, and I'm doing it
Speaker 5: in front of the whole nation slash world. That was
Speaker 5: my first time. And like, I know, it sounds cliche
Speaker 5: and you see movies and stuff, but I was like
Speaker 5: five minutes from going out looking in the mirror, just
Speaker 5: going come on, man, you have to remember these these lyrics.
Speaker 5: You have to remember it. And I got to a
Speaker 5: point where I was like, well, I'm done. Now I've
Speaker 5: got to go. I can't remember a thing, and all
Speaker 5: of a sudden it just comes to me on the
Speaker 5: stage and I did it, you know, because I'd never
Speaker 5: actually been really feel like I mean, I mean, my
Speaker 5: team were like, you know what, because I do sing
Speaker 5: like one percent of it in English, and that one percent,
Speaker 5: they were like, you know, let's not worry about it.
Speaker 5: Don't worry about It's too much pressure. Because obviously I'm
Speaker 5: a fluent English speaker. I don't speak Gomroy, but I
Speaker 5: only ever really grew up singing in Gomroy. I never
Speaker 5: grew up like want to be a singer. So the
Speaker 5: idea of singing in English was really exposing and just
Speaker 5: like so much anxiety around that where singing in language
Speaker 5: just feels like I'm just being me.
Speaker 1: Just tell them story.
Speaker 5: So the last minute, I just don't worry about it,
Speaker 5: just dance.
Speaker 1: I was too hard.
Speaker 5: Now I've got to do it. So my first time
Speaker 5: like singing in English English on a stage was on
Speaker 5: the show and just doing it.
Speaker 1: Wow. And then obviously from that moment, you've worked very
Speaker 1: closely together. Yes, you've traveled a lot, you've toured, you've
Speaker 1: released music, you have a way of releasing iconic covers, yes,
Speaker 1: you know. So what is it about taking a song
Speaker 1: that is so iconic that everyone knows and then putting
Speaker 1: like a first nation spin on it? Yes, is important
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Look, I think at the time it was like, you know,
Speaker 5: why do I want it to do this? Like I
Speaker 5: said before, it's like the biggest unsung anthem of the country.
Speaker 5: But it's also like everyone karaoke this song is just
Speaker 5: getting absolutely annihilated and people just get pulled apart for
Speaker 5: doing it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So when it come to the table, I was like, well,
Speaker 5: what's it really about? And the story that was given
Speaker 5: to me was about being a voice against domestic violence
Speaker 5: and stepping out, and I could relate to that, and
Speaker 5: but I was like, you know what, there's so many
Speaker 5: of our mob, you know, struggle, and we're so over
Speaker 5: representing all these harsh statistics. I just want to be
Speaker 5: a voice that the sooner we can just come together
Speaker 5: and love one another, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality
Speaker 5: in class Like the sooner we can just create a
Speaker 5: beautiful platform for the kids of our community and let
Speaker 5: that flow out to all kids that they can just
Speaker 5: be all of who they are. You know, you don't
Speaker 5: have to be that kid that's you know, hiding in
Speaker 5: the closet and doesn't want to come out and you know,
Speaker 5: identify as gay or whatever it is, and all of
Speaker 5: a sudden, you know, they take their life. If we
Speaker 5: could just create something that was built on that love
Speaker 5: and acceptance, like we'd just be keeping kids and kids
Speaker 5: could celebrate all of who they are, and you know,
Speaker 5: it would flow out that you know, there could be
Speaker 5: a young Muslim sister and a hijab that wants to
Speaker 5: rap in hurdling go and she can step out, you know,
Speaker 5: just be who you are. And it was crazy, like
Speaker 5: after it.
Speaker 1: The love that flooded in.
Speaker 5: Initially was out of this world because I thought, man,
Speaker 5: I'm gonna I'm just gonna get hamdied. And there was
Speaker 5: this one night, wasn't there Lello where I got this
Speaker 5: like voice message on Facebook and this is this sounds
Speaker 5: like I'm stereotyping, but it sounded like some old farmer
Speaker 5: dude out in the middle of nowhere that rang me
Speaker 5: late at night. This old ringer, you know, maybe Caucasian
Speaker 5: background like.
Speaker 3: That would typically love that song, yeah.
Speaker 5: And be very attached to it. And he rang He goes, Mitch, mate,
Speaker 5: that's that he did. He goes, can I do the
Speaker 5: accent on something? Crazy? He was like, Mitch may May,
Speaker 5: I'm just cooling your mate. You're the voice, mate, Oh mate,
Speaker 5: you're mate. I just want to say thank you so much, mate,
Speaker 5: And then he just goes, anyway, mate, love you good night.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I thought were a wow. And I had an other
Speaker 5: midnight It's crazy, I'm like running out to listen to this.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I probably had a couple of tinners, you know, the
Speaker 5: vibes out in the middle of somewhere, and I had
Speaker 5: another fella reach out. I thought initially it was going
Speaker 5: to be that style and he actually goes. You know,
Speaker 5: I've been a ring of my whole life, muster and
Speaker 5: cattle with lots of black fellows. I've always felt this
Speaker 5: really weird connection to the land. I saw you get up,
Speaker 5: you know, with fair skin, and so proud of you.
Speaker 5: And I've got my kids to go on an ancestry
Speaker 5: search founds out like you know, one of our grandfathers
Speaker 5: or whatever was Aboriginal. And now understand why I've had
Speaker 5: this connection to you, your people and culture. And just
Speaker 5: thanks for stepping out and doing the thing and song.
Speaker 3: Yeah, been crazy, that's crazy, blessed. Like John is real sick.
Speaker 7: At the moment.
Speaker 1: Well, I think he's come on the other side of
Speaker 1: it now he's sort of on his healing journey. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just and guy Sebastin just did that tribute at the logo. Yeah,
Speaker 1: beautiful tribute. It would have been amazing for you to
Speaker 1: step out.
Speaker 5: Where was I matter? You need to put a word,
Speaker 5: you know, when they.
Speaker 1: Were singing when she came out the voice, I was like,
Speaker 1: wouldn't it be amazing for you to come out and
Speaker 1: sing a bit in language? You know? Maybe next time?
Speaker 5: Totally And I mean you know, I've been blessed obviously
Speaker 5: sing it with John Brian May from Queen and bless
Speaker 5: her living and John and you know through the campaign
Speaker 5: and stuff. When John was crook, they asked me to
Speaker 5: front of his bed and sing on his behalf the
Speaker 5: So I've been really blessed in the sense to have
Speaker 5: his backing, and I think he's a really big advocate
Speaker 5: for our people for positive change and letting that wind
Speaker 5: shift in the right direction for us, which is great.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Well, that's all we have time for today, guys.
Speaker 7: Thank you so much for listening to First things first,
Speaker 7: we love you guys.
Speaker 1: If you want to hear anything from us, or you
Speaker 1: want us to cover anything on the pod, make sure
Speaker 1: you hit us up on social media. You can find
Speaker 1: Brook at Brook dot Bloat and me at HiT's Mattie Mills.
Speaker 1: But if you're to hear other podcasts as well, you
Speaker 1: can check out Nervous Podcasts Official.
Speaker 7: See you guys next week, Thatch Bye,