Speaker 1: Podcast Unite our Voices. This podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by on Track Studio. Welcome to Yannia, the podcast that
Speaker 1: showcases First Nations stories and conversations to help us learn
Speaker 1: and unlearn Australia's history to work towards a better future.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, proud barber woman and founder of Black
Speaker 1: Waddel Coaching and Consulting, Caroline cow. We acknowledge the rundery
Speaker 1: people and elders where this podcast is taped, but we
Speaker 1: also acknowledge the lands that you are listening in from today.
Speaker 1: It always was and always will be unseated aboriginal and
Speaker 1: tourist Red Islander Land. Well, I'm super excited about our
Speaker 1: next falla who's joining us on the show show. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's been a pretty heavy time and I
Speaker 1: was thinking about today's record and I just felt this
Speaker 1: like immense sense of joy and lightness kind of come
Speaker 1: over me because I'm so excited to be sitting down
Speaker 1: with Jalen Sutcliffe, a Fallow from Northern Queensland, a countryman
Speaker 1: from where I'm from. And yeah, I'm really excited just
Speaker 1: to connect with you brs, So thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Yarning up.
Speaker 2: Thank you Mom for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2: When you sent the questions out and was like, hey,
Speaker 2: you want to come on, I was like, yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: I was very excited to come on for a answer. No,
Speaker 2: it's good to be here.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you, my bro. I mean I've been following
Speaker 1: your work and your socials and what you were doing
Speaker 1: in comedy for a long time. But I was really
Speaker 1: taken aback because I was at event the Followship program,
Speaker 1: you know, shout out to Culture his Life and Arnie
Speaker 1: Binn and Madelyne and far and the crew, and you
Speaker 1: just radiated this joy and energy and this yeah, this
Speaker 1: this energy that I was like, yeah, I've got to
Speaker 1: get this follow on the show. I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be not just good for my spirit, but for
Speaker 1: our listeners and the mob too. So yeah, yes. And
Speaker 1: I also want to say thank you because I understand
Speaker 1: you are coming off the opening night of a show
Speaker 1: which I really want to talk about. It's like zombie,
Speaker 1: So thank you for being here, particularly in spite of that.
Speaker 1: As we do on this show, i'd love you to
Speaker 1: sort of start by, yeah, can you introduce yourself your
Speaker 1: mob and just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. So my name is Jalen Sutcliffe. Born
Speaker 2: and raised in towns with North Queensland, but my mob's
Speaker 2: Durumble and calculture and on my mother's side and Papa
Speaker 2: New Guinea and on my father's side, so from the
Speaker 2: Moribe province there up in New Guinea. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 2: I'm a musician, comedian actor, what else is there? I'm
Speaker 2: trying to part time dancer only after I've had a
Speaker 2: few and yeah, I guess I started started everything once
Speaker 2: I kind of left high school, moved down Heater Brisbane
Speaker 2: to study for three years at the Aboriginal Center for
Speaker 2: Performing Arts up here. So I had started in music
Speaker 2: and kind of music was the passion. And then I
Speaker 2: kind of found my way into Deadly Funny, which is
Speaker 2: also another branch of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival that
Speaker 2: highlights and showcases up and coming comedian first Nations comedians
Speaker 2: across the country. So I got a taste of that
Speaker 2: and that was my first time ever doing stand up
Speaker 2: and had the opportunity to go down to Melbourne and
Speaker 2: take out the national final. So did that and then
Speaker 2: I've also had the opportunity to work with Annie Debra
Speaker 2: Cheatham with Short Black Opera. So I got the chance
Speaker 2: to perform in Pekan Summer that was on it at
Speaker 2: the Sydney Opera House a couple of years ago. So yeah,
Speaker 2: So within that timeframe that was all still living down
Speaker 2: here in Brisbane and kind of just getting an understanding
Speaker 2: of the industry and figuring out everything and how it
Speaker 2: all works and kind of yeah, going from there, and
Speaker 2: then the University of Tasmania did a gospel course with
Speaker 2: us at Akpa and after the court, after the gospel intensive,
Speaker 2: they were like, hey, if you want to you know,
Speaker 2: if you's are interested in studying further or just want
Speaker 2: to test yourselves out and come to UNI, then you
Speaker 2: know we'll help you, will support you is when you
Speaker 2: come down, will help you, you know, look for accommodation,
Speaker 2: look for work, help you get into the degrees want
Speaker 2: to get into as well. If if it's not in
Speaker 2: the musical stream, then whatever that may be at UNI
Speaker 2: if you are interested. So yeah, a couple of us
Speaker 2: ended up moving down to Tazzy to study at UNI
Speaker 2: and then I just recently graduated last year the year
Speaker 2: before the Bachelor of Music. So within that timeframe of
Speaker 2: living down in Tazzy for a couple of years. I
Speaker 2: got to work on Black Comedy, doing the writers' workshops
Speaker 2: and then being a mainstay actor for season four, and
Speaker 2: then did a few little extras things on rose Haven,
Speaker 2: which is another show on ABC that's based down in Tazzy,
Speaker 2: which is which is pretty funny with with Celia and
Speaker 2: Luke McGregor. And then yeah, getting the chance to be
Speaker 2: on Bay of Fires as well, which is pretty awesome
Speaker 2: getting to there was a lot of heavy hitters, Australian
Speaker 2: heavy hitters in that show, which it was awesome to
Speaker 2: kind of rub shoulders with and meet and have dinner
Speaker 2: with at night time and just you know, hear their
Speaker 2: stories and just see how how cool they were with
Speaker 2: everything and just being able to have after all the
Speaker 2: big roles that they've done and people they've worked with.
Speaker 2: And then finished that and then decided to move back home.
Speaker 2: I thought, I think I just needed a break from
Speaker 2: everything and just wanted to come back home and just
Speaker 2: have a reset and refresh and be back with family,
Speaker 2: and so I was really really looking forward to finishing
Speaker 2: up down and Tazzy and and making the trip back
Speaker 2: up home. It was myself and one of my other brothers, Leroy,
Speaker 2: Tipo Laura, who's a little Tea We follower, but he's
Speaker 2: a deadly performer in his own right. And we've sold
Speaker 2: everything and hired a car and traveled all the way
Speaker 2: up the East coast back up to Queensland together. Was
Speaker 2: the crazy trip. The longest we did it and I
Speaker 2: think a week and a week and a half, so
Speaker 2: we were we were fairly cruising it up that highway.
Speaker 2: We made it safely. I dropped him off in Bayron
Speaker 2: Bay with his family there, and then I it up
Speaker 2: the rest of the way by myself to Tangill. So yeah,
Speaker 2: we made it back. And then as soon as I
Speaker 2: got home, it was like, oh wait, it was just
Speaker 2: kind of lifted off my shoulders and I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: all right, I'm home. Now I can kind of relax
Speaker 2: for a bit and catch up with family and help
Speaker 2: out where I can and just just be home for
Speaker 2: a little bit and catch up on miss time. Think
Speaker 2: I'm ready to leave again. I feel like everyone's getting
Speaker 2: sicking me out there, but I'm yeah excited for I
Speaker 2: guess what's to come next. Not sure what that is
Speaker 2: after this show he slays Zombie, but yeah, just kind
Speaker 2: of taking everything as it comes, and yeah, just excited
Speaker 2: for what's next on this on this journey in this
Speaker 2: crazy industry.
Speaker 1: Wow, my bro. I mean, look, firstly, I just want to, Yeah,
Speaker 1: shout out to your multi clans and your moms, and
Speaker 1: shout out to both your heritages. And yeah, for someone
Speaker 1: who has left high school and gone on to UNI,
Speaker 1: you sure have accomplished a lot, my bro, in featuring
Speaker 1: in all these shows. And it was interesting, I guess
Speaker 1: to hear you say that it all started out with
Speaker 1: you performing like singing, and that led to comedy and
Speaker 1: theater and TV. You know, I want to I want
Speaker 1: to take it back to the first time that you performed,
Speaker 1: I guess in front of people. Can you talk to
Speaker 1: us about that experience and what was going on for
Speaker 1: you that sort of put that fire in your belly
Speaker 1: to go on and do all of these real, proper
Speaker 1: deadly things.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I think the first time. I think the
Speaker 2: first time I performed would have been I think it
Speaker 2: was in high school. I think we had there was
Speaker 2: I went to an all boys school in towns called
Speaker 2: it Ignatius Park College. So myself and Tristan mother Bala
Speaker 2: that was on the Culture's Life program. We both went
Speaker 2: to high school together and grew up together. So where
Speaker 2: we're bungees, I guess lovers Nagai. Yeah, So we went
Speaker 2: to high school there in Townsville, and I guess our
Speaker 2: kind of little group, our little mob that we all had.
Speaker 2: We always had a guitar or a ukulele, and we
Speaker 2: were always jamming in our multicultural room. That's kind of
Speaker 2: where well, that was our safe haven for mob, so
Speaker 2: we was always always in there, just jamming away and playing.
Speaker 2: And then I guess one of the teachers must have
Speaker 2: walked past and put us forward to do an item
Speaker 2: of singing one of the assemblies. I think we sang
Speaker 2: it one of our Mother's day assemblies that I think
Speaker 2: it was a song for Mama from the boys to men.
Speaker 2: I think they they that one. So I think we
Speaker 2: ended up singing that, and that was my first time performing,
Speaker 2: and I think at that point it was very much
Speaker 2: at an all boys school is kind of like sports
Speaker 2: and footy and theater music and isn't kind of as
Speaker 2: strong of a heavy hitter at unis oh sorry and
Speaker 2: high school. So yeah, we got up and saying that,
Speaker 2: and at first I was because I think I think
Speaker 2: back then I sounded like Tucker when I used to sing.
Speaker 2: I thought I was the earliest.
Speaker 1: But you got so much confidence at that stage didn't matter,
Speaker 1: does it.
Speaker 2: And yeah, that's that's it. I think everyone, all of
Speaker 2: them boys, did us up, but I think we sounded
Speaker 2: like trash, but everyone was sitting there clapping along like,
Speaker 2: oh that's cool, that was awesome. But yeah, I think
Speaker 2: it was the first time I started to understand what
Speaker 2: what shame was as well. So I was, yeah, that
Speaker 2: was kind of my first like, oh, no, I don't
Speaker 2: want to do that. That's shame, that's that's not that's
Speaker 2: not us that we don't have to do this while
Speaker 2: we're doing this for that's silly. It's all those thoughts
Speaker 2: started coming into my head. But then as soon as
Speaker 2: we've done it and every one was clapping and cheering
Speaker 2: and yahoo, and I was like, oh, actually this is
Speaker 2: all right, I don't mind. And then so, yeah, that
Speaker 2: was kind of my first memory of I guess performing
Speaker 2: like properly performing in front of people, being silly at
Speaker 2: home doing stupid things, and then yeah, it kind of
Speaker 2: went on from there to get into school musicals as well.
Speaker 2: They we were in a little tutoring program for MOB
Speaker 2: at the end of the day. We used to go
Speaker 2: up there just for the food because they had they
Speaker 2: had free food and cordial but we homework. But really
Speaker 2: we were therefore after and they had auditions on for
Speaker 2: it was Beauty and the Beast, my first school musical
Speaker 2: I did, And so we walked down and like sussed
Speaker 2: out what what it looked like, because the teachers were
Speaker 2: all like, no, he's it coming. If he's not come,
Speaker 2: then new mob. But we're going to put you on
Speaker 2: detention because you should be any of just doing this.
Speaker 2: And we're like, no, miss sir, that's silly, what's wrong
Speaker 2: with you? So we went in and had a look
Speaker 2: and we've seen everyone and there wasn't a I think
Speaker 2: there was only two other black faces in there from
Speaker 2: one of the other all girls schools to two sisters there,
Speaker 2: and we was like, nah, stuff that, we're not staying
Speaker 2: in there. We're not staying there with all these migglers.
Speaker 2: We turned around and started walking down the hallway back
Speaker 2: to the tutoring room, and then all three of them
Speaker 2: teachers walked around the corner and they're like, oh, oh,
Speaker 2: this is perfect time. Is it here and now well done? Well,
Speaker 2: I guess he's got to turn around to come back
Speaker 2: and audition. We're like no, but we ended up doing it,
Speaker 2: and it was It was probably one of the maddest
Speaker 2: first experiences of like just a high school musicool, and
Speaker 2: it was Yeah, I had the best time. And that's
Speaker 2: kind of from then on, I was like, oh, this
Speaker 2: performing thing is pretty pretty fun. I think. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: kind of where it all started.
Speaker 1: Great take music from Boys to Men to Beauty and
Speaker 1: the Beast. It's definitely like songs that and times are
Speaker 1: absolutely slaps, but yeah, I mean it's it's deadly to
Speaker 1: hear that you push through some of that shame and
Speaker 1: that feeling of maybe vulnerability, and on the other side
Speaker 1: of that is this like really beautiful feeling like I
Speaker 1: just did that, and you know, to see that you
Speaker 1: kind of, yeah, push through that feeling to lead you
Speaker 1: where you are is pretty deadly, my bro. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's nice to hear that, Like, yeah, being a
Speaker 1: part of like other friends and communities and peers who
Speaker 1: are also kind of going down that path as well.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm curious to know were you always the
Speaker 1: performer in the family growing up. There's always one, I think,
Speaker 1: or maybe a handful. But you know, thinking about your family,
Speaker 1: like are they all performers and musicians or is it
Speaker 1: just you? Where does it come from? Do you think?
Speaker 2: I think I like to think it was just I
Speaker 2: think at the moment since I've been born, it was.
Speaker 2: I think it was it was just me growing up.
Speaker 2: I was so I think I was always the one
Speaker 2: kind of g and all the cousins up and being
Speaker 2: silly and doing stupid things to make everyone laugh. And
Speaker 2: so I think I've always kind of had that funny
Speaker 2: bone in my soul. But I think there's there's been
Speaker 2: a lot of performers in in our family. There was
Speaker 2: our great great grandfather uncles. They everyone called them Uncle
Speaker 2: Paul and Uncle Dudley. They were musicians back back in
Speaker 2: the day and around the time of when the tent
Speaker 2: Embasy was going on and kicking up, and there was
Speaker 2: a so when when we were doing the we were
Speaker 2: doing a week long intensive with Short Black Opera, and
Speaker 2: we had the opportunity to record with Uncle Archie roach
Speaker 2: last album that he did, so we got the chance
Speaker 2: to be like the kind of little gospel choir in there.
Speaker 2: And there was always this yarn through the family that
Speaker 2: Uncle Paul and Uncle Duddy had kind of helped Uncle
Speaker 2: Archie out of his tough times and kind of got
Speaker 2: him into music and playing guitar and singing and everything
Speaker 2: like that. And I've always been like, if I ever
Speaker 2: get to meet Uncle Archid and you know, I'm to
Speaker 2: ask him the question and see if you know, if
Speaker 2: the if the yarns are true, because you know, mob
Speaker 2: goes sometimes I just been yarn, just to just to
Speaker 2: spin a yarn and little.
Speaker 1: Bit of spicy male on there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it. And so we finished the
Speaker 2: recording and I went up to him and I was like, Hey,
Speaker 2: I'm Jalen on this and that such and much. And
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know if you if you
Speaker 2: remember this, these follows Paul and Dudley Meredith and he
Speaker 2: was like, oh I don't. He just went on a big,
Speaker 2: a big were yon there and was telling me about
Speaker 2: him and how they helped him and everything they done,
Speaker 2: and I was like, wow, that's that's that's insane. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I ended up and I was like, I know everyone
Speaker 2: been asking you for a photo, but councters get one, Yeah,
Speaker 2: which was which was a real spinout because I was like, man, wow,
Speaker 2: this is like, that's that's cool. It was. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: was kind of felt like a full circle moment in
Speaker 2: a in a sense of like, oh, that's it's true,
Speaker 2: like this young is true, which is pretty deadly. But yeah,
Speaker 2: there's I guess that's kind of the only performers I've
Speaker 2: kind of heard of, I think in our family apart
Speaker 2: from then, there was my great grandfather, my NaN's dad,
Speaker 2: who was a boxer or ten boxer and everything back
Speaker 2: in the day Jack Hassen. But yeah, that's apart from that.
Speaker 2: I think I feel like if they watched this, someone
Speaker 2: gets struck down.
Speaker 1: Oh well, my bro. I mean that's so deadly to
Speaker 1: hear that you got to perform with you know, the
Speaker 1: late uncle Archie Roaches, you know, an icon for our community.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so deadly to hear the connections, Like
Speaker 1: you say, it's so full circle. You never really know
Speaker 1: what legacy you're carrying on from your old ones. But yeah,
Speaker 1: what was that like for you? In meeting and singing
Speaker 1: alongside somebody so so important for our communities?
Speaker 2: Oh moments moments I'll never forget. Yeah, it was Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was special, really really special, just to just to
Speaker 2: be in the room with him and just to kind
Speaker 2: of feel the energy that just exuded out of him
Speaker 2: when he walked into a room and he didn't have
Speaker 2: to say anything. He just walked in and everyone knew
Speaker 2: what was what was going on, and it was Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's powerful. He didn't have to say much either, it
Speaker 2: was just really really softly spoken. Really yeah, just nice.
Speaker 2: I just like there, he's like, just you see me.
Speaker 2: You just want to give him a big hug.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's so beautiful. Like to hear you say that,
Speaker 1: I've had the privilege of being in a sort of
Speaker 1: intimate setting with him and I can yeah, I know
Speaker 1: what you mean about that, that presence and that he
Speaker 1: feels like everyone's uncle a in that space, even the
Speaker 1: Mingaloo's there, you know. So yeah, that's so beautiful. It's
Speaker 1: so interesting you're saying about that. Like in our family,
Speaker 1: this is how old I am.
Speaker 2: Broke.
Speaker 1: So, I know you're a lot younger than me, but
Speaker 1: I'm one of six and I was a bit of
Speaker 1: the performer, going up part in theater and dancing, but
Speaker 1: I never Sadly, I never sustained it like you, and
Speaker 1: I often think about what my life would look like
Speaker 1: if I had have continued to pursue the arts and
Speaker 1: not gone down the whole counselor UNI having to do
Speaker 1: something with my brain and was more heartlet and in
Speaker 1: my heart and in my body. But I used to
Speaker 1: have to set up the video camera to do performances
Speaker 1: and then watch them back on the VCR. And I'll
Speaker 1: never forget, like I know, that's how old I am.
Speaker 1: And it's funny like in the last few years, we've
Speaker 1: gone through like some of our old stuff and we
Speaker 1: found all these old videos of me singing, performing, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, true god, this is
Speaker 1: so embarrassing. But yeah, that's certainly how old I am.
Speaker 1: We didn't have cameras back then, and my family was
Speaker 1: so sick of having forced performances that I would just
Speaker 1: do solo shows for one. But I was actually yarning
Speaker 1: with my Aunie when I was up in country last
Speaker 1: year about it. And because my little niece, Ivy, she's
Speaker 1: into all this performing and dancing and especially tap dancing,
Speaker 1: and I used to do tap dancing and my nun
Speaker 1: was a tap dancer. Before she was a domestic she
Speaker 1: was like an amazing dancer, And so you just think,
Speaker 1: what are we taking on? You know, we often think
Speaker 1: about I guess a lot of the struggles and the
Speaker 1: trauma we'd take on, but we also get these beautiful
Speaker 1: gifts and talents too that we just sometimes don't know.
Speaker 1: So I love that connection with your uncle, your great
Speaker 1: uncle and Archie and now you. So that's deadly my bro.
Speaker 1: Will be back you mob right after this short break.
Speaker 1: I want to sort of circle back. You know, you
Speaker 1: have done quite a lot of things in your young career,
Speaker 1: I would say, you know, from Black Comedy, Debate of Fires,
Speaker 1: to rose Haven Paper Dolls to this new It's a Zombie,
Speaker 1: Straight from the Straight, both on TV and theater. You know,
Speaker 1: I want to know what's been the most memorable moment
Speaker 1: for you, or memorable moments on stage or on set.
Speaker 1: You know, what's something that's really reminded you that you
Speaker 1: love what you do and has stayed with you in
Speaker 1: this process.
Speaker 2: I think it was I think maybe during Straight from
Speaker 2: the Straight, just the the understanding of the story and
Speaker 2: the meaning behind the story and how much power the
Speaker 2: story has and what we had what we had to
Speaker 2: do to put it on and the weight that we
Speaker 2: carry to get this story out for for them old
Speaker 2: people and for the Toy Straight Islands. I think once
Speaker 2: as soon as we hit that stage on opening night
Speaker 2: and you could just hear everyone screaming up in the
Speaker 2: crowd and whistling out and singing, singing back the songs
Speaker 2: that were in the musical as well, I think that
Speaker 2: was one of those moments where I was like, this
Speaker 2: is where we're doing something right for the people, and yeah,
Speaker 2: everyone was a powerful first opening for that show as
Speaker 2: well being it being a sold out season, but just
Speaker 2: with the show, the show had been in works for
Speaker 2: thirteen years plus I think, and so to finally now
Speaker 2: be on a stage, I think, yeah, being having the
Speaker 2: honor and privilege to come in and help bring this
Speaker 2: story to life with myself not being a torch right
Speaker 2: on the person, to have the honor to help bring
Speaker 2: that story across and yeah, and to to get that
Speaker 2: kind of the love from the old people and all
Speaker 2: the molders that were sitting in the audience that come
Speaker 2: up to us after and said thank you for this show.
Speaker 2: And my my father's, my uncles were on them on
Speaker 2: that railway and it was all it was all love,
Speaker 2: and I think it was one of the Yeah, that
Speaker 2: was probably one of the moments where I was like,
Speaker 2: this is this is why I love performing, and this
Speaker 2: is why I love kind of doing doing what I do.
Speaker 2: And it's yeah, especially for our people too, whether to
Speaker 2: straight or Aboriginal or POC or any any mob. I
Speaker 2: think just yeah, it was it was a special moment.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think that's probably that's probably one of them.
Speaker 2: But there's so many to pick from.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, like so as I understand, and you know,
Speaker 1: I'd love to sort of unpack it, but as I
Speaker 1: understand straight from the strait was sort of like based
Speaker 1: on true stories of people who had left their islands
Speaker 1: to come to the mainland for work and to you know,
Speaker 1: find opportunities through through that often exploited as well, as
Speaker 1: I understand, you know, there's lots.
Speaker 2: Of wages they should have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, can you tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: around so you said that this is sort of like
Speaker 1: thirteen years in the making, Like, yeah, can you shed
Speaker 1: some more light on, like, yeah, what the show was
Speaker 1: about and what it was trying to, I guess portray
Speaker 1: to the people who were there in the audience.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So the show was was in the in
Speaker 2: developments for thirteen plus years, just kind of getting the
Speaker 2: stories right and kind of creating the music and creating
Speaker 2: the characters, and I think finding time to sit down
Speaker 2: with those uncles as well and have them beyond with
Speaker 2: them because they'll getting old now. A lot of them
Speaker 2: have passed too, So trying to yeah, trying to be
Speaker 2: able to get there, get their stories and their memories,
Speaker 2: to be able to put it on paper too, I
Speaker 2: think was a big thing in the development stages. And
Speaker 2: then the show itself was about the when the toy
Speaker 2: shot on, the man left the straights and went to
Speaker 2: move move down to the mainland to work on the railway.
Speaker 2: They come across on a on a lugger boat and
Speaker 2: they'd either find work in the cane fields and then
Speaker 2: other make their way from the cane fields into the
Speaker 2: into the railway lines. And some of them made it
Speaker 2: over to wa to work on this railway. This rail
Speaker 2: from put headlinto Matt Newman I think, or Matt Newman
Speaker 2: called Helen one there, but it was Tho. It's in
Speaker 2: between those two those two towns over in western Australia
Speaker 2: and they ended up breaking the world record on May eight,
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight. I think they laid seven point two
Speaker 2: kilometers in eleven hours and something in it, so they had, Yeah,
Speaker 2: they had broken the American record by lunch, and then
Speaker 2: I think the record, the world record was then broken
Speaker 2: after that they and they didn't there was yarns that
Speaker 2: they didn't stop the clock when it was a break.
Speaker 2: They kept the clock running too, so I think it
Speaker 2: would have been a lot quicker if they had stopped
Speaker 2: the clock then. Yeah. So yeah, a powerful story about
Speaker 2: them leaving the islands, a lot of them not even
Speaker 2: making it back to the Straits. They would stay stay
Speaker 2: over in Wa, So yeah, it was kind of the
Speaker 2: struggles of when they would leave the islands, and the
Speaker 2: struggles with the women also then had to face, yeah,
Speaker 2: not having their companion there by their side with them
Speaker 2: to do day to day activities and help out around
Speaker 2: the house or on the islands or so yeah. And
Speaker 2: then also the intricacies and struggles of men from different
Speaker 2: tribal groups and clans all coming together to go and
Speaker 2: work on this railway together. So it's a story of
Speaker 2: brotherhood and yeah, coming together from all different nations, whether
Speaker 2: that's toe shot on the Aboriginal, they had Yugoslavian brothers
Speaker 2: on there. There was a whole melting pot of cultures.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was it was special to be able
Speaker 2: to represent all of that and all that story.
Speaker 1: So gosh, wow, min Bro, I'm just taking that on
Speaker 1: in a I mean, how powerful to be a part
Speaker 1: of something that yeah, users, I guess performance, but with
Speaker 1: like ancient stories and honoring people's stories in that way.
Speaker 1: And do you just imagine the ferocity in which they
Speaker 1: were working to be able to do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the them men were built different. They were a
Speaker 2: lot of the photos we were given from I think
Speaker 2: it was the Queensland Queensland Library, I think they had
Speaker 2: a lot of the old photos and so they they
Speaker 2: were always up wherever we were. They were up in
Speaker 2: around the room. So every time we were breaking down
Speaker 2: characters or just needed a bit of inspiration, we would
Speaker 2: they would always be there watching us. So them men
Speaker 2: were chiseled by the ancestors because they were there was
Speaker 2: a lot of us were looking at me especially, I
Speaker 2: was looking at their photos and stuff that I couldn't Yeah,
Speaker 2: that too strong work like that, That's just insane, and
Speaker 2: they were just they would be shirts off, shorts off,
Speaker 2: just in their jobs working on that railway with boots. Yeah,
Speaker 2: work boots on just because it was that hot over
Speaker 2: there as well. So yeah, it was the same the
Speaker 2: conditions they worked under two and still worked that fast
Speaker 2: and efficiently. And yeah, it's just something about being black.
Speaker 1: That the power of our blackness, as Barker says, But
Speaker 1: you know, it's sort of like one of those things
Speaker 1: that I get proper wild in my work because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm really passionate about burnout. Because people had this like
Speaker 1: narrative that black follows are inherently lazy, but we are
Speaker 1: the hardest working people. And all about infrastructure is back
Speaker 1: on the back end of black and brown you know,
Speaker 1: enslavement and labor and poor qualities of labor. And like
Speaker 1: even my mum, for instance, she was born in a
Speaker 1: sugarcane field. She didn't even go to hospital because my
Speaker 1: nan was clearing the roads. We're getting ready for trains
Speaker 1: and train tracks and infrastructure because they were just working
Speaker 1: to the bone literally, And so we owe a lot
Speaker 1: of thanks to people like that who have created what
Speaker 1: we have now, Like in civilized society, I guess quoted now,
Speaker 1: But wow, my bro, how special, what a special special
Speaker 1: project straight from the strait? How amazing? Yeah? Was it
Speaker 1: emotional for you? Like did you find like yourself feeling
Speaker 1: a bit emotional during the process, Because this is this
Speaker 1: sort of art of storytelling that would be really unique
Speaker 1: for people of color or black fellows or you know,
Speaker 1: people from the Toro astraight. It is like it's like
Speaker 1: this sort of expression, but it's also like honoring a
Speaker 1: sacred like calling or responsibility. Yeah, did you find it
Speaker 1: emotional along the way for you?
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, it was? It was. Yeah, it was an
Speaker 2: emotional rollercoaster that show. Because we had the amazing Annie
Speaker 2: Nadine McDonald. She was our director and she just laid
Speaker 2: down the law from the get go of what this
Speaker 2: story means, and she really embedded that that sense of
Speaker 2: hard work into us to help find them characters and
Speaker 2: to help us understand what it would have really been
Speaker 2: like back then, and the just the a lot of
Speaker 2: the real yucky moments in the show where it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, as them follows, we're not free now, but
Speaker 2: them Follows still couldn't be free back then, Like they
Speaker 2: had needed passes to go to places they couldn't leave
Speaker 2: without those passes or else that get locked up or
Speaker 2: sent back to the island somehow we're thrown on another
Speaker 2: boat or like it was just yeah, insane, and I think,
Speaker 2: yeah it was. It was a powerful, powerful and emotional
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. But we were all together in this
Speaker 2: this hotel as well, so we were we'd always be
Speaker 2: eaten together, we'd always be the sharing stories, getting closer,
Speaker 2: So it was on that type of emotional level. It
Speaker 2: was really really tight knit too. So when we got
Speaker 2: into the restal room, we were building on that that
Speaker 2: friendship and that brotherhood and that sense of family as well.
Speaker 2: And yeah, understanding also that a lot of them didn't
Speaker 2: even make it back home to their families, so having
Speaker 2: that that feeling of of not ever seeing your family
Speaker 2: again after you moved down to work. So yeah, it was,
Speaker 2: it was. It was. It was tough some days, but
Speaker 2: it was just really powerful in everything we did. So
Speaker 2: it was, Yeah, it was. It was awesome.
Speaker 1: Well, mad respect to you and all the people that
Speaker 1: shared their stories and pulled that together too. Yeah, honor
Speaker 1: what was and to do it in a way that
Speaker 1: is meaningful and respectful, and yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that, Mi bro.
Speaker 2: It's always always loves sharing the yarns, the straits, the
Speaker 2: stories for the show, and yeah it's special.
Speaker 1: Well I mean switching gears. I don't know, but I
Speaker 1: know that. So last night was opening night for another
Speaker 1: show which you've just started, Eat Slay Zombie. Tell us
Speaker 1: about the show, what's going on, what can people expect
Speaker 1: and coming along and seeing.
Speaker 2: You you can expect us to slay zombies. There's dance sequences,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of comedy, a lot of black humor
Speaker 2: in the show. So it's a story about a zombie
Speaker 2: apocalypse that breaks out in Brisbane here and it follows
Speaker 2: the story of two sister girls that have been titters
Speaker 2: their whole lives, but since the outbreak, they've been bunking
Speaker 2: down in a in a bowling alley and they've been
Speaker 2: kind of bunking down here and they've been fighting zombies.
Speaker 2: And then my character comes along and kind of shakes
Speaker 2: the tree up a bit between them and the relationship
Speaker 2: and makes one want to go find the people and
Speaker 2: the other doesn't want to biro me because I'm coming
Speaker 2: in here and luck with the feathers and she kind
Speaker 2: of just wants to stay in the bunker and because
Speaker 2: that's that's all they've known, and that's that's safety for
Speaker 2: her character as well. So yeah, but it's it's really
Speaker 2: it's really really fun. It's kind of like a older
Speaker 2: sister's little brother type of relationship. But yeah, it touches
Speaker 2: on a lot of a lot of issues that mob faces,
Speaker 2: especially in today's day and age, and but it's kind
Speaker 2: of doesn't hit it with the whole doom and gloom
Speaker 2: of those yarns. So it's it's really Yeah, it's really nice,
Speaker 2: deadly play written by the amazing a Linta McGrady, known
Speaker 2: as About Us Mother on socials. She's also a deadly
Speaker 2: performer musician in her own right as well as performed
Speaker 2: with Hot Brown Honey and Yeah, she's insane. She she
Speaker 2: wrote this, and I think she should write more.
Speaker 1: Yea, I love it. This is what I love about
Speaker 1: Blackfellows too, Like the light and shade between what you
Speaker 1: do and so you know, I have something like, you know,
Speaker 1: quite clean net like straight from the straight very important.
Speaker 1: But then also to think about the apocalypse and its
Speaker 1: links to like yeah, colonization and being funny and silly
Speaker 1: and carrying on is also really important. We need we
Speaker 1: need all those stories and all that versatility around it.
Speaker 1: How deadly that sounds, That sounds like something worth going along?
Speaker 1: When can you maybe shout out some details? When is
Speaker 1: it running from where people see it?
Speaker 2: It's a it's a short season, but yeah, it's it's
Speaker 2: running from Uh So we opened on Wednesday. Remember're going
Speaker 2: till We've got a show today and then a show
Speaker 2: tomorrow at Quebec in the Carimon Theater here in Brisbane
Speaker 2: from yeah, sixth to the ninth. So we've got a
Speaker 2: show tonight and two shows tomorrow and then they're all finished.
Speaker 2: Though hopefully it goes on to it because I feel
Speaker 2: like it deserves to be seen by the rest of
Speaker 2: the country as well. Yeah, story about two staunch sisters
Speaker 2: and then my character is just therefore just for a
Speaker 2: little bit of comedic relief that represents the sisters and
Speaker 2: the strength of women out came within our people and
Speaker 2: the power that they hold that all you might So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's it's deadly.
Speaker 1: Oh deadly, bro. I really hope it does take taking
Speaker 1: a national sort of tour and we all get to
Speaker 1: see it all all around. So called Australia. I mean, bro,
Speaker 1: I'm curious to know you know what? I got two questions,
Speaker 1: I guess too pronged. You know what what is performing like?
Speaker 1: To think back to getting up on stage, feeling shame,
Speaker 1: singing some boys to men to now you know, being
Speaker 1: a part of this like rich tapestry of performance in Australia,
Speaker 1: bringing black stories and magic to the stage. You know
Speaker 1: what has performing taught you about yourself? And what advice
Speaker 1: would you give any young fellows who are feeling a
Speaker 1: bit shame and don't want to get out of their
Speaker 1: comfort zone, you know, to maybe think about exploring themselves
Speaker 1: through the arts.
Speaker 2: That's a good one, I think. I think for me,
Speaker 2: performing has taught myself too to be free and to
Speaker 2: let go. And yeah, I think those are some of
Speaker 2: the big things because with I guess with acting as well,
Speaker 2: you kind of you can put on these characters and
Speaker 2: live out a different, different style of life with with
Speaker 2: who you're playing. So being able to have that freedom
Speaker 2: with characters as well and with performing on stage and
Speaker 2: I think it, yeah, it allows you to to free
Speaker 2: up your body and to free up your soul to
Speaker 2: just have fun and just not worry about all the
Speaker 2: stresses of life and the colony and everything else that
Speaker 2: is tough with being black. So I think, yeah, that's
Speaker 2: probably probably being free and just being able to let
Speaker 2: go and let loose on stage. I think is is
Speaker 2: what I've loved about performing, and I think, yeah, what
Speaker 2: performing has done for me. And then advice for young
Speaker 2: mob that would want to get into the arts and
Speaker 2: do some things and drop the shame game, I think,
Speaker 2: I think you just you just got to do it.
Speaker 2: I think there's yeah, I don't know, I think there's
Speaker 2: you can kind of tiptoe around it and you know,
Speaker 2: break things down and kind of get into stuff in
Speaker 2: the community and just kind of get out there and
Speaker 2: do daily things that can kind of help break down
Speaker 2: that shame if you're not one to kind of just
Speaker 2: kick it in the gut straight away and be like,
Speaker 2: I don't want to be shamed no more, because it is.
Speaker 2: It is a tough thing. Shame carries a lot of
Speaker 2: a lot of weight with us as black people, and
Speaker 2: so it's tough whether that be shame to do this,
Speaker 2: shame to do that, shame for your body, shame for
Speaker 2: anything else that you might have going on in your life.
Speaker 2: So it's just yeah, trying to find ways that you
Speaker 2: can kind of navigate it and break it down for yourself,
Speaker 2: especially for our younger generations that are coming. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm still young now, but all them young young ones
Speaker 2: that are that that are coming up through that are
Speaker 2: going to be the ones to really make the change.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, just to you just got to drop it.
Speaker 2: There was a scene I did in Bay of Fires
Speaker 2: where I've come straight out of the water, out of
Speaker 2: the ocean and I'm holding onto a little boy that's
Speaker 2: floating around in the in the ocean. And it was
Speaker 2: a scene where they were like, oh, do you want
Speaker 2: to wear like a swim shirt or and I was like, no,
Speaker 2: would I want to do that? And I think that
Speaker 2: for that moment, I was like, you know what, we
Speaker 2: there's no big bodies on stage. It's just all them
Speaker 2: follows from home and away with walking up the beach
Speaker 2: with their little.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the same, but.
Speaker 2: Get my big frame on this screen and have it
Speaker 2: have it up there. And brother Wayne Blair was directing
Speaker 2: the second half of this the show at that point,
Speaker 2: and I said, I said, bruhs, I'm gonna come like
Speaker 2: you know, mon if I come out of this ocean
Speaker 2: shirtless and in just in my shorts. He's like you
Speaker 2: sure like you should I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah. He's
Speaker 2: like all right, let's do it. And I was like yes,
Speaker 2: So that that was for me. That was like you
Speaker 2: know what, I'm doing this for them big body people
Speaker 2: that all the big moment you know, aren't seeing us
Speaker 2: on screens. I was like, this is that's for us,
Speaker 2: and so it's just yeah, I mean and for myself
Speaker 2: as well, like I think shame is it has been
Speaker 2: big in my life. And it's like, well, like you
Speaker 2: can try and call me fat or call me obi
Speaker 2: so or whatever. You're like, it's not gonna be the
Speaker 2: one that's got the problems, Like I don't care, Like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, she heard me.
Speaker 1: Like yeah yeah.
Speaker 2: Cool, I could cool you fat and you'd be more
Speaker 2: will hurt than me. Like it's one of those situations
Speaker 2: where it's like you need the one that has to
Speaker 2: go just check yourself properly, please. But yeah, I think
Speaker 2: just doing daily things here and there. Community things is
Speaker 2: as big as well, whether it be community theater, a
Speaker 2: lot of people community walks these days as well, with
Speaker 2: health and fitness being a big thing and deadly choices
Speaker 2: and all that stuff. So yeah, I think just getting
Speaker 2: out there and just kind of not being a shame
Speaker 2: to talk to random people sometimes too, saying good every now,
Speaker 2: that's a good thing to kind of break down be
Speaker 2: in shame as well, because I think once MOB leaves
Speaker 2: shame in the bin, then it's dangerous Like this, I
Speaker 2: don't think. I don't think anyone's ready for once Mob
Speaker 2: stopped using the word shame like it's it's a lot
Speaker 2: of no one. Yeah, I'm excited for when that happens.
Speaker 2: I think that's that's going to be special.
Speaker 1: Well, gosh, there's so much beauty and wisdom and what
Speaker 1: you've just shared, and I think, you know, like full circle,
Speaker 1: circling back to where we started the fact that we're
Speaker 1: here talking about debunking and being mystifying shame. You know,
Speaker 1: there might be someone in their car, someone on a
Speaker 1: walk right now, you know who really needs to hear that.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to say thank you for reminding us
Speaker 1: all and also that you push through that and now
Speaker 1: you're creating a conversation. But you're living at bro you're
Speaker 1: living in your truth, and you're right once you're sort
Speaker 1: of once you I mean, the world is hard. We
Speaker 1: know that as blackfellows. You know, it's a certain hard
Speaker 1: that we shouldn't have to feel. But you know, when
Speaker 1: we allow ourselves to really honor our own voice, our intuition,
Speaker 1: our knowing, what it is that fills us up, lights
Speaker 1: us up, brings us joy. Once we're at a place
Speaker 1: where we can accept that and we can be on
Speaker 1: our authentic selves, then you're like you say, we're literally unstoppable,
Speaker 1: Like we are so powerful in that. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a beautiful thing that once you're there in
Speaker 1: life and it's work and all that, and you have
Speaker 1: to keep reminding yourself, sure, but once you're at that place,
Speaker 1: there's a there's a piece and a power that comes
Speaker 1: with that. So I love that. And you get to
Speaker 1: sort of, like you say, liberate yourself through other characters
Speaker 1: and explore other characters, which is just beautiful. And I
Speaker 1: just want to sort of replay what you said in
Speaker 1: terms of some of those tips, which is you know,
Speaker 1: starting small, you know, having a yarn, putting yourself out there.
Speaker 1: I think after COVID we have become a little like
Speaker 1: in our bubbles. So yeah, go out meet people, say hello,
Speaker 1: on a on your walk at a cafe or and
Speaker 1: just you know, really notice, Okay, how did I feel?
Speaker 1: What did it come up for me? And pushing yourself
Speaker 1: like sometimes there's like the little steps over time become
Speaker 1: big steps. And yeah, sometimes dipping your toe in community
Speaker 1: in community arts, it's a great way to build a
Speaker 1: network and community around you. And so you can do
Speaker 1: this with people in your corner as well. So they're
Speaker 1: really great practical tips. Thank you, Mi bro.
Speaker 2: No, that's they I feel like I feel like they, Yeah,
Speaker 2: people aren't ready for once we drop shame like this. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they don't know what's like, we know what's going to
Speaker 2: be like, but they yeah, it's going to be insane.
Speaker 2: I think so.
Speaker 1: And I think with that too my brain like we
Speaker 1: sort of also as black fellows, need to get better
Speaker 1: at not shaming people up or you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's also two way, like you know, we we we've
Speaker 1: had shame in our community because of a reason and
Speaker 1: as I understand, is like we don't want people to
Speaker 1: get too big for their boots because back in the day,
Speaker 1: if you were too confident, you'd put your tribe and
Speaker 1: mob at risk doing the you know, wmber things and
Speaker 1: so there was a there was a purpose for it.
Speaker 1: But the challenge is is in this place, you know,
Speaker 1: we've been paid it as problems to be solved, we
Speaker 1: start to believe that we are, you know, not worthy
Speaker 1: of living a life that we love, and that shame
Speaker 1: holds us back. And that's where I think it's really problematic.
Speaker 1: So I love this conversation just to think about where
Speaker 1: we will be as people without the shame is just yeah, deadly.
Speaker 1: My final question to you, my bro, because I know
Speaker 1: you're probably tired and you've got to get back to performing,
Speaker 1: but you know, what are you hoping to? What's your
Speaker 1: legacy that you hope to You know, through all this work,
Speaker 1: have you thought about what it is you hope to
Speaker 1: sort of build as you grow? And yeah, what it
Speaker 1: is you want to be known for in this my bro?
Speaker 2: Cool? That's good.
Speaker 1: It's a big one, I think, isn't it.
Speaker 2: I think if I like to think that if you
Speaker 2: something comes up and someone thinks of me and they
Speaker 2: smile and leave, then I feel like that's that's a legacy.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty happy with leaving behind and creating for myself
Speaker 2: because then I know that my job for what I'm
Speaker 2: doing on this on this earth is being done right
Speaker 2: and given people laughter and putting smiles on their faces.
Speaker 2: And even if I don't have to be in front
Speaker 2: of you, but do you think of something that I've
Speaker 2: done or just something come up and you just see
Speaker 2: me and smile and I know that, like I'm putting
Speaker 2: joy out there for everyone. So yeah, I think that's
Speaker 2: the type of legacy I feel like i'd love to
Speaker 2: leave behind.
Speaker 1: I love that, And you're going to make me tear
Speaker 1: up good ways, you know. I think we're always in
Speaker 1: a state of striving and just to be reminded of
Speaker 1: somebody who yeah, loved their life, made people feel good
Speaker 1: about themselves and smile and be because Lord knows we
Speaker 1: need it right now more than ever before. We need
Speaker 1: that healing, We need that laughter, we need that silliness.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's beautiful. Well I want to say thank you.
Speaker 1: I'm going to put all of Jalen's details in our
Speaker 1: show notes so you can go along and follow all
Speaker 1: of what he's doing, all that he's creating and be
Speaker 1: smiling up with all of us along the way at
Speaker 1: what you'd be doing. Bro, So thank you so much
Speaker 1: for being on Yarning Up, considering again you're in the
Speaker 1: middle of shows.
Speaker 2: Thank you, MOB for having me. It's been unreal and
Speaker 2: I love company. Y'are on things, so thank you for
Speaker 2: having me with you follows it's been deadly, oh deadly.
Speaker 1: Thank you, my bro. Thank you so much for listening
Speaker 1: you Mob. If you are vibing this season of Yarning Up,
Speaker 1: then please head over to Apple, Spotify, or wherever you
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