For one night only at Melbourne Recital Centre, curator and musician Neil Morris (aka DRMNGNOW) invites you into his ethereal soundscape.
When pioneering curator and musician DRMNGNOW first imagined the idea of his newest piece, it all began with a word. Minyerra, as he tells me, means ‘buzz’ in his native Yorta Yorta language. As soon as he came across this word, he knew it encompassed everything he wanted to say.
“The thing that resonated most strongly with me [about minyerra] is the electricity, the energy and the spirit within it. I feel that this is all present in the land. That’s my experience as a Yorta Yorta person, and I wanted to share it.”
From this word, the project then grew. Morris went through years of shaping the project like a mound of clay. Taking away the bits he didn’t like and adding in those he did. “I had a vision a long way back about this project. I wanted it to be very distinct from everything else. The word minyerra became the thing that I could shape the project around.”
DRMNGNOW: MINYERRA
- Saturday 31 August 2024 7pm
- Melbourne Recital Centre’s Primrose Potter Salon
- Tickets on sale now here
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Featuring sound collages, atmospheric textures, electronica and pulsing voices, MINYERRA is a sonic odyssey through which Morris aims to showcase his connection to country.
Created whilst living on country, Morris tells me the piece encapsulates his special relationship to country. “I take my equipment into the country and create whilst out in the bush; immersed in the natural environment. We [as Yorta Yorta people] pick up on rhythms and songs that were already in the land. We absorb and interpret it in different ways, MINYERRA is my way of expressing this”.
After first getting into music production in 2004 as a means of expressing himself, Morris did not intend to make a career out of it. “I first started playing guitar, and then started messing around with music production. It was just a very exploratory period, but I felt a strong draw to it.”
Raised on hip hop greats like Ice-T and the Wu Tang Clan, Morris created DRMNGNOW. This subsequently became Morris’ means of exploring his culture through rap music.
However, as he was utilising modern tools, he felt that his music lacked a connection to his land. “I could feel things in different music, however, I just never felt there was one genre that matched my feelings of standing on country.”
While Morris enjoys the DRMNGNOW project, he kept harking back to the notion of finding a genre that mirrored his connection to country. “It was a clear feeling of, ‘I can take things so far with DRMNGNOW’. So, I thought of investing more time and energy into MINYERRRA.”
In MINYERRA, Morris utilises traditional First Nations vocals and instruments like tapping sticks, then layers them with post- colonial sounds like guitar. “A big focus of mine is on analogue synthesis. I just wanted to create more Indigenous content in the world that leans on that kind of technology.”
While developing the project, Morris felt he had a panoramic sense of freedom. “I just gave myself time to layer country with voice and through not having any time constraints, I was led by the sound and let that take me. Could it take me out of the present into something more timeless?”
Given the project has such a loose structure, when compared to the lively disorder that is a live gig, I wondered about the feedback towards MINYERRA. “It’s been nice so far. I’ve only really gotten back beautiful feedback. Each show sort of feels like it has its own unique environment with a nice feeling. It’s wonderful to lean into ambient spaces that have no percussive elements.”
A MINYERRA show is a fluid thing. One minute Morris could be investing his sound into a calming, healing energy. The next it may jump into a cacophonous roar. As for what people can expect from a project with no ostensible rules, Morris left me with this.
“I want to take people between the realms of traditional Indigenous song and weave that into the sound of now; that’s the journey of MINYERRA. You’re going to get a lot of analogue synthesis. You’re going to get a lot of atmospheric guitar layers, and I will be singing in Yorta Yorta.”
In a musical soundscape unregulated by rules, few promises can be made, except this: “you will step into a world of sound that is genreless, one you haven’t experienced before.”
MINYERRA will be running for one night only on August 31 at Melbourne Recital Centre. Tickets can be accessed here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre.
