Scene Report: An Open Letter to Allies in the Music Industry

I recently had a conversation with a very well-known First Nations artist and cultural figure, a true hip hop pioneer. Somewhere along the way, we landed on the topic of First Nations representation in the music industry – specifically, in punk, hardcore and hip hop.

After the conversation concluded, their words stuck with me – that persistent little voice that hangs around like a small rock in your shoe kind of vibe.

The main chunk of the discussion was this: people often want to help First Nations artists but they don’t know how. After some reflection, here are my thoughts:

Dear well-meaning but (at times painfully) unaware allies,
If you TRULY want to support First Nations artists, here’s what you do:

Buy the merch.
Book us on your shows.
Shout loudly when you don’t see us on festivals, tours, gigs.
Hold the community accountable like you already do (and rightfully should) for other underrepresented groups – re: non-male artists.

It’s not complicated. It’s not revolutionary. It's not even new.

Equality and equity aren't the same thing – equality is me buying everyone a pair of shoes regardless of their foot size and going here you go, even if they can wear them or not - equity is me buying everyone shoes but getting them their specific size so they can wear them and actually use them.

Yes, donating to charities is important and appreciated – but let’s be honest. If you're booking pretty much all non First Nations lineups with VERY little to NO First Nations artists represented, then you and your community patting yourselves on the back for cutting a cheque to a First Nations organisation, I hate to tell you but you're missing the point.

You want to make a real impact?

Don't just donate for us – create space WITH us.

The consequence of silence is great – we lose the next generation of Blak punks before they even start. Does the community stay a mirror of the same predominant representation (Anglo Australians) and structures it claims to oppose?

We’ve had charity shows.
We’ve heard your painful acknowledgements.
We’ve endured the slogans and chants – queue “always was, always will be”; “sovereignty never ceded”.
We don’t need more empty gestures, virtue signalling or chants. We need PLATFORMS.

So if you want to put your money and good will where your mouth is, if you want to help here’s what it looks like:

Use your influence to amplify our voices. We don't need your charity or slogans.
Book us on the tour, show, festival – not in a reactionary way but a PROACTIVE way.
Stream our music.
Share our posts.
Buy the records.
Buy merch.
That's not performative – that’s tangible.

That’s what creates real opportunity.

That’s what makes us visible to tell our stories and experiences.

You can’t be what you can’t see.

Punk and hardcore communities like to think of themselves as progressive spaces (which they are for the most part and it's a beautiful, wonderful thing) but let’s be honest, they’re not immune to this hypocrisy, and I'm sure other music communities aren't either.

Here’s a thought experiment:

Imagine a promoter or band announces a charity show/s for non-male communities but books an all-male lineup or perhaps book one non-male representative. Then gets on stage, gives a little speech, says a slogan or two, donates the proceeds and everyone applauds.

Perhaps I might be out of touch or simple minded but to me that is…

Ridiculous?
Mind numbing?
Circle jerking?
Tone deaf?
Virtue signalling?

So why does it keep happening to us?

We don’t need saviours.
We don't need “What land are you on?”
We don't need slogans.
We don't need charity.
We need solidarity.

You operate on unceded stolen land – you benefit because we had to suffer for generations and still do – stop with the performative bullshit, often it makes mob more uncomfortable – no one is asking you to be the biggest social justice warrior – all we are demanding is either put up or shut up – get in line or get the fuck out of the way.

Scene Report is an ongoing series by Joel Burnum from Homesick.