Breaking into the music industry

Breaking into the music industry is never easy but Abmusic is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in Western Australia to do just that.

After forming in 1986 the Corporation has grown into a Registered Training Organisation delivering Certificates II, III and IV through to a Diploma of Music. They also offer a Production Course. These courses are drawn from the Music Industry Training Package in a program especially tailored for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

CEO Dennis Bird, originally began as a drum teacher at Abmusic 27 years ago, believes the success of Abmusic is due to the culturally appropriate delivery of its services.

“I think it’s been successful because the way we train and the way we’ve taught over the years has gone along totally with the Aboriginal community,” Dennis said.

“It’s about how respectful we’ve been towards the community. We don’t just teach music, we teach music to Aboriginal people.”

By tailoring the music courses and training for Aboriginal people, Abmusic has not only engaged numerous students, it has produced graduates that are job ready.

“We’ve had students who have had maybe a bad experience at school, and they come to Abmusic and it reengages them back into learning,” Dennis said.

“And they’ve gone on to become teachers, and they’ve gone on to do other studies and it’s because of coming through Abmusic that they’ve gone onto that.”

Abmusic's Marketing and Events Coordinator Candice Lloyd, who started as a student at the college 16 years ago, said that government support through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) funding stream is allowing Abmusic to engage even more people in the community.

“The IAS funding has really helped us to motivate our students more, get us connected to the community and help us inspire youth,” Candice said.

“Already we have students starting to work in radio and work with different event companies. Being here for the last 14 years, I can really see our students getting out there into the industry now.”

Another Abmusic employee, Daniel Riches, who comes from the remote Indigenous community of Ardyaloon, said he strongly believes that Abmusic is more than just a music school.

“The community around here is benefitting because we’re producing these confident young and older Aboriginal people that want to go and do more,” Daniel said.

“A lot of people get employment from this because they’ve got the confidence to go out and say ‘I can apply for that job, I can do it’.”