Maningrida's Ripple Effect Band flows onto music scene

In Arnhem Land both ceremonial and more contemporary music have been almost entirely the domain of men, however, a group of Maningrida women are currently creating new ways of music - composing, playing instruments, singing and performing.
Tara Rostron, Jolene Lawrence, Stephanie James, Jodie Kell, Rona Lawrence, Rachel Thomas, Marita Wilton and Patricia Gibson are the women from ‘Ripple Effect Band’ who are forging new ground as the first all women’s band from Maningrida.
Following in the footsteps of great bands from Maningrida, including Letterstick Band, Sunrize Band, Wildwater and KK Band, Ripple Effect Band has emerged out of the music program at Maningrida CEC between 2001 and 2008 supported by the NT Music School. 
Finding it difficult to keep playing music due to the pressures of work and family, the women contacted former music teacher, Jodie Kell, who returned to the community in 2017.  
Participating in a collaborative research project directed by Jodie as a PhD candidate with Sydney Conservatorium of Music and supported by Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, the women have worked together to reform the band.
Straight from great success at Bak’bididi Festival in Ramingining and Gattjirrk Festival in Milingimbi, Ripple Effect Band travelled to Sydney in December 2017 to record at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music co-produced by Paul Mac, Clint Bracknell and Jodie Kell. The result is four songs in four languages, as the women sing in their languages of Ndjébbana, Burarra, Na-kara and Kune creating a multilingual switching that is reflected in the way they move around the instruments and share the singing.

They have uploaded three of the songs online with the national radio station JJJ Unearthed and will be releasing a four track EP shortly. During the recording they worked with a filmmaker and will be launching some short films that document the trip to Sydney, the time in the recording studio and the gig they played in Annandale - their first interstate performance.
Band member Stephanie James says playing music makes her feel “alive”. She hopes that they can be the start of a new musical movement, a ripple effect of more and more women musicians. 
The women believe the band is an opportunity to tell stories about their land, languages, their lives and their culture through musical expression, giving them a voice to express themselves as proud, strong women from Maningrida.
The women have been encouraged and supported by their families. They have also been mentored by Maningrida musicians such as Victor Rostron, Marshall Campion at Wiwa Project, Alan Murphy and D. Maxwell from Letterstick Band to whom the band have dedicated the song Diama in honour of his contribution and his belief in them as female musicians.