This January, after a long and strenuous year of lockdown, Gordon Koang will take to the stage in Melbourne with a brand new band, to celebrate the return with his beloved audience.

Presented by Penny Drop and Malthouse Outdoor Theatre, join Gordon in Melbourne on Friday, Jan 22. Bookings are a must! Ticket sales open 10.00am, Monday 7th December, 2020. Get tickets here.

Music in Exile is proud to present Never There, a new single from Elsy Wameyo to be released this December. Recorded in Adelaide with producer Mario Späte (Tkay Maidza, Montaigne, Okenyo), this emotional track speaks about the sometimes chaotic and complicated nature of relationships, both with yourself as well as with others. Gospel influences resound as the sparse opening creates space for the intimacy of Elsy’s vocals, musically reflecting a sense of isolation and pain. 

“How can I ever love, if you were never there?” – Elsy Wameyo

Music in Exile is proud to present the debut self-titled LP from Ausecuma Beats.  This release is an album that encapsulates the spirit of the band; each track displays the different talents of each musician and sonically explores what is possible when we join together and celebrate our differences. Ausecuma Beats are more than just a band, they are a community, a family, a frame of mind. 

“Our role is to develop a new style of music. To learn how to share with each other. The other guys learn a lot from me, about Senegal, my culture. I learn a lot about them, about Mali, other West African states. We work to lift each other, to learn from each other through music. We are friends and we are family. – Boubacar Gaye, Ausecuma Beats 

The third single from the LP, Keleh, is a song about power and how the misuse of power can affect individuals and society. The word is of the Maninka language, spoken by the Malinke people of Guinea in West Africa. It speaks about how power and riches, represented by gold and silver, can change people, dividing one person from another; “We’re born to love but we love to hate one another.” Vocalist Yusupha Gnum, who is a Wolof man from Gambia, laments that those who seek material wealth are causing war, inspiring people to kill one another in the name of money and power.

Music in Exile is proud to present the debut EP from Mindy Meng Wang 王萌, titled An Improvisation Through Time and Space’ 穿越时光的即兴. 

Mindy Meng Wang is a versatile Chinese/Australian Composer and performer, masterfully trained on the traditional Chinese instrument, the Guzheng.  Born and classically trained in China, Mindy studied Western Musicology in the UK before migrating to Australia. Excelling in experimental music and improvisation, she has collaborated with many high-profile artists including the Gorillaz and Regurgitator  and is pioneering a new sonic direction for the Guzheng.  

Mindy’s work explores the fertile space between traditional and contemporary practices, bringing Chinese traditions into new Western musical contexts, including jazz, western classical, and electronic genres. She is an influential figure in a global movement where Chinese musicians are redefining and reinvigorating their musical traditions.  

Anbessa Gebrehiwot and Haftu Reda are musicians from Eritrea and Ethiopia who are skilled in traditional knowledge of the krar and the masenko, stringed instruments found in East Africa. Leading vastly different lives in their homeland, the pair are now based in Melbourne, Australia, where they collaborate with producer and multi-instrumentalist Dale Gorfinkel.

Ranging from modern takes on folk compositions to new, original works, the five pieces collected on their debut EP build on age-old traditions and explore these in a contemporary context. The result is a set of recordings that are steeped in Eritrean and Ethiopian tradition and yet marvellously unique, a by-product of the individuals’ knack for innovation and the circumstances surrounding their creation.

Next up in the Music in Exile ‘REMIXED’ series, West African ensemble Ausecuma Beats announce a disembodied situationist rework of their classic ‘Keleh’, remixed by the enigmatic and elusive Melbourne minimalist, River Yarra.

Beautiful feature story on abc.net.au about how DyspOra is championing talent in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. Out there doing it for those out there struggling to overcome for those beaten down or excluded, those who have been mistreated.

His new EP ‘AUSTRALIEN’ out now.

Check out the full article here.
And check out his segment on ABC News TV here. 

EXILE.RADIO is back and bigger then ever! New lineup for June programming includes incredible interviews with Mindy Meng Wang, Haftu Reda of Music Yared, Camille el Feghali and Komang Rosie Clynes!

New episodes go live every Sunday wherever you listen to podcasts. Tune in.

Another amazing episode of EXILE.RADIO is live now. Huge thanks to this weeks guest Isobel D’Cruz Barnes of HEXDEBT  for chatting with host Xan Zan about all things Melbourne music scene and the new wave contemporary punk coming out of Malaysia.

As always EXILE.RADIO is available on all your favourite places for podcasts for your streaming and subscribing pleasure.

A new episode of EXILE.RADIO is here.

This week featuring the one and only Elsy Wameyo who joins host Xan Zan exploring how culture, family & religion influence us as performers.

Tune in via all your favourite podcast platforms and don’t forget to subscribe to stay up to date with new episodes.

New epsiode of EXILE.RADIO available now!
Shah Sharafi meets up with host Xan Zan to explore the cross section of family history, cultural tradition, punk, Egyptian disco & middle-eastern psych.

Stream EXILE.RADIO on all your favorite podcast platforms and subscribe to keep up to date with the latest episodes. http://musicinexile.com.au/radio

The latest episode of EXILE.RADIO is up! Thanks to Boubacar Gaye of @ausecumabeats for bringing life & laughter to this episode, we had so much fun ?

Stream it now anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Legendary South Sudanese pop star and now Australian-based Gordon Koang teams up with Ginoli (moniker of James Ireland, Perth-based producer and drummer of Pond) to release Mal Mi Goa (Ginoli Remix) . The newest release from the Music in Exile REMIXED series traverses cultures and genres featuring danceable, swelling synths alongside Koang’s joyful voice and thom (an East African stringed instrument that Koang has modified to suit his unique style of playing.)  This single is the first from the upcoming Music in Exile REMIXED EP featuring exclusive B-sides from Ginoli featuring Nicholas Albrook and Mei Sariswati, out June 5.

Check out the music video (created by the amazing Duncan Wright!)

In these difficult times, it can be hard to find inspiration, to feel the support network of friends, family and community that we are so used to relying on. We share this music with you in the hope that it will boost the spirit and remind you that we are still out here. Your community hasn’t disappeared, and can still be reached with thoughts, kind words and music.

Hang in there and we’ll see you on the dance floor soon!

Listen here! 

This music has been kindly donated by each artist to share with you.If you’d like to show your support, please pay as you feel and all income will be shared evenly between the artists featured here.

With love, from your family in exile:

Mindy Meng Wang, Kang John Jock, Edward George Croker, Chidambara Sonu Sangameswaran, Yusupha Ngum, Boubacar Gaye, Mohamed Saliou Camara, Rodolfo Hehavarria Despaigne Panga, Bassidi Kone, Luke Koszanski, William Carl Larsen, Amadou Jaly Suso, Gordon Koang Duoth, Paul Biel Kueth, Gabriel Erjok Majer Akon, Nezzy Ness, Ajak Kwai, Elsy Wameyo, Mario Spate, Muluu Baqqalaa, Susan Faine, Lachlan McGeehan, Anbessa Gebrehiwot, Haftu Reda, Dale Gorfinkel, James Mannix, Paul Ceraso, Stefan Blair, Liam Parsons, Asha Carslaw-Maher, Karate Boogaloo, John Lee, Alice Gaynor, Joe Alexander, Sara Gladious, Xan Coppinger, Kylie O’Connell and Johanna Leitch.

Introducing the first in our guest series #guestsinexile

~ Welcome @steve_gavan!

Steve’s much-loved illustrations have been adored by us for a while now, and we’re pleased as punch to introduce these limited edition t-shirt prints. Hand-screened at @no.7_printhouse and limited to 50 each! Treat yourself + support local artists at the same time!

Available in red or blue from musicinexile.com.au/shop

Join @ausecumabeats for a regular fireside chat happening complete with stories, instructional drumming videos, cyber-jams and just general shooting the breeze! Tune into @ausecumabeats from 6pm on Sunday!

Artwork with ❤️ from @steve_gavan

Recently, we spoke with Gordon Koang from his home in isolation, and we wanted to pass on a message from him to everyone here.

“My audience, I love you, I still love you… Nobody will be crying now, even if we are in this crisis, we will be together again soon! I remember you who came to my performances. I am still alive, and you are still alive. I remember when you shouted, when I played songs for you. Even now your shouts are still ringing in my head. Think about me, and I will think about you. We will be together in spirit, until we are finally together again in life. To the musicians of Australia – I love all musicians. I love what you do online, to show people that we still love them, and that our love has not died. Continue that work, until we will be together again with our audience. I love you!”

Image – Duncan Wright

“When I succeed I am Australian, but when I fail I am African.”

A debut about insecurity, loving yourself, trying to fit in, and standing up for what’s right. It’s here! We got together with Playback808 to bring you the debut EP from DyspOra! Born in a refugee camp, this South Sudanese/Australian activist writes about experiences of identity, displacement and racism growing up as a minority in Australia. He’s bringing the chat to you whether you like or not.

*VINYL PRE-ORDER* up now or stream the whole thing on Spotify or Apple Music.

Ausecuma Beats merch is here! Designed by @steve_gavan in Melbourne, Australia, celebrate the diversity of a band that encompasses Senegal, Mali, Cuba, Guinea, Gambia and Australia! Order at musicinexile.com.au/shop

This season at MPavillion, Music in Exile will showcase work by Australian artists from a refugee or migrant background that are now living and working here in Melbourne. Both Ausecuma Beats and Music Yared will take to the stage to deliver their vibrant sounds and captivating storytelling.

Music in Exile will present a free, all-ages afternoon performance, showcasing the work of these incredible artists. Each session will include a one-hour live performance as well as an opportunity to interact with and hear stories from these great musicians, encompassing  a wide range of experiences, musical traditions and important stories.

Details below:

Saturday 8th February – Ausecuma Beats (4:30pm – 7pm) FREE

Saturday 29th February – Music Yared (5pm – 7pm) FREE

Executing a strong balance of vulnerability and artistic strength, Adelaide-based songwriter and performer Elsy Wameyo reveals her new single, ‘Outcast’. A personal and emotional offering, the latest offering from the artist is the first single to be released from her forthcoming EP and heralds a new chapter of this young talent’s thriving career.

The single itself is an observation of the mental struggles existing within the African community; where one’s skin colour comes saddled with generations of cultural trauma. As Wameyo’s voice soothes, the messaging threaded through the song is crucial to the listener’s understanding of issues that are still very much present in communities in Australia and abroad, today.

Recorded in Adelaide with producer Mario Späte (Tkay Maidza, Montaigne, Okenyo), ‘Outcast’ is stripped back and soul-drenched. Space is used beautifully in letting Wameyo’s vocals land with impact. With previous releases ‘Daily’ and ‘Intuition’ leaning more towards the pop and dance realms, ‘Outcast’ is a perfect snapshot of the young artist’s flourishing versatility.

“I write this song because I see and feel the pain of being black. Just another outcast. I too struggle to fit in, but I don’t want to and will not conform. This message is for my black kings and queens. So that you may understand the significance, beauty and richness of your blackness. Don’t you ever forget who you are, where you come from, your culture, your home. This Is Outcast.” – Elsy Wameyo

Listen here.

Ausecuma Beats will release their full debut EP on November 22, 2019 ahead of performances at Melbourne Music Week and Strawberry Fields Festival later this year. ‘Aida’, the first single from nine-piece afrobeat ensemble Ausecuma Beats, is a celebration of love between two people that sees no divide. The song, sung by Gambian-born Yusupha Ngum and recorded live with the band in Melbourne, speaks of a love that grows as new lessons are learned. Listen to ‘Aida’ here. 

“We want to make people happy, make friends and dance. I can dance to your music and you can dance to my music – there is not much difference between us. We become closer by knowing this. We are not only musicians, we are family – in life and in music. Our audience is part of that family. This band was built over time, working with musicians from all over the world. We all have a lot in common; we have found ourselves and each other through music, and we want our audience to do the same.” 

– Boubacar Gaye, Auscuma Beats

This year, we are teaming up with Melbourne Music Week to present a series of live collaborations on stage celebrating the city’s incredible music community and the things it can achieve together.

Featuring –

South Sudanese superstar and heart-throb Kang JJ in his Melbourne debut, in collaboration with Melbourne’s favourite cats of cool, Karate Boogaloo.

Incredible storyteller and songwriter Ajak Kwai presenting new works created with composers and boundary-pushers Lisa Salvo and Maria Moles .

Melbourne’s favourite West African ensemble and party-starters Ausecuma Beats holding it down with free-jazz-live-club powerhouse Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange.

Join these artists as they share their stories and experiences in musical format, presenting new works commissioned for Melbourne Music Week.

All happening at The Curtin on Thursday, November 21st. Pre-sale tickets a must!

Gordon Koang returns with a string of national dates in September to showcase his new single ‘Asylum Seeker’.

The song is his tribute to asylum seekers in Australia – praising their courage and asking them to have patience in the long wait for permanent residency status.

In a message published with the release of this new single, Gordon expresses confidence in the Australian government to help asylum seekers by granting their residency. We hope his message will be heard.

Four months since the release of his first single with the Music in Exile label, and four years since arriving in Melbourne and battling with the everyday struggles of settlement in a foreign country, South Sudanese legend and Melbourne’s adopted son Gordon Koang has released his latest offering.

‘Stand Up (Clap Your Hands)’ is a favourite from Koang’s live performances, an invitation to the audience to get up and strut their stuff. He comments on the ‘seriousness’ of music in his adopted country, asking listeners to ‘show us your style, give us your attention’, to dance with their loved ones and feel the message of his music; namely – peace, love and unity. The song revolves around the classic line ‘I love you, audience’, delivered in Gordon’s heart winning style.

The track was recorded in early 2019 at the Music in Exile studio, a cramped room behind a piano shop in Melbourne, Australia. It was recorded to tape by Stefan Blair and James Mannix. Generous amounts of talent and time were donated by Paul Ceraso and Gordon’s cousin and fellow asylum seeker, Paul Biel, who both play on the record. The tracks were then mixed and mastered with the generous help of John Lee at Phaedra Studios, Coburg.

‘Stand Up’ is available to order as a limited edition 12” with two vinyl-only bonus tracks, ‘Asylum Seeker’ and ‘South Sudan’, which will be widely released later in the year. Music in Exile is a not-for-profit initiative aimed at increasing access to resources and building professional networks for asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.

This January, Melbourne-based indie label Bedroom Suck launch their new ‘ Music In Exile‘ project – a non-for-profit initiative aimed at increasing access & visibility for musicians from a refugee or asylum-seeking background living here in Australia.

Sunday, 27 January 2019

Lazerpig, 9 Peel St., Collingwood

Free + welcoming to all, 3pm start

Gordon Koang (live!)

Anbessa Gebrehiwot (live!)

plus DJ’s

Lady Erica, Allysha Joy, Merve, Jammy Smears & Cookie.

Originating as a live-stream radio show on Hope St Radio, Music In Exile has developed into a broader undertaking, with Jan 14 marking the release of Sudanese legend Gordon Koang‘s first recorded single in Australia on the Music in Exile label. Recorded in Melbourne by Stefan Blair (Good Morning), the two tracks that make up the single are Koang’s first drops from a forthcoming album, his tenth full-length record and first since arriving in Australia.

Join us to launch Gordon’s first single, ‘Mal Mi Goa’, with a live performance from Gordon Koang & Paul Biel Keuth. The afternoon will also feature a live performance from Ethiopian songsmith Anbessa Gebrehiwot plus DJs DJ Lady Erica, Allysha Joy, Merve, Jammy Smears + Cookie, all live-streamed to Hope Street Community Radio.

You can listen to and purchase ‘Mal Mi Goa’ here: http://bit.ly/2FHidyY

Follow us on instagram & facebook for future projects.

All profits from this activity will be paid directly to the artists.

love + peace always!
Joe & Angie