Clubbing with Compassion: A Q&A with Ayebatonye Abrakasa

Ayebatonye Abrakasa doesn’t claim to be a master in any of her many vocations. She is, in fact, in a perpetual state of learning and unlearning, listening and understanding, reacting and reforming.

As a podcast and radio show host, DJ, event producer, and community engagement and development specialist, she is the embodiment of the millennial hustle. Her impressive work ethic drives her to not only uncover her passion, but to make a living from it, while also – and most importantly – elevating those around her.

Her musical journey has been equally wide ranging and driven by a curiosity to understand how Black people have created and contributed to music throughout history. She was raised listening to Nigerian gospel music and later in her teens, developed a flavour for Black dance music including Chicago house, Detroit techno, Jersey club, ballroom culture and g-tech. Her DJ sets feature afro-rhythms and uplifting house cuts, among many other things, and are an index through which to understand the encyclopaedia of her inspirations, agency and culture.

Centring the voices of marginalised communities is at the heart of Ayebatonye’s work. Whether it’s creating and facilitating arts and culture opportunities for BIPOC communities, advocating for Sydney’s hamstrung live music industry, or fighting for policies to encourage drug harm reduction – Ayebatonye fights to reduce harm in these communities and beyond. 

For Ayebatonye, intersectionality is crucial. Her work is all about listening to, and understanding, each respective groups’ specific needs to inform an appropriate response. She shows us that along the way, mistakes will be made and that it’s important to ask for clarity where needed because how can we make progress without mutual understanding?

We could all take a leaf out of Ayebatonye’s book. It’s a varied story so far and the climax is surely yet to come.

You blessed Fairfield Amphitheatre with a truly life-giving set at the Skylab Radio 3rd Birthday party. For some it was their first crowded party outing since restrictions eased and the pent-up energy was palpable. What was going on there?

Thank you!! For me it was the first time I had ever co-headlined a lineup in Melbourne so I was actually quite nervous. But it was such a fun event to play, thanks to the crowd for bringing such a great energy, it was definitely palpable. Also, big up to Skylab and Fairfield Amphitheatre for facilitating such a beautiful environment to play in.

You’ve had an impressive and multi-faceted career to date, can you tell us a bit about your various roles in the Sydney music scene and broader community? 

That’s kind of you to say, I am grateful for many of the opportunities I’ve been invited to take part in and learn from. Aside from my loved ones and respective communities, the two things I care about most in the world are music and contributing to the ongoing work that centres racial and social justice. It’s work that has been happening since long before I existed as a human, and will continue long after I’m gone. With this at the crux of all my work, I am always exploring ways to intersect grassroots community work with music.

  I think I’m best known for DJing and the DIY arts platform I founded in 2018 Irregular Fit, which is all about facilitating opportunities for Bla(c)k, Brown and POC community in Australia within the arts and cultural industries. We facilitate workshops, connect artists of colour to arts and culture career opportunities, host events, and although we steer clear of it now in the past we have worked with institutions to try and create frameworks to build foundations for culturally safer spaces.

  I’m a big believer in learning more about our past and using this to inform our present and future, so in 2020 I started a new podcast called Four to the Floor which debuted as part of Melbourne Music Week Extended with special guests Paul Gorrie and Pookie, produced by the fab Sarah Mashman. The show is about celebrating the success of the present through interviews with local and international Bla(c)k artists working within music, honouring the Bla(c)k roots and pioneers of the genres we know and love today and imagining a different kind of future.

Outside of my podcast and DJing I work part time in community engagement in the public sector and I volunteer my time to various community projects.

How has the Sydney music scene been coping the past year through all the lockdowns and how did it feel to stand up and dance in a venue again once restrictions eased, albeit briefly?     

It felt a little strange but also lovely to dance somewhere other than my house with a FRESH sound system. It felt like riding a bike again after a long break. Being a little wobbly at the start but after a little whip around the block it’s all g.

I can’t speak to how the scene has been coping collectively or truly speak for anyone else but from my understanding, I think Sydney was hit fairly hard. A lot of venues closed down and I know a lot of people personally who lost work or were forced to adapt to remain open. I can only imagine how stressful it would have been for a business or artist who relies entirely on the nightlife economy for their income having to deal with such deep uncertainty.

I’m proud of everyone who chose to persevere through lockdown by live streaming or adapting their business despite the inevitable frustrations, lack of considered government support and significant loss of income. And I also      respect and understand those who decided to bow out for a period of time or permanently from the industry.

A lot of your work focuses on intersectionality and centring the voices of marginalised communities. How does that play out in your event production and curation?

I think the events I produce and/or curate continue to evolve as I gain a deeper knowledge of ways to respectfully and meaningfully engage with communities and community members experiencing marginalisation. I have made mistakes before and unfortunately, as much as I don’t like to admit it, I probably will      again as I continue the process of unlearning.

It’s important to apologise instead of being defensive when you do something that causes harm. Because it’s not about you or me in that instance, it’s about the community. Which means as time progresses my approach will continue to develop into something deeper. For now, I can say that through my work I always try to create safer spaces. I try to understand what each respective artist needs and I avoid making assumptions but ask for clarity when I need it.

Your community engagement work has been across government, corporate, community and creative levels. Does your practice in one inform your approach in another or are much of the lessons the same across these sectors?

I think given the issues encountered across the various spaces I work in all stem from systemic oppression, there is definitely crossover in the work I do and lessons that are interconnected. I personally believe everything is interconnected in a way. So there are ways that my practices intersect, for example, despite being a big advocate of grassroots movements and collective care, the reason I wanted to work in government and corporate was to gain a deeper understanding of how systems and power structures operate at a macro level. The knowledge and skills gained in government and corporate work have led to more understanding of how commercial industries operate. It has meant I can provide more support to artists and peers who come to me through Irregular Fit, or elsewhere, because I have a more holistic understanding of how systems and mechanisms (both good and bad) work through my professional experience.

Having said all that, I think it’s important for me to be transparent about the difference between community engagement coordinated through a workplace that I work for vs community work I do directly through my DIY arts platform Irregular Fit.

Despite having a degree of agency within my hired roles, I am still working for other people which means I have to work within the confines of my role and at best,

How do you overcome unexpected hurdles and disappointments?

Surprisingly, the lockdowns and lost work caused by Covid-19 has actually taught me A LOT about attachment and the importance of letting go for the sake of myself. I’ll be honest, I used to really struggle coping with loss across different parts of my life, both personal and professional. Now, I am not as attached but I still have my moments. A big difference in me now, vs me a year ago is that I don’t mourn my professional life in the way I used to. I remind myself that certain opportunities or experiences weren’t meant for me and that’s okay. So my way of overcoming it is removing my attachment and trying to reframe unexpected hurdles and disappointments into something that is constructive for me. It’s helped my mental health a lot and changed my approach and mindset to negative experiences.

Part of the reason my radio show is called Club Abundance is as a reminder to myself that thinking with a scarcity mindset doesn’t serve me or anyone. There is enough for all of us and we don’t need to compete with our peers or compare ourselves to others. We should only focus on our past, present and future selves. That and the fact I like trying to mix every possible style of sound together.

Pill testing is something you’ve been vocal about but to date we’ve seen little progress from state governments to introduce such measures. In your work, how do you respond to opposing points of view and people who might think your ideas are radical?  

I do my best to be informed so I can pass on my learnings to help others make      more educated decisions. I believe we can reduce drug related deaths and injuries by giving people agency over their drug choice decisions through      education. If people think that is more radical than heavy-handed over- policing, then so be it.

What music has been inspiring you lately?

Ooooh that’s such a hard question for me to answer because – short answer – I’m inspired by everything. Whether it’s a direct inspiration or sometimes music can inspire me to know what I don’t like. I have a very broad taste in music, so what I choose to listen to when I’m not DJing is largely dependent on how I’m feeling.

I have been forever and will be forever inspired by Nina Simone, and have a long love of afro-psychedelic funk especially West African psychedelic tunes like Joni Haastrup, Vis a Vis. I will always lean into a little Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, The Coasters when I feel like having a little joyous flounce around the house. My Mum and my birthdays are a day apart and at our annual family cake cutting this year we all ended up dancing to Nigerian music I grew up with. At one point we were dancing to Agatha Moses’ ‘Nigerian Praise’ gospel music videos that are essentially VERY popular (within Nigeria and the global diaspora) one hour videos that utilise a 3:4 handclap to sing a medley of hymns. It was a beautiful reminder of the music I grew up with and it was very inspiring. I’ve had that handclap on repeat in my mind ever since .

 In terms of electronic music, not so long ago I rediscovered the large amount of music on my 2013 iMac and have been getting very into my old Jersey club, g-tech and Afro Bass collection which has been a fun jaunt down memory lane and has been well received in gigs I’ve played which is lovely. I’ve also been enjoying some lovely house re-releases from the U.K. label Jack Traxx and some      Gqom and lots of turbo tracks from Kampala (Uganda) label Nyege Nyege Tapes.

One of my favourite and regrettable things about music is that I will never hear all of it in my lifetime.

What’s coming up in your calendar?

Oooh there’s a lot of things coming up I am looking forward to including coming back down Naarm way for Club Confide playing alongside KT Pearson, Simonetti and Fruit n Nut. I’m playing in Brisbane for the first time with Shandy Party and I’m also excited to play in Perth for the first time later this year. I have a couple of artist residencies upcoming, I’m currently working on some music programming for the Bearded Tit in Sydney that I’m very excited about. There are a lot of others I’m really excited about but not yet at liberty to speak about so I guess keep an eye and ear out?

You can catch Ayebatonye playing in Melbourne at Sub Club for Club Confide on August 7.