Us Mob, Paddington Town Hall

Us Mob were an Aboriginal rock band active in the 1970s and 1980s. The band's members Rodney Ansell, Pedro Butler, Carroll Karpany and Wally McArthur formed the band at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide. Though they wrote and performed regularly, the band encountered racism in their pursuit of a record contract, with many music executives doubting the appeal of their music and its messages to mainstream audiences. Partly in response to this situation, Us Mob and fellow First Nations band No Fixed Address appeared in and contributed to the soundtrack for the 1981 film Wrong Side of the Road, which told the story of two bands attempting to find mainstream success in the Australian music industry. The film provided a recording launch pad for Us Mob, and the release of the soundtrack made Us Mob and No Fixed Address the first contemporary Aboriginal bands to have their music recorded. They were nominated for an Australian Film Institute award in 1981. Us Mob's music was known for its upbeat desert reggae sounds and for its uncompromising, politically charged lyrics. Though they had received critical success through the Wrong Side of the Road soundtrack it was to be their only album: they disbanded when, having relocated to Sydney, they lost all their equipment in a fire.

The colour and movement of Juno Gemes' Us Mob portrait gives the viewer some idea of the how energetic and groundbreaking their performances were. The band were seasoned performers and the staging and lighting shown in this vivid image taken at the Rock Against Racism concert at Paddington Town Hall in 1980 suggests the electrifying nature of their music.

Purchased 2021
© Juno Gemes/Copyright Agency, 2024