In a remote Gulf town on Gangalidda Country, where red-dirt roads stretch for hundreds of kilometres, a group of young men are turning stories of language and country into song.
“We want to represent our community and encourage young people here and in other communities to get up and have a go,” lead singer Elijah Douglas said.
They call themselves the DMC (Doomadgee Mission Community) Boys.
Loading…
“Dumaji” — the regional term for Doomadgee nearly 1,000 kilometres west of Cairns — is the home of the six-piece band, which released its debut EP in February.
The collection of songs are inspired by the Gangalidda people’s stories, sung in language and in English.
For lead singer Elijah Douglas, the journey started two years ago with a lyric that played repeatedly in his mind.
“Dangga yingga baruwa dila wirdi,” he says.
Those words — which in English mean, “Pelican, a man in The Dreaming” — are now the opening line of the band’s first single, Pelican.
Doomadgee is an Aboriginal community in outback Queensland. (ABC News: Julia Andre)
It’s one of five songs on the band’s EP, Yugurlda People, which is the traditional name once used for the Gangalidda people.
Learning from scratch
The majority of the DMC Boys — with Douglas on lead vocals, Jeffrey Dumaji on bass, Ashley Dumaji on drums and backing vocals, and Ronald Bismarck on drums and vocals — are childhood friends who grew up playing sports together.
The group only ever dreamed about playing music.
“We always used to say, ‘We should start a band’ — then one day we actually did,” Douglas says.
The band also includes Tommy Lee Jack, who plays lead guitar and has been a key mentor for his younger bandmates, and Perry Bell, who occasionally plays rhythm for the group.
Ashley Dumaji is among the DMC Boys who were new to music before the band formed. (Supplied: DMC Boys)
But aside from Jack, none had ever played an instrument before forming the band.
“We had to learn everything on the go,” Douglas says.
That learning happened over a two-year period inside the Doomadgee Youth Hub’s community recording studio, a council-run, air-conditioned creative space that has become the heart of the project.
Another key mentor — musician Dale Mallett, who hails from The Floating Bridges and Mufassa & the Pride — has guided the group since meeting them in 2019, when he began visiting the north-west Queensland community to run school holiday music workshops.
Dale Mallett first came to Doomadgee as part of a music program, which helped spark the band’s formation. (Supplied: DMC Boys)
“Elijah came in with stories he wanted to turn into songs,” the Sunshine Coast-based musician said.
“We wrote one track, and then the other boys started gravitating towards it.”
Mallett, who runs the Dreamtime Music Project in partnership with Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council, said within months, men who had never played an instrument were performing in a band.
“Ashley Dumaji couldn’t play a beat at the start,” Mallett said.
“Two months later, he was the drummer.”
The band recorded their EP in the Doomadgee studio before travelling to the Sunshine Coast last year to complete the final mixing.
New EP and album on the way
Mallet said the band’s hometown community of Doomadgee, with fewer than 1,500 people, had embraced the emerging group.
He said when they returned from recording on the Sunshine Coast, locals greeted them at the airport with signs and cheers.
The band has played for audiences in Burketown and neighbouring communities. (Supplied: DMC Boys)
“They came back feeling like rock stars” he said.
The DMC boys are finding their feet performing in nearby communities such as Burketown.
The band is also working on new music with another EP and an album in the works, which they hope to release this year.
They also plan to travel to remote Mornington Island, hoping to become mentors for other young musicians — as Mallett was for them.
Representing Doomadgee
The band’s sound blends Indigenous rock with reggae influences. It’s a style they say reflects both culture and contemporary identity.
“It’s about sharing our culture and heritage, but doing it in our own way,” Douglas said.
“We think our sound is unique. We just want to get out there and share it.”
But for the band, recognition is not about fame — but pride.
“We want to represent Doomadgee,” Douglas said.
“And encourage young people to have a go at something they’re interested in — because it might take you somewhere.”