Living Black catches up with Dan Sultan, lauded as one of Australia’s greatest new talents, at this year’s Yabun Music Festival in Sydney.

A Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, Sultan has been invited to perform alongside industry greats like Paul Kelly, Kev Carmody, Archie Roach and Missy Higgins at major events nationwide.

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Sultan’s roots-blues-country rock fusion has won critical acclaim. Your Love is Like a Song, featured on his debut album Homemade Biscuits, received the Deadly Award for Single Release of the Year. His Sorry Day performance of Roslyn, a song about the stolen generation, was met with a standing ovation.

Sultan has evoked emotion-charged responses from massive audiences at music festivals including Woodford, Port Fairy and Byron Bay’s East Coast Blues and Roots Festival, as well as Black Arm Band at the Sydney Opera House. On the Union of Soul tour during which his band supported the John Butler Trio and The Waifs, Sultan shared the stage with the headlining artists to sing the legendary From Little Things Big Things Grow.

In the latter half of 2008, Sultan is expected to release his second album with musical cohort Scott Wilson, as well as playing in London and teaming up with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to perform hit single Your Love is Like a Song.

Transcript

KG: Talented Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Dan Sultan has a big future ahead in the music scene. With his own unique style, Dan is fast becoming a favourite on the festival circuit and has played with some of the biggest names in the business, including Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. I caught up with Dan at this year's Yabun Music Festival in Sydney.

Dan Sultan, Singer/Songwriter: Hello, my name is Dan Sultan. I'm a musician. I grew up in Melbourne and my people are from eastern Arrernte and Gurindji, and I play country soul rock and roll. I was always inspired by anything artistic growing up and also I spent a bit of time, when I was really young, I was in a place just near Alice Springs called Yuendumu. It's on Walpurri land. And I was given a skin name by those people and my dad was doing of a lot of work out there. I just remember big sessions around the campfire with maybe 70 people, you know, and I still remember it and I was like 2.5 years old, just big, big campfire and everyone singing and dancing. As far as like local musicians and inspirations go, they were always big, particularly Uncle Archie Roach, Auntie Ruby Hunter. I have always loved Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and James Brown and Marvin Gaye and the Temptations and the Meters, ACDC - I love ACDC, a big inspiration.

Reporter: What do you write about?

Dan Sultan: I just write love songs, pretty much, you know. I've written songs that are I've written songs about domestic violence, and I've written songs about the stolen generation, but it's written like a love song, you know. And I think it is unfortunate that we're in a time and in a place where an Indigenous person sings a love song and it is seen as...it's also political, you know what I mean. That's just a sign of the times, you know.

Deadlys Presenter: The winner is 'Your Love is Like a Song' by Dan Sultan.

Reporter: Last year you won a Deadly Award. How was that?

Dan Sultan: It was amazing, yeah, it was wonderful. The year before I had been nominated and I suppose, you hear people say it a lot but it's just true. The fact that I was nominated, that was the buzz, to be nominated by my people and my peers. And the only difference between being nominated and winning is when I'd won the year later, the year after, which was last year, I had a chance to thank some people, and I had a chance to say something on a stage and it was on TV and there were people there and I had a real chance to say something. I would like to see the new Labor Government actually do something or THE government, whether it be Labor or Liberal or whoever it is, just do something. You have got the power, you have got the control, you have got the resources and the capabilities and we have the issues and we have the problems in this country and as this country. It's not an Indigenous problem, it's just happening to Indigenous people. It's an Australian problem.