DEM MOB music marks new $33m APY Lands school opening
A remote school’s unique SA music program will see members of an award-winning band teach students in the Pitjantjatjara language. The school’s recent opening concert was described as a “a once-in-a-lifetime thing, it shows hope and what can be achieved”.
Fregon Anangu School was officially opened for birth to Year 12 students last week, with an interactive syllabus integrating traditional culture with contemporary learning methods.
TAFE SA engaged APY hip hop and educators DEM MOB to create a unique SACE Certificate II in Music course to be taught at the school where some of its band members would now lecture in the Pitjantjatjara language.
DEM MOB has been working with Fregon and other APY schools over the past year to write, record, and produce music videos.
To mark the opening of the new state government school, builders Sarah Constructions helped fund an opening concert where students performed live alongside local and regional bush bands including the Kaltjiti Travellers, PJ Reggae, Desert Melody, The Fregon Band, Tjupi Band, Eastern Arrernte Band, Coloured Rainbow, and the Laranpa Band.
APY hip hop band and educators DEM MOB partnered with ARIA Award-winning rapper Barkaa to run workshops in performance, songwriting, and stagecraft for students where they could write original songs to perform at the concert.
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Despite the local population clocking in at 250 people, around 1000 attended one of the most remote festivals in Australia held this year.
“This is the first concert of its kind in the APY Lands,” Matt Gully of DEM MOB – the band that took out a swag of SA Music Awards recently – said.
“The event was so inspirational, I’m still in awe of how powerful the message was.”
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Highlights from the day included Inma traditional song and dance, stories from local elders, and Barkaa and DEM MOB performing with students.
The Inma celebrations were led by Matjanka Norris, Murray George, Rachel Stevens, and Mantuwa George who took the community through teaching and learning in a bilingual setting.
“It was really nice to see the elders and adult community of Kaltjiti (Fregon) come into the school to teach the children Inma to then perform it to open the event,” said Gully.
“Really showing that this is not just another government space.”
The theme of the day was ‘Iritinguru munu kuwari kutu’, which translates to “Old ways meet new ways”.
He said the festival approach ensured the experience was fun, interactive, and deeply relevant; combining elements of music, education, and culture,
School principal Sara Porzio praised the school staff, saying they worked tirelessly to make the event an overwhelming success.
“Our school staff worked relentlessly together to make it successful. It was really powerful,” Porzio said.
“A once-in-a-lifetime thing, it shows hope and what can be achieved.”
Matt Gully and DEM MOB, took home three awards at the 2025 South Australian Music Awards – recognised by the industry as the ‘Best Regional Artist’ and ‘Best Music Educator’, as well as claiming the Hip Hop Award.
