The New Dreaming Podcast
The New Dreaming is more than just a podcast - it’s a truth-telling movement. A space for real, meaningful conversations that empower, challenge and inspire. Through the voices of those who have broken barriers, found their purpose and reclaimed their stories, - we uncover the truths that shape who we are.
For those ready to listen, learn and be part of something bigger - each episode is a step towards truth, healing and collective empowerment.
The New Dreaming Podcast
Kayla Truth's Journey: Healing Through Hip-Hop
Meet Kaylah Truth, a powerhouse Meerooni woman of the Gurang Nation whose journey through hip-hop, activism and cultural reconnection will leave you inspired and reflective.
Growing up in Brisbane's south side, Kaylah's earliest memories revolve around her grandmother's bustling "black house" – a hub of community activism where young Kaylah absorbed the passionate discussions of politics and social justice happening around her. From nearly being whisked away to the Tent Embassy as a toddler to witnessing her first Salt-N-Pepa concert at age six, these formative experiences shaped her path in ways she couldn't yet understand. After facing significant losses in her late teens, Kaylah found herself at a crossroads. Choosing the Aboriginal Center for the Performing Arts became her lifeline – "hip-hop saved my life," she shares with raw honesty. What followed was a remarkable career balancing professional performance with profound community service, taking her from remote Australian communities to international stages alongside artists like TLC, Nelly and Lupe Fiasco.
The heart of this conversation reveals the beautiful intersection between hip-hop culture's "each one, teach one" philosophy and Indigenous knowledge-sharing traditions. Now returned to Brisbane after years in Victoria, Kaylah speaks movingly about her evolving priorities – stepping fully into her role as an aunty, deepening her connection to country and embracing the responsibility of language revival and cultural preservation following her grandmother's passing. This episode offers much more than a career retrospective – it's a meditation on healing through creative expression, finding purpose in community service, and recognising when life comes full circle. Kaylah's parting wisdom resonates deeply: "Try to be in the moment, acknowledge all the hard work that you did to get to that moment, but don't rush into the next one quicker than you have to."
Ready to be moved by a story of resilience, purpose, and coming home?
Kayla, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Of course. Now we go way back. So I'm gonna try and be as professional as I can be. But just know that I feel like I might have to edit parts of myself out. Let's just start with uh full name mob and a little bit about uh where you grew up and where you reside.
SPEAKER_01:My name's Kayla Tyson. I'm a Maroni woman of the Gurang Nation with ties also to the Noogie people of the Kwandamuka region. Um most people know me as Kayla Truth or maybe even KMT if you've been around for that long. Um yeah, I grew up in Brisbane, uh south side of Brisbane, mostly in between Logan, so specifically Browns Pain's. Um, and then yeah, you know, back and forth in my teenage, early 20s, working in and around Brisbane and moved around Australia a lot, but I've just come back home to Brizzy.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm glad you're here. Because when I wrote my list of podcast people I wanted to yarn to, you're my sister from another mistake. And I was like, all right, we're gonna have a good yarn. Why don't we just start maybe, you know, early years growing up, you know, any memories you have about culture and then when you first discovered the arts and your passion for music and storytelling?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I was born in Ipswich. Um, so my very early years were living in my nan's house. Um, and if you can just imagine like a big two-story house out in out the you know, near Ipswich area, and it was a black house, so everyone lived there. Most, you know, most of Nan's kids lived there, which is why we were there because I was there with mum. Um, my dad was there at the time as well, and yeah, it was just always people in and out, always something happening. You know, Nan cooking a big stew up to feed everyone. Um, I'm the eldest grandchild, so I think I got a little bit spoilt. Um, there was always someone there to read a book to me, or um my aunties and uncles will actually talk about how Mary Poppins was constantly on repeat, and I used to make them all watch it with me, and they had to know the words, and if they didn't sing it right, then we had to start it again. So I didn't really think about it, but I would say that my interest in the arts and musical theatre probably started back then. Um, but yeah, I yeah, I it probably would have just been, you know, mixed in together because growing up with my nan so close to me, um, and my pop as well, like they were both in politics in different ways and they were very active in the community. Um, all of my family, I would say, are activists in one way or another in their line of work that they do. And I took a very keen interest in learning as much as I could back then. But I was that kid that was, you know, in the black organizations back in the days. Um, I remember a lot of the aunties and uncles calling me that baby, because you know, it was just me somewhere around there with them. And um, I think there was actually a time where my mum says they were all, all the mob were in Musgrove Park and they were about to get on the bus to go down to the tent embassy. I was only young then, like really, really young. And mum had to jump on and say, Who's got my kid? Like, where where is she? And yeah, they were like, Oh, we thought the baby was coming with us. And mum's like, no, come on, she's too little. So I almost ended up in Canberra at the tent embassy um very early on. But yeah, I guess that was my path in life, you know, getting all played out for me from very early on.
SPEAKER_00:100%. And you would have been exposed to a lot, a lot of great music, culture, politics. Now, let's go into those early teenage years, some of your musical influences, and then specifically travel down the lane of the hip-hop path and how that started.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Um biggest experience for me from early on, where I think it really, you know, was pivotal in that me deciding that that was what I wanted to do, even if I didn't realise the weight of it at the time, would have been uh my mum taking me to a salt and pepper concert when I was six years old. So my mum was young. Um, and when I think about it now, she probably didn't have a babysitter or I don't know, but she took myself and my cousin, and my mum was having the time of her life. She was up on the chair dancing, she was getting in trouble for standing on the chair dancing at the concert. Um, but there's a lot of Brisbane community there who I still talk to these days, um, you know, people that have gone into the music world as well. And I think right there and then I just remember thinking, wow, this is cool, I could do that. I already liked salt and pepper by that point. I remember for the next few years, you know, we didn't have internet back then, so we couldn't look up lyrics. So if you didn't get it in the sleeves of the CDs or whatever, or the tapes at that time, then you had to just listen and learn it. So we used to sit there and write them lyrics out and, you know, pause it, write a bit, play, keep going. And I was doing that stuff from really early on. So I think that all of the um steps along the way were happening without me being conscious of it. And I focused a lot more on sports while I was at school, but um, once I got out of it, my first job was at a community radio station. Um, so I was back, you know, amongst all of the music again, started dancing a little bit, and yeah, ended up auditioning for the Aboriginal Center for the Performing Arts. Honestly, the reason I did that was actually because there was a lot of death happening around me at the time. Um, it had been for a few years, and I just thought to myself, like, what should I be doing as a 19-year-old? I don't have any responsibilities, I don't have any dependence. I should just do something that I love doing, and you know, we'll see how it goes, and then I make up my mind from there. So honestly, that's just what got me to the performing arts school and auditioning. Um, but that was a crossroads for me because I ended up really focusing in and being thrown into the performing arts world and training for the next five years and um picking up all the skills that I needed to kind of step out into the industry and still here, you know, many years later. Um things that we've picked up during that time are things that you can kind of transfer into other industries, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I want to go back to that time. So you're a young woman, there's so many challenges just happening in the landscape at that time in the 90s, you know. Um just being a young woman. What were some of those challenges that sort of led you down to needing that outlet for yourself?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think that as young uh Indigenous Australians we're facing racism before we even know what is happening, you know what I mean? Like we're we're getting called these names or we know that people are looking at us differently. And I grew up in Logan City, so you would nowadays you look at that, and we know that there's over 250 different cultural backgrounds living in this city, and it's actually a beautiful thing. Um, but it wasn't always like that, you know. Um, and then wherever we go, we can get a very different reception, whether it's out in the country or whether it's in a city, you know, and you start to pick up on these little things. And um as you get a bit older, you know, like it's very normal. I I was very angry um because I felt helpless. When when you're younger, you have this like sense of wanting to change the world and and contribute in a positive way, um, but you don't always know how you can do that. So sometimes it can, you know, show up in different ways. You fight back or or whatever. But the lucky thing for me was that I grew up absolutely loving reading. I had adults around me who taught me a lot, and I think we I got early chances to learn how to communicate to the best of my ability. I was very confident from the get-go, um, ready to argue my point. So I guess like I just thought I can write this stuff in my journal, and then it eventually turned into a bit of poetry, and I grew up watching hip-hop and RB music videos because we didn't have that representation of black and brown faces on Australian TV. If you watch some of the shows that are on every night, we weren't represented anywhere. But if you watched music videos on Rage or Video Hits on the weekend, you could see someone who, you know, we're not the same cultural background, but they look similar to our mums and aunties and dads and uncles and that. And um it wasn't just what we saw, but with rappers, they were talking about issues that were happening over in the States, like deaths and custody, racism, you know, all of that stuff. And it was things that we could relate to.
SPEAKER_00:Shared struggle.
SPEAKER_01:100%, even though we're on the opposite sides of the world. So I think for me, it was just something that was there right in front of me. And, you know, you can go around and get into fights, but you know that's wrong, right? So how do you grab at a different um tool to help you express those frustrations and um just do it in a more positive way where you can actually get something back from it? That's what I I like to tell kids, you know, like, yeah, you can go fight someone, but what are you gonna get out of it? Um get in trouble with the law or whatever. If you write a song and it and you're passionate about it and you want to keep doing that, you can make money to support yourself or your family. Um, you can get a very healthy buzz out of being on stage or, you know, just hearing um something that you've done give joy to other people in your community. So have to live by that myself.
SPEAKER_00:It's hard sometimes.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, very hard.
SPEAKER_00:Because you're getting pushed in society. Now, um when you first kind of got into that landscape, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go and perform in arts and stuff. Do you remember the first time that you sort of danced at, say, uh a performance that you trained for? And take me back there and tell me how it felt that first time you you really performed in front of say an audience.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna say that we always had an audience. Um, but it was a lot smaller, you know, in the early days because like I was saying, I was the eldest cousin and I used to make all my cousins come up with choreography, and um, you know, whether it was at a family get together or whether it was on the little discos that we had at our house on Friday nights, we were putting on little performances, um, wanting to be the Spice Girls or whoever it was at the time. Um, but outside of family, I do recall jumping up on stage at my very last parade at school. It took me that long to get up there because I guess I don't know, the the styles and stuff that were being taught in school at the time, though it didn't really feel like a lot of us black and brown people could connect with that. And so we'd just meet up at lunchtime and you know, we were thinking we'll cruise from you got served or one of those dance movies. And we did that, and then we got our opportunity to jump up at the end of um school. And I don't know why I waited that long, but I really enjoyed that. Like it was fun, it wasn't really planned out. Um and then from there, you know, I was kind of just dancing around a little bit more when we'd be out. Um, but then there were dance competitions that were happening, and back then it was the era of dance cruising, and people you didn't go out unless you were going to dance. It wasn't like now where you just all stand around. Um so I started entering dance competitions with the encouragement of my friends, won a few of those, and then I thought, oh, I can I can actually do something with this. Um, but nothing beats performing to your whole community at like Nadock Week. Nadock Week Musgrove Park. Not necessarily, you know, getting paid a lot or whatever, but you wouldn't miss it for the world because that's where all your mob are, and you're just there to have a have a good time. So I don't care how many gigs I do, like I always love to do those ones because it does take me back to that point in time where it's not about anything else other than just like having fun and having a laugh with all of your mob around you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And tell us um, you know, some of the performance you've done, share some of the work that you've done and some of the work in the community.
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, um I've always done uh sort of like there were times where I was touring a bit more with my own music and um doing those types of gigs, but at the same time I was always in communities doing music workshops. Well, they're actually more like leadership workshops, but we used hip hop as a tool to um bring out some confidence and and I guess be appealing to the younger people so we could achieve some of those things that we were there to do. But um, yeah, so traveled all around Australia to remote indigenous communities and like rural towns um to places that people won't even go in their lifetime, don't even know exist. So very blessed to be able to see all the different countries across Australia. Um and then yeah, over I've taken that type of work specifically took me overseas to New York and I performed in New York and um we volunteered at a summer camp that was for kids that were affected by sickle cell and HIV. Um and as much as it sounds like a good thing to do from our end to give back and all of that, that was actually a blessing for us as well. Um it opened my eyes up and you know, that was one of the one of those things in my time that I'll never forget about. I really appreciated the opportunity to go over there and share um the tools that I've been given uh with those kids over there too. And yeah, but uh like I was saying, alongside that I was always doing my gigs. So I've been lucky enough to work with um artists like TLC, uh Nelly, Lupe Fiasco BOB. You would know that because you got on stage with me. People don't know, but he's a rapper too, you know. That's where we all started.
SPEAKER_00:We were drifting in them clubs.
SPEAKER_01:We definitely were, yeah. Um, but yeah, also hosted uh Sierra um and Jay Holiday. Um there's a bunch more, but yeah, obviously a lot of local artists as well, who are still my friends to this day.
SPEAKER_00:And a lot of your launches for your for your tracks and stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. So I'm 100% self-managed and funded. So uh we haven't always you know pumped out material like you would if you had the team of a record label, a big record label behind you. Um so sometimes those things are few and far between, but in in between those things, you're still doing your gigs, you're still building those networks. And um I I honestly think that we could rock up to a hip-hop show now and we would see all of our friends from back in those days as well.
SPEAKER_00:So it really is a beautiful community to the whole time you've been giving back through your work and the community.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, as a black follower, I think that we're always taught from the get-go that you should always pass on the tools that you learn. And especially as the eldest grandchild in the family, I the well, I think that's a huge responsibility that I have. Whatever I learn, I try to pass it on straight away because um we're not uh about like individualism, like we're about community and we should share what we've got, you know, and help everyone eat and get ahead in life and be as healthy as they can. But that's also from the hip-hop community side of things as well. You know, there is that slogan, each one, teach one. So whichever culture I'm leaning into, whether it's hip-hop or my Aboriginal culture, it's like a law on both sides that I have to do that and I love to.
SPEAKER_00:100%. It's in you, it's in your DNA, knowledge sharing, community giving back. Now let's talk about um I think you mentioned all those great shows and and artists you've worked with. Um, is there any other highlights that come to mind? Uh it could be nothing to do with that work, it could just be, you know, you helped a friend plan her dream wedding. Just a highlight for you of of some of the work you've done.
SPEAKER_01:A bigger one, which is funnily enough, a little more recent, um, was the first time that I got to do my own show on country over on Strawbroke Island. So um so close to home, so close to where I've grown up. Not sure why it took that long, but doing that, you know, I kind of just approached it like any other gig, but it wasn't until I was about to get on stage and I was like, oh, this is this is different. Like all my ancestors will be here watching what I'm doing, and it's a special thing to be able to say that I've been in the industry for as long as I have, um and come back to country and bring all my artist friends back with me for them kids and aunties and uncles to see. But it yeah, just it has a different feeling, you know? It's like I don't know, it's hard to explain, but being on country is just something something else. Like the connection to country and being able to bring your skills back there and share it is just is so so important. And I would take that feeling over being on a stage at a festival with tens of thousands of people any day.
SPEAKER_00:We talked about this amazing gift that you've been sharing in community and being on country and and that feeling. Um how has let me let me get this right. Apart from giving that gift, has it healed you in a way?
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Never-ending healing. And sometimes when I feel a little bit lost, I have to go back to it and remind myself that I have that there as a tool. Are we talking about using hip hop as a tool to help other people bring out things like confidence and you know, give a bit of structure to your life, something to look forward to. But we need to remember that that's why we started it as well. Um whether it's writing lyrics, that can be quite cathartic because maybe you're not a journaler, but you could it's the same thing, like you're writing out your thoughts and feelings in your lyrics. Um and then, you know, say if you're preparing for a show or a tour, gives you something to focus on, you're training, you all of a sudden your mindsets change, you're trying to focus on eating as well as you can, and you know, you're at the gym or you're rehearsing or whatever. Um on those physical and emotional levels, like that's there, and that's something that you can really tap into. Um, but for me, as cliche as it sounds, like hip-hop saved my life, because there were there were probably more than one moment in my life where it was like a crossroad. And I am very blessed that I have other things that I can lean into. I'm not limited to only doing that one thing. Um, but reminding myself that it is there and I can pick it up whenever I want to. And it is something that I can use to heal me at any time. Maybe like I was saying, maybe I just need to write something out and get it out of my system and release it and let it go. Or it could be that, you know, you do get up on stage and you just feel that deadly energy that you get when you're up there and you don't always realize that there's somebody in the crowd that's really holding on to the words that you're sharing, or that you know, when I saw someone pepper up on stage, I hope that when I'm on stage there's a six-year-old girl that's like, oh, I reckon I could do that, you know? So all of it's healing.
SPEAKER_00:You mentioned the word crossroads and um What were some of those crossroads?
SPEAKER_01:When I auditioned to go to um performing art school, I was actually in court at that time, and I was very lucky that I had support around me, but um when Leah Purcell came in to be the artistic director there, sh she didn't do she actually didn't know me. Um we were meeting for the first time. Obviously, our families, you know, knew knew each other over different generations. Um, but I was in court for a charge that I could have gone to jail for. Um and luckily I hadn't been in trouble any other time, and I was studying, and by the time we went to court, I had been able to show that I had things going for me. Um but you know, like I do think back to those moments where it could have gone the other way, and I wonder how different my life would be. Um and I, yeah, I really just am so grateful that I got the opportunity to go in a different direction. And I wouldn't have been able to do that without the support around me. Um but it was on me to take the opportunity that was in front of me and to desperately learn and pick up tools that could help me move down that new path in a healthier way for myself.
SPEAKER_00:And having those support systems, great people, those outlets for anyone out there that might be struggling and and not having those outlets. How important is it for them to take that opportunity that they might not see as an opportunity to help them get out of that that place?
SPEAKER_01:So, so important. When you're in that place, you often can't see past what's run right here in front of you. Um, even to the point where you might not even think to ask for help. Um But I I am, you know, an example of if you speak up, you ask for help, you might not even know how you need help, but just ask for it. And you never know. Like like I said, Leah Percell didn't know who I was back then, you know. We that was a relationship that we formed um a lot further on down the track and continued to form today. But there were many Leahs in my life, and I know that I am very lucky to be able to say that because my family for starters have always been very supportive and pushed me to be the best version of myself. Um, I've had great teachers, and Leah was another person along that track. But um yeah, if you have that one person in your life that you think you could maybe reach out to, then give it a crack and you know, see if you can get some support. But whatever your thing is, it might not be music, it could be sport, it could be you know, anything else. Um, could be church, whatever. Just give it a go because it's not gonna hurt, you know. Like you have to just decide that I have to make a change here and lean into even the slightest bit of opportunity that's in front of you to go in a different direction.
SPEAKER_00:Love it. It's very important just to take that first step.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:One step at a time. Acknowledging that, hey, it's okay for me to feel this way.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And I can guarantee that you're not the first person in the world that's been in that position. Even though your brain will be telling you that no one else understands.
SPEAKER_00:And it's the people that you think wouldn't be. You know, you see all these people and you think they're killing it, and social media is distorting our our our vision of reality. It can make you feel, you know. Um how much of an impact is social media having on young artists these days.
SPEAKER_01:A huge impact. For the good and the bad. You can really use social media as a tool to um reach places and people that we would have struggled to reach back when we were starting out. Um but it is definitely something that you need to be in control of. Um, you know, unfortunately, we see a lot of people um with, you know, body dysmorphia and um online bullying and all those things. So I do feel for people who are affected by that type of stuff. And uh I think we might have been lucky to be that last generation to kind of live before the internet and social media became a thing. It was something that we had to learn as well, and we probably resisted for a while, you know, like old school. We just do stuff in person, you know. Um, but like I said, it is something that you can lean into. And if you are conscious of what you're exposing yourself to, then it can actually be a really powerful tool.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Make sure you consume the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Fill your feed with positivity and all that good stuff. And um creative people generally are wired, there's mental health issues there as well. Um is that anything you've experienced, mental health side of things, that tend to go hand in hand. I'm making that assumption. Um but yeah, any experience with that? Any um examples of how you may have got through that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, definitely. Um I there's been many at many times, not just as uh a black fellow, but more so in our communities, we experience a lot of grief and loss, and it's almost normalized from a very young age. Um when I was 14, one of my best friends back then, he was murdered, and that was my first experience of a really uh heavy, heavy, heavy loss, and that definitely changed who I was um at the time and still to this day. So back then no one was really going to counseling, or it wasn't something that maybe our parents or our teachers or anyone around us would, you know, send us to do as a priority. Um so I think that that carried, you know, a heavy kind of weight with me, like into my adult years as well. And it was something that maybe I didn't really deal with until a bit later on. Um, and continue to deal with because as you would know, like in our community, we often don't get the opportunity to uh finish grieving someone before we lose the next person. And it's yeah, it just feels like it's nonstop sometimes. Um, so that has definitely affected my mental health and is a big part of why I needed to pick up a pen and pad and write some raps, you know, because I just needed to get some of those things out. And often you don't even know what you're feeling until you start writing it out. Um uh yeah, so that's yes, something that I'm constantly still trying to remind myself of is checking in with myself about where I'm at with dealing with grief, because that's been a big um, big challenge for me, an ongoing thing, and become more and more apparent on how important it is for us to be conscious of that struggle for us. Um, you know, I know a lot of other people out there struggle with different um diagnoses and and stuff like that. And I guess we are lucky that we live in a world today where we can um like acknowledge that and there's a bit more support out there. So yeah, I think like I was saying before, um if you are somebody who's on social media a lot, if you make sure that you You watch what you're consuming, you can also use social media to tap into some of those tools that can benefit your mental health as well. And sometimes you feel a lot of people feel more comfortable speaking to a stranger than they do. Um, the ones that are close to them in their life. So social media can be a powerful tool for that as well.
SPEAKER_00:It's great advice, checking in with yourself. That's a really big one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:First. And then knowing we we sort of covered it, those support networks and people and resources and the same thing that could be taking you down the rabbit hole. You can quickly put in a search that can help it bring you out of that.
SPEAKER_01:But also go outside. I'm a salt water person, and often, you know, I might get to a point where I'm like, oh, some what's wrong with me? Like something feels off. And then I realise I haven't been to the beach for a month or two. And that's all I need. I just need to go outside and get some sun and smell that salt water and put my feet in there and yeah, just lay them on the sand.
SPEAKER_00:Cheeks out, eh?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Gotta soak up that vitamin D.
SPEAKER_00:Now, um, who's been the biggest influence in your life?
SPEAKER_01:It's hard to say one.
SPEAKER_00:You can say multiple.
SPEAKER_01:Collectively, all of the deadly women in my life. Um, for better or for worse, we live in a community where the women are usually at the center of it and they're the glue that holds us all together. Um, sometimes too independent, but that's just what we've had to do to survive. Definitely my mum has been my constant, my number one constant in my life. And, you know, being at this age, I now know that she was quite young when she had me and my brother not long after that. Um, she worked very hard, she was a professional woman, um, and had to, you know, struggle that with being a single mum. Um, with the help of our community, she was able to do that. And um my mum leaning into those people around us uh also brought other, you know, deadly aunnies and that into our life. Um, but my nan is also like my biggest, you know, biggest hero. And um she was only she was only a little woman, but when she spoke, people listened. And I guess that's the power in not talking all the time, you know, that when you say something, people know that you've actually got something to say. And yeah, she was a fiery, fiery little woman. Um that even grown men would, you know, they'd shut up and they'd listen. So that's a powerful thing to have. And there were back then, I think my first job was cleaning um Marumura, which was where Nan worked at. And now I think about it, she must have been paying me out of her own pocket. Because it wasn't a real lot of money in the, you know, black orgs. And um yeah, I just think about that generation who constantly showed up every day, probably weren't making any money, yet still found a way to do the work and set all these things up for our generation. No, I work in a world where I can get a salary to go and support my brothers and sisters out there in the community, which can also help me support my family. Um, and that was just something that actually didn't exist back then. So sometimes I think I don't know how they did it, but I guess they did it out of necessity. Always grateful for them. Like I'll give a shout-out to the generation of Brisbane blacks that, you know, started out. Um, I feel very grateful to come from, you know, staunch warriors who pushed forward and showed up at all the time and maybe didn't always have the tools to look after themselves the best, but um tried their best to look after the rest of us.
SPEAKER_00:What's your fondest memory of Nan?
SPEAKER_01:Wow, there's there's actually so many. I was always with Nan, all the time. And as I got older, Nan um came to gigs and go pick her up on the way to work and take her to the radio station with me. And she would I don't know, we just hung out all the time, you know. I would sit there and debate politics and whatever with Nan. We loved a good debate. Um I think what I would be really grateful for is that I was meant to model for Reebok at the Melbourne Fashion Festival, and this was in 2020, just before COVID hit. It was all locked in. And Nan hadn't been to Melbourne before, but she'd been wanting to go for a while because you know, she knew before the activism that existed in Victoria and how a lot of that was a building block for what ended up happening elsewhere in Queensland and all of that. So Nan was keen to come to Melbourne. She wanted to watch me walk and she wanted to go do her thing. She also went for Melbourne Storm, which tried not to hold against her. Um, but yeah, she came down and then COVID hit the world and um it the whole festival got shut down at the same time as the rest of the world, and we actually got sent back home, which at the time I felt um disappointed that I didn't get to fulfill that dream that I had um to walk the runway. But I we ended up losing Nen during the pandemic, so I think that that was um yeah, that was a gift that was given to me to be able to spend that time with Nan and have that trip. And I'm so so grateful for it.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for sharing. I know how important she was to you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And um that hard work doing what she had to do and only getting this much, but still giving you that to instill within you what you've actually been doing in community. That's that's been ingrained in you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and that's why I try to um find a balance of taking care of myself, but try to, you know, get out there and um I take that responsibility seriously because like you said, um Nan and my mum's generation as well, they did so much for us to be able to have the freedom to um fly, you know. You just come back from Sydney this morning, I came back from Melbourne the day before. We can get on a plane at the drop of a hat and move around wherever we want. We don't have to ask permission to travel. And it was only in such recent generations where our mob couldn't leave the missions without getting permission. Um, so there's that, but there's also spaces where we're still the first black person to do something in, you know, and it's crazy that we're still there. But if we have to be that person, then so be it. Let's go kick the door down. And I got that from my mum and an and all of them aunties and uncles.
SPEAKER_00:And I think anyone that knows you knows you well enough to to know that that's what you're about and what you stand for, and if you're passionate about something, you you fight for it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, through your music and through the the work you're doing in the community. What does the next twelve months, three years I'm not worried about calendar, but what what does the next steps forward look like for Kayla?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I've just returned home um from living in Victoria for a few years. Um I am at the point in my life where I do want to be at home and I want to find more opportunities to be on country a bit more. And I have these awesome little nephews who are little maniacs as well, and I miss them while I was gone. So um I think for me, like my main role that I want to step into is just being an auntie. I'm ready to be Arnie Kayla in all of the meanings of that word. Um I just want to go to football on Sunday mornings and and be there to support my mum a bit more. And it's seems like such a different plan, you know. You know me. I could have a couple of years ago would have told you my five-year plan and it would have looked insane. Um, and it would have been things that were all focused on work and those types of achievements. Um, but I just feel like I've lived a few lives already and I'm blessed to be able to say that. So yeah, family, country, and figuring out, you know, the I there's still so much that I need to learn when it comes to language and uh different things about my country and and the things that I feel that I now have to really, really learn so I can pass it on to my nephews and some other ones around me.
SPEAKER_00:It's a huge journey.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Definitely.
SPEAKER_00:And it's kind of like you need to go through what you've been through to to now make that next journey. And I know um you know, some of the things that you've done in your life, but I still know that the most important things are yet to come for you. Because it's a deeper journey, it's a real spiritual reconnection.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was like we just spent all these years just peeling back the layers and different challenges and and good things at every layer. Um and you continually learn about what is important. And you kind of get there and you realize it's not it's not necessarily out there. It's like all in here and I have been so blessed to grow up like max an hour boat trip away from my country. And yet I haven't spent as much time there as I'd like to. So now it's all about making sure that we don't take those things for granted. And if that means I write an album in the language that I learn, that would be amazing. But maybe it won't be that, you know, but we'll we'll see what comes of it. Um when I was in Melbourne, I was very blessed to be able to work alongside the mob down there on the Treaty for Victoria campaign, and it gave me a bit of an insight into the blueprint of what could potentially work elsewhere. So I think that we're a little far from achieving that here right now, but um I do feel a call to, you know, um talk to my mob and see what we can do and see if we want to play a part in kind of achieving that in our area somewhere in the near future. So yeah, it's just all about my people and community and culture, which it always has been, but I guess it's uh stepping into that role um being at this age and being that young auntie.
SPEAKER_00:Feels like a purpose.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. True. I I would 100% say so. I think that even though I don't w really know what it looks like just yet or what it will look like, I think everything I've done up until this point is just been me collecting information and collecting tools and um figuring myself out to be able to bring all of that back together to come back and be like, okay, maybe we okay, we have to um revive and you know, um look revitalize our languages. Okay, well, let's make a song because people know how to, you know, sing along to a song, and that's usually how our brains retain it. So maybe we're learning how to write so I could come and keep our language going. I don't know, we'll we'll have to wait and see.
SPEAKER_00:I agree. We literally, like, this week we're at the language symposium, the state library, talking about language, and I'm hearing uncles from the NT in his early 70s get coming to tears about language and trying, and I'm just sitting there like trying to document this stuff, just getting all like it's a beautiful thing, but it's also humbling because it's that journey, and like, man, there's an obligation to this now.
SPEAKER_01:There really is. When my nan passed away, as someone who feels like I spent as much time as possible with her, I still felt like there were so many more things that I wanted to ask, and I didn't get the opportunity to do that. But that's something that we have to remind ourselves of. Our old people are passing away, and with them our cultural libraries are going, you know, unless we've taken the opportunity that we could to get as much out of them as possible. Um and I believe, you know, everything happens out to me too. So there's probably more stuff that's sitting inside of me that I didn't realise I soaked up, and I hope that I can tap into that, you know, as I'm moving through this next part of my journey. Um, but it definitely is an obligation. Um when my nan passed away, there was something about the shift where I felt like, oh, I just got moved up a generation. And that was just such a strange and important feeling to have that I guess I didn't really see coming. Um yeah, since then it's just been a lot of reflection and you know, I'm ready to step into my responsibility with that.
SPEAKER_00:You imagine there's so many things that so many things you would have asked. If you got one question.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my god, there's I don't know if it would be a question. I just wish that I maybe did this more, like just hit record. I don't know if Nan would have wanted me to do that, but you know, them old people they're a bit private. Um I did so much talking to Nan and I was very blessed to be able to do that, and I just wish maybe I recorded it so that the younger ones could have heard those yarns if they didn't. And um, like you were saying, documenting. We do live in an age now where we have technology and almost anyone can operate it. So uh no, write those books and film those yarns or just record the yarns and you can go back and listen to it, you know. Um I'm actually lucky that Nan used to be with me all the time because I've got a music video from a community project where Nan raps on it. Wow. I don't know how we managed to get her to do that, but I've got that, and then there's another documentary that Leah Purcell was producing where they did a segment on a bit of my life, and we go, you know, to one of the family homes, and Nan's talking on that too, and so is my mum and all that. So I am grateful that I got those opportunities because I can listen to Nan's voice when I want to. Um but I just wish I did more of it, that's all. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely feels full circle moments. When you're a kid, you don't understand it. You don't understand that knowledge that is right there. Yes. Or you're sitting on the lap of that knowledge holder because you're a kid. You've been through, haven't experienced the racism, you haven't experienced the hardship and the heartache and the ups and the downs. And then here we are, you and I ten years ago would have been talking about who's driving to the Gold Coast.
SPEAKER_01:Which would have been you.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. Here we go. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna go there. Um, it's it's good to have these yarns and and at the same time there's all this sort of stuff that's trying to silence truth telling. It's almost like we're now you and I right here are just going, no, no, no, no. We're not gonna be silenced. Truth telling's not gonna stop.
SPEAKER_01:And we don't need permission to tell our truth. We never have. We've been telling our truth this whole time.
SPEAKER_00:Al Kala truth?
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:You're right. Like, don't need permission.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:We have the tools now. We have the cameras, we have the the phones.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:We've developed all the media skill sets through the performing and the writing, the acting and the producing and the scheduling. Maybe it's just been the warm-up.
SPEAKER_01:I think so. Every important position I find myself in at different points in my life, I often feel like I just have this moment of clarity where I'm like, oh, that's why I did all of that. It was just to get me ready for this moment.
SPEAKER_00:That's why I needed that lesson.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:We're being proper wise here, eh? You and I. Wow, look out. They call me uncle now. Yeah, them young ones, eh?
SPEAKER_01:When they call you uncle and a like speaking of, that's why I need to just stop going to the Gold Coast and stuff because they call me Annie now out there.
unknown:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, wasn't ready for that.
SPEAKER_00:Remember that first time, eh?
SPEAKER_01:Who are you talking to?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Some of them greys started coming through.
SPEAKER_01:I'm like, uh We embrace the Greys now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, it's good. And um, I'd love to sort of um close with possibly just an ethos, a quote, a statement, something you live by, a word of advice, anything. The ball's in your court. Um, you can just take the stage.
SPEAKER_01:I resonate with so many different things over different points in my life. A simple quote that's always stuck with me was I don't know who said it, but the don't cry because it's over smile because it happened. And at some point in my young life that really spoke to me. And I think that it pops up every now and then, and it's just a reminder that some things don't last forever, but there's beauty in the fact that it even happened, and sometimes we're so busy and on the go, and um, one of my biggest challenges has been to remind myself to be in the moment and soak up the beauty of being there instead of being so caught up in what comes next, you know? So I think that for me I'd just say try to be in the moment, acknowledge all the hard work that you did to get to that moment, um but don't rush into the next one quicker than you have to.
SPEAKER_00:And that comes straight back to you saying that checking in with yourself, not just when it's bad. Well, maybe I'm like it's going well. Let's check in. Grounding, let's be present, acknowledge that this is a beautiful day, and and being in present is is not easy. Here I am, like, yeah, we'll close it out, and I'm like, hmm. But it's it's nice. I I really believe that that's inward, you know, looking inward instead of looking forward. Yeah, yeah. It's a nice, nice way. Now, um, where can people find you?
SPEAKER_01:You can find me everywhere at Kalatruth. Um now I'm on all of the good streaming services and on YouTube and social media. I do love a bit of social media, I'm not gonna lie. I like to try to have some restrictions around it these days. No screen Sundays um breaks when I need to, but everything I'm at Caleb Truth. So find me there, otherwise you'll just see me at the next community event.
SPEAKER_00:That's it. No screens on Sunday, unless this screen you'll be honest. Unless you're watching this one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh Deadly says, Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01:Uh thanks for having me, and it's good to see your face again.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's too deadly, and we'll now we'll have all the stories come out. Now we're gonna cut the camera. That's a wrap.