Fred Leone
Fred Leone is a cultural leader, a true-born artist and one of the Butchulla Songmen with Aboriginal, Tongan and South-Sea Islander roots. One of very few Initiated Aboriginal men in the arts industry, Fred comes from the Garrwa and Butchulla tribes. The Butchulla tribe are the traditional owners of K’gari from Burrum Heads down to Rainbow Beach, Fraser Coast South East Queensland.
Fred’s role as a Songman sees him as one of the custodians of traditional songs and one of a handful of keepers and custodians of their language. Fred is active in his role as a Songman, ensuring that contemporary Butchulla stories are embedded into the collective memory of the tribes oral histories and ceremonies going forward.
As a Songman, his primary instrument is his voice, yet he uses Didgeridoo (Kuluru in Garrwa language), boomerangs (Bargan in Butchulla language), Emu egg (Ngurunj in Butchulla language), tree branches, sand and other objects from K’gari to form his traditional sound pallet.
He has been a touring artist for over a decade, throwing rhymes and traveling with Public Enemy, Dead Prez and People Under The Stairs as well as receiving invites to collaborate and play with contemporary artists such as John Butler, Xavier Rudd, Amanda Palmer, best-selling author, Neil Gaiman and many, many more.
Fred blends his love of hip-hop rhyming and his singularly unique vocal style with his adeptness playing traditional instruments to create an utterly new and unique sound. He’s known for his abilities to transcend genre and form whilst bringing the true integrity of his life’s calling as a Songman to the forefront all that he touches.
Fred was guest artistic director for the show Dirt Song with the internationally acclaimed Indigenous super-group Black Arm Band for three years, touring through Canada, China, Asia,, Brazil, the UK and Australia. He was also invited by the National Theatre of Scotland to produce and present a solo theatre work in both Scotland and the UK. Fred led the Indigenous Gurruman Dancers at the Commonwealth Games, sung the closing ceremony and welcomed Prince Harry onto country at K’Gari (Fraser Island).
In 2019, Fred accepted the role of Project Manager for Wunungu Awara (Animating Indigenous Knowledges) on behalf of Monash University. This multi art-form project sees Fred travel around Australia to consult with Aboriginal Elders and Indigenous communities to record their endangered languages and stories. Wunungu Awara then uses animation and music to illustrate songlines from around the country supporting Indigenous communities in their language preservation with the aim to
reinvigorate interest in Australian traditional languages. Recently, his guest appearance singing in Butchulla on his cousin Birdz’s track Bagi-la-m Bargan helped see the song become a hit, with close to two million streams, a cavalcade of synch placements and a placement at #30 on Triple J’s hottest 100.