Kalaji

Kalaji is the electronic musical alias of actor and artist Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) in North Western Australia. The project has been a long running personal exploration of Nyikina country, lore and spiritual imagery translated through his passion for sound design, audio art and field recording.

Inspired by the Nyikina word for whirlwind, ‘Kalaji’ is a dreamlike arrangement of wandering analogue synthesis and delicate acoustic sampling. Much of the lyrical material divulges partial sections of a long form mythological narrative set across multiple generations on country. Constructed through a mixture of natural and technological sound sources, the resulting composition blends a range of musical inspirations – from ambient and downtempo, through to archival audio and modern dance music.

In 2019, as part of Melbourne’s Yirramboi Arts festival, Coles Smith presented his first public performance of the Kalaji project in the form of Night River, an hour-long, immersive, live audio and video performance using material recorded and filmed in the Kimberley landscape. The performances were received to critical acclaim and led to the commission of an original score for the Melbourne Town Hall Organ.