As the largest national dance competition for mob to share their unique dance, languages, and cultures, we’re incredibly proud to continue the storytelling traditions that have taken place here for tens of thousands of years.”

What’s more, Andrews was hearing a new sound in his head. If Valley of the Dolls – produced by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople – was a glam-ish, throw-everything-at-the-wall affair, now Andrews was looking inwards. “During 1979, [me and Laff] came up with a whole different way of working with Generation X,” he says. “I’m not sure the other two liked or appreciated it. So we took the kind of one-string riffs we were doing and made it even more spacious and minimalist.” Michael Hutchings, who is of Arrernte heritage and the Sydney Opera House head of First Nations programming, expects this year’s DanceRites to be on an unprecedented scale, with more than 300 dancers representing over 30 nations and clans flying in from across Australia. This weekend, in a dream come true for Morris-Banjo, DIDG debuts at the Sydney Opera House in DanceRites, Australia’s largest Indigenous dance competition. Empire’s minimalist sound ran counter to every contemporary trend: New Romanticism, synth-pop, and the new wave of British heavy metal. And Andrews, by his own admission, made for an unlikely frontman: “I wanted to push myself to feel uncomfortable; I always have. [But] an audience can tell when you’re shy or uncomfortable, and it makes them feel the same.”

The Sydney Morning Herald

Empire’s music suggested a different approach. After record store owner Skip Groff returned from London with a copy of the 7”, scenesters such as Michael Hampton and Chris Bald of Embrace took notice of the stark, direct, and above all emotionally vulnerable sound. The record sent ripples through the tight-knit punk community.