Meet House of Rhythm’s creator, Marina Da Silva, the Brazilian-inspired drumming group performing at Culture Mix this Saturday.

Interview Kirra Davey @k.m.d__

What inspired you to create House of Rhythm?

I created House of Rhythm after a very inspiring trip to Brazil in 2019, where I was studying drum, dance and music, which I absolutely love. I’m very grateful that I have this lineage of Brazilian music and culture that I can work with and pass on.

One of the biggest inspirations was being in a lot of very male-led and male-dominated drumming spaces, having a lot of female dancer friends and basically just wanting to get women on the drums more and wanting to be a female drumming group leader. So, all of those things mixed up to make the inspiration for House of Rhythm. I’m very passionate about what I do and I have a lot of fun.

Why do you think it was important for you as a Brazilian Australian woman and for women in general to get involved in this quite male-dominated space?

The older I get the more I realise how incredible women are. They’re very wise and powerful. Women have been shut out of places and oppressed in a multitude of ways, which is a common story amongst many colonised countries. A lot of beautiful music and energy comes out of places of oppression and Brazilian music is one of the best examples of that to me.

Women getting on drums is an amazing opportunity for a reclamation of our feminine creative power, because when you hit a drum and put that force into it, you make noise.

In my workshops, when I teach women, I often have to encourage them to make noise. Drumming activates the feminine power that women have to create and nurture. It’s not power over, it’s within. It’s a wonderful opportunity for women to heal, empower themselves, be heard, realise that they have a voice and make noise.

Why did you want to be a part of Wollongong Council’s Culture Mix this year?

I had heard about the event a while ago, and it sounded like a really awesome event, but I didn’t have time to apply for the event or the grant. We absolutely love doing council events because we’re all about community and connecting with community, and the style of drumming that we do.

It’s fun being on a stage and having everyone receive that wholeheartedly, but one of the things that I really love the most is just being amongst people and getting them involved and clapping, singing and dancing along with us. We’ve got a few members that are [in Wollongong], and we’ve got lots of friends that are in the area, so we’re really looking forward to connecting with everyone.

What are you looking forward to about the event?

The most special part of playing at events like these is seeing the babies to the grandmas and the aunties and everyone all together, enjoying together. The power of drumming and rhythm is very unifying no matter what age or ability, it connects everyone. I’d say that that’s what we’re looking forward to the most.

What can the audience expect to see?

A lot of joy, a lot of enjoyment. Some rhythms that might make you want to move around and wiggle and jump and shake and clap. Definitely a lot of smiles and a lot of good times.

What do you hope the community will take from House of Rhythm’s performances and the event in general?

One thing I hope that the community learns is that culturally diverse women are awesome, powerful, beautiful, strong and can drum in case anyone thought otherwise. I hope they learn by osmosis about some of the beautiful Brazilian rhythms that our drumming is based on, because I teach a lot of workshops as well which I love.

I love sharing Brazilian music and culture and how universal rhythm is. Regardless of cultural barriers, it doesn’t matter from which culture, rhythm, music and dance are something that connects all of us. We all have bodies that make sounds and that move.

I hope that even though I’m not teaching a workshop this time, that just from our performance, people learn that about these different rhythms, flavours and swings through the music. They learn maybe without fully knowing what they are. I also hope people learn something about themselves while hearing the music and feeling the joy, about what it ignites in themselves.

How can the community get involved in House of Rhythm?

Clap and dance along. Come and say hi afterwards. Find us on Instagram. Tag us in your Instagram videos in either House of Rhythm or Ile Ilu, which is the name of the performance group of House of Rhythm that will be performing.

But mostly clap along and dance along. Give yourself permission to move and make noise while we’re playing.

Check out House of Rhythm, Ile Ilu and Marina Da Silva’s performance at Culture Mix on 21 October or follow House of Rhythm @house.of.rhythm, Ile Ilu @ile.ilu and Marina Da Silva @marina.da.silva_ on Instagram