The Krui3ers

The Krui3ers are an original four-piece rock band from the Mowanjum Community in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, made up of members Kallum Mungulu (acoustic guitar, lead vocal), Derek Oobagooma (drum kit/vocal), Edmund Jungine (bass/vocal) and Cassius Bear (lead guitar). The band play high-energy country rock with melodic choruses and distinctive guitar lines. As direct descendants of legendary Mowanjum band Gulingi Nunga, they continue to perform the music of their people, while also bringing their own distinct style to the strong musical culture found within the community.

Says lead vocalist Mungulu of their connection to Guilingi Nunga, and the history of music in the Mowanjum area - “We learned music from Gulingi Nunga, they are our family and mob, we call them our uncles, the lot of us. Their music is important to the Mowanjum Community, they share stories from our old people, and we carry that on. Our bands are a representation of our community. The bands and community are not separate things; even the name ‘Gulingi Nunga’ (rain coming) was given by the old people. For us and for other bands, members come and go, but the band is the community identity.”

The Krui3ers sing of their connection to Country, or Worrorra, and share their understanding of life passed on from the old people, as well as their experiences of being forced to move no less than five times onto new Country. Their music contrasts life growing up in Mowanjum (a word which translates as “settled at last”) and the comfort of going back to visit their ancestral Country on the coast of what is now Western Australia. The numeral ‘3’ in The Krui3ers represents the three language groups found within the Mowanjum Community - Worrorra, Ngarynin and Wunumbal.

Munugulu elaborates on the songwriting process, and the meaning behind selections found on ‘Rebel Child’ - “We sing about the same things, they (Guilingi Nunga) sing about their era and we sing about ours. ‘Broken Glass’ is about mob drinking, looking at the backstreet drinking, glass shattered. Gulingi Numga sang about thinking things over, reflecting and looking back. Most of our songs were written out bush. We got inspiration for all our songs from Yaloon, our Country, saltwater country. I feel there is more to write about our own Country rather than Mowanjum, but there are still songs about Mowanjum. ‘Settled at Last’ is about how we were moved; our old people were moved five times from our Country in the early 1900s. Mowanjum means ‘settled at last’ in Worrorra language.”