Nabarlek come from a tiny community in central Arnhem Land (Manmoyi) where for 15 years they have been rehearsing and practicing for the moment that they could produce their first album.

Now they present both their first and second albums for your interest and enjoyment.

Listen to Nabarlek's track "Little Journey To Manmoyi"

In 1985 the band consisted of two busted acoustic guitars and a set of upturned flour tins that served as drums, the band was mostly singers and dancers.

After a few years of struggling with inadequate instruments the band gave up their musical ambitions for a while and created a traditional dance troupe performing dreamtime stories at community festivals around the Top End.

As a dance troupe Nabarlek were very successful and after a few years were able to save enough money to buy the long sought after instruments, and the band was back.

With guitars keyboards and a real set of drums instead of upturned flour tins, they were now able to concentrate on their long held dream of becoming a serious band that would one day produce an album.

"Brimming with earnest enthusiasm, Nabarlek, from the tiny Manmoyi in the centre of Arnhemland, have a fitting slogan to go with their album: "The garage band that never had a garage"....The songs are sung in tribal language and English, and there's real magic in the singer's voices.

They have performed with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra and Yothu Yindi supported Midnight Oil and played with Silverchair and Powderfinger on their Across the Great Divide national tour. They played at many music festivals, including several Darwin Festivals, the Adelaide Festival in 2000, and Womadelaide, the Port Fairy and Brunswick Music Festivals in 2001. They played for six weeks at the International World Expo in Hanover, Germany in 2000. Their album Bininj Manborlh was nominated for the 2002 Best World Music Album Aria Award. They also received a nominations for Deadlys in 2001, 2002 and 2007. They are the subject of From outstation to out there. Nabarlek a music industry case study a DVD created by Gillian Harrison.

Christie Eliezer's Music Business News
Posted: 12:50PM, Tuesday 4th September, 2007. http://www.themusic.com.au/
NARBLEK BAND SCOOPS NT AWARDS

"Nabarlek Band were the overwhelming winner at the fourth NT Indigenous Music Awards on August 30. Their "Manmoyi Radio" won album of the year and took out the artwork and design category (it was done by Black Widow Design), main songwriter Terrah Guymala was awarded Song of the Year for his "Little Journey to Manmoyi", while their the "Brown Bird" clip won them Film Clip of the Year.

Narblek Band also performed, as did the Kenbi Dancers, Ngarakuruwala, Jessica Mauboy, and Mandawuy & Gurrumul Yunupingu."