When Adelaide band Dojo Rise hits the stage on the opening night of WOMADelaide 2025, their energetic reggae rhythms will serve as a love letter to a festival that has deeply inspired them for the past 20 years.
For Adam Blesing, world music festival WOMADelaide is the ultimate melting pot of musical inspiration. Having hardly missed a festival over the past two decades, the bass player and lead singer always walks into Botanic Park with his ears wide open.
“It’s my favourite music festival of any I’ve ever been to, and I’ve never gone along to see anyone in particular,” says Adam. “Last year, I remember my ears perked up when I heard this thumping baseline. I followed the sound and found UK artist Hollie Cook; that show just blew my mind. She was my favourite act of the whole WOMAD and I didn’t even know anything about her. That’s what I love about WOMAD.”
So, when Adam was told that his own reggae group Dojo Rise was locked in to play the iconic world music festival in 2025, he could hardly believe the news.
“We were frothing. It’s been 20 years that I’ve been wanting to play it, so to finally get there is such a huge achievement for us. Playing WOMAD is one of the goals that we set out when we started the band in 2019,” says Adam.
Adam and the band’s other founding member, Sean Dedrick, have been playing together since they cut their teeth back in 2005 by forming up with western suburbs group Poetikool Justice. They were both later recruited into local reggae outfit Fraud Millionaires. There have been other projects over the years, too.
Given their shared love of a new wave of reggae, particularly inspired by New Zealand artists The Black Seeds, L.A.B. and Fat Freddy’s Drop, Sean and Adam decided to start writing their own music together and founded Dojo Rise in 2019.
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Adam stepped up to be frontman, having previously held roles on bass and backing vocals, with Sean also providing lead vocals on some tracks, as well as producing their EPs.
The band released their first music in 2020, recruited drummer Anthony Sherwood, and began playing their first live shows in 2021. The trio knew that to tour interstate, they’d need to start out as a three-piece, unlike the larger ensembles typical of the reggae and dub genre.
“Typically, for this style of music, groups will have a horn section and a keys player,” Adam says. “We wanted to have that bigger band sound, but we also wanted to be able to tour interstate. So, it was a conscious decision right at the start to be a three-piece.
“We use a lot of backing tracks to recreate those sounds live, without going over the top.
“We’ve already been able to meet and play with so many artists we look up to, such as Michael Franti, Skunkhour, Nicky Bomba and Melbourne Ska Orchestra.”
Dojo Rise
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For their WOMAD performance, the trio will become an eight-piece, joined on stage by the horn section from the Andrew Gurruwiwi band, along with Adam’s sister Kylie Ferreira and cousin Jess Bigg on backing vocals.
Adam reveals to CityMag that this show will see the group showcase their new drummer Ben Todd – another of Adam’s cousins – with Anthony moving interstate.
“We’ve had to go interstate to find more of our genre of music…but having said that, our style seems to resonate with people along Adelaide’s south coast where people are into that funky reggae vibe,” Adam says.
“I live at Moana, and I’ve lived all along the Adelaide coastline almost my whole life, and that definitely influences our music.”
This will be Adam’s second time on stage at WOMADelaide, having played bass for fellow Adelaide muso Rob Edwards in 2024.
“That was an amazing experience for me… but it’s a whole different feeling going into this one because it’s my own project. Getting to play my own music at WOMAD is pretty special,” he says.
The group’s next goal is to secure shows in New Zealand, given the band has been so inspired by groups from across the Tasman. “We’ve had a few offers to go over to New Zealand, but it just hasn’t lined up yet, so hopefully we can make that work this year. To play over there is the natural progression,” says Adam.
“We never really look at it like: ‘we’re an Adelaide band’ as such. There’s no reason why we can’t play interstate where there is a scene for our genre. Sean lives in the Sunshine Coast now, which makes it tricky, but also makes it easier to play over there.”
With its members having been so inspired by WOMAD over the years, Dojo Rise is a band that was built for the world music stage. And when their thumping bass lines and dub-reggae rhythms permeate across Botanic Park, it will be a reflection of the hundreds of artists who have inspired them over the years. A love letter to WOMAD.
“I just want to put out music that makes people feel good. Music that people can go out and forget about their worries, dance and have a good time to – even if it’s for a fleeting moment,” says Adam.
“We forget that sometimes, if you’re in a position to, you’ve just got to let go and enjoy life for what it is and celebrate all the amazing things that that come with it.”