Five Minutes With Ngaiire
One of the most honest chats yet.
After being in the music business for a decade, original and soulful musician Ngaiire is finally getting the attention and traction she deserves. Having just come off the huge Groovin The Moo tour, dropping her new single House On A Rock and preparing to release her album Blastoma, 2016 is proving very kind to Ngaiire. Did we also mention she's got her own headline tour coming up in July! We had a chat to Ngaiire about her decade-long journey; the highs, the lows and how the universe is now giving something positive back to her.
Buy Ngaiire's new album Blastoma HERE.
Love the new single House On A Rock! What was the inspiration behind it, it could have so many meanings?!
Thanks! It’s about relationships that are always doomed from the get go no matter how many counsellors, episodes of Dr Phil or relationship self-help books you observe.
You’ve got this survival theme going on your new album Blastoma, can you tell us a bit about it ahead of its release?
I was looking for a word that spoke of both suffering and strength to me. I lifted Blastoma from the cancer I had when I was a child - ganglioneuroblastoma. I had a few relationships come to an end that exhausted me to the point of not wanting to do music anymore all while writing Blastoma. I’d been quite focused in my mission to pursue music no matter the odds and feeling like I didn’t want to do it anymore for the first time came as a bit of a shock. The need to revisit my roots became imperative.
You’re such a unique artist, how did you first get into music and singing?
By default. In PNG having access to child psychologists was quite scarce if not non-existent when I was a kid. I’d just avoided being buried alive in my house by a massive volcanic eruption, my parents had split up, and my mum’s new husband was turning out to be a bit of a dick. I’d spend hours locked up in my room listening to some of the only CDs my mum possessed - Mariah Carey’s Daydream, German dance duo La Bouche and Deepforest. Wild but they were my first saviours.
Your lyrics are quite wise/mature, what’s your song-writing process like?
Personal, observant sometimes insular. I’d always been a writer before I was a singer so words are usually the first thing that happen.
How was the Groovin The Moo tour?
I loved being able to get regional. I don’t get to on my own tours and I think there is an importance to continue reaching out in those areas. I grew up in a small town called Lismore on the NSW North Coast which really nurtured me as a songwriter so it means a lot to me to be able to give back in that way.
You’ve got a big tour coming up in Australia, what are you most looking forward to when you hit the road?
Meeting the new audiences that have been created with the last three singles. Even though I’ve been doing music for over 10 years the level of support I’ve been getting as a result of how well they’ve done is new to me.
After the tour what’s coming up for you in the rest of 2016 and beyond?
I’ve already started writing the next album so we’ll probably focus more on that. I also started my own record label called Maximillian Brown which Blastoma is coming out through which I’d love to sink my teeth into more in terms of framework and figuring out what kind of artists I’d love to sign.
TOUR DATES (TICKETS)
Sat 11 June @ Peak Festival, Perisher Valley
Fri 17 Jun @ Fat Controller, Adelaide
Sat 18 June @ Jack Rabbit Slim's, Perth
Fri 24 June @ Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Sat 25 June @ Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Sat 2 July @ The Foundry, Brisbane
Wed 6 July @ Festival of Voices, Tasmania
Fri 8 July @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Sat 9 July @ Transit Bar, Canberra