Inspired by Moses Sumney and D’Angelo, and sonically akin to shapeshifters such as Jai Paul, WAARI makes sleek & atmospheric R&B music.
He is a proud descendant of the Waanyi and Kalkadoon people from the Gulf of Carpentaria Country and the Mount Isa region south of the Gulf, and of the Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Manu, Te Ātiawa iwis from regions of Taranaki in Aotearoa. Our last Independent Artist of the Week for 2024, WAARI caught up with Ify on Up For It to chat about his debut EP, MUKI.
The songs on MUKI have a groundedness to them, imbued with stories and practices from his family history.
“Even though it is very new music, I'd say it's taken a lifetime.. I feel like these stories, you know, they were born even before I was born. And I feel like it would have resonated, you know, to so many other people before I came into the world, too.”
WAARI sees MUKI as a continuation of his family’s legacy; passed down through generations, now given new representation through music.
“I feel like when I release things, you know, it's timeless and it doesn't have a certain kind of time or day that it comes into the world.”
WAARI is a multi-disciplinary artist, and used the release of MUKI to activate multiple facets of his practice. He made the artwork himself – etched into wood, then rolled with ink, before printing onto paper. Visually it references the title of the EP; the Kalkadoon word for Gidgee Flower.
“And Gidgee tree, is like a tree that grows everywhere in my country, all around Australia. That tree specifically has been used for weaponry, for medicine. In the art, you can see the shield and the spears and the boomerang and the serpent. So it's like I'm trying to incorporate a traditional kind of way of doing art.”
The first launch show for the EP was similarly dynamic, with dance, poetry and art projections accompanying WAARI’s performance. The second was more stripped back – just WAARI performing an intimate set. Regardless of what mode he’s in, WAARI is always creating at the highest caliber.
Words by Lindsay Riley