Ngaire
Genres Future soul
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals
Ngaire Joseph, better known by her stage name Ngaiire), is a Papua New Guinea-born singer based in Sydney. She is a former backing vocalist for a number of groups as well as a guest singer on others’ records. She has played at Glastonbury festival, sang at the opening ceremony for the 2015 Pacific Games and was in the top 30 of the second season of Australian Idol. She has been called one of Australia’s best live performers. Her debut album, Lamentations was released in 2013 and her second album Blastoma was released in June 2016.
Ngaiire was born in Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1984 as Ngaire Laun Joseph, and is the eldest of three siblings. She is bilingual, growing up speaking both English and Tok Pisin. Her parents moved to Palmerston North in New Zealand when she was one year old to study, and returned to Papua New Guinea six years later. Ngaiire was living in Rabaul until Mt Tarvurvur erupted in 1994 and buried the town (including her house) under a deep layer of volcanic ash. Ngaiire’s parents divorced some time after returning to the country, both subsequently remarrying. She claimed learning at an early age that music was something she could use to make her life more stable. “When I was about 11 or 12 and I was living in PNG and singing was just one of those things I did. I listened to a lot of music. Life there has loads of craziness and so many unexpected things happen. Music gave me the ability to talk about and feel all the things that were going on in my world,” “I always viewed songs as a form of poetry that didn’t necessarily need to make sense to anyone else”.
Ngaiire spent a large part of her time in New Zealand after being diagnosed with cancer in her adrenal glands at the age of three. This later influenced the video for “Dirty Hercules”, as Ngaiire said “My body is not conventional. I have a rather prominent scar across my stomach from cancer. I struggled a lot with my body after I beat cancer and this clip also represents that journey to acceptance.” She later titled her sophomore album Blastoma and wrote the lead single about life’s uncertainty and taking risks.
Ngaiire moved to Lismore, Australia with her mother and stepfather in 2000. She attended Kadina High School, entered the local Accelerator music competition in 2002 and recorded her first song, “I Remember” for the Accelerator 2002: The Winners CD. She then moved to Mackay in Central Queensland to undertake a Bachelor of Jazz Studies in 2003. She was recognised at CQU as an outstanding vocalist by many of Australia’s leading jazz performers and fronted a number of local jazz bands.
Ngaiire achieved moderate success in the 2004 season of Australian Idol, reaching the top 13 before being voted off. She was brought back as a wild card before being voted off a second time, and was again brought back to perform solo as part of the grand final night. Despite never making the top 12, Ngaiire’s rendition of “Back to the Middle” was ranked in the ‘all time’ top 10 Australian Idol performances, and season three included a formal ‘Top 13’. Ngaiire subsequently returned to her studies and attempted to avoid the perceived stigma associated with appearing on the show, turning down offers from American recording industry professionals in order to remain independent.
Ngaiire is recognised as one of Australia’s leading future soul artists and has been described as “the beating heart of the contemporary live music scene in Australia”. She has been compared to artists such as Jeff Buckley, Hiatus Kaiyote, Kimbra, and Angie Stone. She appeared at the 2014 Glastonbury, the 2015 Culture Collide (Los Angeles) and 2015 CMJ Music Marathon (New York) festivals, contributed to increasing international attention being paid to the resurgence of soul music in Australia.
EPs
Song for No One (August 2008, independent)
Two Minds (March 2010, independent)
Singles
“Luv Sa Giaman” (2005, Australia Wind Song Records, Papua New Guinea Chin H Min)
“Song for No One” (2008, independent, demo)
“Filthy” (November 2011, independent)
“Dirty Hercules” (March 2013, independent)
“Around” (May 2013, independent)
“Once” (July 2015, independent)
“Love Is a Battlefield” (January 2016, BBC First)
“Diggin'” (February 2016, independent)
“House on a Rock” (May 2016, independent)
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