ARIA Award winning artist Emily Wurramara doesn’t care if she’s not your cup of tea
Internationally lauded lutruwita/Tasmania-based artist, activist, author and proud Warnindhilyagwa woman hailing from Groote Eylandt & Milyakburra/Bickerton Island EMILY WURRAMARA (she/her) has had a huge past 12 months. After her historic win at the ARIA awards, and in celebration of her multi award winning album ‘NARA’, she has announced an encore tour
Photo by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore
Following back-to-back wins at the ARIA Awards (Best Adult Contemporary Album - NARA) and the J Awards (rage & triple j Film Clip of the Year - ''Lordy Lordy') -- the former of which officially adds her to the history books as the first Indigenous woman to ever win in this category since the awards inception in 198&, EMILY WURRAMARA today shares a round of encore album tour dates in February and March 2025 across so-called VIC, WA, SA, NSW and ACT in support of her multi-award-winning album NARA (out now via ABC Music).
The new dates celebrate a successful initial album tour which included multiple sold out shows, featuring headline gigs across Dharawal Country (Wollongong), Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) and Naarm/Melbourne - the acclaimed artists' first headline there in 9 years - as well as festival appearances at Treaty Day Out, WOMADelaide, Perth Festival and Riverboats.
Emily after her historic ARIA win. Photo by Jess Gleeson
A QUICK WHIP AROUND THE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP MANISHA
PRONOUNS: She / Her
HOMETOWN: Groote Eylandt & Milyakburra/Bickerton Island, born on Larrakia Country, grew up in Magandjin/Brisbane; making art in lutruwita/TAS of the palawa people
JOB DESCRIPTION: Musician and author
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Zoltan: Emily, can you please introduce yourself as you would a recipe? So you know what makes up you in what quantities?
Emily: I think I’m fried rice because you can make so many things in the fried rice. And it's kind of like me. Like I'm just a bit of a mix of everything. My family. That's the bed. That kind of holds everything together for me, my community. And then, you know, there's the sugar with the onion because I like to caramelise things. So make it extra sweet. And I'm a bit of a nice girl when I want to be. But then there's the chilli, so I can, like, pop off if I want to.
Zoltan: You had a really big year last year and you surprised a lot of people with your latest album, NARA in the way that you broke out all these new genres and you explored so many new sounds, but what are some of the things that have always underpinned your music?
Emily: I think it’s how open and vulnerable I can be with my songwriting. Whenever I'm doing anything creative, I try to come from a place of pure honesty, and I try not to judge myself when I'm doing this stuff. And I think creating a space with those feelings and emotions and trying to capture that, it helps other people feel what they need to as well. And I think that's the foundation is I'm just really a very open book songwriter. I don't limit or hold myself back in that way because, you know, it's very daunting when you can be so vulnerable in that aspect. But it's also in a way, really empowering and liberating knowing that I have the power to move through that space how I want to.
Claire: Wow. And has it always been like that, or is it something that you've really cultivated more as an adult?
Emily: Most definitely not. Going through the experiences that I've gone through and allowing others to withhold power to me and for myself, I've come to understand that there's a lot of things you have to unlearn. When you’re growing up in a certain environment or when you're around certain people, your environment is really what makes you who you are and helps you create the person you are. I think just working towards the best version of me that I can be has been definitely at the core of everything that I've been doing.
Claire: I'm just thinking of little Emily being so inspired by all of this. Can you take us back to a little version of you and tell us a formative musical story from growing up?
Emily: I remember the first time I picked up a violin, and it was the first instrument that I learned. And I still remember the feeling of putting my fingers on the strings and sliding the bow down and learning that it was horsehair like. It was just, for me, a fascinating experience. And it was otherworldly. You know, no one in my community played a violin. I didn't even know what a violin was till I moved to the big city. I think that for me is a bit of a core memory of little Em. I was in grade three and I was just so young and so innocent, but also so excited to learn something new. And I don't think like thinking back on that now in that moment and reflecting, I don't think she even knew what was going in store like it was because of that moment that it started kind of started the the journey into learning about music, not just doing it, but wanting to learn about it, like the theory, how things are interwoven, the genres. You know, I grew up in a very multi-genre household, and so my parents and grandparents would listen to all kinds of music. There were no real limitations on language either, like those music from all around the world. And I think understanding that and then learning violin, but then like starting to learn about theory and not just Western theory. Yeah, it was really special.
Claire: I'm just imagining little you with a violin. But I also want to know what she was eating.
Emily: Fairy bread. Haha the butter and the hundreds and thousands on top.
Claire: Haha my goodness. Zee, you didn't grow up with that, did you?
Zoltan: I didn't have fairy bread until I was like, in my teens, which is way too late. I had a happy childhood, but when I realised that it was without fairy bread, I had to reconsider how happy I really was.
Emily: That’s hilarious!
Zoltan: What else were you eating as a kid? What other sort of memories do you have of food from that young age?
Emily: Well, my dad is Filipino Chinese, so we'd have a lot of Asian food. So like pork adobo, which is a traditional food from the Philippines. There was a lot of pork in my diet. My grandparents on my mum's side, you know, they'd go out hunting and so we'd have to go and we'd have, like, fish and stingray. I loved barramundi, I still love barramundi, but barramundi was definitely on the menu. My grandmother used to always cook damper on the fire whenever we'd go out camping and we'd get berries and gooseberries and oysters fresh from the rock. There was always a big feast.
Claire: Ahh the oysters. They make me so happy. Can we fire some very quick questions at you, please?
Emily: Of course.
Zoltan: So these are just off the top of your head. Who's your favourite cook at the moment?
Claire: So the next question is who is your favourite artist at the moment?
Emily: My favourite artist at the moment is Addie Oasis. She's amazing. I love her music and her album that she released last year. I think it's called Lotus Glow. Beautiful album. Beautiful Journey. But yeah, love it.
Zoltan: Yeah, nice. And what's your favourite kitchen sound?
Emily: My favourite kitchen sound would be. You know when you're frying stuff in oil? Like when I fry chicken in oil and there's that sizzle. I just find that so satisfying.
Claire: Mm. Your favourite kitchen smell?
Emily: My goodness. I think my favourite kitchen smell would be bay leaves. I don't know what it is about bay leaves, but it just reminds me of my Lola. Like my grandmother, because she's like bay leaves and everything. So I think it's more like a sensory smell, but that's probably my favourite smell is the smell of bay leaves and soy sauce, like boiling cooking together in the pot.
Zoltan: That's awesome. I love how those smells can just transport you back to a time. It's so powerful.
Emily: It's beautiful. I think food is so sensory, but it tells a story as well.
Zoltan: This is another funny one for me because I didn't have Vegemite again until I was in my teens. But do you have a Vegemite to butter ratio? You know, on your or your Vegemite toast? How much butter to how much Vegemite are you putting on there?
Emily: Well, surprisingly I didn't start eating Vegemite till I was in my 20s. So the first time someone asked me to make a vegemite toast for them, I spread it like it was Nutella. And I just went for gold. And they were like, Are you serious? And so I actually learned how to finesse the perfect ratio because of this person. So I like my bread buttery. So I like to put a lot of butter on it. And then I go, just maybe a dab of Vegemite. So very lightly. But then I like putting cheese on top just to sauce that off.
Claire: And make it a bit more creamy. Yum. That's a really nice ratio.
Emily: Yeah. You got to be careful.
Claire: So now we're going to take you into second course and we're going to get into some of the juicer questions. So we're here to also chew on the myth of the starving artist. And there are many un-forged paths in a career in music, and that can be really, really daunting for artists. So we'd love to know some things relating to money and understanding your rights as an artist that you've learnt over your career so far.
Emily: I feel like no one really, especially within my family and conversations, no one spoke about financial education and financial wellness. So like just in general, I feel like I had to learn the hard way how to go through things because no one tells you, you know, get an accountant, get a bookkeeper, put 10% away with tax and GST and all of that. Like no one has those conversations. So I kind of had to learn the hard way. And I participated in this program through First Nations Foundation, where myself and another beautiful sister by the name of Dixie talked about money, wellness and, and I learnt a lot through that conversation and just having conversations with my friends and yarning to, to a financial advisor like asking questions because you never know. There's so many different ways and perspectives that you can approach a situation. It just starts by opening up that conversation. So I definitely think in the music industry, there should be more things put in place where we can have a standard fee when we do things and not just like throwaway fees.
Like I remember when I first started, people were trying to pay me like $80 to do a half hour gig or like 100 bucks for an hour and a half concert. And I was like, this is just not financially sustainable. And then, you know, on top of that, you've got a whole team that comes with you. You've got your band, you've got your management. If you have one, you've got your label and percentages and contracts. So I think really taking control of your financial awareness and maybe doing a course in business before getting getting the nitty gritty, I just feel like setting yourself up in a way where you can feel financially stable in this space because it's so there's so many variables, you know, there's so many things that happen that you're not expecting to happen. And so it's like you got to pull money out your ass to try and make it work.
Claire: Yeah. And then even little things like going to the doctor or things like going to the dentist or like your car needs to be serviced. Like, none of that sounds very rock and roll, but this is stuff that all artists have to contend with at some point. And it's really weird that none of that's factored into the conversation.
Emily: Yeah, like we're all struggling. Like, I feel like it doesn't matter what level. I know artists on so many different levels who are struggling at the moment because they simply can't compete with, you know, it's just unrealistic with these streaming services as well that are coming into play in the billions of dollars that are being generated from our hard work and from our stories and our art. And I just think, you know, I hope that in the future or very soon, we find a way that we can all be sustainable in this space and still give back to the community and our audiences in a healthy, healthy, realistic way because everyone's struggling. You know, the economy at the moment is just so cool.
Claire: Yeah. Man, we have so much to say about that. But this is not our interview. But yeah. my God, I could rant about this all week.
Emily: I look, honestly, I think it's the same for everyone. Like I've been talking to so many people about this the last couple of weeks and you know, everyone's just on that same kind of wavelength where it's hard to be sustainable in this space. Like sometimes it'll be joyous and then Christmas hits or like you said earlier, you know, there's an expense that comes out of the blue and it's like, well, I think money's a depending on how you look at it. It's also a human aspect. You know, it brings out the humility and humanity within people. And I think by talking about it and having discussions about these things, it's really important to bring to light and bring inspiration to those because it's like we're all struggling. Like, yeah, I make enough to pay my bills, but I also don't make enough to pay me. Like I've got a whole community that relies on my business too. And I think when you think of it that way, the growth happens in many different ways. And money, I say, is in the energy. So I try not to stress or try not to overwhelm myself because it's just a piece of paper, you know, And I get through like sometimes, you know, will. Be gone through a stitch up or hardened and I'll make my own bread. I'll make my own pasta. I'll go and get veggies from the bush. Go out, get veggies for my neighbours. Community where it's at. And I think when we're honouring sustainability through our community, but also truth, we're also honouring ourselves and honouring those who are there for inspiration. And I think just being as real as you can in this space going to help others understand that it's okay. Like if you got nothing, you got the sunrise.
Zoltan: Some of those things don't cost any money and they just take a certain level of awareness.
Emily: Yeah, I think. I think when you live your life dictating, like with where money is dictating everything, it's hard to find joy in the little things because you're so worried about what you're going to pay for next when there's so much freedom around us, like there's so much free shit that we can do and be doing just because we make it happen. And I remember when I was little, you know, growing up in the community, there weren't a lot of toys and stuff we had access to. So we're just like, make fun with the car tires and roll them around the bush and play cubby house with the cardboard boxes.
Claire: Yeah, it's funny because our next question rolls into this really perfectly. When we were researching you and getting really excited about this interview, we read that you have said that you don't want to be put in a box and that artistic exploration is really, really important to you. So given everything we've just talked about and the need to be able to support yourself and then those around you and your career, how do you make space for that exploration and what does it look like?
Emily: I think, you know, I just again, just try to move through this space in an honest way, in a real way. When you're doing stuff for yourself, you kind of put aside ego at the same time. Like it's weird. It's a bit of a juxtaposition, but I feel like it's definitely something that I try to do because, you know, it's so much bigger than me. These stories and these things that I'm talking about are going to help people. And I try whenever I'm creating, whenever I'm making music or whatever that is. I come from a place of just pure vulnerability and I think exploring and holding space for it. I just try to implement as many rituals as I can to separate the different parts of me and understand that, you know, you're made up of all these different parts and of all these different levels of feelings, and whether it be external or existential, like it's an extension, whatever that might be. And I just try to hold it in the safest ways I can.
Claire: It's such an ecosystem, isn't it?
Zoltan: Yeah, I can imagine that there's a certain element of trusting your gut when you're in that exploratory phase and you're, you're, you're finding all these different ideas and different paths that you could follow. Are there ways that you remember to stay authentic in that exploration? What you should follow and what you shouldn't follow?
Emily: I think I'll just like there's this quote where it's like, you know, you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea, which is fine. But as long as you're making art that's for you and feels good to you, someone's going to be sipping on the tea anyway. There’s hot tea baby, someone's going to take a sip!
Claire: Haha Shit. That's so perfect.
Zoltan: So good!
QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS / NIBBLES
Zoltan: What's your favourite kitchen utensil or gadget?
Emily: All my favourite would have to be I bought my partner this, but I've been using it way more than he has. It's like a little, you know those little tea strainers. But it's a frog. So the little frog holds on. You put the tea leaves in the middle and he clip it together and he holds on at the edge while the tea brews.
Zoltan: Just hold on, hold on a little buddy!
Claire: Zee’s favourite animal is a frog.
Emily: My gosh. Well, you'd be happy to know Zee, my partners’ a bit of an animal person. And so we've got a whole frog tank. You've got like three frogs, two of them little dark, tree frog looking things. I don’t know what they are called, but, yeah, they're beautiful.
Zoltan: They are so beautiful.
Claire: I could just imagine Zee, you would just sit in front of that tank with your nose up against it.
Zoltan: I would.
Emily: I love that.
Claire: Before I get really distracted by asking you questions about frogs, if we look in your pantry, what are some of the things that are always in there?
Emily: You know, you’ll find rice, you'll find soy sauce, you'll also find vinegar. I always keep vinegar in my pantry. So many uses for vinegar. You'll always find some sort of chocolate somewhere. It doesn't even matter what brand it'll be. Chocolate. There'll be chocolate in my pantry.
Claire: Same. All right, well, I'm coming to your house.
Zoltan: Is there a stereotype or myth about musicians that really drives you nuts?
Emily: Gosh, there's so many. What is my biggest erk? I think that only they're all like, you know, musicians are rich. You know, we have money because we won an ARIA. We have money because we were on Channel Seven or whatever the case may be. But yeah, no, we're not all ballin’ hey…
Claire: We'll know, though, because you're going to get so many more frogs.
Emily: Frogs and my plant collection as well. You'll definitely know.
Claire: This is a very strange question, but it's my favourite one. So out of any artwork in the world ever, usually a visual artwork kind of is okay with this question, but it can be anything, so get weird if you want. But if you could recreate any artwork ever out of food, what would it be?
Emily: Well. My God. Well, I was going to say SpongeBob!
Claire: He's an artwork.
Emily: Haha, I just thought of Sponge Bob and I thought because I love pastel. So I thought, you know, a sponge. Well, could be made out of those little, little pasta bits. And then, like, he'd have like a little roll or something or a bit of bread to as his eyes and then you know, because he's got his little tie. You could make that out of beetroot or something. Or radish. And then cheese because he's got his little white top.
Zoltan: Haha, This is going somewhere. We look forward to the side project of yours!
Claire: So good. And now it comes to the recipe that you're going to share with us. We're so excited to hear about this. Can you please tell us about the recipe that you're sharing and why it's important to you?
Emily: The recipe I shared with you. A traditional recipe called pork adobo and adobo is, you know, my love of vinegar comes from this dish, pretty much. And I love pork. I love bay leaves. I love bok choy. So it's just all of my favourites in one dish. And this reminds me of my childhood and the smell and what I grew up in. You know, there's a mix of both of my families in that dish, and I really love it. I love that I can cook for my family and cook my family. The dish, too, which is really cool. I feel like we have just like gatherings with the family and every occasion it was always a double that was on the table. It's one of those dishes that you can just tuck in whatever you want. So like my Lola, she adds pineapple. And then after it she'll have the rice adobo with the pineapple and banana as well. So you can do so many fun things with it.
Claire: That's on our list.
Zoltan: That sounds amazing. Can you give us the quick step by step of how you make it?
Emily: Okay. So chop up the pork belly and then I've got the soy sauce. You chop up garlic and marinate for at least one hour. And then after that, you go to the pot up. And if you want veggies, chop up your veggies, you can put capsicum in it. You can add tomato, carrots, bok choy, whatever you want. Usually I just go with bok choy that I hate to put like heat the pot up and I get the marinated pork belly, then cook it, sear it for a few minutes. The way my Lola does it is sometimes she'll boil it after she sees it. So it's just to give it a bit more texture and chewiness and then you pull to like the remaining marinade and then put in the garlic.
Then you add water, whole peppercorn, dried bay leaves, and then you boil it, maybe let it simmer for about 40 minutes till like an hour, depending on how much adobo you want. My favourite bit is when you pour in the vinegar and the smell. I can't explain the smell, but when that vinegar pours in with the rest of the ingredients, you let it simmer there for about 12 to like 15 minutes and you only need a little bit of vinegar. You only need probably about 4 or 5 tablespoons and then you let it simmer, let it do its thing, and then it'll come down and it'll look like caramelised pork. And then you put it on top of the rice and your bananas and it's the perfect thing.
Zoltan: My God. We can't wait to cook this. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Claire: We have the tiniest amount of time left, and I have so many more questions. But one question that is really important to us is that we believe that art and food are inextricably linked. And we love to know what moves you about art and food.
Emily: I think what I love about art and food is the creative expressions and so people can express themselves through it. I think love is what you put into these things, like when you're doing art. There's this love that comes with the art, doing what you do and doing what you love. And I think when people share a meal and when a meal is made out of love or when a project or creative idea or something is made in a space of love, it allows others to feel that love. And I feel like it's soul food for both. You know, you eat food for your belly and your soul. Sing, listen to music for your soul. And I think they're both magical that we get to experience that and to do that.
Zoltan: They just give.
Claire: Yeah, they give and give.
Zoltan: Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're so glad that we were able to chat to you. Thank you for your insights and your answers were so beautifully considered and we've absolutely loved chatting to you.
Emily: Thank you. And thank you both for having me. It’s been a beautiful chat.
Listen here to find out What Emily Eats.
Artwork by Emily Wurramara
TICKETS AND INFORMATION ON EMILY’S TOUR HERE
SUPPORT FOR EMILY WURRAMARA
ARIA Awards - Best Adult Contemporary Album 2024 (NARA)
J Awards - rage & triple j Film Clip of the Year 2024 ('Lordy Lordy')
The Australian Music Prize 2024 (Longlist - NARA)
National Indigenous Music Awards 2024 - Film Clip of the Year (Nominee - 'Magic Woman Dancing')
National Live Music Awards - Best Folk Act 2023
National Live Music Awards - Live Voice in Tasmania 2023 (Nominee)
Environmental Music Prize 2023 (Nominee)
AIR Awards - Best Independent Children’s Album 2023 (Nominee - Ayarra Emeba / Hush EP)
National Indigenous Music Awards - Artist of the Year 2020 (Nominee)
AIR Awards - Independent Blues and Roots Album 2019 (Milyakburra)
ARIA Awards - Best Blues and Roots Album 2018 (Nominee - Milyakburra)
Australian Music Prize - Tomorrow Maker Award 2018
AIR Awards - Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year 2019 (Nominee)
National Indigenous Music Awards - Album of the Year 2018 (Nominee - Milyakburra)
“I have not seen a room come together the way they do when Emily is singing.” - VICE
"a confident and outgoing second album." - The Guardian
“a deeply personal journey through a markedly eclectic musical landscape... a gorgeous melange of sound and style." - The Australian
"With co-producer Kuya James, the honey-voiced Warnindhilyagwa singer-songwriter proceeds to smooth her crisp acoustic roots with subtle electronic colours... the emotional push and pull of a career in motion" - The Age / Sydney Morning Herald
“NARA brims with layered arrangements that move confidently across genres and guests... the album's title may translate to 'nothing' in Anindilyakwa, but NARA is quite something indeed” - The Big Issue
“Emily Wurramara is a rare artist, and the follow-up to 2018’s highly acclaimed debut album Milyakburra proffers the depths of her music ability and the lengths she’ll go to deliver it. Through an exhilarating mix of blues, indie, country and folk, NARA’s guiding light is strength and honesty... [NARA] reflects on the most unpalatable parts of life, while simultaneously finding the beauty in it.” - Rolling Stone
“Fans of Warnindhilyagwa woman Emily Wurramara have been waiting a long time for NARA. Once you hear it, that wait will feel insignificant – this is a comprehensive exploration of the many dimensions of Emily Wurramara's musical powers” - ABC News
"NARA features soul-baring tracks about incredibly dark and personal topics – the kind most other artists would only dare broach if they were camouflaged in metaphors – and Wurramara feels so confident in them" - The Music (Cover Artist)
Photo by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore