Kiwat, ‘The Moment’ captures the pressures of modern life and mental health struggles so powerfully. What inspired you to tell this story now?
Well ‘The Moment’ was actually inspired by seeing one of my best friends struggle with his mental health during a dark period in his life! I had just come out the other side of my own struggles and understood exactly where he was coming from.
He confided in me and initially felt embarrassed for sharing his thoughts, however after sitting and listening to his pain, I mentioned that this was the first step in healing and that things are never as bad as we make them in our heads. It was here in this singular moment, that things turned around and he was able to see the other side of the coin that he was spinning on, eventually starting his own journey with mental health and mental wealth!
Your background and experiences growing up in a world of contrasts have clearly influenced your music. How does being a proud Eastern Torres Strait Islander shape your creative process?
As a child of two worlds, I was raised around our culture growing up in northern Queensland. We were always surrounded by song and dance, which is the foundation of our culture. However we moved around a lot and the further south we moved, the more disconnected I felt to my culture.
My Dad was my first music teacher, he taught me how to sing and play guitar, he always played traditional songs and I still have memories of these language songs being sung as a kid. We didn’t always see eye to eye in my formative years, but as I got older and my parents separated, I did what any teenager wanted to do… tried to fit in!
I didn’t want to connect with culture, I just wanted to be ‘normal’ and fit in, but that never worked for me haha It wasn’t until I was an adult that I felt the call to connect with my heritage. It wasn’t exactly something I chose, it was this deep part of me that knew where I came from but didn’t know how to express it!
After years of miscommunication with my old man, we finally connected during lockdown and began our healing, resulting in me learning more of our language and our songs as a man, which now informs my music.
You’ve worked with some incredible artists like Dan Sultan and Mo’Ju. What have those collaborations meant to you on both a personal and professional level?
Well, Dan & I had known each other personally for a few years and I was always inspired by his ability to captivate an audience with just his voice and guitar! We eventually connected in a professional manner, thanks to The Archie Roach Foundation’s ‘Singing Our Futures’ program, established in honour of Uncle Archie’s sad passing in 2022.
Here Dan shared his process with me and taught me a new way to write music, teaching me that a song that is created at one point in time, may not be finished because the story is finished yet. Music, like people, evolves over time… sometimes you need growth to write the final chapter.
Mo’ju and I had known each other on and off the professional circuit for a while and I was fortunate enough to be mentored by them at the early stages of my solo career. They taught me the importance of stage presence and authenticity in the work I create!
It led to a beautiful professional relationship of trust and confidence, inspiring me in ways I could never have imagined! Giving me comfortability and self assurance when conducting myself on large stages. This level of guidance has helped me grow as an artist and I’m forever thankful for both of them for the continued support they have shown me over the years.
‘Love & Hate’ sounds like a project with some serious emotional weight. Could you share what this project means to you and what listeners can expect?
Absolutely! This new project came to light as a result of the 2023 referendum… I was on tour and had been travelling for 3 months. All during the run of the campaign, I was a staunch ‘No’ voter for a long time, I always believed in Treaty over Voice and had attended rallies that affirmed my position.
But it wasn’t until I saw a post from the one and only Briggs who said, “Not everyone who’s voting No is a racist. But every racist will be voting No.”, and it completely changed my view on the referendum. The fear of a ‘No’ outcome overwhelmed me and I became a hopeful ‘Yes’ voter, believing that my country will do the right thing… but I was wrong, I was so wrong!
As someone who had lived in almost every state across the country, I had met so many great people in my life that gave me a hopeful lens of what we could be. I had always been a happy and considerate person. Always respecting others and hoping for the best in people but on that day… I was fucking PISSED!!
I became the “Angry Black Man” that they had always seen me as I didn’t move for anyone and I didn’t smile anymore…. I still hold that anger in me today.
There are a lot of things I love about this country, but there are also a lot of things I HATE, and I’m tired of being “the nice one”. We shouldn’t have to get angry for people to notice us, we shouldn’t have to tolerate ignorance & bigotry! So I wanted to channel all of that energy into something constructive and creative, it was here that ‘Love & Hate’ was born.
Mental health, especially among men, is often left out of the conversation. Why was it important for you to bring these issues to the forefront with ‘The Moment’?
As a younger man, I used to be extremely angry! I didn’t understand my Depression and found myself being angry for not being happy when things around me were going so well. I would often take this anger out on those closest to me, and as a result, I ended up losing everything and everyone around me.
After years of therapy, I began to understand my mind and my mental state. Finding out what my triggers were and the causes of these depressive episodes, which led me down a path of peace and balance. It was here in this state of balance that I began to realise that the switch that caused these episodes often came down to how I reacted in a moment.
This is the same for a lot of men out there, we should be talking about how we feel and have control on our emotions! These emotions are valid and are REAL! We should be teaching our young men that taking ownership in what you do, carries more respect than throwing hate and pain towards your loved ones. Whether it be the worrying things of the past that keep us down, or the anxiety of the future and not being enough… everything comes down to how we CHOOSE to react and with that comes POWER!
Having faced both respect and the harsh realities of injustice, your journey sounds like it’s been a tough balance. How have these experiences influenced your approach to music?
Growing up, we moved around a lot, but we had always connected with mob. My parents were an interracial couple in the 80s, and my Dad was one of the first black cops in QLD, you can only imagine the amount of struggle they would have both faced.
My parents did the best they could to protect us from the realities of the world, and me being the youngest, always wanted to make sure I grew up not seeing any injustices. Sadly, life has other plans and when my parents split, I had to choose which parent I wanted to stay with.
At 12 years old, I chose to stay with my mother because I saw how teachers, people and life treated black fellas. I knew that if I chose to stay with my Dad, I would be subjected to that kind of treatment… is that right? FUCK NO!
A child should never have to be faced with these kinds of choices, yet here we are in 2024, facing the same issues of divisiveness, racism and acceptance. When I began my solo career, I wanted to create music that people could resonate with at a fundamental level!
There’s a unifying experience in pain. Good things can be subjective and unique to the individual, but pain is something everyone understands, if we all had that common sense of things, maybe the world would be a different place?
There’s a cinematic quality to ‘The Moment’ with the tension between past sadness and future anxiety. How do you go about capturing such emotions in your music?
A lot of my music is informed by life experiences.
Death has been something that has followed me around my whole life. In high school, I lost four friends in a car accident, two of which performed with me in the school band.
This accident would find me losing someone every year consecutively for almost 10 years, and by the time I was in my 20’s I had already lost so much, I honestly didn’t think that I would live past thirty.
I lived a reckless life for many years, guided by the notion that I wouldn’t be here for very long, when much better people than myself, would die around me.
I carried the weight of death and life with me for so long, that I eventually had to accept that I was here for a purpose, and that was to create music.
Without this outlet, my life would be completely different… I’m grateful to have the ability to share my emotions through art, and I’m even more thankful to the people that feel something in what I share!
You’ve gone from playing in Key Hoo to finding your own voice as a solo artist. What’s been the most rewarding—and the most challenging—part of stepping out on your own?
The hardest part of stepping out solo is having the confidence to CREATE art and share that with the world, especially when you’re only just finding your sound!
As a band you have a shared creative vision, sometimes you may have to compromise on what you think that vision might be, but collectively you all work towards the same goal and can bounce ideas off each other.
As a solo artist, everything is on YOU! From the artwork to the lyrics, the production and how it sounds Live, is solely on you to decide if it works or not.
Key Hoo was a strong alternative, indie, punk, rock sound that was founded in the dive bars of Fitzroy, but me as a solo artist, I had no idea what type of music I wanted to make!?!
My first solo releases were created from music that I always loved and wanted to make, a bit of EDM, a bit of hip-hop, a bit of easy listening, which ultimately summed up who I am as a person… a complex mix of life.
I may not fit into a mould or genre, so I figured FUCK IT… make your own!
Now moving into my next project, I come with confidence, experience and strength!
‘The Moment’ is co-written with Joel Quartermain. How did his influence and mentorship help bring this song to life?
Working with Joel was a crazy experience, I remember seeing him perform at Big Day Out (also my first festival) in ‘07 with Eskimo Joe and to be in the same room as him, working on a song TOGETHER, was something I’ll never forget!
When Joel and I first met, he told me that he had worked with Dan and that they had spoken about our past collaboration, which already set the tone for how we were going to conduct our session. We spent the first 4-5 hours yarning and getting to know each other before we even put pen to paper.
Here we got to learn who we are as a people and as creatives.
Eventually, I shared the story of my friend’s struggle with his mental health and me observing his pain. It was here that we wanted to write a song that spoke to the duality of struggle and how to navigate that space.
Joel’s experience as an award winning producer and songwriter gave this song LIFE and expanded my skill set further as an artist. His influence and mentorship gave me the confidence to own my skills as a songwriter and allowed me to trust the process of collaboration!
With big performances at festivals like Bluesfest and the Port Fairy Folk Festival, what has it been like sharing your story with such a wide audience?
It’s been a bit of a trip… I grew up in the northern rivers and spent a lot of time in Byron Bay.
To be on that stage performing one of my own songs in front of a crowd of literally THOUSANDS of people, was surreal. It wasn’t until after I finished that I found out that there were people from my hometown in the audience, all supporting and uplifting me!
I was able to carry that energy with me, and bring it to all of my performances, each time getting stronger as a performer.
It’s hard sometimes as a solo artist, living in a constant state of flux, not sure if each decision you make is the right one, then the imposter syndrome sets in… it can all be too much.
But to have those moments of support from people who have seen you from the start, really gives you the strength to keep moving forward!
