At 21-years-old, Budjerah has already swept up two ARIAs, is fresh off of touring with Ed Sheeran, and when he was just 15, captured the attention of revered singer-songwriter and producer Matt Corby—so much so that Corby produced his first two EPs. Even the Prime Minister is a fan. So, what exactly is it that’s so captivating about Budjerah?
Budjerah, of Budjalung descent, grew up in Fingal Head on the border of New South Wales and Queensland. Church was and remains a big part of his life, and he grew up singing and playing with his family—parents, cousins, aunties and uncles—in the church band. The influence of his upbringing on him as a vocalist is evident; in his own words, Budjerah considers himself a gospel singer, first and foremost.
There are flecks of this gospel influence throughout his discography on tracks like “Wash My Sorrows Away”, “Shoulda Coulda” and “Missing You”, but it’s most resonant when he performs—with his booming voice and near-flawless technique leaving audiences enthralled. A week before his interview with Complex AU, we watched him perform in North Bondi at Warner Music Australia’s artist showcase. He took the stage with his band, his cousins and guys he grew up with, and was completely at home. When Budjerah performs it’s as if he’s been doing it his whole life, but then you remember that he quite literally has.
If you listen to Budjerah’s studio catalogue, you’ll hear a melange of genres ranging from R&B and soul to funk and pop. As an artist, this makes him tricky to place in single a genre—but indeed, this is part of Budjerah’s magic. His amorphous sound denotes an artist gifted enough to manoeuvre masterfully through several genres—sometimes all within a track.
Speaking to Complex AU, Budjerah chats his upbringing, working with Matt Corby, and producing his debut album.
The studio versions of your songs are brilliant, but you sound just as good live—which isn’t always the case for artists. The funk, R&B and soul influences also really shine through in the live arrangements of your songs too. How did you become such a good performer?
Oh, I think I’m a lot better live than in the studio.
Really? Why do you feel that is?
Because performing is just how I grew up. Everything I do is based around performance. You really can’t capture the magic of performing live in the studio—but you can get close. But yeah for me, I’m more of a live artist. You get studio artists and live artists, and I’m definitely a live artist.
I also heard that your band members are your family and people you grew up playing with?
Yeah, my guitarist Jarulah and my bassist Banahm are my cousins—we’ve been doing this since we were kids! And then there’s Kotoni on keys and Tasman on the drums—those are boys I grew up with. So we’re really just doing the same thing we’ve always done—just in front of way more people, and not in church (laughs).
I know growing up in church has had a pretty big impact on you musically. How has your upbringing influenced you as an artist and musician?
So my dad was an assistant pastor and my mum pastored the kids church. My parents also played in the band, as well as all my aunties and uncles—that’s how me and my cousins learnt to play music.
I know you work really closely with Matt Corby, who’s a renowned artist and producer. What’s your relationship like with him?
Well, I opened for him when I was 15 and that was the first time I met him. I was very shy, and when I arrived at the show I went straight to the dressing room and pretty much said “Hi, thanks for having me,” and then went and sat in the corner (laughs). Him and his whole crew watched me perform from side of stage that night—I was singing so I didn’t see them, but he came around after and said “We should write some songs together.” We did one session together in 2019 and wrote a song—he lives like 20 minutes from me. Soon after that lockdown hit and his tour got cancelled. On the Gold Coast during Covid we had bubbles and we were in the same bubble, so I would just drive down to his house because we lived so close, and we just spent a couple of months writing songs. That’s how my first EP came about, we co-wrote everything at his house studio. Where he lives isn’t quite soundproof—it’s in a rainforest—so you can hear all the sounds and the birds and everything on the first EP. So yeah, that’s the story.
Because I met him when I was quite young, he’s just been someone I can go to for guidance. Like when Warner first started talking to me, we spoke to Matt first. Even just hearing his story and asking for his opinion on things—even down to like, “What do you think of this microphone?”—he’s been the guy that’s been there to answer questions and help us along the way.
We have to ask you about the ARIAs. You won the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist Award in 2021, and Best R&B/Soul Release in 2022. To have two at 21 is a huge achievement. How does it feel?
It’s pretty crazy, I mean, I cried when I got my first one—it’s a very special award to me. I watched the ARIAs when I was a kid. It was one thing just going to the ARIAs, and then a whole other thing to perform at both ARIAs as well. So yeah, I love the ARIAs (laughs). The awards are super special, but I don’t like to think of them as mine. Those wins are about what everyone [around me] did for me, you know—my dad and my family who taught me how to sing—everyone that’s been with me, it’s theirs too.
You also toured with Ed Sheeran very recently. How was that?
Yeah it was pretty hectic. It’s one of the biggest productions in history. The production crew took me to see the cameras they use to shoot for the big screens, and they took me underneath the stage to show me how it spins. I remember when we showed up for soundcheck in Brisbane for the first night, me and my band pulled up and were just like “How the hell did we get here?” So yeah, it was pretty crazy. Backstage you never saw anyone sitting down—everyone was just running around all the time just because of the scale of the production—there was always something that needed to be done. But yeah, it’s been super fun.
You’ve done so much this year already, but when you’re thinking about the rest of the year, what are you hoping to accomplish?
I want to finish an album—that’s my goal—and to keep doing shows. I mean, what else really is there for an artist to do? Just sing, and makes songs (laughs). That’s all really.
