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WAARI is Waanyi and Kalkutungu from the northwest of so-called Queensland, and Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Manu, and Te Ātiawa from the westcoast of Taranaki, Aotearoa. He speaks the unapologetic truth of Blakhood through his music.
Born in a small, remote town on Kalkutungu Country, where mining has long wounded the land, WAARI carries a legacy of storytelling that colonisation could never erase. He grew up surrounded by music and kin, picking up the guitar at the age of five, taught by his father, who learned from his uncle. Together, they played everything from instrumental classics like The Shadows and The Ventures, to Country Ballads, Aboriginal Rock and Ska, and Reggae. These were sounds that echoed through their community, sounds of their world, reimagined through their lived experience, their Country, and their spirit. It was from this and his family band, alongside his father and brother, that WAARI began shaping his sound. Every song is a vessel for grief, joy, protest, and love.
WAARI released his debut EP, MUKI (2024), a powerful storyline following the cycles of life—birth, coming of age, death, and rebirth—as they connect to family across generations and land through the seasons. MUKI weaves immersive soundscapes with evocative lyricism, drawing on memory, lived experience, and futurity. The EP has been praised for its raw emotion, cultural depth, and distinctive sound, marking WAARI as an important new voice in contemporary Blak music.
Born in a small, remote town on Kalkutungu Country, where mining has long wounded the land, WAARI carries a legacy of storytelling that colonisation could never erase. He grew up surrounded by music and kin, picking up the guitar at the age of five, taught by his father, who learned from his uncle. Together, they played everything from instrumental classics like The Shadows and The Ventures, to Country Ballads, Aboriginal Rock and Ska, and Reggae. These were sounds that echoed through their community, sounds of their world, reimagined through their lived experience, their Country, and their spirit. It was from this and his family band, alongside his father and brother, that WAARI began shaping his sound. Every song is a vessel for grief, joy, protest, and love.
WAARI released his debut EP, MUKI (2024), a powerful storyline following the cycles of life—birth, coming of age, death, and rebirth—as they connect to family across generations and land through the seasons. MUKI weaves immersive soundscapes with evocative lyricism, drawing on memory, lived experience, and futurity. The EP has been praised for its raw emotion, cultural depth, and distinctive sound, marking WAARI as an important new voice in contemporary Blak music.
