Words by Christopher Kevin Au // Head image by Ryan Henwood-White //

Last month, West Sydney artist Nardean made her blazing introduction with the impressive Creatress EP.

Taking her love of literature and spoken word into hip-hop territory, Nardean uses the release to explore the space between her Arabic roots and growing up in Australia, a culture clash that’s all too common with minorities struggling to find their own identity. Creatress speaks volumes to those audiences and also sounds refreshingly organic, with widespread praise seeing Nardean recently crowned as FBi Radio’s Independent Artist of the Week and additional airplay on triple j.

Nardean will be playing shows alongside Jesswar and Thando over the next fortnight, before she heads to Splendour in the Grass and her own East Coast mini-tour throughout July and August. Ahead of the shows, we chat to Nardean about her sound, her shows, and what her parents think about the whole music thing:

Your EP ‘Creatress’ has just dropped. For someone who hasn’t heard Nardean before, tell us what we’ve got in store?

Creatress is an eclectic mix of hip-hop, poetry, trap beats, acoustic guitar and Arabic scales. It shouldn’t make sense, but somehow it does. Its best enjoyed listening from top to bottom – I designed it to take you on a journey!

You said that you didn’t find out you could sing until you were 21 years old. Take us through that moment of discovery, and how you found out about your vocal abilities?

Its true! I do remember being 5 years old, singing in the shower and pretending there were like 80,000 people watching me… but I never thought it was a viable career option. When I was 21, I was working at G-Star and studying to be an English and Drama teacher. I started dating a guy who was a rapper, and I kinda thought to myself, “Shit… I really would love to do this.” The one moment in particular that I remember was him saying to me, “You know you can do whatever you want with your life, right?” So… I did. And here we are!

You’ve also said that you’re an English nerd and a big lover of language. Where does this come from, and do you have any writers in particular who have influenced your songwriting?

My dad is a huge lover of books. He’s got two Masters and a PhD in Political Science – the guy loves to read. I definitely got my love of language from him. We have a giant room out the back full of Arabic books that he’s collected during his life. He’s retired now, so he spends most of his days reading.

In terms of writers who have influenced my songwriting, I think that everything you experience influences your writing. However, in saying that, I am going to give a special shout out to J.K. Rowling because Harry Potter saved my life and I don’t know who I’d be without those stories. The magic was real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6VvvRLfOmc

You grew up in strict Arab family in Western Sydney. What are some of the biggest cultural and generational differences between yourself and your parents, and how have you addressed this in your music?

Well, I’m definitely the “black sheep” of the family. Tattoos, pink hair, not in a “stable job,” not married with kids etc. These are just the obvious differences. There are minor things that happen on a day to day basis too – for example Egyptians can be super polite, almost to the point of being fake, whereas I just like to say the truth in the moment. It gets awkward as hell sometimes.

A lot of what I write is about unraveling the various identities that have been imposed on me. For example, the idea that a woman is there to serve her husband. My mum still believes that, and I’ve watched how unhappy its made her. I almost feel like it’s my responsibility to break the generational patterns of women being put second to men, and music is a great way for me to decipher and challenge these ideas.

Have your parents been to your gigs yet? What do they think of your music?

They actually haven’t been to a gig yet! To be honest, I don’t know if I’d want them too – my mum hasn’t seen me twerk and she might have a heart attack. In saying that though, they’re slowly coming around on the music side of things, now that it is starting to pay off. At the end of the day, they just want me to be happy.

I have often used this analogy to reassure them: “Look mum and dad, just imagine that I’m studying to be a doctor. It would take me 9 years of uni and I’d be 200k in debt… then I’d start making bank. So, just imagine I’m studying to be a doctor. Cool, thanks.”

Who are some of your favourite artists coming out of West Sydney at the moment?

Urgh, so many! Slim Setta, Manu Crook$, Spvrrow, Angel Tairua, KWAME, and B Wise to name a few. I definitely need some more girls in this list though.

You’ll be taking Creatress on the road very soon, as well as some shows with Jesswar and Thando. What do you hope people will gain from your live show?

I want people to leave feeling empowered. Like they can walk away and do the shit they’ve been scared to do for ages.

You also have an album on the way, what creative and sonic leaps have you made from Creatress?

What’s life without a bit of mystery? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out what happens next. One thing I can give away is that the sound is dope and I’m hella excited to share it.

What’s on the cards for Nardean for the rest of 2018?

*Rihanna voice* Work work work, work work. Tour, writing, performing, more touring, more writing, more performing, the occasional ass-shaking and then back at it. Can’t wait!