As the Sydney Fringe Festival, New South Wales’ largest independent arts celebration, wraps up, one standout event, Just Desserts, is set to leave a lasting impression.
This multi-sensory showcase will feature a performance by Papua New Guinea-born, Australian-based singer-songwriter Ngaiire, whose collaboration with pastry chef Anna Polyviou and floral artist ACID.FLWRS promises a unique blend of music, taste, and visual artistry.
Ngaiire, known for her fusion of electronic future-soul, gospel, and pop, brings a distinct sound that draws from her First Nations Papua New Guinean roots. Her work, both sonically and visually, has earned critical praise, with her album art and video installations showcasing her creative versatility.
Ngaiire’s rise from Australian Idol contestant to an independent trailblazer speaks to her resilience and unwavering artistic vision, making her presence at Just Desserts a highlight of this year’s festival.
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Happy: What are you up to today?
Ngaiire: I’m on a train from Berlin to Hamburg taking in the German countryside whilst trying to homeschool my kid and do this interview. In a few hours I’ll be having dinner with my German publishing team then hopefully an early night.
Happy: Tell us a little about where you are from? What do you love about it?
Ngaiire: I’m from four different areas in PNG. Each tribe or region of PNG are very patriotic about where they come from which has contributed to maintaining such unique and diverse groups of Papua New Guineans for so many years. It was a big deal when my mother married a coastal man as my grandmother didn’t have a high opinion of coastal people and thought they were full of air and couldn’t be trusted. I love PNG because you never know what you’re gonna get.
Happy: From your time on Australian Idol to becoming an ARIA-nominated artist, your journey has been remarkable. How have those early experiences shaped your current artistic direction?
Ngaiire: It’s only allowed me more freedom to blur the boundaries.
Happy: Collaboration seems to be a big part of your work. How do you choose your collaborators, and what do you look for in those partnerships?
Ngaiire: I’m a big believer that collaborators come into your life so it’s not so much a choosing, it’s more that the ingredients of the time, place, experience and relationship are all at the right temperatures for it to work.
Happy: What’s something you’ve learned about yourself through your music that you didn’t expect?
Ngaiire: That it’s a deeply spiritual thing that you can access if you allow yourself to be fully aware of things beyond them just existing.
Happy: Having turned down offers from the American music industry to remain independent, what advice would you give to young artists trying to navigate their careers while staying true to their artistic identity?
Ngaiire: Stay open. Don’t rush. Trust your gut. Every relationship you make no matter how small it is is important.
For instance, I had an interview with someone over a decade ago.
It wasn’t particularly special but from that point on I kept bumping into him at other music related things and then got asked to be on a music judging panel with him.
Then finally he brought me a publishing deal with the publishing team that I now have.
That’s the fun thing about the music industry, you never know in what capacity your relationship with someone is going to grow.
Be respectful to everyone – including the sound guy.
Happy: You’ve always been at the forefront of pushing boundaries in music and art. How does Sydney Fringe, as a platform, allow you to experiment and showcase your evolving artistry?
Ngaiire: The bringing together of worlds with Claire Mueller with her flower artistry and Anna Polyviou on desserts isn’t a collaboration that fits into many spaces in the Sydney scene so it’s encouraging to see organisations like Fringe continue to push boundaries within this city.
Happy: What excites you most about your upcoming performance at Sydney Fringe, and how do you hope the audience connects with the unique sensory experience of ‘Just Desserts’?
Ngaiire: I haven’t played in Machine Hall yet and have been seeing things pop up on my feed of others doing cool things in the space so I’m looking forward to finally being able to check it out myself.
Happy: What makes you happy?
Ngaiire: Good bowel movements, a suitcase that closes, late check out times, unplanned great tour breakfasts, friends you don’t have to try with, aperitifs, and listening to my 6 year old get excited about shovelnose sharks.
Head here to check out the event.
