tunesday – who, what, when, where, why with miss kaninna
A chinwag with superstar Miss Kaninna.
You might want to sit down for this one. Proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali sovereign woman Miss Kaninna is back again with a tune to send ripples across the airwaves. The muso’s brand-new track, “MOB TIES”, is an anthem to rival them all – a political, proud and ferocious celebration of her First Nations ancestry and the strength of her community around her. We caught up for a chat with the rad musician to find out how she brought the tune together and what it means to her.
Who was the first person that you showed your new single “MOB TIES” to? The first person I showed “MOB TIES” to was Noah, my partner – they’re actually the first one to hear all of my singles. Even if it’s just a beat, I’ll be like, “Noah, come in here and listen to this,” because I take their view very seriously, you know. If my partner doesn’t like the song, I won’t even bother showing it to anybody else. That was it for a minute, and then I showed my manager ‘cause it’s either her or Noah, to be honest.
View this post on Instagram
What is your first memory that involves music? This is going to make me cry, to be honest. It was in Mooroopna when my Nan lived there – she would put on country music and she’d let me put on her high heels and we would line dance in her lounge room when I was very young, like three or four. She’d put on these little hats and jewellery – pearls and that – and I’d dance around the house with her. That would be my earliest memory. She was right into music, my Nan. Me, my Nan and my Mum used to sing together all the time.
When was the last time you performed to a crowd? Like, two days ago. By the time this goes live it will probably be 24 hours ago haha. I play shows every week, I reckon. Sometimes it’s two to three shows a week, depending on what’s on. There’s really no downtime for me at the moment – I’m a full-time live performer, so let’s say 24 hours ago.
View this post on Instagram
Where did you grow up? I grew up across a number of places actually. My Mum was constantly travelling, so we’d move around often. My family house is in Forcett, Dodges Ferry – down the peninsula of Tasmania. We moved to Bruny Island when I was seven to have my little brother and we lived there until I was about 18. We’d often leave for extended periods, out of school, to go to Shepparton/Kanny-goopna, go and see my Nan and family when they were living in Mooroopna, and we’d also go to Queensland a bit. But I grew up with my family, about nine of us – uncles, cousins, my Pop – in Tasmania.
Why does the track “MOB TIES” mean a lot to you? Because it’s so important for people to understand Aboriginal people. You know, we are not actually “Aboriginal people”; that’s a colonised term to depict over 500 nations. We are a continent and “MOB TIES” is a calling to understand that deep solidarity and connection, that we are all one people, we’re all one mob with 500-plus sub-mobs within that. So it’s about being staunch within that knowledge and power. I think a lot of the time, people who aren’t Aboriginal don’t actually have much of an understanding of what it’s really like to BE Aboriginal. They don’t understand what it’s like to be Black, or what it’s like to have such a deep connection. I could be walking down the street, for example, and if I see another Aboriginal person, I’m going to go over and have a yarn with them – we won’t even know each other, then find out we’re actually related. So it’s about realising we have over 100,000 years of connection and songlines which is unlike anywhere else in the world! It’s so unique and special and that’s why I wanted to talk about it and acknowledge it. I’m Aboriginal on both my family’s sides and I’m very proud of that.
View this post on Instagram
Who did you work on the single with? I wrote the single as a freestyle at my house. I was just hanging out at home and talking to my partner. I said, “Listen, I need to write some more music but I’m just not feeling it, I’m doing shows every week, etc.” And they said, “Why don’t we just put some beats on and you can just freestyle and get something flowing.” And so I did that!
I did it over consecutive nights and ended up compiling about six or seven freestyles. I put them together in Ableton – without the beat – then workshopped the idea with a couple of people. I was very particular because the production had to be perfect. Working with Vinny (aka 18YOMAN) and Ethan (Parodi), they really understood the feelings, textures and sounds I wanted to convey. They came up with the beat in less than a day and the rest is history. I recorded vocals with Uno Stereo at The Base studios. It was quite a streamlined process actually, working with great collaborators and their teams – usually there’s a lot of back and forth, but this one was really smooth, in and out!
What is the last thing you do before you step on stage to perform? Have a panic attack haha. No, it depends on who I’m with. If it’s a small crew, just my DJ or drummer and my manager isn’t there, I usually put my in-ears in about 15 minutes before set time in the green room and do some deep breathing and vocal warming exercises. But if I’m with my manager, she does a Māori prayer and we all get in a circle to do a karakia. It calls in our ancestors and calms myself down for the show. I take live performing very seriously and I really do try and leave it all on the stage, so grounding myself prior is really important.
View this post on Instagram
Where is your favourite place to write or record music? I love writing and recording music at home – in my safe zone, my lounge room. I don’t like recording in places where I’m uncomfortable or haven’t been before, or if the studio is in some random guy’s bedroom or kitchen. I like creating in nice, open, inspiring spaces. The people’s home studios I like working in are the ones that have rugs, paintings, creative energy.
When will we get to hear more of Miss Kaninna? I’m going to try and release as much music as I possibly can this year. The thing is, it takes a lot longer than I’d like to record a song, visuals, mix, press prep and release it. This year, I’m aiming for a body of work – which I’m really excited for. But as it goes, I’ve also now written new songs that I want to be included, so I want to make sure everything is perfect – sonically, visually and everything in-between. It’s really important to not rush the work. But you’ll be hearing much more Miss Kaninna this year. I’ve got features in the works as well.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following music video contains images and names of Indigenous people who have died.
Feast your ears on all things Miss Kaninna this-a-way. For more rad First Nations artists, spy our chat with Mitch Tambo about the reimagining of the tune “Blackfellas” here. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the (music) loop.