Natalie from BlueKingBrown

Melbourne based Blue King Brown have cemented their place as one of Australia’s premier urban acts in recent years.

The eight-piece urban roots band, led by the energetic and engaging Natalie Pa’apa’a, has been hailed by urban music fans and critics alike. The band and their attitude and music have also earned the respect of their fellow artists, with Serj Tanki and no less than Mexican guitar legend Carlos Santana hailing them as “the voice of the street and the band of the future.”

Blue King Brown’s music is a heady and original fusion of urban styles, blending in roots, dancehall, rock, afrobeat and hip-hop, while the hard-hitting and often political lyrics of Pa’apa’a lends them a social conscience and awareness that lifts them above the empty and plastic pop stars of today.

The band’s latest record, Worldwize Part 1 North & South, has earned them a lot more positive press, and they are beginning to find themselves more of an audience outside of Australasia after playing arenas worldwide, and having supported the aforementioned Santana and other big hitters such as Damien Marley and Lauryn Hill.

Blue King Brown’s Natalie Pa’apa’a speaks to BBM’s Frankie Salt ahead of their Womadelaide performance.

Are you looking forward to playing at WomAdelaide in March?

Oh absolutely. This festival has to be one of my ultimate favourites. It’s seriously great and right up my street. It has that sense of family and friends coming together to appreciate music. The line-up is especially good and you should definitely head there for the festival.

So what have you guys been up to recently?

Well we have mostly been spending time in the studio recording the album and so we haven’t had much time for much else. But that’s going really well and planning for the upcoming tours like WomAdelaide.

Obviously there are 8 of you and your sound is a mixture of dancehall, roots, rock & afro groove, who’s the main decision maker on what sounds you go for?

Ha-ha well I would say that the main decision maker is myself and the co-guitarist. Basically we all have our ideas for the music but there has to be a final say.

It must get pretty crazy when writing songs with so many of you? Do you guys ever disagree on stuff?

No, we never really disagree on any matters when it comes to the music. We all have our own opinion and work together to create our sound.

With such a vast fusion of genres coming through in Blue King Brown’s sound, what were your musical inspirations growing up?

Ah well we all had so many musical inspirations when we were growing up. I was very lucky as my mother had such great taste in music. Listening to Carlos Santana’s and Bob Marley’s very much helped with my musical tastes and inspired me to be musical myself. As a band we combine these inspirations with sounds of our own and hopefully create something that is successful.

Do you listen to new music and also take inspiration from this?

Yes definitely, we are always listening out for new bands and new talent and love listening to music from around the World which inspires us to make music.

So you started off busking what was it that propelled you guys to this level of touring worldwide and performing at festivals?

Well perhaps it is the passion and love for what you do that propels you. I mean when you have played on the street to people who are passing by, say, on their lunch break- it makes it so amazing to then be playing small gig- and then onto an international tour. It’s incredible but is definitely rooted through your love for what you do.

You’ve played alongside some fantastic people, including Damian Marley and Lauren Hill, what was that like?

Oh it was amazing; it’s such an honour to play alongside artists who you look up to so highly in the music world. Lauren Hill is such a fine artist and so obviously it was such a pleasure and honour to play alongside her.

What is your favourite song you’ve written?

Oh you could never choose a favourite. Whenever I am asked this question, I have a favourite song which I am playing at that moment but never a favourite overall. Everyone has a track which they have written which means something special to them.

Ok, so what is your favourite track to perform at this moment in time?

Yeah so there’s a track called ‘Women’s Revolution’ which is just fantastic to perform and the lyrics are great. To be honest I never listen to my own music and so it’s more of an “in the moment” thing.

Is there anyone in particular you’re looking forward to seeing?

Yeah there’s so much going on at the festival- From Mad Professor to Staff Benda Billi and Baaba Mal, the array of music will be outstanding. This festival is definitely one to shout about.

What inspired you to call the collective Blue King Brown? Does anyone have a particular affinity with snakes?

Ha-ha no to be honest there wasn’t any connection to snakes with the name of our collective. To us it was just a perfect connection of three words that together did not have any direct meaning to anything already created… They’re such strong words and helped to create our flag for the collective which is blue, yellow and brown.

What else is planned for Blue King Brown in 2012?

Ok so we have WomAdelaide which of course is a great highlight for us and will be an absolute pleasure to perform at. We then further our tour across Australia. The blues festival in Byron Bay ‘Bluesfest’ in April which is just a huge festival covering blues music from across the globe. There are some incredible artists playing there. Then we are taking off to New Zealand and across America and into Europe.

Wow, so you’ve got a lot going on, 2012 sounds like its going to be massive for Blue King Brown. Do you think you’ll be heading to the UK?

Yeah hopefully we will get to gig around the UK, especially London, I don’t know the exact dates but London is always great to play. 2012 is going to be a great year for us.

By Frankie Salt