Kira Puru

Kira Puru
OriginCardiff, New South Wales, Australia
GenresDisco, pop
Years active2013–present
LabelsSony Music Australia, New Tribe Music[1]

Kira Puru is a gender-fluid[2][3][4] Australian musician. She is of Maori descent, her father being from the Tainui[5] tribe, and grew up in Cardiff, New South Wales, near Newcastle.[6][7] Puru has been described as "Señorita, swagger and a troublemaker" by Triple J[8] whose self-titled EP was released in 2018 by New Tribe Music, a joint venture record label with Sony Music Australia.[9] i-D Magazine called Puru "a charismatic stage persona"[10] and she has performed at festivals and events including: Splendour in the Grass, Spilt Milk, Listen Out, and Groovin' the Moo.[11]

Career

In 2013, Puru moved to Melbourne, Australia, to launch her career as a solo artist after a string of collaborations with Paul Mac, Illy, Paul Kelly and Urthboy.

Puru released the single "Tension" in 2017[12] then followed on with "Molotov" which The Guardian said is a "Slinky, attitude-laden song"[13] and was ranked 75th on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2018. In 2018, Puru toured nationally with Listen Out, and in support of Vera Blue and The Rubens.[14]

In 2019, she toured nationally as the supporting act for Peking Duk and in May, Puru went on a national tour for her single "Everything's Better Without You" with Kinder as support.[15] The video for her new single "Why Don't We Get Along" was launched by Clash magazine which they described as "Perfect Pop"[16] also produced by long term collaborator Jon Hume (Sofi Tukker).[17]

In 2020 Puru toured with UK artist Yungblud for his Falls Festival side shows where she was compared to US artist Lizzo.[18] She called out radio for not playing enough Australian Music[19] and Triple J were one of the first to take up her challenge.[20] In April 2020, Puru released her single "Idiot" with a "hook that’s an effortless ear worm".[21] Junkee Media said "Kira Puru's Tiktok account is fantastic"[22] including luring Tones and I and a bunch of other musicians to imitate the heavy metal band Korn.

Personal life

Puru uses she/they pronouns.[23]

Discography

Extended plays

Title Details
Kira Puru
  • Released: 21 September 2018[24][25]
  • Label: Kira Puru, Sony Music
  • Format: CD streaming, digital download

Singles

As lead artist

Year Title Album
2015 "All Dulled Out"[26] non album single
2017 "Three Dots"[27]
(with Yeo) 		non album single
"Tension"[28] Kira Puru EP
2018 "Molotov"[11]
"Fly"[29]
2019 "Everything's Better Without You"[30] non album single
"Why Don't We Get Along"[31] non album single
2020 "Idiot"[32] non album single
2022 "Talk with Me"[33] TBA
2023 "All My Boyfriends"[34] TBA
List of singles as featured artist, showing year released, and album name
Title Year Album
"State of War"
(Paul Mac featuring Kira Puru & Goodwill)[35] 		2015 Holiday From Me
"Daughter of the Light"
(Urthboy featuring Kira Puru)[36] 		2016 The Past Beats Inside Me Like a Second Heartbeat

Awards and nominations

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018[37][38] Kira Puru Live Voice of the Year Nominated
Live R&B or Soul Act of the Year Nominated
Best Live Voice of the Year - People's Choice Nominated
2020[39] Kira Puru Victorian Live Act of the Year Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Artist Roster". Sony Music Australia.
  2. ^ "When Do Fat People Get Gender-Neutral Fashion?". InStyle. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ^ "My chance of being the first maori, fat, queer, gender-fluid, atypical, depressed, bisexual bachelorette is closer than ever". Twitter. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  4. ^ W, Mya (6 January 2023). "Kira Puru Wants You To "Talk with Me"". RATINGS GAME MUSIC. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Australian pop sensation Kira Puru on dancefloors, diversity and her Tainui roots". Peril magazine. 30 October 2017.
  6. ^ "An Interview with Kira Puru". Radio NZ. 27 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Loud and proud". The West Australian. 4 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Inspired: Kira Puru on Molotov". triple J. ABC. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Kira Puru has revived her passion for music". Beat Magazine. 14 November 2018.
  10. ^ Parker, Mitch. "1-on-1 with kira puru". Vice Magazine. Vice. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b Mathieson, Craig (15 November 2018). "Kira Puru finally realising her pop potential". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  12. ^ Davies, Hayden. "Kira Puru returns to the spotlight with a hypnotic new single, Tensio". Pilerats. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  13. ^ Jolly, Nathan (October 2018). "20 best Australian tracks for October, featuring Paul Kelly, Handsome, Kira Puru and more". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Listen Out 2018 Line Up Announce". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Kira Puru Everything's Better Without You Single Tour". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 May 2019.
  16. ^ Murray, Robin. "Kira Puru Shares Super-Cute 'Why Don't We Get Along' Video". Clash music. Clash. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  17. ^ Lewis, Max. "KIRA PURU IS HERE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO 'FLY'". Pilerats. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  18. ^ Hentschel, Kelsey (2 January 2020). "Yungblud @The Forum Theatre Live Review". Amnplify. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  19. ^ Bruce, Jasper (17 March 2020). "Kira Puru challenges radio stations to play Australian artists during coronavirus outbreak". NME.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  20. ^ Wilson, Zanda (25 March 2020). "Radio begins to answer the music industry's plea for more airtime". The Music Network. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  21. ^ Murphy, Sam (22 April 2020). "Kira Puru is caught in a cycle on the punchy idiot". The Interns. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  22. ^ Lefevre, Jules (29 July 2020). "MUSIC We're Pleased To Inform You That Kira Puru Is Extremely Good At TikTok". Junkee. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Twitter account". Twitter. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2022. she/they
  24. ^ "Kira Puru Interview".
  25. ^ "Kira Puru EP". Apple Music. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  26. ^ "All Dulled Out - single". Apple Music. June 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Three Dots - single". Apple Music. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Tension - single". Apple Music. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  29. ^ "First Spin Kira Puru". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 September 2018.
  30. ^ "Everything's Better Without You - single". Apple Music. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Why Don't We Get Along - single". Apple Music. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  32. ^ "Idiot - single". Apple Music. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Fousheé, Jack River, Adrian Dzvuke & More: This Week's Best New Music". The Music. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Kira Puru Releases New Single 'All My Boyfriends'". Music Feeds. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  35. ^ "State of War – Single by Paul Mac on Apple Music". Apple Music. February 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  36. ^ "Daughter of the Light - single". Apple Music. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  37. ^ "NLMA announce 2018 nominees and Live legend". NLMA. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  38. ^ "Winners of the 2018 NLMA". NLMA. December 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  39. ^ "Nominees announced for 2020 National Live Music Awards". NLMAs. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.