We recently put together a small Instagram story series featuring a bunch of local gals who are killin’ it right now, doing what they love and doing it well. Here’s a more in-depth series-style look at each of those featured legends and a few more sick chicks we wanna mention! First up…

YARA

(also featured on our Industry News Page)

YARA (Yara Alkurd) is a Palestinian singer/songwriter with a melting pot of smooth sounds, stemming from jazz, soft RnB and neo-soul.

Yara is a personal friend of ours who has seen some serious ups and downs but consistently keeps her head held high and keeps smashin’ it* out of the park (* - ‘it’ being her personal and musical achievements, and well, everything else she does). We love this gal and can not WAIT to see what she does in the next few months…years…forever… Yara is a shining example of what it means to do what you love, do it well, and do it regardless of what others may say/do to see your downfall, in both personal and professional scenes. Seriously, she’s the bomb dot com.

Following a rewarding yet strenuous upbringing at the heart of the Gaza strip, Yara migrated to Australia in 2009, to the small Victorian town of Colac. Learning english from countless hours of western television, she found herself hopelessly in love with the language and in particular, the music.

Yara’s been heavily influenced by the sounds of Amy Winehouse, Lianne La Havas, Emily King, H.E.R and Snoh Aalegra. She made the move to Melbourne to study and pursue music, which is where she founded her 7 piece band and is now an active musician in the Melbourne scene. She’s since worked with the likes of Eliott, Velvet Bloom, Emma Volard, SKŸE, Rara Zulu, Meiwa, The Senegambiant Jazz Band and Jack The Fox.

YARA’s very excited to be releasing her first track, ‘Man Hater’, into the world. According to her, it’s a piece about the poor way in which society treats women, specifically outspoken women, who request change.

“I’ve experienced an uncomfortable amount of difficult encounters with men in my life, which have been unpleasant to say the least, but what has been even more problematic are the people (men and women) who witness these situations, stand by and do nothing, or worse, dehumanise those who stand up for themselves and call them man haters”

YARA ’s debut single ‘Man Hater’ is to be released on the 8th of March 2020 (International Women’s Day).

LOVE FOR MAN HATER

“I just love the contrast between the lighter instrumental mixed with heavier, real talk. It’s like you've mixed pissed off with joy to make it more musically digestible, but topically not holding back.” - SKŸE

“So beautifully written - with such a strong message that EVERYONE needs to hear. Your melodies and voice are like honey. This one’s gonna be in my head for a while.” -Eliott

“It’s like you’ve got some real Billie Eilish tonal qualities but in this soul genre. And In terms of lyrical tone and mood it’s really unapologetic, and you’re really owning the space you’re in and not apologising for yourself.” -Sannia

You can also catch Yara on our next episode, to be released the weekend of International Women’s Day - keep your eyes peeled for that one, we’re pumped.

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