pirra making moves
Local indie-pop dance group Pirra recently played their biggest venue ever – the Sydney Opera House - and are ready to take on Yours & Owls Festival 2023
Words Emma Smith
Images Nigel Kippers
Local band Pirra is made up of Jess Beck (vocals), identical twins Curtis Agent (bass), Jeffery Agent (drums) and James McKendry (guitar). After meeting in 2008, the four-piece formed a jazz band and secured a three-year residency at a tap house in Sydney. It wasn’t long before they started experimenting with folky pop songs and Pirra was officially born.
Since releasing their first album Animal Kingdom in 2017, they’ve collaborated with a number of Aussie artists and producers including Sam Littlemore from PNAU on their track Never Apart, and played at a number of iconic music festivals like Australian Music Week.
We caught up with proud Luritja woman, Jess, to chat about reconnecting with her stolen culture, the Wollongong music scene and releasing solo music.
Jess has loved music and performing for as long as she can remember. As a child, she was obsessed with watching Rage and would hold her tape recorder up to the TV to record the top 10 songs, so she could memorise them and show all the other kids at school.
Jess says she was gifted a mini microphone when she was about four years old.
“I was always recording my voice with it, and we had a pretty great box of dress up’s. I was constantly dressing up, grabbing a tennis racket and pretending I was playing guitar,” said Jess.
She was always the first to put her hand up for the lead role in any plays or musicals at school and went on to complete a four-year acting degree at the Flinders Drama Centre in Adelaide, where her professor encouraged her to pursue singing, after teaching a cabaret class.
When Jess went to visit her brother at uni, he took her to see a band that was playing at the UniBar. He dobbed her in and told the band she could sing.
“I got up and sang a Kasey Chambers song and they ended up inviting me to be the lead singer of the band.”
Jess eventually moved to Sydney and met Curtis, Jeffery and James, who had met each other while studying at the Australian Institute of Music. They formed a jazz band and before they knew it, they were playing gigs up to five nights a week.
“It was 2009 and the cost of a music licence had just been changed, it was really cheap - around $500, and any venues could apply for it. It was just such a great time for live music. I will never forget that year we had. We also secured a residency at a local tap house.”
By this time, Jess had written a few of her own folky pop songs. She showed some original ideas to the boys and asked if they’d be interested in having a go at a different sound.
“They were on board and had such wonderful skills from their courses, they were able to make the chords more exciting than the five that I knew.”
Jess says it wasn’t long before they realised it was time for a name change. “Things had changed so much. The band was on a different path and it was time to honour that.”
Jess met Uncle Sammy Butcher from the Warumpi Band, and after learning her grandmother was born on Luritja country, Uncle Sammy suggested the band should be called ‘Pirra,’ which means moon in Luritja.
“I was fortunate enough to have his blessing. He told me I should be proud of my heritage and tell everyone what the name means.”
Both Jess’ grandmother and mother were removed from their homes as part of the Stolen Generation.
“I grew up always knowing I had Aboriginal heritage but because our right to culture was taken away from us, we didn’t have language or cultural stories passed down. It’s all been stuff we’ve had to search for as family members, so the band name Pirra is an important nod to my heritage.”
Jess will never forget performing at the Surry Hills Festival. They had just released Under the Skyline, which was different to anything they had created before.
“As soon as we played it, the audience got up on their feet, it was surreal. That changed everything, and we started really leaning towards dance music.”
In September 2022, Pirra released their album Spirals, which Jess describes as feeling like you’re travelling into outer space. The band worked closely with Sam Littlemore from PNAU on their track Never Apart. Jess says he had a big influence on the entire band and their creative process.
“Being guided by him on different ways to use my voice to get different effects in recording was so invaluable, and they’re techniques that I’m continuing to use when recording today.”
Pirra played at the Opera House in June during Sydney’s Vivid Festival, their biggest venue to date, and something Jess says is a dream come true!
“It’s one of my favourite festivals in Australia and to be included on the bill is remarkable.”
They’ll be playing songs from their entire catalogue and want to take fans on a chronological journey of how their sound has changed.
“We’ll have some pretty epic costumes and have been incorporating a few sound effects and voice overs into the show. We want to go to town with the performance.”
“If you come to a live show, you’re guaranteed to have a good time,” said Jess.
Pirra released their new single with Australian DJ Tom Budin in June, before embarking on a state-wide tour. They’re looking forward to playing some more local gigs, including the 2023 Yours & Owls festival.
“Wollongong knows how to put on a show. We have such a great music scene down here and there’s so much great talent. We were lucky enough to be able to play at Rad Bar before it closed. Now we love playing at North Gong on Sundays, Seeker Brewing, Yours & Owls concerts, Towradgi Beach Hotel and Beaches Hotel at Thirroul on Friday nights. La La La’s is another great venue that’s come about in the last couple of years. It’s so important to support venues like that.”
Jess has been contemplating releasing some songs as Jess Beck. “There’s a lot of songs that don’t see the light of day. Not because they’re not good enough, but sometimes they’re not necessarily a Pirra song. I’d love to experiment with the older style music that I was doing. The boys will help me finalise some of them and hopefully they will be released this year.”
It’s not just the music scene Pirra has been dominating, their music will soon be coming to TV screens!
“Our song is being used in a feature film that’s coming out this year called Sweet As. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m excited to go when it’s finally out in cinemas. There’s also an ABC series coming out with one of our songs in it.
To keep up to date with Pirra’s latest releases and shows, head to their website pirramusic.com or follow @pirratheband