All material this page © Nuxta
(Anouk De Silva)
Jack's Note: Nuxta appeared on the WordinHand stage for the first time on December 6th, 2011 during our end-of-year Open Mike evening. Links below...
NuXta was born in Hamilton, New Zealand in 1980 to Sri Lankan parents. When the family migrated to Sydney, Australia in January 1983, NuXta (aged two-and-a-half) could already read and write fluent English, as well as speak Sinhalese (his mother tongue). By the age of four, it had become obvious that NuXta was an avid and voracious reader - in fact, he was rarely interested in much else. He would spend hours on end buried in Reader's Digests, the Oxford Dictionary, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and innumerable classics, including works by Dickens, Doyle, Twain and Shakespeare.
At the same time, over the years, NuXta became increasingly alienated and withdrawn from the world around him - not that he was out of touch with reality (in all honesty, he was all too aware of reality and its cruelties), but more that he decided from an early age that the world was not a place fit for a dignified human existence, and that something had to be done about it sooner or later. Ongoing domestic strife between his parents further sent this gifted child into a universe of his own creation, and, contrary to their expectations, his outstanding intellectual abilities did not produce the academic results one would expect of such a pupil, or garner social popularity. NuXta maintains that the move from the country town of Bathurst (where he had been openly recognised as "the smartest kid in school") back to a Sydney thriving on unbridled competition, mid-year in 1989, contributed greatly to a slump in his fortunes, and he attributes what he calls his "downfall", at least in part, to that sudden change of environment.
From the age of six, NuXta had demonstrated a flare for the electric organ, which his father had insisted he persist in learning (much to the initial chagrin of a young NuXta, who only wanted to sit in a corner with his books). However, NuXta took to the instrument quickly and successfully. He began to understand that one could express something - give something back - the same way one could absorb and gain so much, as he had through all his reading. People seemed to derive enjoyment from his playing, and they would offer praise, and even respect - something he remembered and missed from his younger days in Bathurst. The organ lessons effectively came to an end towards the end of primary school, however, when his finest music teacher declared that she could no longer teach him anything new or improve him any further.
No more lessons meant that NuXta's interest in the organ waned somewhat. It was not that he had lost his love of music; rather, he felt that music alone could not fill the void that was opening up inside him.
And so, throughout a largely painful stint in high school, NuXta started focusing more on writing poetry and songs. As a young boy, most of his work had constituted clever parodies of advertisements and existing popular songs. Some of this was still in him, but high school had revealed new concerns to him - or perhaps reminded him, in more clarified fashion, of what he had felt about the world as a child. His work became more dense (in a good way!) and sophisticated, and included subject matter such as racism, mental illness, and even the Australian national anthem, which he turned into a parody of the views of outspoken ultra-right-wing populist MP Pauline Hanson!
By the time he was in his final year of high school, however, much of the humour had gone out of NuXta's outlook on the world. His parents finally separated - immediately prior to his final exams - and the material took an extremely sombre, melancholy and - often times - depressing turn.
It would be a period of over eight years before NuXta would get it together enough to come to the realisation that he simply had to do what he was put on Earth to do. He finally proves, with his debut demo album "Preliminary Hearing" - that he is on his way to a destiny deserving of his talent and capacity.
"Preliminary Hearing" features eight of NuXta's songs, all of them written and created by him. It is a project that was knocked out in four gruelling days in a Melbourne studio, virtually from scratch. All they had was a borrowed keyboard and a set of lyrics - some of them resembling epic verses, which NuXta was forced to edit and rewrite to fit the musical format. The results, however, speak for themselves (and for the brilliance of the Melbourne producer, who wishes to remain anonymous for his own reasons).
We can only hope that NuXta, the self-proclaimed "People's Poet", has given birth with this project to something that will enable him to become, at long last, recognised for the unlimited potential he has as a musician, a poet, a true artist, and an inspiration to humanity.
NuXta is currently writing what he hopes will become his first commercial release. The title originally intended was "Deliverance", but this is still being debated. :)
Links:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/NuXta/48978100087
First Publication:
http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0500359049/default.aspx
triple j Unearthed artist page: