Esquire Studio Sessions: Budjerah sings for us

We hit the studio with the proud Bundjalung musician, who treated us to a private concert while sharing the unexpected inspiration behind his catchy new track

By Amy Campbell

Published: Aug 21, 2024

“COFFEE IN THE MORNING” isn’t just the opening lyric to Budjerah’s newest single, ‘Is It Ever Gonna Make Sense’. The daily ritual is also a habit the 22-year-old singer is trying hard to kick.

“I really want to stop drinking coffee, but I can’t seem to stop myself from getting one every morning,” he tells us (for the record, he usually takes one – max two – shots a day). But as Budjerah was writing the song, he realised coffee was an effective metaphor for a few things he was trying to express: his life has changed tremendously over the last few years, and, while he’s trying not to rely on it, that single shot has provided him with a constant source of familiarity and comfort. The coffee theme was also a way for Budjerah to pay tribute to his beginnings as an artist. “I used to perform in cafes and restaurants when I was 15. You do those kinds of things with all your hopes and dreams.”

Inside a studio at Warner Music Australia not long ago (Budjerah signed with the record label before he finished high school), the singer chatted about the intensity of the last few years – he toured Australia with Ed Sheeran in 2022 – what he does to stay grounded, and how ready he is to hit the road again for his own headline shows later this year, on the Therapy Sessions Tour.

“I really wanted to make this tour just about my fans, and be really personal. So that’s kind of where the ‘Therapy Sessions’ name came from. Because that’s what you do in a therapy session. And I like to think that the music is the therapy sometimes.”

Watch our full Studio Sessions interview with the artist below, and make sure you stay for the live performance. We walked out of the studio with goosebumps. Boy, Budjerah sure can sing.