Aussie singer Kota Banks is your soundtrack to summer

Sydney songstress Kota Banks is about to explode onto the music scene.

Kota Banks

Sydney songstress Kota Banks is about to explode onto the music scene.

[Joni Mitchell, Cardi B, Oscar Wilde and Eminem are four very different artists you don’t normally see side-by-side, but all are a powerful inspiration to Sydney-based singer Kota Banks.]

“I’m inspired by artists, not just in the music field,” she tells the Daily Telegraph.

“Oscar Wilde is one of my favourite artists and he’s a writer.”

She says she is especially drawn to artists who are able to take simple words and turn them into phrases with intense meaning.

“Eminem, I’m so obsessed with him,” she says. “The way he's figured out how to convey emotion through ... his lyrics and how he bends words to fit him. His creativity is super inspiring.”

If you haven’t heard of Kota Banks yet, you will very soon. The 24-year old Australian-Italian singer-songwriter is about to explode onto the music scene with her creative lyrics and an original sound. Born Jessica Mimi Porfiri, she tells the Daily Telegraph her stage name came from a novel she’s been working on.

“I had been working on this novel for quite a few years,” she reveals.

“The protagonist’s name in the novel is Kota Banks and [we shared] a lot of the characteristics ... she’s an alter ego to some extent.”

With hits like Child and I’m it, there’s no question her catchy tunes will form part of this summer’s playlist.

Kota Banks is not who you would expect. Her music is full of attitude and sass, but in person, Porfiri is intelligent, cultured and very humble.

Following the wave of the “me too” movement, there has definitely been a flow-on effect in popular culture of artists, singers and writers expressing equality in one way or another. Her most recent song, I’m it, encourages girls to put themselves first and to prioritise their happiness and self-worth above getting attention from boys.

With lyrics like, “I don’t surrender to fear, got an agenda to win, I wake up every morning tell myself I’m the sh*t”, and, “I’m dating myself, I buy myself gifts, I take myself out, I really commit”, she speaks directly to young women and tells them to love and respect themselves.

The song rejects pressure on young women to wait around for their Prince Charming, be in relationships and get married, instead promoting confidence in being single and supporting yourself.

Porfiri began singing from a young age and has always been a natural-born performer, saying it’s always been “second-nature”. She took every opportunity to be on stage, from musicals to drama, debating and singing competitions.

But after finishing high school, she stepped off the stage and began writing songs instead.

“I got into songwriting immediately after school with the aim of just being a songwriter for other artists,” she explains.

Feeling very vulnerable when singing her own words, she says you have to be prepared to be the centre of attention because “there is no mask, you can’t hide behind someone else”.

“It’s really terrifying to sing your own lyrics because you’re putting yourself out there,” she muses.

Her European upbringing is undoubtedly a major influence on her music. She spent a lot of her childhood in Florence, Italy, and there is no doubt the country and culture continue to influence her  music even today.

Porfiri says the Italian way of communicating is almost a performance in itself, and after years of conversing in Italian, it has changed the way she looked at sounds.

“The Italian language made me more lyrical and how to deliver certain phrases and how to pronounce certain things,” she says.

“Spending the formative years of my life in a different country with a different culture has absolutely shaped everything.”

She’s also a devout Christian who prays every time she writes.

“I just feel like it gives me more depth to my songwriting and opens my mind.”

When Porfiri returned to Australia from Europe, she worked two jobs to afford her time to write and record her music. She was fortunate to sign a publishing deal early and is now starting to attract the attention of brands like American Express, which recently awarded her a Music Backers Grant.

With both parents working within non-creative professions, Porfiri tells the Daily Telegraph that her parents are very supportive of her dreams to be a professional singer.

“I think they knew nothing would stop me,” she laughs. “They’ve played their role as a support network perfectly [and have] always actually pushed for it.”

She’s got a lot coming up, including a live show at Falls Festival, a new album to record and a then, hopefully, an international tour.

With new artists popping up on Spotify each day, the young singer says she sets herself apart from others by channeling her focus inward.

“I think the less attention you pay with your peers the better,” she says.

“[Otherwise] you have this innate desire to fit in... going against the grain is the most important thing I try and do in terms of my look and sound.

“At the end of the day, music is made to self-express and put a point forward and for individualism … I just try to have my own experiences … and forge my own way.”

Originally published as Aussie singer Kota Banks is your soundtrack to summer