Watch this interview on YouTube
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Whiskey Jack is a singer-songwriter from Perth in Western Australia and Kiera Jas is an artist from Margaret River, south of Perth. Separately they have very successful solo careers, with Jack’s single ‘Wild Card’ named WAM Country Song of the Year in 2025 and Kiera the winner of the 2023 Nannup festival award. Together this alt-folk duo have released the single ‘Old Expressions’ last year and they now have a new single, ‘Remain Strange’.
The duo met when, as Jack tells me in this interview, they kept being put on the same bill for shows. They’ve since gone on to create their own shows, including the wonderfully named Soak in the Folk. There’s a vibrant live scene in Perth and Fremantle, so we chat about that, as well as about their development as musicians – Kiera started on the ukulele, Jack on guitar – and their songwriting influences. Jack says he’s a ‘word nerd’ and songwriting is what he likes most in the music journey, and there’s a neat play on words in ‘Remain Strange’ which he confirms comes from him.
This was such an enjoyable conversation to have, partly because it’s always interesting to hear how collaborations evolve, and it’s clear that this is one that in some ways seemed destined but which the pair are maintaining through diligence, curiosity and determination to try new things. They’re quite different artists musically, and also in personality – Kiera is more embracing of live performance, for example – but that’s the friction which helps make great art.
A note: there’s some background noise during the interview. I don’t tend to ask artists to make sure they have nothing else going on in their households because we’re not in a studio and these are the sounds of life, which are welcome.
Listen to ‘Remain Strange’ on Apple Music
Listen to ‘Remain Strange’ on YouTube
