Mojo Juju

Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga, known professionally as Mo'Ju[1] and previously as Mojo Juju, is an ARIA Award-nominated Australian musician, best-known for her 2018 album Native Tongue and the lead single of the same title. The single won the Best Independent Single category in the 2019 AIR Awards. She plays guitar and piano, writes songs and sings, and has created music in a number of genres.

Mo'Ju
Mo'Ju performing live in Sydney, 2018
Background information
BornNew South Wales, Australia
OriginMelbourne, Australia
Occupation(s)Singer/songwriter, musician
Years active2006–present
LabelsABC Music
Associated actsKira Puru,

Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes, A. B. Original, Joelistics, Djuki Mala, Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore

Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants
Websitemojojuju.net
MembersStevie 'T-Bone' Ruiz de Luzuriaga (Drums & Co-writer, also Mojo's younger brother)
Past membersYeo Choong (Keytar, Bass Guitar & Bass Synth),

Henry Jenkins (Bass Guitar) Lewis Coleman (Keys) Hudson Whitlock (Drums) Darcy McNulty (Saxophone) Philip Smiley (Drums)

Damian Fitzgerald (Drums)

Mo'Ju has toured with international performers and her music has been featured in a number of television shows. Her identity is a matter of pride and she spoken publicly and through her music about being Wiradjuri, Filipino and queer.

Early life

Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga was born in regional New South Wales. Her Father is Filipino, from Bacolod City, Negros and her Mother is mixed race, of Wiradjuri and European heritage[2]. Her family moved around the region when she was a young child due to her Father's work, but her grandparents lived in Dubbo where she attended high school. She has spoken openly about feeling like an outsider through her childhood and how this laid the grounds for her exploration of cultural identity in her work. Her father, speaks but did not teach her Spanish, Ilonggo or Tagalog language. [3]

Mojo grew up around music with a number of musicians in her Mother's family. She had a few piano lessons before starting to play the guitar aged eight.[4]

In a 2019 interview with SBS TV's The Feed Mo'ju said: "Traditions are really important and family histories give you an insight into your own identity. Songwriting is a huge part of keeping those oral traditions alive."[5]

Career

Mo'ju has toured with international performers[6] Tony Joe White, Rufus Wainwright[7], Aloe Blacc [8] and Australian artists including Hilltop Hoods, Paul Kelly and Kira Puru.

Mo'ju has performed live shows with artists such as Hiatus Kaiyote, Ella Hooper, Kaiit, Sampa The Great[9] and[10] Emma Donovan.

Her music has been featured in a number of television shows including Underbelly: Razor, Underbelly: Squizzy, Roadtrip Nation [11] and Total Control.

Mo'ju was interviewed in the documentary film Her Sound, Her Story, along with a large number of high profile women in the Australian music industry[12].


2006–2010: Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants

In 2006-2010, Mojo fronted a band called Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants.[13] The band released two independent albums, Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants (2007) and Sellin' You Salvation (2009) before splitting.[14]

A compilation of earlier material, Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants – Anthology, was released in 2015 on European label Off-Label Records. to coincide with the release of German film Bestefreunde, whose soundtrack was composed entirely of songs from the band's back catalogue.[15]

2012–2015: Going solo

In January 2012, Ruiz de Luzuriaga released her eponymous (performing as Mojo Juju at the time) debut solo album on ABC Music. It featured the singles "Horse Named Regret" and "Must Be Desire",[16] and was in a blues style, featuring a lot of guitar.[4]

In April 2015, she released her second solo studio album Seeing Red/Feeling Blue, an album with more pop elements than the first, but touching on a range of genres. She used the piano to write it, and, wanting to develop a new sound, collaborated with her friend Ptero Stylus, who had been working with hip hop duo Diafrix, as well as musicians from soul acts the Putbacks and the Cactus Channel. It features the singles "A Heart Is Not a Yo-Yo" and "They Come and They Go".[4]

On 30 May 2015 Juju performed at Vivid Live with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.[4]

2018: Native Tongue

In August 2018, Mo'ju's third studio album Native Tongue was released, after four years in the making.[17] The album explored her family history, identity and race politics. [18] [17]

She has spoken of the highly personal nature of the album and the single, saying they were about “allowing yourself to own all those different parts of who you are”. Responding to criticism by right-wing commentator Andrew Bolt, who described the title track of the album as a complaint, Mo'ju said that it was in fact an “expression of some complex emotions, such as grief for a loss of culture and Indigenous languages and other impacts of assimilation, colonisation and the white-washing of non-western cultures. This is not a song of self-pity, [but rather]...a song of self-empowerment”.[19]

The Pasefika Vitoria Choir feature on the title track, which is produced by Malaysian-Australian hip hop artist Joelistics;[17] other artists on the album include Lay the Mystic, Mirrah, and Joshua Tavares.[20] Mo'ju's brother, Steve "T-Bone" Ruiz de Luzuriaga, and Melbourne-based producer and musician Yeo, were the backing musicians on the track.[17]

Mo'ju has said that performing this new material has "reignited her passion and purpose for music", but has also spoken out about the way women of colour and other diverse artists have been subject to tokenism in the industry. [21]

2019

Chicago Tribune listed Mo'ju (then Mojo Juju) as one of the top 12 acts to showcase at SXSW in 2019.[22]

In May of 2019 Mo'ju appeared as a featured artist on the single "Black Child" by Birdz[23]

In June 2019 Mo'ju joined A.B. Original as a guest vocalist for their live performance on the SummerStage in Central Park in New York[24].

Discography

Albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
[25]
Mojo Juju
  • Released: January 2012[26]
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Formats: Vinyl LP, CD, digital
 -
Seeing Red/Feeling Blue
  • Released: 17 April 2015[27]
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Formats: Vinyl LP, CD, digital
 -
Native Tongue
  • Released: 24 August 2018[28]
  • Label: ABC Music
  • Formats: Vinyl LP, CD, digital
 76

Singles

As lead artist
Year Title Album
2011 "Horse Named Regret" Mojo Juju
2012 "Must Be Desire"
2013 "Psycho" non-album single
2014 "A Heart Is Not a Yo-Yo" Seeing Red/Feeling Blue
2015 "They Come & They Go"
2017 "Think Twice" Native Tongue
2018 "Native Tongue"

Reception and awards

In 2015, Seeing Red/Feeling Blue was nominated for Best Soul, Funk, R’n’B and Gospel Album in The Age Music Genre Victoria Awards.[29]

In 2018, Juju won the Live R&B or Soul Artist of the Year (National Award) category in the National Live Music Awards.[30][31]

Native Tongue became Mojo Juju's first charting album, peaking at number 76 on the ARIA Charts.[32]

The music video for "Native Tongue", directed by Claudia Sangiorgi and featuring the Djuki Mala dancers from Elcho Island,[17] won the 2018 J Award for Australian Music Video of the Year.[32]

At the National Dreamtime Awards 2018 Mojo Juju was named Female Artist of the Year.[33]

At the 2019 Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Independent Music Awards, "Native Tongue" won Best Independent Single.[34][35]

At the National Indigenous Music Awards 2019, Native Tongue won Album of the Year and "Native Tongue" won Song of the Year.[36]

In October 2019, she came at no.7 in Happy Mag's list of "The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now".[37]

In October 2019 Juju was once again nominated in the National Live Music Awards, for both the Live R&B Or Soul Act Of The Year and Live Act of the Year (National Awards) as well as Live Act of the Year (Victoria).[38]

AIR

The annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Awards celebrate the success of Australian independent musicians.[34][35]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 "Native Tongue" Best Independent Single Won

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual award ceremony event celebrating the Australian music industry. Mojo Juju has been nominated for three awards.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018 Mojo Juju - Native Tongue ARIA Award for Best Urban Release Nominated
Breakthrough Artist Nominated
"Native Tongue" ARIA Award for Best Video Nominated

NDA

The National Dreamtime Awards are an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in sport, arts, academia and community. Mojo Juju won the Female Music Artist Award in 2018. [39][40]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018 Mojo Juju Female Music Artist Won

NIMA

The National Indigenous Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. Mojo Juju have won two award from four nominations.[41]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 Mojo Juju Artist of the Year Nominated
Native Tongue Album of the Year Won
"Native Tongue" Song of the Year Won
Film clip of the Year Nominated


NLMAS

The National Live Music Awards are an Australian nationwide awards event which honour the live performance of music acts, without taking into account possible releases or recordings. Mojo Juju has been nominated a number of times in various categories and has won 'Best Live RnB / Soul Act' in both 2018 and 2019. In 2019 Juju also won the award for 'Best Live Act in Victoria'.


Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018 Mojo Juju Best Live RnB / Soul Act Won
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 Mojo Juju Best Live RnB / Soul Act Won
Mojo Juju Best Live Act in Victoria Won

References
  1. Earp, Joseph (18 February 2020). "Mojo Juju Is Changing Her Name Out Of Spiritual Respect". Junkee. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. Everything!, Beverley Wang for Stop (18 August 2018). "'I will not apologise for taking up this space': Mo'Ju gets political with Native Tongue". ABC News. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. "Mojo Juju: Let's talk". The Pin. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. Ross, Annabel (15 May 2015). "Genre-bending soul singer Mo'ju puts the pow back into pop". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. Murphy-Oates, Laura (27 July 2019). "Mo'ju opened up her family photo album for us". The Feed. SBS. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  6. "The Age Music Victoria Awards: Courtney Barnett wins four categories". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  7. Harry, Michael (24 February 2019). "Rufus Wainwright masterful among the who's who at the zoo". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  8. "/". The Music. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  9. Twenty4. "Women of the World Make Noise 2017 — FCAC". Footscray Community Arts Centre. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  10. "Mo'ju National Tour Announced + New Album 'SEEING RED/FEELING BLUE' Out Now!". ABC Music. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  11. "Mojo Juju - Mushroom Music Publishing". Mushroom Music Publishing. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. Cambrie, Sasha. "Her Sound, Her Story Review". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  13. "Mojo Juju & the Snake Oil Merchants". triple j Unearthed. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  14. "Mojo JuJu". Tone Deaf. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  15. "Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants: Punk Noir - Garage Swing". Offlabelrecords. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  16. "Mojo Juju". ABC Music. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  17. Wang, Beverly (18 August 2018). "Mojo Juju talks race, family and representation in her third album, Native Tongue". ABC News. Radio National: Stop Everything!. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  18. Herald, Newcastle. "Review: Mojo Juju - Native Tongue". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  19. Buxton-Collins, Alexis (1 November 2019). "Mojo Juju claims a place in the conversation". Adelaide Review. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  20. "Native Tongue". ABC Music. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  21. Nicol, Emily (21 June 2018). "Mojo Juju fights back: 'I was too queer, too brown or not attractive enough to sell records'". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. Kot, Greg. "12 best up-and-coming bands and artists at SXSW". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  23. "Premiere: Birdz Finds Hope in Harsh Realities with 'Black Child'". Acclaim Magazine. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  24. "Inside the first SongHubs New York camp with Mojo Juju [photo diary]". The Music Network. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  25. "ARIA Chart Watch #488". auspOp. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  26. "Mojo Juju DD". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  27. "Seeing Red/Feeling Blue DD". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  28. "Native Tongue DD". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  29. McClelland, Rose (20 October 2015). "Finalists Announced for The Age Music Victoria Genre Awards". The AU Review. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  30. "National Live Music Awards Announces Nominees!". 2SER. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  31. Newstead, Al (7 December 2018). "Baker Boy, Stella Donnelly, more of your faves sweep National Live Music Awards". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  32. abc, triple j. "Music video of the year 2018". triple j. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  33. "Dream of love, and success will come (pp32-34)" (PDF). AIATSIS - The Koori Mail. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  34. "Courtney Barnett and Gurrumul Share Best Independent Album or EP AIR Award". noise11. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  35. "AIR Awards: 2019 AIR Awards Winners Announced!". AIM. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  36. "National Indigenous Music Awards 2019: Mojo Juju wins album and song of the year". ABC. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  37. "The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now". Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  38. "National Live Music Awards 2019 Nominees". Scenestr. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  39. "Dreamtime Awards Winners 2018". www.dreamtimeawards.com.au. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  40. "Dream of love, and success will come (pp32-34)" (PDF). AIATSIS - The Koori Mail. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  41. "National Indigenous Music Awards 2019: Mojo Juju wins album and song of the year". ABC. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
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