Kylie Auldist

Kylie Auldist entered the world in the Australian countryside, a setting worlds removed from the soul and funk recordings that would later define her career. As a teenager she sang country numbers in nearby pubs before relocating to Melbourne, where her path crossed with the reggae outfit Secret Masters along with the funk groups Small Fish Deep Sea, Megabias, and Polyester. Lance Ferguson, Polyester’s guitarist, maintained a separate deep-funk project called the Bamboos that operated chiefly as an instrumental unit; he nevertheless asked Auldist to contribute vocals to several tracks for one festival set. She also lent her voice to a single cut on the Bamboos’ sophomore release, Rawville, which Tru Thoughts issued in 2007. The label responded by offering her a three-album contract on the strength of that lone performance, even though they had no further knowledge of her work. Her debut, Just Say, appeared in 2008 under the billing “the Bamboos present Kylie Auldist,” with Ferguson handling production and co-writing duties while drawing many of the lyrics from episodes in her own life. She remained a regular contributor on the Bamboos’ follow-up album Side-Stepper, likewise released that year. Produced once more by Ferguson, her second record, Made of Stone, arrived in 2009.