Hi, I’m Nur Peach and I’m a singer-songwriter from New Zealand. I was born and grew up in the Coromandel Peninsula in a musical family. My father is a professional musician and I’ve been singing as long as I can remember. I’ve been writing songs since I was five, and playing guitar and piano since I was nine.
In 2019, when I was 18 years old, I moved to Auckland (the biggest city in New Zealand) to start a Bachelor of Music at the University of Auckland. I was fresh out of high school and until then had lived with my parents and brother in the Coromandel Peninsula. Our house was surrounded by bush with big gardens and a stream in the backyard. It was just a short walk down the road to the beach.
The city was very different. I lived in a university hall of residence, in a room that could’ve fit three times into my room at home. The busy streets, traffic and tall buildings of Auckland CBD were the new backdrop to my life. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. But it was also one of the best years of my life.
The people in my year at uni were singer-songwriters, like me. I’d never been around so many musicians my own age, and that was amazing, but I struggled to fit in. I always have, ever since I was a kid. I’ve always been a little different from the rest. It was easier at uni than it had been at school, but I still never quite felt like “one of them.” So I started writing songs about it.
The first one came when I was in class, listening to our teacher explain a songwriting assignment. He was talking about syncopation (accenting the offbeats) and how it makes melodies catchy. “It helps to be a little offbeat,” he said.
The moment he said the word offbeat, I heard these words in my head: “We’re singing offbeat now, we’re singing offbeat now.” It was the hook for my single “Offbeat,” complete with the harmonies you hear in the finished recording! I knew this would be an anthem for people who are different- offbeat in real life, rather than just musically. And it was the first spark of Syncopate, my first album, all of which I wrote within that year.
‘Syncopate’ is a word that, despite being not so well known outside the music community, finds its way into song lyrics enjoyed by the public a fair bit. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the song’s initial inspiration, it found its way into “Offbeat.” Walking down the street one day, I was thinking about how much I like the word, and how snappy and catchy it sounds. I decided it would be a great title for an album.
I’ve used syncopation as a metaphor for daring to be different and to make a difference. And people like me, who aren’t like everyone else, I’ve called them “syncopators.”
Despite being quick to write, the album took several years to record due to lockdowns. The process started in 2020, but most of it was recorded in 2022, after I’d graduated from uni. It was recorded with Auckland producer Scott Seabright in his home studio and was a really collaborative process.
I already knew how I wanted the songs to sound, but I needed his expertise to get them sounding as polished as I wanted them. Working with someone else on my songs was a real challenge, but I’m so glad I did and am really proud of how it turned out.
One of my favourite songs on the album is “Lovers and Leavers.” I think it’s one of the rawest, realest songs I’ve ever written, and the recording contains some of my best vocals. I cried recording it in the studio.
Lyrically, “Lovers and Leavers” deals with intense feelings of loneliness and abandonment. It’s a love song to the whole world, especially the people who have come and gone from my life. It’s a promise to keep my heart open despite being hurt, to stay true to who I am rather than conforming to the world, even when that’s hard.
On June 22nd, Syncopate was released to the world. It’s hard to sum up in words what it means to me. I guess you could say it’s a diary of my first year at university. It’s about taking risks and making big changes in your life, about feeling the fear but doing it anyway. In it, you’ll hear me loving the city and my newfound independence. You’ll hear me missing home and my family.
And of course, you’ll hear about my personal experience of being different. It’s all in there: the loneliness of not fitting in, the struggle to remain true to yourself, and the liberation that comes from self acceptance. Daring to be different is how we change the world. Because we’re all connected. And we all have it in us to be syncopators.
Listen to Syncopate below, and stream it elsewhere here.
