Jules Issa [Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu]

Jules Issa began her musical career singing in bands — first in Porirua group Sticks and Shanty, before moving to Auckland and joining The Twelve Tribes of Israel. Branching out solo, she released single ‘Dangerous Game’ on Auckland label Deepgrooves. It was a cover of a 1984 reggae track by Kiwi band Diatribe. A remix of the song won airplay on London radio station KISS FM, and in 1993 Issa was nominated for Most Promising Female Vocalist at the NZ Music Awards. Single ‘Discomfort in Their Eyes’ followed in 1994, before the release of Issa's mini-album Found in You the following year.