[1] Zulfia (Zulya) Kamalova[2] was born in Sarapul but grew up in Tatarstan and began performing and writing music at age of 9.

[2] In 1990, she was selected to travel to California as part of a Perestroika-era whitewater-rafting youth exchange − where she met John Weir, an Australian adventure guide.

They married, and moved to Australia in August 1991 (the exact time the USSR dissolved), settling in Hobart, Tasmania.

[2] While in Hobart, she studied at the Conservatorium, worked as a translator for CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources), and started to play her own music and record albums (limited-run cassettes and a full-length album Journey of Voice) with the support of like-minded people, particularly Martin Tucker.

[2] In 2001 in Hobart, she met her the love of her life, Andrew Tanner, who became her companion, collaborator and father of their daughter Zifa.

[3][8] Instrumentation typically includes accordion,[9] double bass, percussion, guitar,[10] brass and string arrangements and occasionally jaw harp.