Hello everyone, thank you for joining us today on the Virtual RGM Lounge. Grab a beer and take a seat.What made you decide that music was for you?
I connected with it at a young age. I started with regular school-age piano and guitar lessons and continued from there.
Please introduce all the members and your musical history.
Only me! I’m an independent artist from New Zealand. Over the past five years or so, I’ve been writing songs with a little more intention and have recently started releasing some songs. I played in a band in high school, but I never took it seriously. During my college years, I developed a true love for finger-picked, acoustic-based music and eventually started writing my own songs.
What was your life like before you started making music?
It was always there in some form. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been listening to it all the time, even when I wasn’t playing.
What was the first song you heard that introduced you to music?
The turning point was hearing Ben Howard for the first time when I was about 18 years old. I remember “Keep Your Head Up” coming on the radio and I just stopped what I was doing and listened. I was fascinated.He is still my favorite artist and his album is all kingdoms He has done more for his own path than any other record. From that day on, I started playing in open tunings and experimenting with fingerpicked melodies.
Where do you think you are in the music industry right now?
A very small fish that lives in the sea. I just released my first EP and have released a few singles so far, but I’m still learning the dark arts of how to get your music out there and get heard. That’s a lot of work.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from others in the industry?
To achieve anything, you need to invest a lot of your own passion, time, and ultimately money.
Tell me two truths and one lie about yourself.
I was born in Guatemala, speak Spanish, and was an extra in The Lord of the Rings.
If you could wish for one thing to help your career, what would it be?
To be honest, it just gives independent artists a little more recognition. Here in New Zealand, you don’t get the love from the radio or music magazines. Even the path to boosting up-and-coming unknown artists here seems to be giving a lot of help to already established artists and bands. It’s very frustrating.
Have you ever worried about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
About my music? Not really. I don’t think I write about controversial things or see myself that way. And I keep my social media presence pretty low key, so I don’t have many opportunities to do that. I think I just want people to judge the music itself. If you like the song, give it a listen, if you don’t, that’s okay.
Do you agree with conspiracy theories? If not, why not?
Well, there’s no conspiracy theory per se. have There may be extraterrestrial life somewhere.
What is your worst experience on stage?
This goes back a long way and was something of a learning experience, but when I was about 12 years old, my first band played at an all-school assembly to welcome members of the legendary Kiwi band. became. split ends To speak to the school. We were playing one of their songs. I was the singer and bass player, and I kept singing in the wrong key, so I had to start over three times. It’s a funny story now, but at the time it was very frustrating.
Please tell us something you think people would be surprised about about each member.
I work full-time in the architecture profession and spent five years in college completing my degree. Music for me is very much a part-time passion, and to be honest, the further my career progresses, the harder it becomes to dedicate time to music.
I heard you have new music, could you tell me about it?
The Time EP is about how we look back on ourselves as we get older. These songs have been in the works since her early 20s, and she recently recorded them when she was 28 years old.th birthday. Before moving on to something new, I decided to record and share these songs that share something in common. It may sound melancholic, but it’s a hopeful and optimistic song. They are a reminder of a time when we were succumbed to our own expectations, an ode to fleeting moments of nostalgia and wonder, and an honest attempt to look forward rather than backward.
What was the recording process like?
Last year I spent two months on a farm in the mountains of Tuscany. I had been working in London for a few years and needed a break from city life before returning to New Zealand. I used to play in a little cabin there a lot and at that point I had decided to record an EP. I reached out to a fellow Kiwi producer in London (Brydon Hulse) and he suggested I start by sending him recordings of environmental sounds around me: birds chirping, bees, thunderstorms. Suggested. When we returned to London after our holiday in Italy, Brydon went back and forth between several studios and spaces to record the musical parts themselves, and then as I continued to travel, Brydon took charge of the production side. He did. We exchanged notes until the final version of The Time EP was completed. The EP incorporates many of his ambient sounds, especially in the transitions between tracks.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing new songs?
The overall concept and flow of this EP is time. To be honest, sometimes it takes me a while to write something.last track best of it It took about four years to complete. I happened to come up with a melody while jamming in my room, but I couldn’t find the lyrics to make a song out of it. It wasn’t until after my experience in Tuscany that I approached it from a new angle and the song came together. The whole EP is about the tension between looking forward and looking back in life, and I think the musical takeaway from this is that we shouldn’t be afraid to do the same.
Now that it’s complete, do you want to change anything?
It’s always the little details that make the EP what it is when finalizing a mix, but they’re the ones that make the EP what it is. I’m pretty satisfied as it is!
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Give it a listen, and if you like it, please save it, make it a playlist, or share it in some way. As an independent artist, every little thing helps. peace and love.
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