Bic Runga took plenty of time to ponder
during the recording of Beautiful Collision.

Original article appeared at, and is copyright 2004 to BBC Norfolk

Bic Runga is New Zealand's biggest selling artist.

Her ear for a melody and stunning looks - blended from her Maori and Chinese ancestry - have helped her notch up a 10-times platinum record.

The singer-songwriter is now hoping to conquer our shores with her second album, Beautiful Collision.

The 28-year-old slaved on her record for three years hopping in and out of eight studios.

She wrote the songs, sang, played the piano, drums and guitar and produced in an effort which she said she will never repeat.

The album was an all-absorbing project for Bic, and even her mum Sophia and sisters Pearl and Boh - who is in New Zealand band Stellar - were drawn in to help.

She also called upon her friend - who she may soon rival for the label of New Zealand's best known musical export - Neil Finn.

The Crowded House main man dished out the backing vocals and added the finishing flourishes.

Bic chatted to Zoe Applegate about starting out again and why making records is better than selling shoes.

You're promoting your new album with a tour - how excited are you to be getting on the road in the UK?

I'm really excited. I think for any singer-songwriter it's all that matters being on the road.

To finally be able to do a headlining tour is a big deal to me because I've only ever been a support artist in the UK.

You last came to Norwich in January with Aqualung. How did that go?

It was good, I think that was a good one actually.

I just remember sitting in the university canteen all day waiting for sound check.

That's what it's like being a support artist - you're just waiting around for another artist. Like I say it's a big deal to finally be doing my own show.

What can people expect from your show in Norwich?

I'm with a band now. Some of it will still be acoustic but I have a band made up of another band called the Devastations. They're a brilliant Australian-based band.

What's your favourite song from the album?

The Be All And End All. It's a wry country song, it's a reluctant love song.

You recorded Beautiful Collision in eight studios. Why did you choose to work that way?

I couldn't sit still and I was trying to produce the record myself and that did my head in.

I spent too long making the record - I spent three years and it's not a very social thing to do. It's obsessive and it makes you a bit weird.

You were pretty much involved in every process, so what has life been like since its release?

It's like my life began when it came out.

When you obsess about one thing for three years you do fall off the face of the earth.

You really lose touch. Once I could let it go my life continued.

You chose to produce your own album as well. Why did you do that rather than take somebody else on board?

I couldn't find the right person. I might be able to now that I live here and I'm meeting more people, but back home it was really hard to find the right person.

Also, I wanted to arm myself with the knowledge of how to produce things so I know how to do things, so I'm not at the mercy of someone else.

I think listening to the record now it doesn't sound like any other record especially.

It's an old thing to get young female singer-songwriters in with old guys to produce their records. You just end up with the same old sound.

So although you felt obsessed with it at the time you're pleased that you chose that path.

Yeah, definitely. I've been producing a record for an Australian singer/songwriter called Tim Guy and it's nice because now that I know more about being in the studio I've got something to offer somebody else.

When you're producing somebody else you're thinking about what somebody else wants rather than trying to be self-objective which is impossible.

Bic Runga on the seashore

You've got your own label, are you planning to release any of your own material on it?

No. Contractually I'm not able to but it's a good vehicle for me to do what I want to do with other people.

You played the piano, drums and guitar on your latest album. When did you learn to play all these instruments?

My mum taught me to play the drums when I was 11 and she bought me a gold sparkly Premier drum kit when I was a kid.

She was pretty cool my mum. She was motivated by Karen Carpenter being a drummer.

Your sisters helped with the vocal direction on the album. Did they have much of an influence on the sound?

No, not really on the sound but just in encouraging me.

They really helped me sing the songs. After three years of obsessing about 12 songs, you don't know how to sing them any more.

It's nice to be shown how to sing the songs in the eleventh hour, yes.

Neil Finn sings the backing vocals and plays the piano on some of your songs as well. How did he get involved?

I toured with him a lot and he's my mentor really, he's a friend.

I asked him to help me and he just put the songs to bed really. He finished them off - put backing vocals on things and played the piano.

How did you come across him?

I toured with him across Europe. He asked me to when I was about 21. I toured with him in New Zealand and Europe.

There are five years between the release of your first and second albums. Why was their such a gap?

It was just that making the second one took too long.

Do you think you'll make that mistake again?

No. I would never make a record under such conditions again. I think there's a lot to be said for going with your instincts.

Probably the best records are made quickly as a live session with a good band.

The next time I make a record I don't even want to play instruments. I just want to be a singer.

That would be nice to concentrate on vocals and have everything live in the vocal.

You're New Zealand's biggest selling artist so does it feel like you're having to start over again?

It is like starting again but I don't mind that at all.

It's fine - it's humbling to be anonymous again and see fame for what it is because it's not really anything to write home about.

Is there much inspiration for writing songs, over here in Britain?

Oh absolutely. I'm writing a lot now. Everything is amplified in the northern hemisphere.

When I'm at home in New Zealand I feel like hibernating. It's a really safe place to be but here it's urgent.

Everything here is foreign and exotic and exciting. I guess I'm really inspired.

Your career has taken you from New Zealand to living in New York and France.

It comes with being a songwriter - being a travelling singer. It's a folk kind of thing to do, I guess, to travel and write songs. It's a great part of the job.

When your first album came out got into the top 10 in New Zealand, you were still working in a shoe shop. Is that a surreal thing to happen?

No, it's quite typical in New Zealand because we don't have the same idea of celebrity that you have in America.

Most New Zealand musicians still have jobs because it's such a small market. You might be huge, but huge in New Zealand is still small.

So now you're casting your net wider?

I actually make a really good living out of New Zealand because my album is 10 times platinum which is phenomenal. So I'm in an unusual situation but it's cool.