Biography: About Bic

From the Sony Music NZ Ltd. official Bic Runga website, and updated bio for 2002. This is the biosheet that gets distributed to radio stations, etc.

This content is copyright to Sony Music (New Zealand) Ltd.; the original content webpage can be viewed at www.bicrunga.com.

My name is Bic Runga.

Beautiful Collision is my second album and it took three years to make. ItÕs my follow up to Drive, a record which I'm told sold a lot of copies.

I have faith in my own ability as a songwriter and a musician. I worked harder than I can describe on this album. Time was not an issue. I worked with twelve different engineers, most of whom are still speaking to me. I worked in eight different studios in five different cities, carrying my hard drive around in a tool box. I played the piano, the drums and the guitar. I wasn't much of a pianist, a drummer or a guitarist before that, but it's been three years of trial and error.

I like Neil Young. I like David Bowie. I like Ella Fitzgerald. I like the Mamas and the Papas. I like Yoko Ono. I like Oliver Sacks. I like Milan Kundera. I like Billie Holiday. I like the Marianne Faithful autobiography. I like Comme des Garcon. I like Martin Margiela. I like Costume Nationale shoes. I like Picasso. I like J.D. Sallinger. I like toast. I like Mojitos. I like Irving Penn. Chanel make good eyeshadow. Yves Saint Laurent make good underwear. I like Cuban cigars but they're no good for my voice.

Most of the musicians who really blow me away are either dead or over 50. The first time music really spoke to me was when I first heard The Smiths when I was 12. I get my kicks from other things. Inspiration comes from weather, the sky, clouds, a beautiful piece of fabric, a texture, the way light will catch someoneÕs face and make them look different for a second.

Other things I could have done with three years of my life include:

writing a not very good novel
learning how to knit
reading Proust
making a claymation movie
becoming a landscape gardener
starving as a painter
making coffee for record producers

But there's still time. This is what I chose to do battle with and I like to think I've won.