2004 Media Articles

Daily News, New Plymouth

Singer looks forward to gallery visit

Original content copyright 2004 to Daily News, New Plymouth

Original article is at:    Daily News, New Plymouth

Date:                         23 April, 2004

By:                            Denise Tutaki

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC: Bic Runga is keen to visit New Plymouth,
and not just for the music.

Bic Runga is back from overseas, and talks to DENISE TUTAKI about art, France and music.

Bic Runga is excited about coming down to New Plymouth but not for the reasons one would think.

Sure, the gig will be great, but it's the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery that has the singer enthused.

Questions come thick and fast about the gallery, how long it has been running, the Mediarena art exhibition and Len Lye.

"I've heard that New Plymouth has a really good gallery, so I'm really excited about getting down there," Runga says.

Runga is back in the country for a series of acoustic shows that are being held in a variety of churches from Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral to the Christchurch Cathedral.

There is no church show for New Plymouth, however, the TSB Theatre will suffice. But church performances or not, there is a huge demand to see Runga, with extra shows being added to the tour. "Beautiful Collision was just released in the United Kingdom and I launched it in a church setting. It was perfect, such a beautiful place to be and the acoustics were really good" she says, explaining how the idea for the acoustic church tour eventuated.

Life is going well for Runga, and her second album is racing up the charts around Europe.

"I had only hoped to be overseas for eight months. I had just wanted to see if I coul actually sell my records in one other country in the world".

Runga still has a place in France - "a hovel of an apartment above the Picasso Museum. It's got a balcony overlooking the Picasso sculptures.

"New Zealanders can easily get a visa there for a year, but I'm looking at getting an artists visa now so I can stay there for another four years".

Despite the success, the musician seems to hover between being elated and cautious. She admits she is always careful about what she wishes for.

"When your dreams come true, you never think it's going to be what it is going to be. But really, it's exceeded all my expectations".

Runga has come a long way since the release of her debut Drive in 1997 established her as a star. The album won a swag of Tui awards, including Album of the Year, Best Vocal Performance and Best Songwriter. She also took away the coveted Silver Scroll for songwriting, and Drive went on to become the best-selling local artist album in New Zealand music history.

Over the next two years, Drive was released around the world and Runga travelled relentlessly. She was based in New York for long periods of time, where several of the songs for Beautiful Collision were written.

Runga's ability to pen a song was developed at an early age, thanks to elder sister Boh from the band Stellar*. The memory provokes a laugh, a reminder of how far she has actually come. "The song was I Can See You Ass Shining in the Moonlight. Boh really should have known better. She was twelve and I was only six, but she was my hero, my big, cool older sister".

The song was subsequently erased from the tape deck, the sisters fearing the worst if it was discovered. But Runga feels there is merit to the idea that songwriters are just mediums for the songs.

"The way that you just receive these songs is kind of true, and it is the best way to write a song. Although you still have to craft it and shape it - cutting the diamond so to speak - there is still the inspirational side to it."

She feels Beautiful Collision lacks the naiveté of Drive, something she tried to capture in her second album. "But I think I was burnt out before it was released. Just being part of the music industry, the travel, being away from home- you grow up pretty fast. I'm an older person now, anyway, and you lose that naiveté".

She becomes slightly defensive when asked about the sensationalism surrounding her comments on racism in New Zealand, made to an international newspaper. She reacted to the headlines back home via press release, stating they did not truthfully convey what she thought, nor who she actually was and that was heartbreaking o come home and read the stories.

"That was the Sunday News then the New Zealand Herald ran with it. There was a whole lot of letters to the editor the next day, basically saying, this is ridiculous. This i not news. Someone like me is going to grow up with racism. I had never experienced that before - it was a real beat up, news out of nothing.

Despite that one hiccup, there are plenty more things t be excited about. A new record label has been established, Nu Shoo, and Runga has been signed up by a leading London label.

"The name Nu Shoo comes from an ancient Chinese dialect only women can use. I think there are only two women in the world that can speak it, it's virtually extinct. Having my own label gives me a chance to help people make music.

"Your not so self-involved because you have to think about what is best for them. It's like having a kid."

Runga appears at the TSB Theatre on Tuesday, April 27. Tickets at Ticketek.