Selector July 2002

bicRungadotnet

Selector July 2002

"Some shoots make me look amazing. I literally look at them and think, 'wow, I look beautiful'. But I have seen professional photos of me looking really very ugly."
Bic Runga, July 2002

News Articles

Selector Magazine (Sounds Music NZ)
July, 2002

Bic Runga - Beautiful Collision

Original article is at: www.soundsnz.com

July 2002

By Selector

It's been said countless times that privacy is the price one pays for fame. Yet it's not uncommon to hear celebrities grizzle about the endless interviews that ultimately make them famous. Sitting in a café, waiting for my turn with Kiwi songbird Bic Runga, however, I can completely understand why.

She is here to talk about her new album, Beautiful Collision and there's not even enough time for her to take a breath before the next round of questions is fired at her. She sits at a table opposite journalist after journalist. Eventually my turn comes up and I approach the table where Runga is sitting, only to be choked by the diva herself. She grabs the scarf I'm wearing and pulls it towards her. "This is gorgeous! Where did you get it?!"

More importantly, what are you wearing, Bic? Image can be everything in this industry and what a musician wears offstage can say a lot about them. "Ummmmm, let's see," she says. "This is a Marc Jacobs denim jacket." Enough said. Even if you don't give two hoots about fashion, this is important. She is wearing what is unequivocally the piece of the last two seasons. This is not something she would have just stumbled across in any old store, or been given by a stylist.

Where did you get it? "Browns, I think, New York," she says. Runga denies it of course but she's a shopper. And a very good one. The rest of what she's wearing hardly matters, for she has given away a very important clue. The girl is into detail. (You just have to be to appreciate the Victoriana shoulders, pin-tucking and multi-pleated sculpted back of her jacket.)

"Oh yeah," she enthuses. "I'm completely into the craft of things." She's used the word 'craft' a lot in all the interviews she has done to promote Beautiful Collision - and for good reason. "I produced this album myself. It took three years. I put myself through school again making this music, in terms of learning. I have learnt so much." Along with the three years it took to make the album, it was two years before that, her first album, Drive was released to critical acclaim from both New Zealand and overseas.

So what, exactly has she learnt in the last five years? "I worked with 12 different engineers on this album. I worked in eight different studios in Los Angeles, New York, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. You can't help but learn things," she explains. "Every one of those 12 engineers had a little trick to teach me, something which could completely change the sound of the music. I know more about microphones than I thought was possible. I actually have an intimate understanding of mikes and what they do to my voice."

The album was finally mixed in February this year at New York's quad studios by mix-master Michael Brauer (of Coldplay, Eric Clapton and New Radicals mixing fame.) So after three years of singing, recording, travelling and writing, the whole thing was put together in one little room in New York.

"I worked harder on this project than I ever have in my whole life," she says. "I slaved for this album. I am so proud to have achieved this, this goal beyond anything I had imagined. I'm just looking forward to it coming out now."

This is what Runga means when she talks about craft, whether that means sewing a skirt or painting a portrait. She is much more interested in the mix than the pudding, so to speak. "Whatever I do in my life, it involves detailed work. Whether it's beading or embroidery, which I do anyway, the craft is what's important. Without the craft there is no end result."

This rings true for Beautiful Collision. The songs aren't as catchy or as bound to get loads of airplay as past tracks like Drive but they are beautifully crafted and her enthusiasm is audible in the music. There's an obvious layering of talent in the first single, Get Some Sleep, with backing vocals by Pluto and guitar from Dave Dobbyn. Runga has real friends and role models in Dobbyn and the Finn brothers - she has recorded at Neil Finn's home studio, toured with him and asked him for advice.

"I can honestly say that if this album doesn't get rave reviews, I won't be that upset. I'm already proud of the work that has gone into it," Runga says. "The press is definitely something to be wary of but it's been so long since I've released anything that I'm actually looking forward to some sort of response."

Reviews so far have been enthusiastic. Fans on various websites are thrilled to have their beloved Bic back and just as thrilled with her new music. Other reviewers pre-warn radio stations they'd be stupid not to play Get Some Sleep.

While Runga's musical celebrity grows, both here and in the States, so too does her quest for perfection in the promotion of her work. "I'm learning to get stroppy with stylists and photographers in saying what I do and don't like. I hate shoots. While I love clothes, shoots are like endless trying-on sessions. And no matter what you see in the end, it's really all about light. They could put hideous people in hideous clothes and make them look beautiful with the right light," she says.

Runga is beautiful, with or without makeup. She is tiny, as is widely known but even in a well lit café in the middle of the day and with a bare face she has amazing features, almost exaggerated but when combined, completely riveting. Huge black eyes, ridiculously sculpted cheekbones, and a pouting, child-like mouth.

Do you think you're beautiful? "Some shoots make me look amazing. I literally look at them and think wow, I look beautiful. But I have seen professional photos of me looking really very ugly. That's why there is also a feeling of dread when photos come out. I really wish they'd let me veto things more."

And with that, she's up and off. She has another journalist to meet at her house and she doesn't want to be late. This is one musician who is, after all, a true professional. It shows in her music, in her attitude and in her utter dedication to what she does. Hell, the girl even shops like a pro.