Why Kiwi by Proxy …. revisited

Well, I have been doing the podcasts for a little more than a year now and it would seem it has “taken off”. The podcast has gone from being played on my MySpace page to being on an official blog to being the top podcast on iTunes under the search term Kiwi music. In December of 2008 it began airing fortnightly on a radio station in Christchurch (thanks Ben you are one of a kind). More recently I was even interviewed for a community radio station in Wellington. Subsequently, surreal is a word that I have been making heavy use of the past few days.

I will tell you I feel strange about all of it. I mean I am used to working behind the scenes (in my day job) and letting my boss get the spotlight and believe me that is something with which I am most comfortable.

When I initially had the idea for the podcast it simply involved me recording and mixing the interviews that other people were to do. I never wanted to be the one that did the interviewing or even the “DJ-ing”. I just wanted to get the music out somehow and thought the podcast would serve that purpose in a small way. I was hoping others would do that “public” part.

Well that wasn’t meant to be and now, well I mean that’s ok. My taking the DIY approach has led to opportunities in meeting some incredibly kind, generous, and humble people and better still talking music with them.

In talking with these people it has given me insight into how they go about making their music (something that completely fascinates me because it perplexes me how people take something they hear in their head or in their heart and translate it aurally.) But along with gaining a better understanding of the music making process I think I have figured out what makes it so good. It’s to do with those incredibly kind, generous and humble people. They got soul.

The last interview (well chat session) I did was with Dan Yeabsley. We were discussing this particular point after the official interview had ended. Dan wondered what exactly it is about New Zealand music that has a certain effect on folks – is it the technical aspect of things or is the feeling?  After further contemplation on this I think have to say it is both.

All the folks I have spoken with are well trained musicians. They know how to play. They know what notes go where and why. They know music. But they also have a passion for it. Again, they got soul.

In my line of work we stress the importance of not separating the heart from the mind in matters of faith. The heart will not accept what the mind rejects, nor should it. This basic truth has carried over into my understanding and love of music (and in the immediate context, New Zealand music).

I love watching a musician play strange and difficult chord progressions, I love hearing the subtleties of a certain instrument on a studio recording, I love all the technical stuff but I also love the feeling the music stirs deep within me. I love that not only can I think about the music but that I can feel it as well.

New Zealand music provokes both thought and feeling unlike any other “scene” that has come and gone in the past few decades. That is why I am so passionate about it and that is why I seek to do my little part in getting the word out to anyone willing to listen.

I thank everyone who is supporting this effort – be it by subscribing to the blog, the iTunes download, the newsletter, or even those who stumble across the blog and take time to download the podcasts here.  It is encouraging to know we are of like minds on this.

Of course we should all thank the wonderful musicians who are making this great music. I thank them for being true to their craft and being true to both their hearts and minds. I thank them for being humble as well. That is a hard thing to find in folks especially in musicians, and especially in musicians of a particular caliber (such as those found in New Zealand).

Keep doing what you do and I for one will keep supporting it in the best way I can.