‘New Album’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest release. Up next are Ruby Solly and Michelle Velvin who perform as the duo Tāmira Pūoro, and have just released their debut album, ‘Feather Spines’.
When/where was the new album recorded?
MV: ‘Feather Spines’ was recorded by Lee Prebble at Wellington’s Surgery Studio in March 2021, after two years of prep. It really felt like a sense of ‘coming home’ once we were able to lay everything out and listen to it in the studio.
RS: It was super rewarding to be able to get into the studio after all that time, and it was great to be able to use all the different spaces at the Surgery to capture all the different volumes of instruments. It made it feel a lot more comfortable to play, and meant that we could get a lot of those smaller nuances into our playing just for the recording that aren’t always able to be there live.
Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
MV: The album was mixed by David Long, and mastered by Mike Gibson. The tracks were each conceptualized in their complete forms before the recording date. But to record our tracks we had to complete each one as a full take – due to the nature of our improvised and elastic compositional forms.
RS: It was great to be working with David Long for this album, and we both love the treatment he gave our songs and compositions. It feels like there’s an overall world that they take place in, which was something that we sought to create from the get-go.
How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
MV: The songwriting was a process of improvisation and experimentation. We spent a lot of time exploring what sounds we could make together and how these sounds interacted with each other. The nature of our instruments is such that there is a large spectrum of colours that are on the soft to very soft side. Being able to delve into a more still and atmospheric sound world was an enjoyable part of the process, and it was quite special to be able to create an environment where these sounds encapsulate and surround the listener.
RS: I think exploration and experimentation sums up the process really well for us. It’s like letting instruments meet and discovering how they communicate… and if they like each other at all! We’re lucky too to have tuakana within this specific part of improv and composing with these instruments including Richard Nunns, David Long, and Natalia Mann with their album Utterance. In terms of overall themes, I think again this album does a lot of world building and, within that, it brings folk lore, characters and their issues and the sounds of a wider world, where both these instrumental traditions exist together.
Were you going for a different sound/approach on this album?
MV: The overarching concept of ‘Feather Spines’ was to have the album consist of two sides. The first, a series of instrumentals featuring taonga pūoro, cello, and harp with a range of influences including classical, waiata Māori, folk and bluegrass. The second side features a series of songs featuring the vocals of Solly and Velvin, including acapella track Huia and the Magpie which tells the story of how the Huia bird was hunted to extinction, but with a dark romantic twist. The record has an otherworldly feel, yet is firmly based in Aotearoa with a strong footing in multiple layers of our collective pasts.
RS: I really love just being able to create a soundworld with someone else, and being able to use pieces like waka to carry meaning. That was a special part of having the split album with the compositions and then songs; it allowed us to say the bigger or trickier things without words or allow the audience to grow their own story, and then we got to be more explicit about what we wanted to say as well.
Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
RS: It’s funny to think of it as gear in a way, but the taonga pūoro we used were often chosen for their connections to both te taiao, and important pūrākau within the album. There’s a lot of hue pūtangitangi on this album in songs like Baby Dream where it represents both whare takata through the hue, and the deep tangi at the loss of a child.
Is there a particular single/track that you feel captures the essence of the album?
MV: I think that ‘Feather Spines’ title track Feather Spines captures the essence of the album. The layers of texture and poetry set your imagination on a journey through the Earth, getting closer and closer to Aotearoa.
RS: I completely agree. We wrote ‘Feather Spines’ and One to give context and help the listener settle in to each side of the album so they really sum up the overall musical space, and also are companion pieces to each other in a way too with their use of stone tumutumu.
Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
MV: ‘Feather Spines’ is available as a digital release from Oro Records via Bandcamp, we had some very limited edition bookmarks at the launch too if you were lucky to get one of those!
Are you working on a video/videos for any of the songs? Are you doing any gigs or promotion for its release?
MV: We had an intimate release showing during the afternoon of the 19th of February in the Wellington town belt reserve in Aro Valley, surrounded by native trees and birds.
RS: It was awesome to be able to play within the Waimapihi reserve with the tautoko of Ngā Kaitiaki o Waimapihi, especially since we wrote the compositions in this area too! A lovely way to give back to place and people.