The Eighth Note is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians. A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music. Up next is Auckland/Wellington band Butter Wouldn’t Melt, who release their debut album earlier this year.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
We are Butter Wouldn’t Melt – Nick Burfield and Andrea Reid with accompaniment from Derek Burfield and Jean Reid. We’re a group that started out in the Folk Music scene in New Zealand and we’ve been slowly trying to branch out into other acoustic indie scenes as well. We play acoustic music with lots of harmonies. Our music is a bit country, a bit 90’s melancholy and we write some songs about New Zealand history. Our music has some traditional folk instruments and Nick plays an old acoustic archtop guitar.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
We are always working on new music, we recently finished a piece that reflects on our experience with all the polarization during the pandemic, we recorded a live version, and this will be next on the list to record in the studio.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Linktree for all links is here.
Website.
Facebook.
YouTube.
Instagram.
Bandcamp.
Spotify.
Apple Music.
Itunes.
Deezer.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
Nick: I had an old cassette tape with rock and roll standards like ‘Rock around the Clock’, ‘Johnny B Goode’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ etc, I also had access to a bunch of my dad’s old records including the original release of Jesus Christ Superstar which has a killer rock band on it. I don’t know if I would call them the most influential on my music though. The three that have had the most influence on me are probably The Band – The Last Waltz, Gillian Welch – Harrow and the Harvest, The Black Keys – Thickfreakness
Andrea: The key recordings that really touched and motivated me were recordings of my dad since he passed before I was born, I have an old copy of him singing at Poles Apart Folk Club in the 70s and an old record of Mollers Farm, these are the things that really influenced me to play personally.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
I think it would be great to do a collaboration with Bill Hickman, Barry and the Crumpets, T-Bone, You, Me, Everybody (Kim’s in wellington.)
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
We have loved playing at Moon and Wellington Bluegrass Society, we are keen to play at Meow one day too.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Nick: It usually starts with either an idea or a piece of guitar music. If it’s the guitar then Andrea will tell me what the music sounds like to her and will give me some sort of story to go off or idea to get across. If it’s the other way around then I will try come up with some music that fits the idea or story she gives me. Then we back and forth on the words, rip it all apart, figure out what’s working and not working. We try to replace or get rid of anything that feels clunky. If it survives all of that it might make it in front of people.
Where/when is your next gig?
We have been laying low since our North Island Tour ended, but we have a South Island Tour in the works which will hopefully take place in August.