NADIA REID: Elemental Orchestrations
An interview by Tim Gruar.
Port Chalmers singer/songwriter, Silver Scroll and Taite Music nominee, Nadia Reid is going out on the road this July with her band and contemporary classical ensemble NZTrio. She will also perform with the Auckland Philharmonic as part of Elemental Nights series. She talked to Tim Gruar about becoming a parent, ‘going classical’ and her plans to head back out on the road.
Nadia is bathed in Dunedin’s warm morning sunlight when she beams in over my MS Teams link. Back in Wellington, where I am, it’s raining. “Sorry to hear that. It’s warm here. That’s the charm of this place,” she says, “Everyone thinks Dunedin is always cold, but they are wrong. It’s often sunny when everywhere else isn’t. It’s fresh and invigorating.” An inspiring place for a writer, no doubt. She’s in fine form, chatty and excited to be active again after a time of quiet domesticity (she and husband Angus became first time parents over lockdown), interrupted only occasionally by a coupe of on-stage appearances. But now she’s busy again, filling the calendar with activity including packing up the house and moving north.
“Actually, we moved here just before COVID, to the North East Valley. Just over the hill. (But) I still have my little house in Port Chalmers.”
Hang on. Isn’t she known as the ‘Singer from Port Chalmers’, it’s part of her ‘brand’? “I know, but I can see the house from here if I look carefully,” she smiles, “so….”.
“I was actually born in Auckland, raised in Port Chalmers. I have family up in the Auckland area. I’m a hoarder, so there’ll be some serious Marie Kondo action going on soon. We’re doing a sub-lease actually, because we’re the big plan is to get to UK next early next year. And, so, we’ll kind of skip winter.” That’s the plan.
I congratulate her on becoming a parent – and turning 30. “I’ve stalked you on Facebook. Seen the pictures. Your baby’s just beautiful.” “Thank you,” she smiles, “She’s one year old now. It was a fun and amazing time. It really feels like it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
As a parent myself, I ask her about how this experience has impacted her, as a writer, as a touring artist. Has she even had time to even think about music? “I know what you mean.” Calmly, she looks up and smiles again, “But it’s like taking time off work. Lockdown, I mean, you have a whole paradigm shift. I feel like I haven’t really haven’t had the chance to feel that loss of performing or recording (like other artists experienced) because she was born basically in the middle of that lockdown, which was actually a quite a lovely time. To have that luxury of time to spend with her, without the demands of having to perform”.
“To be honest, I’ve had quite a slow year, really. I mean, I think in my mind, I was like, you know, I’ll be back doing shows at three months (after giving birth) and that. Writing, recording. All that.”
Nadia does a short laugh and adds, “I was writing to Tammy Nielsen asking her, when I was pregnant, thinking ahead, if she thought I could do this with a 3-month-old baby? And she was like. “Sweetheart! Hell, No!” Well, I asked for the advice and I’m also glad that I was kind of forced into it. To take the time off. When I go on this tour, she’ll be a year old and so we’ve had a year with her.”
I asked Nadia if she could remember releasing ‘Out of My Province’, her third album, just before COVID hit the country. “It was a weird time. We’d barely toured it.” Nadia was ready to fly out to Texas for SXSW when she heard it had been cancelled. She said that instead they had to take a u-turn and fly back to Dunedin. “I’ve told this story before,” she told me, “the smell of the cows, when I landed, made me cry, just a bitter sweet, overwhelming moment. I think I was on a beach or something, down here, when I realised it was all going to change. But then you just get on with things and carry on, don’t you?”
I note that it must be hard to release an album, especially one that received such acclaim, at a time like this, when it’s not really had stage time, for people to experience it live. “True. It was a bird that never really flew. I’m not sure I appreciated it at the time but I’m person that will never take performing for granted ever again.” In the years prior to March 2020, she performed over 90 shows a year, through Australasia, Europe, and the United States, including high profile appearances at festivals like ‘Green Man’, ‘End Of The Road’ and TV shows like ‘Later…with Jools Holland’. “The next time I moan about that release and tour cycle that we musicians do,” she says. “Well, pinch me and remind me of what we’ve just gone through! Although, getting off that ‘rat wheel’ – I don’t know if I would have done that If I wasn’t forced too. That’s a theme with a lot of the musicians I know.”
Actually, there’s an irony with ‘Out Of My Province’, an album about the unique challenges of globetrotting, maintaining relationships on tour, about foreign places, with many songs written on the road. But due to timing it became a popular ‘Lockdown album’. We could tour in our minds, perhaps. It certainly did for me, being one of the first pieces of vinyl I ordered online during that time.
Nadia concedes that this was a special time for really listening to music, probably more so than before. “I heard that from many people. Actually, having a baby, being still, quiet, having time to think, I guess I found myself, in that wonderful time wondering about my role as a musician. I realised that you have connection with people. I did some small streaming events… reading the comments – I usually don’t pay attention – but it was amplified, being in writing. It’s all about making that connection with people.”
Returning to touring will be a bitter sweet experience, Nadia acknowledges. “I don’t know. I not sure I’ll be as committed to long tours, I may need a plan B or even C. Because babies make you think differently about your plans. I do want that balance, when I can get it.” Touring with an infant is both easier, because they haven’t settled into school and home life yet but also challenging being away from whanau, constant changes of hotels, time zones and sleep patterns, various environments, etc. “But now I feel like, you know, I really wanna be that an example for her. I don’t need to be as fulfilled as before, not having to sacrifice too much, I mean, there’s always sacrifice. Because I might not be able to be with her 24/7. The next three years and there will be periods of time and we’re a part. And it’s all for the greater good.”
Switching gears, I ask about her upcoming performances with the NZTrio. “Yeah, that actually was an idea that came from my husband, Angus. I’ve always had it in my mind that I’m between my records. Something I’d like to do. Something with a small orchestra or ensemble like the APO – Auckland Philharmonic (who she will also do a gig with). I did some work with a 12 piece during my last album and I just loved being bathed in that sound. It’s special.”
“And then, we started doing some work during the first Lockdown. Trying out ideas over Zoom. I think it’s going to be exciting bringing two different audiences. I’m also really looking forward to fronting up and being the singer, not like other shows where it’s just me, or I’m the band leader. It’s a different dynamic.”
The NZTrio (Amalia Hall – violin, Ashley Brown – cello and Somi Kim – piano) have been going for nearly 20 years, with a reputation for playing an adventurous and eclectic repertoire. They blow away any and all preconceptions of classical music being fuddy-duddy, stuffy or intimidating. Their style is edgy repertoire, challenging and vibrant and they encourage exciting venue ambience, even cheering, and engaging post-concert audience interaction. Over their two decade career the NZTrio have recorded more than 75 new commissions (with more than 2/3 being from Aotearoa composers) and won critical acclaim, including a Tui for Best Classical Artist for their Rattle release, Sway (2017), two citation awards: the KBB Music/CANZ citation (2012) and the Lilburn Trust Citation (2017) – both for outstanding services to New Zealand Music. They’ve recorded and performed with artists as varied as jazz group the Mike Nock Trio and John Psathas and Finn Andrews. This July they’ll team up with Nadia Reid’s trusty live outfit (Sam Taylor, Richie Pickard, Joe McCallum) for what her publicist gleefully calls a ‘trifecta of can’t miss occasions’.
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There will be some new arrangements of Nadia’s music, especially commissioned from composer Alex Taylor. “I can’t read music, but I can communicate in other ways, so that he can understand what I want, and that’s something new I learned, too. That we can ‘write’ in so many different ways. I’m looking forward to creating music in this new way. It’ll be a blast.”
Rumour has it Nadia is currently working on her fourth album. If you are lucky, you might hear a new song or two on this tour – maybe. So get out and purchase a ticket, these shows are going to be something special.
Nadia Reid is hitting the road with the NZTrio this July performing in Dunedin, Wellington and Christchurch (with tickets on sale now via Banished Music), before a very special Elemental Nights concert at the Auckland Town Hall alongside the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra on the 24th July. There are limited tickets left for this show, so get in quick HERE to secure your spot in the audience!
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