Parachute’s ‘Famous Five’ Feature:
Marianne Wren
Standing out from the crowd isn’t easy, especially when it’s a crowd as talented and diverse as the current New Zealand music scene. But it’s not deterred the five artists taking part in this year’s Parachute development programme – all who are gearing up to release new music and blaze their own trails.
This week we caught up with Marianne Wren, whose exquisite voice and style oozes coolness and makes you sit up straight and pay attention.
19-year-old Marianne Wren has spent her life immersed in music. She learned piano, guitar and started singing at a young age and also played the violin in the Auckland Youth Symphony. She’s now doing her BA, majoring in music. With a positively exquisite voice and a style that just oozes coolness, Marianne’s music makes you sit up straight and pay attention. Her song ‘Honey’ has clocked more than 35,000 streams on Soundcloud and it’s not difficult to see why. The song is simply FIRE! Marianne’s not going to be Kiwi music’s best kept secret for long.
Who is the best new artist you’ve discovered in the last 6 months?
There are so so many artists that I have discovered In the past six months that I absolutely adore! Such this little band that I discovered the other day called ‘Being’ and this crazy artist called Aarron//David. But I think the best new artists I’ve discovered in the last few months is Alice Phoebe Lou. There’s something about Alice that is so special and empowering.
I am so drawn to female artists because it is so inspiring seeing them doing their thing.
If you could write the ultimate song, what would it be?
Such a hard question! I often come across songs that I wish I wrote. Usually something that is lyrically amazing and has a banger of a melody line.
What has been your biggest challenge this year in developing yourself as an artist?
From going from being a full time student where music was a passion but not a priority to being fully emerged in music and the music community has been challenging at times. I can’t just write a song when I’m feeling inspired or when I have free time. Being creative constantly can sometimes be draining. But like anything, the more you do it, the better you get.
Who is in your musical community?
My music community is anyone and everyone that I can just have a good jam with.
When did you get serious about making music your career?
I’ve never really been fully convinced that I could ‘make it’ in the music industry, but half way through my first year of uni I started putting music online and got so much encouragement from other people, asking for more which was when I started thinking more seriously about what I loved to do!
Who is your ultimate Kiwi icon?
In all honesty, Dave Dobbyn. He’s pretty amazing!
Each year Parachute holds auditions to to find emerging Kiwi artists who are serious about making music their career. A handful are selected for the one-year artist development programme, which is tailor-made for each artist. Over the course of a few weeks, Ambient Light will be featuring five young acts on this year’s development programme.
MARIANNE WREN’S SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
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