Fly My Pretties are set to play at Black Barn on January 21.
Fly My Pretties first entered hearts and minds in 2004, with the idea from The Black Seeds' front-man Barnaby Weir and co-conspirator Mikee Tucker, to assemble a talented and exciting group of Wellington-based musicians for a 'one-off' project.
Since they first performed at Wellington's Bats Theatre for a five-night run, the Barnaby Weir-led collective have appeared in many different incarnations.
After having toured extensively around the country over their 12 years, Fly My Pretties are set to bring their new album String Theory, along with the classics on the road, stopping at Black Barn on January 21.
The 14-strong cast is made up of a collective of talented musicians, including a number of new faces and bring a mix of soul, folk, dub, rock and reggae to the table.
Weir said they looked forward to touring and hoped to have another great experience in the Bay.
"We've had some really cool shows in Hawke's Bay over the years for both The Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties. I do love going to the Bay, as you definitely feel like you're in a proper summer. The venue layout is also really cool because it's an amphitheatre and it looks awesome at night and sounds great," Weir said.
Their recent run of nine shows saw their seventh album, String Theory come to life; one that differs slightly from previous Fly My Pretties material.
"This album is certainly more modern sounding, but it's got the roots of Fly My Pretties core band sound. It's different, but I'm really proud of this one, I think it sounds great as an album and I know that it works well as a show. It kind of tickles the imagination of the audience and makes them ponder about their existence I guess in a way through the music.
"If it compares to anything, it's probably close to a story where there is more of a narrative or a strong theme theatrically. That's probably what it would be compared to, not thematically wise, but just the idea of having a stronger narrative."
At the time of the group's creation, Weir was into live albums like The Last Waltz, from The Band and Live at Carnegie Hall by artist Bill Withers.
The feeling of wanting to capture the essence of the performance was what spurred the idea to release live albums.
The star-studded line-up includes Weir, Bailey Wiley, A Girl Named Mo, Ills Winter, Ria Hall, Miloux, James Coyle, Jarney Murphy, Nigel Patterson, Mike Fabulous, Laughton Kora and Tiki Taane, as well as locals Iraia Whakamoe and Ryan Prebble.
"I think what informs the sound the most is the group, the selection of players and the experimentation together for each different album. The people, the personalities, and the different skills that make up the pallet of musical colours if you like, is what creates each album in a different way," Weir said.
Behind it all is a message of experimentation and risk.
"I think the message from Fly My Pretties is that experimentation and risk is important in music and collaboration makes things really fresh. We're not in our comfort zone as such, we're musically trying to push our own boundaries and experimenting and most of the time it pulls off.
"I think we've carved our own niche actually in NZ anyway. There's no other project like it in New Zealand as far as I am aware and we've created a series of live recordings that's quite different to what other people are doing. The concept is now firmly grounded and people understand what is a bit more now in terms of collaboration and a band that keeps changing. It sounds different every time and has a different artistic kind of approach."
Fly My Pretties have set their sights on making a name for themselves overseas and touring new places - "hopefully in the not too distant future".