Brockaflower: Bigger is better to Build It

WELL BUILT: Nine-piece Wellington band Brockaflower will play King Street Live in Masterton on February 28 as the late performance in a six-date national tour in support of their debut album, Build It. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

It has taken months and a meeting of many minds for nine-piece 'chunk funk' band Brockaflower to deliver to the world their debut album, Build It.

The alternative hip hop and neo-soul collective - otherwise known as Brockaflowersaurus-rex & The Blueberry Biscuits - boasts players from across the country and the globe who started laying down the 11-song album more than 18 months ago, says Pat Stewart, band samplemaster, synth and bass player .

Stewart said the band that released in 2011 a live three-track EP, will play King Street Live in Masterton on February 28 to finish a six-date album support tour across the country.

Each of the players was excited about returning to King Street Live, he said, after staging a debut performance at the Wairarapa venue last year "which we all loved, the management, bar staff, awesome venue, can't wait to get back there".

Stewart said the band, like the album, bubbled under for months before bursting to life fully formed and fabulous. "It was a slow process of building the band. The rhythm section was playing in 2009 but it wasn't until early 2010 that we started putting the whole vibe and tribe together."

He likened Brockaflower to "a big family" that manages its form and function through consensus decisions and neo-hippie directives.

There was not a hint of romance between players, he said, who lived to play together but were loathe "to get weird at the metaphoric water cooler".

The capital city band has members who hail from across New Zealand and from as far away as Hawaii (vocalist Zoe Moon Mahal) and England (trombonist Gareth Thompson-Darling). And bigger for Brockaflower is definitely better, he said.

"The size of the band has always been seen as our biggest drawcard because no matter the crowd there's always a party going down onstage. We've always got enough of us to ensure we all have the energy to have lots of fun."

The magnitude of Brockaflower also forced an extended period before the studio-bound tunes, all written ahead of recording, were polished to the satisfaction of all.

The protracted album production work also forged refinements to their live repertoire, he said, and songs cut to the album likewise morphed in the making.

"There definitely were changes. We had to adjust some things that wouldn't work as well recorded, and alternatively some stuff was better live after we changed things around.

"Even since we finished recording, there's some songs on the album which we play slightly differently now. We've added some things and taken some things out. It took so long, we did a few tours and shows in the meantime, and it's hard not to develop," Stewart said.

"This was our first studio recording and while some tracks came quicker than others, we played and workshopped and played again and were each very particular about what we liked."

Brockflower play King Street Live in Masterton on February 28 with tickets available online for $10 each at dashtickets.co.nz. Door sales also will be available and the Build It album, which was mixed by Benny Tones at Organik Muzik Workz and mastered by Mike Gibson at Munki, is available in digital format at bandcamp.com