It’s been 20 years since the release of Bic Runga’s 11-time platinum album Beautiful Collision. And to celebrate, the award-winning music icon is embarking on a five-date New Zealand tour, including a stop in Tauranga. She’ll play all her classic tunes including Something Good, Get Some Sleep, and Listening for the Weather. Carly Gibbs asks her about the tour and has her reflect on her stellar career.
Carly Gibbs: Bic, you’ve been awarded almost every music award in the country; you were made a member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2006; and in 2007, your debut album, Drive, became one of the biggest-selling NZ albums of all time. When you look back at your success, what do you think it is about your songwriting and voice that has captured New Zealand audiences and made you so timeless?
Bic Runga: Since the tour was announced I’ve heard so many nice stories from people about births or weddings. All sorts of stories about how they adopted these songs into their lives.
It’s really special, and I don’t really know how any of it happened. I was just trying to write really honest songs at the time, and then the songs just kind of found their own adventures. It’s been really amazing.
CG: It’s been two decades since the release of your second solo album, Beautiful Collision, and you’re off on tour to play it live start to finish, accompanied by a band. What is it about this particular album that you’re most fond of and why did you choose it for the tour?
BR: I’m excited to play the Beautiful Collision album as an entire show. It was a really special but difficult album to make. It was just classic second-album syndrome when there’s a lot of expectation to make a better record than your first one.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years, but it’s still very much me, the songs still mean a lot to me, and remind me of that time in my life when I’d been living between New York and Auckland. Most of the themes on this record are about homesickness; coming of age; separation; and exhaustion.
CG: What song from it do you enjoy singing most?
BR: It might be Gravity or Election Night. The singles Something Good or Get Some Sleep I’ve played often over the years, but some of the album tracks I’ve hardly played since the album was released.
CG: No matter how many times you perform, I’m guessing you never get tired of seeing enjoyment from your audience. What’s something that Bic Runga fans are known for?
BR: I dunno, crying? I hope it’s crying! Crying is so underrated, it’s as therapeutic as going to a spa, I reckon. I hope that people that come to the show, will find it cathartic and maybe nostalgic for a previous time.
CG: You recently had your songs translated into te reo? Will you be performing any of them in te reo on the night?
BR: Probably not on this tour. It’s really just focused on Beautiful Collision.
CG: You’re coming to Tauranga on July 22. Do you have any personal connections to the Bay of Plenty? Or things you want to do while you are here?
BR: My partner Kody grew up in Katikati and still has family there. He’s playing the drums on this tour so we will have folks to catch up with there. Shout out to Aunty Mari and hi to Waves and Hili.
CG: In a recent radio interview, you said your three children had hardly heard you play, and you also didn’t want to “push” music onto them. Did you always think that would be the case? Or did motherhood change music for you in a way you never predicted?
BR: I kind of thought my kids would be musicians too, but I might’ve made it look like too much of a headache. They’re still pretty young; Frida is 7, Sophia is 10, and Joe is 15.
In lots of ways, there are much easier jobs. You have to really want to do it and you can’t be doing it for someone else. My kids are really creative, though, and the creative process can be quite universal, so I can discuss aspects of what is analogous to music as other art forms they’re interested in.
My son is really good at cooking and what makes good cooking is the same as what makes good recorded music. Keeping it simple with good-quality ingredients, putting your love into it, not overcooking it, and so forth.
CG: As you’ve evolved, how has your approach to songwriting and/or your brand changed?
BR: I really haven’t changed much. I was just always trying to be me, but that’s not always easy when there’s external pressure to be something else.
I was just trying to do something I felt comfortable with and that I could sustain.
CG: For Kiwi kids wanting to make a career out of music, what advice would you give to them in this modern day of music-making that was perhaps different from when you started out?
BR: It’s never been a more complex and saturated time to be a musician, but in theory, the tools are all there to make it happen. You have to try to maintain your love and inspiration for the music itself.
I also think being able to play live takes a long time, there are no shortcuts with that, you just have to play and rehearse a lot; keep a thick skin; not stress out about the little things.
CG: After the tour, what’s next for Bic Runga?
BR: We’ve added some shows to this tour in Australia and I’m really excited as I haven’t played there in a few years. I’m road-testing new songs at the moment too, so the next thing would be to record some things and just see what happens.
The Details
- Tickets to Bic’s tour are available at livenation.co.nz.
- She plays in Hastings on July 15, Christchurch on July 21, Tauranga on July 22 (Holy Trinity Auditorium), Auckland on July 28 as part of the Elemental Nights festival, and Wellington on July 30.
- Bic will be supported by Tauranga singer-songwriter Georgia Lines, who recently signed with one of America’s biggest booking agencies, Wasserman Music.
Carly Gibbs is a weekend magazine writer for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post and has been a journalist for two decades. She is a former news and feature writer, for which she’s been both an award finalist and winner.