SunLive Competition

At the mention of the word Tauranga, her voice goes from excitement to sudden concern.

“Oh god, how are you?” she asks, as if I have just lost one of my closest family members.

The affects of Rena have been heard both locally as well as globally and as a frequent holiday destination for singer-songwriter Bic Runga, the concern in her voice is genuine.

But it is not all holidays in Tauranga for Bic as she heads this way to headline the Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour on Friday, November 18.

After a five year hiatus from music, Bic embarked on another journey – motherhood – with the birth of her son Joseph. Now, returning to the road again, she says she is excited, but aware the industry she returns to is a different world.

“Having my son has been a huge change and it is so not like my life before, you know? “Being a musician, you can spend hours working on this and you have endless time, but it has been different now.

“I’ve come back to a different industry; a big record when I was making one last was 100,000. Now, it is like 30,000 because of piracy and digital media. I have to keep my expectations realistic that it couldn’t possibly be as big as it was before.”

Her approach to music has also taken a different turn. Since Bic broke onto the New Zealand music scene in 1996 with her first single Drive, her music has always had a signature melancholy to it. With her latest album ‘Belle’, she has collaborated with former front man of The Mint Chicks Kody Neilson and his brother Rueben. This new collaboration has seen her take a back seat in the writing and also brought a new life to her sound.

“It was weird taking a step back, but I really needed to.
“You don’t want to write that one song over and over again, you need to branch out with other people.

“This album is more of a return to ‘Beautiful Collision’ – more of a pop album. Although ‘Birds’ did well, I think a lot of people thought it was too sad and I didn’t want to repeat that.
“After having a break and being a mum, I have a lot of happiness so I think it shows in a more upbeat pop record.”

The birth of her son is directly reflected in the song ‘Everything is Beautiful and New’ – as the title suggest it is “directly about the experience of becoming a mother, I felt I had just woken up to life”.

Perhaps then the church is the most appropriate venue to embark on her return tour, a place Bic describes as a “different world”.

“When you play at clubs or bars, you come and set up in the day and they always smell like beer on the carpet and it just feels depressing.
“This is a different walk of life and is a really beautiful setting. I love meeting the pastor and the tea lady. It is really interesting for me and the band.”

Bic is playing at the Holy Trinity Church on November 18 at 7pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Win: A double pass to see Bic Runga with SunLive. To enter, you must be logged in, if you are new click here to register for free!

Competition Results

Bronwen McCurran