Bobandii, aka Silas McClintock, at work at Roundhead Studios during his Apple Music recording session. Photo/Steve Dykes
Bobandii, aka Silas McClintock, at work at Roundhead Studios during his Apple Music recording session. Photo/Steve Dykes
They've been huddled away in an Auckland music studio for a week, tasked with one thing - emerging with a fully formed song.
Today, the results of this top secret recording session are unveiled with new songs by four rising Kiwi artists hitting the airwaves.
The project, helmed by Apple Music as part of New Zealand Music Month, saw Tapz, Baynk, Nika and Bobandii spending a week in Auckland's Roundhead Studios in late May.
They were offered the studio, as well as bands, producers, engineers and each other, to help make their song ideas come to fruition.
It's been quick work: All four songs will today be available for streaming just a week after they were finished.
Nika at work at Roundhead Studios during his Apple Music recording session. Photo/Steve Dykes
Bobandii, aka Warkworth rapper Silas McClintock, admits the pace they worked at is "ridiculous" - but it was also part of the reason he agreed to take part.
"I would hate the feeling of waiting for it to come (out)," McClintock told the Herald.
"We've scrapped our ideas onto paper, recorded it, and now it's out there. Bang. Done ... it's a brand new experience for me."
Each song, available for streaming on Apple Music from today, has a grand idea behind it, as well as a personal story.
For Tapz, a Zimbabwe-born, Wellington-based rapper, his idea for the song Shadow came from distracting himself from a horror movie by listening to Kanye West. "It's The Conjuring 2 meets 808s (and Heartbreak) and Tapz," he says.
Tapz at work at Roundhead Studios during his Apple Music recording session. Photo/Steve Dykes
For McClintock, his song Nazarite is a retelling of the story of biblical figure Samson. "On one side, I'm telling a story about my childhood that I was raised on. On the other side, it's metaphorical about what the world can offer you and seduce you with."
Baynk, the dance music project from Hawkes Bay's Jock Nowell-Usticke, chose to write "an experimental track" called Someone based on a person he was missing. It starts at 1 beat-per-minute then speeds up, "to replicate the feeling of remembering someone and your heart racing up".
Baynk at work at Roundhead Studios during his Apple Music recording session. Photo/Steve Dykes
And Nika, aka Olivia Nott, the younger sister of Nelson duo Broods, says her track Real Fake Love is a personal journey about getting over the past and being a grown up. She's trying to replicate a feeling too. "Let's just get over it, it happened, now we can move on," she says.
All four say the project has been incredibly productive, with each emerging with sketches and ideas beyond the one song that is released today.
"I never expected it to be this productive," says Nowell-Usticke.
Tapz agrees: "Being in an environment with people who are just so passionate about music, there's no way you can leave here without making music."
Those people hanging around include a pretty famous face - the studio's owner Neil Finn - regularly poking his head in to check on progress.
"He's been here all week," laughs McClintock. "He was so open to new ideas. He was asking how we used social media, how we put those effects on our vocals and how our electronic beats work.
