Critics' Choice Awards profile: Estere

Critics' Choice nominee Estère.

Ahead of tonight's Critics' Choice Awards, we talk to Estère, one of this year's three nominees.

Herald: Who are you, where are you from and how did your band/solo project first form?

Estère: My name is Estère; I'm from Wellington, Aotearoa. My band first formed when I met my lovely MPC (Music Production Centre) Lola.

Describe your sound in less than 50 words:
I record and amalgamate a variety of bass, synth, drums, guitar, vocal harmonies, kazoo, cutlery drawers and any other sound that tickles my fancy in to the genre of Electric Blue Witch-Hop.

My band name comes from...
Estère is my first name and also the name of my grandmother.

My biggest influence is...
My biggest influence is my mum. She's strong, creative and generous. Amazing.

My best live show so far has been...
My best live show so far has been playing in South Korea at the Jeonju Music Festival. Lola and I performed with an entire orchestra, choir and chorus of monks accompanying us. It was in front of a large audience too; all up around 10,000.

When I/we are on stage we...
On stage Lola, I and the rest of our machine band (Korgy and TC) like to imagine ourselves back in my bedroom where we often will stay up all night in pyjamas exploring different musical and lyrical concepts. This is shared with the audience and makes our performance quite animated as well as sincere.

My 30-minute set at the Critics' Choice prize finals will include...
My 30 minute set at the critic's choice prize finals will include odes to reptiles, whales and fictional ex-boyfriends as well as a variety of our dynamic hearty beats and my own textured vocals (it's hard to describe your own voice).

Winning the Critics' Choice Prize would mean...
Winning the Critic's Choice Prize would mean we would be given access to amazing possibilities for recording further material and making a music video. Furthermore, it would just be a great accomplishment.

Watch the music video for I Spy by Estère:

App users: Tap here to view video

* We'll be live streaming the Critics' Choice Awards on nzherald.co.nz. Tune in from 7.30pm on Wednesday night to watch all the action.

- nzherald.co.nz