KEY POINTS:
American musician Matthew Chicoine, better known as Recloose, was touring New Zealand when he met and fell in love with a local girl.
Since that fateful 2000 tour, Recloose, from Detroit, relocated to Wellington and has called this country home ever since.
Although they are no longer together, the pair have a 4-1/2-year-old son and Recloose hasn't regretted his decision to stay for for one moment.
"I consider my roots well planted here."
Recloose is in the middle of a nationwide tour which will showcase his fourth album Perfect Timing.
The in-demand DJ says it is hard to sum up his musical style because he is influenced by so many musical genres.
"I grew up playing jazz so there's a jazz element.
"I really like funk, soul music, techno, a bit of hip-hop and I also favour Jamaican music.
"If you listen to my music it's my way of spinning all these things together but that makes it hard to describe what type of music it is."
Recloose also promises his audiences will hear different shows, depending on what island they see him perform.
Audiences in the North Island can expect an eight piece band to join his show.
South Island audiences can expect more of a DJ set, with singers and featuring a lot of music from his four albums.
"It's going to be pretty energetic."
Being a musician based in New Zealand has inevitably influenced his work, he says.
"Logistically I've bunkered down a bit more in New Zealand and working on the scene here.
"Whereas in Detroit I was involved in the scene but used to tour a lot more because of its proximity to Europe and Japan.
"Down here it's a bit more involved in the local scene and DJ-ing and playing with the local band."
Compared to America there is stronger support for homegrown music in New Zealand but our country's music scene still took some getting used to.
"It took me a while to adjust to what people enjoy here and the flavours I was hearing with different bands."
Recloose shifted from Wellington to Auckland in August last year and has also noticed a distinct difference in the musical scenes.
"I think a lot of people expect you to say that 'uckland's OK but Wellington is where all the flavour was and I really miss it'.
"And while I do miss it, Auckland is pretty cool."
Not only is Auckland convenient, with better weather, but Recloose says - not wanting to offend the parochial musicians from either Auckland or Wellington - there are as many musicians in Auckland.
"It's just that we're all a bit more insulated.
"Wellington seems pretty tight knit and everyone knows each other and in Auckland you have to make a bit more of an effort to collaborate with people and hang out and stuff."
Auckland provides Recloose more musical opportunities but only "if you come out of your shell and get out of your house and look for opportunities you'll find them".
After a seven year hiatus from radio, Recloose has also found his way back to the airwaves with a slot on George FM.
It's a job he would never have thought about exploring in Wellington, he says and jumped at it when he was approached.
Recloose, however, is used to creating opportunities.
After graduating from university in 1996 with an English degree, music was at the "tail end" of his education.
With a move to Detroit and "a regular old food job" he decided he would focus on music and see if he could make a go of it.
It wasn't until about three years later Recloose was in a position to do music fulltime, dj-ing with different bands and doing his own records.
Recloose is philosophical about the years he spent trying to get established.
"I think being a professional self-employed musician is always a struggle and I was just coming up."
He was fortunate, he says, to be taken under techno pioneer Carl Craig's wing but it was difficult.
"You always had to watch your finances, make sure your profile is taking off and putting out enough records.
"To this day it's still a struggle.
"If you ask anyone who does music enough... there's a real love hate relationship with it.
"You love the music but the side of trying to sustain a living can be quite difficult sometimes."
Before Recloose released his debut album in 2002, there were "why am I booked in this venue?" moments but he has never thought about giving up on his music.
"It was mostly bum gigs - you get booked at the wrong place and you realise immediately 'I shouldn't be here'.
"But get another booking agent, tighten up the ship a bit and weather the storm."
Recloose plays:
Auckland, March 28; Tauranga; March 29; Palmerston North; April 3; Wellington; April 4; Eastbourne; April 5.
- NZPA
