Kiwi arrow victim turns to music

Matthew Scheurich was attacked and injured by arrows in Papua New Guinea. Photo / Supplied

A New Zealand man shot through the chest with a bow and arrow in a remote Papua New Guinean jungle is turning his harrowing near-death experience into music under the name Bow Arrow.

Matthew Scheurich, 28, pulled two arrows from his torso as he and his 29-year-old girlfriend fled for their lives from the village of Suabi after the June attack.

Medical staff found one arrow had passed through his ribs, under his liver, through the wall of his stomach and stopped just short of his aorta.

He spent two weeks in and out of Cairns Base Hospital. Papua New Guinean police earlier this month arrested and charged 19-year-old tribesman Francis Neobia with attempted murder over the attack.

Amid his recovery from the physical and emotional scars left by the attack, Mr Scheurich recorded a seven-track electronic album.

A statement on the Bow Arrow bandcamp page said Σ Of An Aftermath was conceived in the Papua New Guinean jungle and composed and recorded in Australia and New Zealand "in the houses of generous people who have been helping me out while I recover".

Some of the dark, electronic songs seem to reference the attack.

Lyrics from the opening track Message include: "Thinking about a funeral procession, what a way to die naked. Calling all dreams. Lying down with unbuttoned seams. Breasts open, heaving ribbons of red. Thoughts escaping from a rip in the head."

Mr Scheurich formerly performed as rapper MC Stormtroopa and in punk band Damsels.

- Herald online