Ex-Mutton Bird takes a solo flight

Don McGlashan is about to fly solo and, he says, it's about time.

The Auckland singer-songwriter is a man of many parts. He has written music for films and TV, made short films, done musical comedy, and was the force behind seminal band the Mutton Birds.

Now, after years of collaborations, McGlashan is due to release his first solo album, Warm Hand, in May.

His work is prolific, but McGlashan is quick to admit that songwriting is not like a tap he struggles to turn off.

"I wish it was a tap. It's more like a leak in the wall and I don't know where it is."

It's a busy time for McGlashan. H is latest film soundtrack is getting attention, and he has two projects at the Wellington Arts Festival: a couple of sellout gigs with his new band, The Seven Sisters, and an appearance in the "Tuwhare" concerts, a tribute to poet Hone Tuwhare.

Songwriting is his first love but soundtracks and commissions "put food on the table," and he's particularly enjoyed his latest effort for Toa Fraser's film, No. 2.

Just released, the score is already racing up the New Zealand charts, hitting 26 this week.

"It's pretty odd for a soundtrack album to chart," he admits, pointing out that it features some hot New Zealand acts, including Che Fu and Trinity Roots.

Working with others has long been McGlashan's thing. As a student he played French horn in the Auckland Symphonia and then joined the percussion ensemble From Scratch for six years.

During this time he also sang and played drums for 80s band Blam Blam Blam -- remembered fondly for their single, "Don't fight it, Marsha".

After a year with a New York dance and music group, McGlashan returned to form the beloved comedy-musical duo, The Front Lawn, with good mate and filmmaker Harry Sinclair.

The Front Lawn lasted six years, winning acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival.

But like most of his projects, McGlashan says, the Front Lawn came to a natural end.

"We were just bouncing ideas off each other the whole time so it was a wonderful collaboration, probably the kind of thing that you're lucky if it comes along once.

"But I think that with hindsight I'm surprised that it lasted six years because the centrifugal force that it created was going to make us fly off into different directions at some stage."

After the Front Lawn, McGlashan was even keener to get back to songwriting and formed the Mutton Birds.

For 10 years he was the lead singer and main songwriter for the group, penning classics like "Dominion Road" and "Anchor Me".

The band went to England in 1995 with a record contract in hand. Never really down and out, they recorded two well-received albums and won a healthy following through solid touring.

But after four years in England, home beckoned, largely so his kids wouldn't have to keep moving schools, and because two of the original band members had left.

"It wasn't the same band that I started out with."

Although he does not rule out living overseas again, McGlashan is content to be back in New Zealand.

"I found when I was living in England that I wanted to write about this place while I was there. I found that images from here sort of floated up in quite clear focus for me while my surroundings were quite shadowy.

"I would try to write about Luton winning the game on Saturday, or something like that, but I didn't believe it ... they didn't sound authentic to me."

Since his return, McGlashan has been working with Auckland electronica musician Sean Donnelly, also known as SJD, who is part of his three-man band, The Seven Sisters.

He also began crafting his solo album, which he says has benefited from the fact he was not under major label pressure.

McGlashan agrees he's come to a solo career late in the piece but the timing seems right.

"The album's finally finished, I seem to have got myself a manager, I have a record company, and there's a bunch of people that have taken it upon themselves to help me speed up a bit. And it's about time."

The new album promises to have strings, brass "and all manner of things the Mutton Birds never got".

And the title, Warm Hand, came from a rest room. McGlashan liked the graphic on the hand dryer, as well as "the crazy idea that you could be nurtured by this little machine in the wall".

It will be no surprise to Mutton Bird fans that McGlashan continues to write songs about people relating to inanimate objects.

He laughs at the suggestion that his songs are populated with characters who love their guns, cars or heaters.

"I suppose on some level I'm interested in characters ... that are a bit flawed and they don't know quite what's going on and maybe they reveal more than they think they're revealing through what they say and what they don't say."

They "are pretty close to objects but a bit distant from people."

Despite his long career, he retains a sense of wonder about his craft.

"Songs are compact things, you can't fit too much into them and I feel like I'm just getting started really.

"The more I write, the more I'll learn, I think, so that's why I'm really glad this record's not just sitting around for another year before I put it out ... Once it's out, I can start really writing some new ones in earnest."

Don McGlashan performs at the Wellington Arts Festival on March 7 and 8, and with Tuwhare from March 11-13.

His new album, Warm Hand, is due out in May on Arch Hill Records.

- NZPA