Phoenix Foundation rise again

Phoenix Foundation.

WELLINGTON - After being released in the same month as albums from fellow-Wellingtonians Fat Freddy's Drop and Shihad, The Phoenix Foundation's second long player, Pegasus, has more than held its own.

Like Fat Freddy's and Shihad's long-players, Pegasus made an immediate impression, debuting at No 10 on the charts.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Sam Flynn Scott is more than pleased with that.

"It's been a pretty good month for Wellington. I'm really excited about the fact that it's (Pegasus) charted... a lot higher than we expected.

"I'm really happy with the way it's going, people seem to like the album, I've got nothing to complain about really... the only thing, I've just got to watch the ego really,'' he laughs.

"All of a sudden you've got people going `Hey, love your album, it's great blah blah blah', and you just have to remind yourself that that's not really special and that you're just doing your job.''

Pegasus purchasers, however, would probably disagree and say The Phoenix Foundation's well-crafted combination of thoughtful songwriting, airy synthesised ear candy, and atmospheric country-tinged soundscapes is indeed well out of the ordinary.

But Flynn Scott prefers to concentrate on keeping his ego in check.

"If I was a really good wine maker or street sweeper I'd still be doing a good job and it's just as important I reckon.''

But the professions of winemaking and street-sweeping never looked likely to benefit from the talent of Flynn Scott, and the band's guitar and keyboard players Luke Buda and Conrad Wedde.

The three schoolmates were inspired to pursue a career in music from their teens, partly by their old music teacher Fritz Wollner, who 12 years later contributes some piano to Pegasus.

Flynn Scott says the band has only felt like a proper unit for maybe three years, filling out with drummer Richie Singleton, percussionist Will Ricketts and bassist Warner Emery.

"I guess the first nine years was just learning how to be a proper musician and growing up and having a few experiences that you can write songs about.''

Flynn Scott says the band's 2003 debut album Horse Power marked The Phoenix Foundation's discovery of the run of form they are continuing to enjoy. But retaining that hasn't been easy.

"There's been a bit of a struggle in the band between it being song writing music and it being purely aural music.

"Luke and Conrad have a real affinity for instrumental sounds and soundscapes and that kind of stuff and we've just had to find a balance between that and the world of songwriting.

"I write most of the songs and I care a lot about song writing, but I don't think the songs would sound as interesting or would stand up as well if there wasn't that tension between just a person with an acoustic guitar strumming away and an army of synthesisers and theremins and whatever sounds we can create.''

And with six accomplished and adventurous musicians in the band the possibilities are considerable.

"We're all fairly open to broad ideas. There's no-one in the band who has a narrow vision of what The Phoenix Foundation should be or what we should sound like... each song and each situation is approached from a different angle.

"There's going to some common threads that run through, just because we are the people that we are, but everything is judged and created on its own merits.''

He admits with the size of the band, there is potential for creative differences.

"Of course there are difficult times because it's a creative process with six people and no-one's in charge. Whenever you have a situation where you have six chiefs and no Indians then you're going to have a few power struggles.

"But at the end of day they can wash over very quickly because everyone knows that they do have an equal voice and they can say what they want to say and we're all really close friends. There's a lot of respect for each other in this band in terms of everyone's creative abilities.''

Unsurprisingly, the band's complex and volatile collaborative process results in music that defies easy categorisation.

"I've never really felt part of anything contemporary or part of any movement,'' Flynn Scott says.

And almost all of the band have other music projects on the go, including collaborations with other musicians involved in Wellington's loosely bound but lively dub-reggae, afro-beat and jazz scene, Flynn Scott says it's difficult to think of the band as being part of the contemporary world.

"I'm sure we are part of our time and place but it just doesn't really enter our minds.

"If we were from a certain era we'd be from the early seventies, but we wouldn't necessarily be one band from the early seventies, we'd be about 30. We'd be Jean-Michel Jarre and Led Zeppelin and Nick Drake.''

He says French synthesiser duo Air's last album Talkie Walkie would probably be one of the strongest contemporary influences on Pegasus, "... but just as important in terms of those sounds would be a seventies band called Goblin who made horror soundtracks for Dario Argento films''.

Film soundtracks are a clear and strong influence and inspiration for the band, with the track Hitchcock -- described in band publicity as "a soundtrack to the zombie film he never made'' -- written by percussionist Ricketts, being a clear example.

"Something we've tried to do is create music that sounds like it's made for a specific purpose even if it's not,'' Flynn Scott explains.

"It's more like making a different movie when you make a different song. It doesn't have to be in the same place or in the same time, or have the same art direction or lighting.''

While Phoenix Foundation are exploring the territory between music and movies, Flynn Scott says he's thankful they haven't fallen victim to the sharks that reputedly infest both industries.

"I was having a real serious talk with a friend of mine last night and he decided he really hates the record business in its entirety and wishes that he could completely detach himself from it and I can totally understand that feeling.

"There's a lot of pretence that goes on with the record industry. At the moment I'm finding it enjoyable because it's working for us. But if things stop working for us and become bloated and ridiculously fake then it will obviously be something that will turn around.

"When you're doing well the record industry is very good to you and when you're not doing well it's very bad to you.

"But that's just the nature of creating artistic products really, you have to ignore that and just make it whether it's doing well or doing bad. You just have to make the best art you can and keep doing it as long as you believe in what you're doing.''

Pegasus is out now.

The Phoenix Foundation play Napier June 16, Auckland June 18, Wellington June 24, Dunedin July 13, Queenstown July 14, Wanaka July 15, Christchurch July 16.

- NZPA