Solaa power outshines problems

The latest in the series of Solaa line-ups.

How many of the dudes you know roll in Solaa? Twelve, if you believe the website. Fifteen, if you count the extra names on the album sleeve. Fourteen if you ignore the mystery rapper on three of the tracks.

Oops, did we say "Scribe" out loud?

"We're very socially connected," says producer, songwriter and trumpet player Isaac Aesili, who also plays with Open Souls, Recloose, Thisinformation and the Tornadoes.

About 50 musicians have come and gone and now Solaa is officially Aesili, Nick Gaffaney, Dave Wright, Kurt Dyer, Simon Lusby, Ali Toto, Johnny Lawrence, Nat Rose, USOuljah, Scott Taitoko, Gwyn Reynold and Richard Pickard. Tonight they play the Khuja Lounge in support of their debut album Steps in Time, a beautiful ride through soul, r&b, jazz, funk, Latin, breaks and hip-hop that also features Hollie Smith, Cherie Mathieson and Ladi 6.

Yet it hasn't always been a beautiful ride to get to this point.

"Making the album has given me the most anguish I've ever had in my musical career," says Aesili of the exhausting, five-year process.

And to think the band thought they had problems when they called themselves Sola a, with the separate "a" - a name that constantly tripped people up when they came to spell it.

That was nine years ago in Christchurch, where they cut their teeth at a bohemian performance cafe - in tracksuits and afros - playing experimental jazz.

The core of Solaa at that time was Aesili, keyboardist Dave Wright and drummer Nick Harte, (now the Shocking Pinks).

They also hung out with like-minded musicians DJ Ali, Scribe, Shapeshifter and Verse 2. In 2000 they found they were better at co-ordinating on stage than in the studio.

"We tried to record on the tiniest of budgets you could ever imagine and it totally didn't work out," Aesili says. "We had no understanding of what we were doing."

One song, Eyes Shut, with Scribe, (Loop Recordings, 2001) did come out of it but by then the band had decided to split.

As Murphy's Law would have it, their big break came at their final gig when a philanthropic Christchurch family offered to help fund their album.

"I don't know what possessed them," Aesili says.

Two years later Solaa made it back to the studio, where they spent most of their budget and struggled to get the album finished.

Condensing their live act on record while keeping things fresh was also a challenge. "We used to play a lot of jungle, house and funk so we were concerned that some of our old tracks might sound dated.

"But we believed in the songwriting and we realised that the audience would have no idea how old the songs were."

The time it has taken for it to come out is probably the reason Scribe's management weren't happy to have his name on the album, although the legalities aren't clear. But Aesili insists he is still friends with the guy he refers to as the "Notorious MC".

"I was really disappointed in the state of New Zealand's music industry, especially because we've sold less than 1 per cent of the albums that he's sold, so I really think they were making a big fuss over nothing.

"I haven't talked to him about it and I don't think I ever will, to tell the truth. We've been through some really difficult times, but it's all part of strengthening our friendship."


Performance

* Who: Solaa
* Where and when: Khuja Lounge, cnr Queen St and K Rd, tonight