What was your greatest holiday?
Touring with my band is perfect because we perform at night, hang with the locals (so get to know a city or town more intimately) and have plenty of laughs. Most memorable was playing New Orleans many years ago. We were hosted by the Neville Brothers who spoilt our band and whanau rotten - Aaron's mum cooked us gumbo in their home.
And the worst?
Never had a bad one, only bits that were bad. Those bits usually involve being cold. Stranded outside an apartment in Paddington in winter during the wee hours because the key was left on the coffee table inside. My partner, Toby, climbed a fire escape and set off alarms. No one in the flash hotels would admit us at 3am with no suitcase, until some lovely Russian guy new on the job took pity on us and snuck us into a room. The other was the first time being taken on a snowmobile across a frozen Lake Inari in the Arctic Circle (Finland) at about 32 below zero, ill-equipped. Clods of ice flew at us. My beanie flew off. It was like being scalped. Truly horrible. Did it again recently with a local reindeer herder, well prepared. Beautiful experience.
If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing?
Eating and drinking. It's my patriotic duty to research extensively local food and wine so I can provide comprehensive reports to the whanau. Someone should actually pay me to do this. Seriously. I've been offered everything from reindeer to moose to whale. I gave a pass on the whale.
If we could teleport you to one place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be?
Rekohu/Chatham Island. I wrote a song we played at the opening of the Moriori marae over a decade ago. Learned heaps about their history. Never had the chance to look around the island.
How about for a dream holiday internationally?
Bhutan and Cuba - with Istanbul and Paris.
