Anika Boh & Hollie: Doing it for themselves

Rock music is Kiwi singer/songwriter Boh Runga's first love.

But she's more than happy to have taken a somewhat less raucous road recently by teaming up with two other female stars of the Kiwi music scene - Anika Moa and Hollie Smith - first as a touring group and now as a fully fledged outfit with their debut album on the market.

And it must be said that Peace of Mind, the first album from AnikaBoh&Hollie;, is a goodie as the three singers combine their distinctive voices in a delightful foray into their collective musical talents.

Peace of Mind was released in February and, the night after the release, the public got to hear the trio perform some of the great songs from it, as they kicked off the Classic Hits Winery Tour in Matakana. The winery tour caravan - which also includes Fat Freddy's Drop, The Adults (Jon Toogood, Shayne Carter and Julia Deans) and Clara van Wel - is rolling around the rest of the country over the next month.

"There's definitely excitement," says Boh of the album. "We really enjoyed making it and there's some great songs on it. It's a good body of work, so I hope people like it.

"It was a real honour to record with Anika and Hollie and the whole process was just so cool."

Given that all three women have powerful, distinct voices and styles, it must have been hard to marry them - and surely there were egos getting in the way when it came to choosing who sang what?

"No, not at all. We wrote the songs then decided who would do lead vocals on what, and that was super easy to do and came pretty naturally really," she says.

"There were no egos. It's a bit of a sisterhood that was a really good professional and friendly working environment and we get on really, really well."

Boh says in early 2012 the three friends were sharing a bottle of wine (or two) and musing over the possibilities of making music together. It was idle chatter, but something stuck and when they met again a few weeks later they tentatively started writing.

The songs poured forth. Boh says that creative process was "what being a musician is all about for me. We loved vibing off each other and exploring the dynamics of our relationship".

In October, they took their new songs and tested the waters by performing live together on the annual Church Tour.

It was a triumph; a successful sold-out voyage around the country, greeted by rave reviews and standing ovations. Anika, Boh and Hollie knew they had something special happening and they entered the Lab recording studio in Auckland to record their new songs in November.

"Recording it was just so much fun and we all bounced off each other and it wasn't like work at all really," Boh says.

"It just seemed like the right time for this collaboration and I think it works really well."

No argument here, as Peace of Mind is an album that, unbelievably, is even greater than the sum of its parts.

And if working and recording with Anika and Hollie was fun, going on the Winery Tour with the pair would be a riot.

So what does Boh hope to get out of the tour, besides a tan and some fine wine?

"I haven't been on tour for a little while, but I'm looking forward to just being on the road and working together with everybody else," she says.

"And I know Anika, Hollie and I are always keen for some major jam sessions, if they happen."