Q You and Danny Fairley formed Arma Del Amor in 2013, what had you been doing prior to that and what made you two form a group?
"We both met in about 2011 and we were both doing our own solo music. We were really interested in joining forces and making something different. I was living in Wellington at the time and when I was back on a holiday I said ‘let’s just have a jam and write a tune together’. We wrote about two or three songs and we thought it was actually quite cool and fun and it just seemed to work. We seemed to work quite well together and it was inspiring to be doing something different rather than the folky singer-songwriter vibes. It’s a bit more exciting."
"Yeah, it is inspirational as a place to be based, with our surroundings and community support. It’s an inspirational place to be writing music for sure. It can be tricky when you’re wanting to perform music and tour and you do feel quite isolated from the rest of the music scene in New Zealand. But we’ve been able to make quite a few awesome connections with other New Zealand musicians. It’s so small in New Zealand you don’t actually feel like you’re that isolated in the end."
Q What inspires your music?
"I guess we’re inspired a lot by other music that we listen to and to create something that’s a bit different and unique, not conforming to anything in particular, but taking a lot of inspiration from other artists, both in New Zealand and internationally. We’re both inspired a lot by Massive Attack, Shapeshifter, Little Dragon and Danny’s definitely inspired a lot by Radiohead — that’s where a lot of his writing comes from. I have a whole soul R&B inspiration that I’ve always listened to, so we have quite different backgrounds but we’re heading in the same direction."
Q What is the best thing about making music?
"Music is an expression of yourself, either what’s happening or what’s going on around you. Being able to express that through music is a really special thing to be able to do. I feel really lucky that I’m able to do it. You create something out of thin air, basically."
Q What has been your favourite live show?
"Probably when we opened for Shapeshifter at an Otago University event in 2016. Being in a huge stadium and having a great live rig."
Q Have you toured overseas at all?
"No we haven’t. That would be the dream. I’d love to move to Europe for a summer, and if Danny could come over and we could bring the band over and do some festivals or shows, that would be a dream come true. We’re going to be touring New Zealand in June and July, which will be a good start to see how we can put a tour together and financially run it. We’re doing six shows: Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Queenstown and Wanaka."
Q Arma Del Amor has been together for five years. Where do you see yourself in another five?
"It’d be amazing to be writing albums and touring. We don’t want to stop, we don’t want to peter off. We want to build and build until it [the music] can sustain itself. We’d love to be playing shows year round and festivals all summer."
Q What has it been like playing at events like Rhythm and Alps?
"It’s been incredible. It’s such an awesome opportunity to be given to us. One of our first live shows was at Rhythm and Alps, and that was terrifying and amazing. From there we did three in a row and it just got better and better."
Q What are your thoughts on the New Zealand music scene at the moment? Who stands out to you?
"I really like what Aldous Harding and Marlon Williams are doing. They’re doing something totally different but being themselves, which is really authentic. They’re not necessarily bands that are popular in New Zealand but they’re doing stuff overseas and doing it differently."
