Nadia Reid: The 13th Floor Interview Pt 1

Nadia Reid has just released her second album, Preservation. And with the global spotlight suddenly and unexpectedly on the Kiwi folk singer…there have been features in Billboard, Mojo, The Guardian…expectations are running high.

Of course those who heard Nadia’s first album, 2015’s Listen To Formation, Look For The Signs, already know what the rest of the world is discovering…that Nadia Reid is a formidable talent.

Nadia stopped by The 13th Floor recently to talk to Marty Duda about what’s been happening between the first and second album and how her music has evolved. It turned into a somewhat length discussion so we’ll bring it to you in two parts. Here is part one…

Read a transcription of part one of the 13th Floor interview with Nadia Reid here:

MD: A lot has happened, I assume, in the interim between the release of the first album and the recording of the second album. What would you say is significantly that has had an effect on what you’ve been doing, music wise?

NR: I guess in 2014 – when we made the first record – for me, it didn’t really feel very proficient: it was like an unknown experiment. I have talked before about not really knowing if it was something I wanted to really do. It was my first time making an album. And I had a really amazing, small fan base, but certainly very much starting from the bottom. I think, from then until now – I’ve done a lot more playing, and toured: I’ve been to Europe on a tour; and I think all of that starts to shape you – … the main difference would be just this sense of… this drive to really want to give music my all, and knowing that; whereas, when I first made Listen To Formation, it was kind of this expression, and I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen.

MD: So, would you say that somewhere along the line, you’ve made some kind of commitment to yourself; that this is what you’re going to be doing?

NR: Yeah. I think this second album is a sort of commitment to continuing on.

MD: What would you do if you weren’t doing it?

NR: Well, that’s the thing! I talked to this amazing painter the other day – and we’re similar age – and we were talking about the point in which she decided to go full time as an artist, and how I’m going through that at the moment. She said to me, “There’s nothing else I could do. There’s nothing else that’s going to make me as happy as being a full time artist does.” It comes with its pros and cons, but that’s how I kind of feel. I sort of had a couple of backup plans – and I still have these vague backup plans – but I guess there’s nothing else that I can think of.

MD: A lot of people: their album comes out, they tour a little bit, and then they disappear; and then, if there is a next album, suddenly, they reappear. But you’ve been constantly out there doing shows, whether the album was new or not.

NR: Yeah, I feel like… there’s been a lot happening. I think because Listen to Formation had three releases – it had its self release, and then its Australasian release, and then the European release, it’s had quite a long touring cycle. We’re about to start this next touring cycle. I can totally understand why artists would need to have that season of touring, and then… need to have a season of being introverted in order to refill: because it takes a lot out of you. I really admire those bands, or artists, that can continually tour; it’s definitely a skill.

MD: These days, I think they have to financially, more than any other reason, because there’s not all this income coming in from royalties and song writing, and all that stuff; so, it’s probably a necessity, I guess. When the first album came out, and you started to get some notice – you got written up in the Guardian, and noticed quite extensively in the US – did that change the game for you at all? Did you go, “Whoa! Hang on a second,” because people were paying attention?

NR: It didn’t change the game for me, but it possibly changed how New Zealand viewed me as a musician. That’s this frustrating thing to understand: New Zealand, I think, relies on the rest of the world to acknowledge something positively, and then, as a country, we feel that’s worth supporting as well; so, for me, it was like nothing’s really changed – the album hasn’t changed, and I haven’t changed anything that I’m doing. The extra attention – well, more so, the support, really – it all helped.

MD: I think its human nature though. I know, back when I lived in the States: I lived in a mid-sized city, that if you were big in Rochester, New York, it didn’t really mean anything; you had to get noticed in New York or LA for you to have any kind of relevance or credibility to people. Here, I think it’s just the same thing, only you have to do something outside New Zealand in order for people to take you serious, or take another listen.

NR: Yeah. I think I didn’t have any understanding of that; and so, it’s been quite a learning experience. It’s really affirming when you have positive reviews, but you have to take the positive ones as much as you take the negative ones; so, you start to place them in this box that…it’s nice, but it also doesn’t mean too much.

MD: The Guardian has lumped you in with a bunch of other musicians from this part of the world – people like Aldous [Harding] and Julia Jacklin. Do you feel like you’re a part of a group of like minded individuals?

NR: I feel very connected to Aldous Harding, because of our personal relationship, and we’re the same age, and we kind of came from the same background and upbringing – we’re all connected in with the Lyttleton community – but other than that, I just think it’s easy for people to put you into this female singer-songwriter box; and that’s easy for people to understand. Also – with Tiny Ruins as well – I don’t know what it is, but I feel like folk is taking a new… shape; but I think all genres do.

MD: Well, we were talking about Tame Impala at Laneway: he’s doing that psych thing that gets reinvented every couple of years; and now, he’s taken that and added a dance element to it. Everything happens over again, but then it gets reshaped, like you say.

NR: Exactly, yeah. I think genres are ever changing, and it’s a difficult thing to talk about, really. But, for some reason, as people that enjoy music, we need this…

MD: Yeah! Because the first thing that everybody asks – especially if they haven’t heard the artist – is what the artist sounds like, and the only touchstone you have is other musicians that are similar. “What kind of music is it?” That’s a tough question to answer. You must get asked that by people who you meet. What do you tell them?

NR: I generally just say, “Folk,” but then I think a lot of people would tend to think of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, sort of…

MD: Joan Baez; that kind of thing?

NR: Yeah. There are lots of similarities in my approach to music, but it’s all very individual, isn’t it?

MD: Yes it is. Do you find yourself cringing when you read these comparisons, and go, “No, I don’t really listen to any of that?”

NR: Not so much cringing, but there’s moments of feeling slightly uncomfortable about being compared to Joni Mitchell. She’s the queen of folk music…. Maybe I’ll get used to it, but it can be uncomfortable.

MD: Now, let’s talk about the new album: I’ve been listening to it, and – because you started off saying, “Oh, I don’t think feel like I’m really professional” – the thing that  struck me about Preservation, was the production of it. It sounded very well crafted. It sounds like somebody has taken a lot of time and effort to make it sound the way it does. And you recorded this back in Lyttleton again, right? Tell me how you guys talked about it…. It doesn’t sound like somebody just throwing a microphone up in front of you and strumming on a guitar and singing; there’s more to it than that.

NR: It was the same producer, same studio, same band, pretty much. Ben Edwards… had a particular vision in mind: it’s the second album, and he wanted to push the boundary a bit, but not do the comfortable thing; so, I really liked that. The way it works is: I write the songs, we all get together, and I play the song; and then we all have this quite organic studio process; and then playing together – and a lot of it was live tracked with the band – and Ben is gently guiding us in a certain direction. With this album, compared to the first one, I think my main difference is that not only is it time passing and more playing – and so, you naturally get better or stronger – but it was that decision to be a bit more serious about music; I was viewing it differently.

MD: There are some sounds on it: The Arrow And The Aim starts with that low hum, and there are some very ethereal sounds that you really don’t know if they’re a guitar or some kind of electronic keyboard, or where they come from.

NR: It’s mostly synthesiser, which Sam Taylor played. I’ve never played with a synthesiser before; so, we are pushing at this boundary. I think it’s really important for an artist and a band to grow and try new things. Some people might hate it: they might think I’ve gone too electric.

MD: It got Dylan in trouble for a short while.

NR: Exactly.

MD: But he was right after all.

NR: It’ll be interesting. I’m really excited to perform the album live with the band, but I think acoustic guitar and folk music is my true, original love; and I think the third album’s going to come right back.

Part two will be posted tomorrow…