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Otago Daily Times
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Focused on his joy
If you stand your ground, people come around, Delaney Davidson tells Seren Stevens. Delaney Davidson is a country musician set in a noir film. His music has American roots with shades of blues, hints of early rock 'n' roll, and a gritty, trashy timbre binding it all together. "I look at all these different genres like pots of paint. I'm going, 'Let's have a bit of this, bit of that, wham, slap that over there'," Davidson says. The process has garnered awards in both Europe and New Zealand, including the 2015 New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate Award and New Zealand Music Awards Country Album of the Year. Now he's on the road again with The Anniversary Tour, which represents 15 years of his work, reaching back to 2010 when his critically acclaimed album, Self Decapitation, was released. Preparing for the tour was a nostalgic process for Davidson, casting him back to Northern Italy, where he recorded the album for Swiss label Voodoo Rhythm Records. "I would listen to the songs again, and I would suddenly be back in the original studio. It was like this time travel machine, where you would put the song on, and once you started listening to all the parts, you would remember. You would hear the song, and you could go back into the recording session and relive it, almost." In a quiet and gravelly voice, he recounts the hazy days that the Anniversary Tour draws upon. "I'd be thinking of these summer nights in Italy, with the swampy heat, and eating pasta and sausages and going out in these little towns, into the squares. White marble clock towers and ice cream in the evening. All these old times came back." Known as a troubadour, Davidson spent a decade travelling Europe while writing and performing his music. Many of his early songs were scribed on the long train journeys between small European towns, or in restaurants or cafes, with simple pencil and paper. Davidson discusses how tantalising the simplicity of tour-life is, in both Europe and New Zealand. "It really feels like a natural state. Life becomes very much about the day to day. 'Where do we have to be? Are you hungry? Eat something. Are you tired? Have a nap. Then sound check, play the show. Go to sleep, get up, drive.' That's nice. It's a way to become really present. "Touring feels so zen, and so focused. It's such a true dedication to the music. And that's ultimately what so many of us as musicians are looking for; we're looking for a way to dedicate ourselves to the glory of music." Davidson presents as a wandering soul. But while travelling and living on the road has been his natural state for years, he still finds value in stillness. Now based in Lyttelton, he sees a settled life as a parallel to being grounded in his own style and music. "In terms of keeping my style my own, I just think of that saying: even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day. Trends come and go, and I love being influenced, but I don't particularly want to deviate from my take on those things. "If you stay in one place, things come around. If you move around and change, it's hard to connect with things. I find that happens in my hometown of Lyttelton — if I want to see people, I just stand in one place. I can stand down the end of the first aisle of the supermarket around 5 o'clock, and sooner or later, everybody walks past. But if I move around trying to find people, forget it. Everybody's moving. You miss everybody." Looking back on his music career, Davidson offers the lessons he's learnt along the way, that have kept him on track when difficulties arise. "Make sure the reasons you're doing it and your motivations are all based in love. Based on the love of the music, and not based in success or industry or comparison, because that's the way to ruin. If you try to keep it focused on your own joy of the music, you will always be getting something out of it. "Ultimately, it's total energetic magic that we're doing. You can transport yourself back in time, you can mend a broken heart, you can do all sorts of stuff with music. It's not some commercial, interchangeable thing. It's way more than that." In Dunedin, Davidson will perform alongside his band, featuring Alex Freer, Heather Webb and Mark Hughes. "The Dunedin tour is going to be crazy — it's going to be wild and fun. Come and bask in the magic and the love," he says. Delaney Davidson plays two shows at The Crown, Dunedin, on Friday, July 25, then the Cellar Door, Kinross Winery, Queenstown, on Saturday, July 26.
1News
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- 1News
Renowned Fat Freddy's Drop founder Chris Faiumu dies
Fat Freddy's Drop founding member and beatmaker Chris Faiumu has died. Chris Faiumu was known by his stage name DJ Fitchie or DJ Mu and helped develop the band's widely regarded sound. In a post to social media, the band confirmed its "talismanic founding member, production maestro, selector and brother" had died. "This is a seismic shift in our world. Sending alofa to the Faiumu & Duckworth aiga, and to MU's wider aiga of friends and fans worldwide," the band wrote. ADVERTISEMENT "Tears flowed on receiving word that your journey had taken you to the heavens Chris DJ MU Fitchie. "These were all the titles you were famously known by for your miraculous works to all music makers of Aotearoa and the whole world. " Growing from Faimu's already established career, Fat Freddy's formed in 1999, following his experimentation with live instrumentation and vocals in his DJ sets. In 2005 the collective of Wellington musicians burst onto the national scene with the release of their first studio album Based On A True Story. Chris Faiumu pictured in 2004. (Source: 1News) The album sold over 100,000 copies in New Zealand and spent 108 weeks consecutively in the Top 40. At the New Zealand Music Awards that year it won Album of the Year, Best Aotearoa Roots Album and the People's Choice Award. Fat Freddy's Drop also won Best Group. ADVERTISEMENT The band enjoyed local success in New Zealand and also attracted huge crowds at festivals and their own headline gigs across Europe and Australasia. In October 2014, Fat Freddy's Drop sold out London's O2 Academy. More recently, the band regularly toured Europe and UK, making the trip twice in 2024 with both summer and winter drops. In 2024, the band released its sixth studio album entitled SLO MO, with nine bass-heavy new songs. Reporter Isobel Prasad caught up with the band as it drops its sixth studio album this week. (Source: 1News) At the time, Faiumu described the mix as "Afro rhythmic soul music, an exploration of Black music from Polynesia". The band has sold in excess of 500,000 albums. ADVERTISEMENT Other New Zealand DJs took to social media to pay tribute to Faiumu following his death. Shapeshifter wrote they were "deeply saddened" by the news. "Mu was and still is a massive inspiration to Shapeshifter. We have toured and shared many stages together with the mighty @fatfreddysdropnz Our deepest and dearest of condolences we would like to send much warmth and love to Nicole Mia and the whole FFD family." "Beyond heartbroken," wrote Wellington's DJ Jazzywhut. Another Wellington DJ Rodrigo Pantoja said Faiumu was "an inspiration and a total legend, to say you'll be missed is an understatement. "Thanks for the music bro, we'll continue to dance." ADVERTISEMENT
