Carly Binding
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Interview With Carly Binding By Chris 19/4/06
Carly Binding is a great New Zealand singer
songwriter
Her Debut album Passenger was excellent but her new stuff
is mind blowing.
I knew I had to interview her for the site
I for one can’t wait to hear the new album.
So read on and find out what she had to say.
Carly MySpace
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1. How did you get into music?
It’s always been part of my life i guess. My mother was a
dancer and ran a dance school, I learnt from a young age
but always saw music as my number one thing. I started
doing recording sessions with various people in NZ at about
15 and studied music for 2 years when I was 18 and 19. I
can’t imagine doing anything else.
2. What were your major influnces?
I can remember dad playing records by The Animals, Bruce
Springsteen, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Randy
Newman when I was very young. I’m not sure if they
influenced me so much but I still listen to The Animals now
and then. At the moment I’m listening to The Greenhorns,
The Cardigans, The pretenders, Beck, The Cure, The Yeah
Yeah Yeah’s, Blockparty and just about anything else I can
get my hands on – well, that’s good anyway.
3. If you could have a three band bill who would they
be?
Oh hard one! Perhaps The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix and
Elvis
4. What has been the highlight of your career so
far?
I spent a week last year in Freemantle writing with Kav,
Joel and Stu from Eskimo Joe. I went into the situation
having basically all the songs written for my new record
(So Radiate) and had no expectations. We hung out at Kav’s
for the week and came out the other end with four great
songs. Magical.
5. Were you happy with the response to
Passenger?
Passenger opened a lot of doors for me in NZ and Oz. As a
result a spent a lot of time touring and doing press in
Australia. It became a second home for me and gave me a lot
of great memories. It’s the most amazing thing to know
people are listening to something you’ve spent so long
writing and creating. The record takes on a whole new
life.
6. What inspires you when writing music?
People. Moments. Heartbreak and the resulting macabre
humour in it. Listening to a great band or just hearing a
great line in a favourite song.
7. Were you surprised that Passenger went
gold?
To be honest I would’ve liked to have sold more but I also
know that people who buy my records are very loyal music
fans/listeners. I kind of feel like the songs are in safe
hands ya know, that they’ll be listened to and heard.
8. What has been the response to your new stuff you have
put out?
I’ve had nothing but positive feedback about the new songs.
I want to set a precedent for myself. I think I’d get bored
if I kept making the same record over and over, which I’m
sure is easy to do. I guess I want the freedom to make
whatever type of record I feel like at the time.
9. Who would most like to record a song with?
Oh that’s easy. There are two actually. Chrissie Hynde and
also The Cardigans.
10. So you happy with how things have gone so
far?
I’m more than happy with my life. Although being a musician
is sometimes a hard and lonely choice it also makes me an
incredibly lucky person. What could be better than writing
songs and making records!!!!
11. What bands/artists are you listening to
lately?
Oh I think I answered this earlier. oh well.
12. What inspired you when writing/making the new
album?
I wrote So Radiate over a relatively short period of time
bar a few songs. It was a very low and transitional time
for me so I tried to make some kind of truth out of that,
something to give the listener which makes them go “hang
on, I know what’s going on here”. There’s a risk of writing
a record too down when in that frame of mind but I decided
to make the sentiments a little more poetic.
13. How did you get involved with Boh Runga on the first
album?
Boh has been one of my best friends for many years and at
the time I was in a long term relationship with one of the
members of her band Stellar. He Andrew Maclaren) also
produced Passenger.
14. What are some of your favourite movies?
There are so many! There’s an amazing Australian film
called Lantana that I love. More recently I saw and fell in
love with Brokeback Mountain. It’s such a human story,
broke my heart.
15. Have you tried your luck overseas with your music
yet?
Apart from New Zealand and Australia I haven’t done
anything major overseas but have had some big interest in
So Radiate from the UK and America. I guess we’ll see what
happens. I try not to expect anything nor hang my hat on a
certain ideal because it can lead to let down. I’ll just
keep making records and see where it takes me.
