Paul McLaney

In a career spanning over 20 years, Paul McLaney has collaborated with NZ legends such as Anika Moa, SJD, Breaks Co-op, Julia Deans, Concord Dawn, Counterstrike, Fly My Pretties, Jeff Boyle (Jakob), Proteins of Magic, Magik Johnson, Eden Mulholland, Rhian Sheehan, Maisey Rika the list goes on and on.

He’s lost track of how many albums are actually out there, but it's somewhere around the 30 mark. The unifying feature of all his work is that singular voice. “I’ve had everything from Bowie, Bryan Ferry, John Martyn, Chris Isaak, Scott Walker... my only thing about singing is conveying the emotion and doing it in tune.

I had just completed what will be the next Gramsci album with Devin Abrams (Pacific Heights), which is a very ambitious and sophisticated record, then subsequently, without any design or plan I found myself completing a bunch of solo acoustic songs.

“The music of John Martyn, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Bert Jansch et al has been a constant in my adult life. The lone troubadour, a voice and self accompaniment. I see synchronicity between that sort of artist and electronic producers like Aphex Twin and Burial. Fundamentally one mind communicating.”

Community is at the heart of this album. Music without empathy is just noise. As I was completing these songs I knew I wanted to personally take them out and perform them in intimate spaces up and down the country. Social Media creates a vicarious reality of community and I want to engage audiences in real time; again in that tradition of the troubadour.”

Doors 6pm | Starts 7pm

2 x 50 minute sets.