bandstanding – music in the west with susannah bridges
Introducing Paper Cranes
Fraser and Naomi Browne: playing for weddings led to their own romance.
Paper Cranes are husband and wife duo Fraser and Naomi Browne. The multi-instrumentalists gig regularly around Auckland and their debut album The Road Home reached 29 on the charts in 2015. Fraser tells us more about Paper Cranes from the couple’s home in Huia where, he says, they are finding plenty of inspiration to write their follow up album. “We’ve spent most of the last year writing material at Huia, and there has been a lot of interesting material to work with”. While the surroundings are an obvious influence the duo also write about topical news and events “not just because it’s good material for songs, but because it’s interesting in itself. So the US elections, Trump, Brexit and everything happening in Europe has been really interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a resurgence in protest music soon.,” he says Fraser and Naomi met when playing in covers bands for weddings. “We just kept getting thrown together to play in wedding bands, which led to a romance for us,” laughs Fraser. “Then we started writing material and eventually decided to do something with it by playing live and recording. The EP Oh, Love! was released in September 2012, along with the single Little Darling which received New Zealand On Air funding after the band topped The Audience chart in October of that year. Starting out on the piano provided a good musical foundation, and both were encouraged to do concerts and exams as young kids. “I’ve always been interested in improvising and composing music,” Fraser explains, “I think I wrote my first song aged about three or four, maybe five. I played one song that I wrote when I was about seven years old so much that I can still remember how to play it!” A love of good company – and good musical company – has led to a band forming around the core
duo. “The songs are always written as a duo, though, which means they can be stripped back to just the two of us if we want.” Fraser says the new album is “very peaceful, beautiful music inspired by where we live, but Huia is obviously also part of Auckland – a busy, bustling little city – so there is a tension there which seems to be coming out in the music.” Paper Cranes’ sound can be described as warm, melancholy, quiet and intricate – folk music that harks back to its heady heyday. Think old brick fireplaces, good wine, books and conversation, love and loss, and everyday life. Fraser further explains the duo’s non-environmental influences: “I find that books often inspire a lyric or idea – for example, one of our new songs Feather came from a passage in a Norman Mailer novel. I’m always reading things that put me on tangents that often lead to songs. Musically I have a few artists I keep going back to – Jose Gonzalez, Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes, Civil Wars, Father John Misty, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel”. Born in Japan, Naomi’s influences are quite different to the average New Zealander and she is interested in Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi (which she plays). With family connections at Huia the couple had been visiting the area for many years. After Fraser realised that he wrote his best material there, the couple decided to make it into a longer term plan. “There’s lots there to inspire you if you want to find a song. But if you want to just hide away it’s great for that too. Huia really feels like it’s outside Auckland. It has its own flavour, and for the most part, we’ve found being out there really peaceful. It gives you a real perspective on Auckland, almost as an outsider.” Paper Cranes will soon be back in the recording studio. “We’ve written about 15 tracks for a new record, so hopefully we can get booked in, then release something new. Sometimes these things take time but we’re almost ready to go,” says Fraser. Check out their sound or contact Paper Cranes at papercranes.co.nz
816 5418 9568 (09) 813 021 351 630
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