Thanks to Will for answering these questions for muzic.net.nz:
What can we expect to see from you over the next year?
As well as the live shows and promoting my debut album Curious Maladies, work has begun on the next release, probably an EP with perhaps a slightly different sound. More electric possibly... then there is my new band Bearhat who'll be playing live and releasing our debut EP this year.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Make sure it's fun. Always press 'record'. Choose carefully the advise you take. Find out exactly What it is you want to do and Why. Forge ahead regardless of negative reactions and try not to compare yourself with others. Push up against rules and barriers and stretch yourself. Storm the Gates of the Mind.
Who are your favourite NZ musicians/bands, and why?
I have admiration for anyone creating music in New Zealand, as it's often not easy and has to have the motivating factor of doing it for the LOVE maaaan. My favorites are very many and varied, including - but never limited to - the likes of Chris Knox, The Mutton Birds, Finns Snr and Jnr, Shayne Carter, The Drab Doo Riffs, Ghost Wave, Dictaphone Blues, The Eversons, Opossum, UMO, The Vietnam War, The Cosbys, The Situations, The Twitch, Roy Irwin.... the list honestly goes on and on... would be easier to say the NZ bands I DON"T like... There's one or two.
What will your next release be?
Probably digital, but I would like to do a physical release with a small illustrated book.
How do you come up with your lyrics?
Usually it all comes in one big flood. I try not to edit or analyze what they mean or where they come from but usually after a few weeks or months I can see more of what I was thinking at the time. I like to think of them as postcards from the subconscious and I like a 50-50% break of storytelling and phonetic sentences that actually turn out meaning something. They're already there, I just have to get off my arse and broadcast them. Like a tattoo thats under the skin already and appears when the surface is broken or a swift fish. Crafty and slippery stuff.
Who would you most like to support live?
Ideally I would like to support myself and friends and familly to live a happy, healthy life.
How do you believe you fit into the NZ music industry?
Like a one eyed cat peeping in a seafood store.
What can you never leave home without?
Having a home to get back to.
How do you describe your music?
Odd Folk for odd folk, with a smattering of psychedelia encased in a rich layer of love and hope. All topped off with a glaze of inevitable mortality.
What is your favourite NZ venue?
Having mainly played in Auckland it's Kings Arms, Whammy Bar, Wine Cellar and Golden Dawn and Mighty Mighty in Welly.
What is the best part of being a musician?
Being given a free pass onstage and in recordings to project unfiltered thought, energy, melody and emotion. If you did this sorta thing in real life they'd lock you up.
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
Original, thoughtful and creative musicians and bands not bound by genre would be nice... we're doing pretty well so far, let's try and keep it up.
What is in your CD collection at home?
Lotta psychedelia, blues, old pop, punk, rock n roll, folk and jazz, organic human crafted stuff mainly. All containing Energy and Melody.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
Playing Wellington with my old band The Quick and the Dead, all the gear got stuck in snow in transit and we had to cobble together a very sub-par but working backline...just before we were to begin and an hour after we were meant to be playing everything turned up due to a kindly snow clearer and we lifted it all over the heads of a restless and party-keen packed out gig to play one of the wildest sets we ever did. Twas some skin-of-the-teeth funtimes.
What is your favourite place in NZ to be?
The beach in summer when not playing, onstage when playing, with everything working when recording.
What inspired you to start a band?
I just didn't know any better.
How did you come up with your name?
Initially I was recording on a 4-track cassette machine, so have many many hours of songs, covers and experiments on tape. The Lowest Fidelity seemed suitable when I supplied a track to the Cheese on Toast Michael Jackson tribute album released just after he died, and had no computer, and as when I was playing solo I wanted a separation between the whole "singer songwriter" tag...And then there is the thought of a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to hear it etc....and the low grumbling growl elephants emit to communicate and can percieve over vast distances, which is out of range for us humans to ever hear.
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
Suppoting Kitty Daisy and Lewis was fun, everyone was up for a good time, when thats the case it's pretty hard to screw it up. Every gig could always be the last though so it's important to give it everything each time I think.
How do you keep in contact with your fans?
Musically mainly. Live and recording. As I am so crap at social media and internet swings and roundabouts Youtube, Bandcamp and Facebook are the main outlets.
What rumour would you like to start about your band?
That there are definitley no external forces and spectres informing what myself and The Lowest Fidelity produce. Clear thinking and sensibility come with great ease. There is a 67% chance that I have two small electric eels spinning and thrashing in the fluid undernath either of my kneecaps. We own the copyright to both fire and wasps.
The Lowest Fidelity are a 3-piece band from Auckland.
They have released one album This Is The Life and in 2016 played live support to U.S acts Fred & Toody Cole (Dead Moon) and The Reverend Horton Heat along with having previously toured with NZ bands The Situations and The Transistors.