03 February 2016 - 0 Comments

Holdin' Out for Somebody and When Nobody Loves You (You Don’t Need to be Saved) are beautifully crafted folk songs. Singer-songwriter Ali Whitton’s lyrics are piercing and poetic by turns while his band-mate Oliver Vetter coaxes plaintive notes from the fiddle and the mandolin, bringing a timeless country feel to the songs. 

Launching the tracks and the video at a free event on Valentine’s Day is a wry nod to songs lyrics, which are about love in all its destructive glory, compared to the sanitized version oversold every 14 February. 

When Nobody Loves You… works its way into a defiant triumph of a song, digging out hard-earned hope from the rawness of heartbreak. Holdin' out for Somebody meanwhile is a sweetly searing lyrical ballad, which turns on a point that could very well pierce your heart. Or at the least have you reactivating your dating profile. 

Given Ali and Oliver both have day jobs that are about protecting and celebrating the Capital’s natural environment, it’s not surprising that the wilds of Wellington are the inspirations for the songs. It’s also how Oliver joined the band: LOST BiRD has been Ali's solo moniker for the last few years, and he played a gig at a Sustainable Coastlines event Oliver was involved in running. 

Oliver must have been the missing piece, as the pair has since built a steadfast following of fans with their live shows, including a series of house-gigs around the Capital, which audiences enjoyed for their music and the banter in-between. “Oliver and I are all about meeting our audience. We love doing house shows and we love doing gigs for good causes. We try to be interesting and informal with where we choose to play, like our secret gig in some community gardens late last year.” 

The production of the new songs and the video are born of the collaborative nature of Wellingtonians: videographer and photographer Emily Roper approached Ali after a solo gig a few years ago, keen to make a video for his music. Wedding photographer by trade, she teamed up with director Sadie Wilson and the pair have produced a stunning video for Holdin' out for Somebody, telling the story of the search for lost love. Capturing the tone of the song perfectly, the video is work of art in itself. 

Instead of releasing tracks on Spotify, the band’s aim is to make more music, which means selling the songs to fans to finance the next set of recordings – a radical move in the age of free content. 

“I’m really proud of the tracks and the video. Our aim is to make music sustainably and, in a world where nobody pays for music anymore, we want to make clear our plan to make a sustainable path to releasing our songs. We've worked with NZ musicians, NZ recording engineers, NZ filmmakers, and an NZ artist for the cover design. We've paid them all, but all of them have been generous with their rates. We need to sell a lot of songs to break even and then make more songs and do the whole process again,” explains Ali. 

The songs are available for download exclusively on BandCamp from 14 February for $1.79 each, or both for $3.50. The tracks were recorded and produced by Gerry Paul at Thomas Voyce's new studio within Toi Poneke; one of Wellington's best session musicians coupled with one the city's most well-known arts spaces.

To celebrate the launch, the band is playing a free gig at Tuatara Third Eye on Sunday 14 February, where the video will also be screened for the first time. 

“We're excited about the launch. They're good songs, the video is stunning, and we have limited edition artwork prints to sell. We just want to generate enough of an interest to cover the costs of this recording, so we can make another couple of songs, and then do it again and again. That's the dream!” 

LOST BiRD launch double single ‘Holdin' out for Somebody’ and ‘When Nobody Loves You (You Don’t Need to be Saved)’ at Tuatara Third Eye, Sunday 14 February at 7.30pm. It’s free, and you’re invited. Bring a friend. 

About LOST BiRD 

Ali Whitton was born in New Zealand but raised in the UK. He played under his own name throughout ten years of gigging that took him touring France and the UK regularly. In 2010 - after what he terms a ‘mid-twenties crisis approximately’ (perfect storm of bad second album, breakup, burnout) - he left the UK and returned to NZ, taking a huge step away from music.

In 2012, he wrote a few new songs, started playing under the name LOST BiRD, and entered NZ Battle of the Bands as a solo act. “I ended up getting to the national final in Auckland playing delicate finger-picked lyrical folk songs up against rock and metal bands…. It was terrifying!”

In mid-2013 he became ill with glandular fever which then morphed into chronic fatigue syndrome or M.E. “Since about February 2015, I found slight improvements in my energy and I started writing songs that were informed by what I’d been through, and often by the views of the sea from where I’d been recuperating.  I met Oliver who began joining me on the songs with his violin and mandolin. We tested out the new songs on a heap of friends at an intimate house gig in mid-April.” 

Ali and Oliver spend their days helping to make Wellington a better place – Oliver works for Sustainable Coastlines, while Ali has an innovative role running green space and recreation projects for Wellington City Council.

facebook.com/lostbirdsings

Photo L-R Ali Whitton and Oliver Vetter
Copyright Emily Roper

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