26 May 2021 - 0 Comments
Lead Singer from Tweed, Nancy Howie, is setting off to start her own solo project Fathom.
Nancy is a singer-songwriter, musician and maker. Hailing from Auckland by way of a nomadic nautical childhood, her latest project is a sprawling bedroom-folk experiment featuring DIY instruments and home-recorded music which tests the limits of lockdown-borne creativity.
Nancy has written and performed with her folk trio Tweed for almost a decade, playing in Auckland Folk Festival, on Radio New Zealand’s NZ Live programme, and for theatrical presentations in which they were commissioned to write the music.
NZ’s first COVID lockdown, forced the band to take a break from performance. Stranded at home, Nancy discovered a passion for inventing and building experimental instruments, beginning with a fencepost-based creation resembling a cello, and expanding to balloon-saxophones, unusual percussion instruments, and an improvised hurdy gurdy.
Her upcoming release The World to Breathe is the end result of a year of DIY instrument building combined with a collection of songs which explore themes of anxiety, self-discovery and unfamiliarity of life under COVID-19. The album was recorded at home during the lockdown, and features instruments handmade in her basement. Her music incorporates influences of 70's folk-rock, jazz, and indie, but the sound of homemade instrumentation is uniquely her own.
Over the coming months, the Fathom project will be brought to exhibition venues around New Zealand beginning with the Whangaparaoa Library on the 29th of May.
Nancy will show her instruments, tell their story, and play a sneak preview of the album. Hand-stenciled upcycled tees and posters for the upcoming album will be available for purchase at the event.
The World to Breathe album is set for release in November.
There are currently no comments for this article. Please log in to add new comments.