Mermaidens

Backstage from the 2024 Silver Scrolls awards, Abe from Mermaidens called up to set the scene and talk us through the song they were nominated for: I Like To Be Alone. Plus he shared some good news about this summer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Radio holdar Keys Off the Record podcast with Greg.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let's have a chat with Mermaiden's curda Abe Kyoda.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
How you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah really well? Thanks you are backstage at the Silver Scrolls.
At the moment, Wellington has been a buzz of all
these musical people from all over the country arriving to
celebrate Kiwi music this evening's.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
James theaterre Wellington pretty special place. I think it's just
only opened recently this year or last year. So could
we back here? The Who's Who's the welling of music
and new Zilla here and so are we? It's It's
an amazing building with like Nate decoration in the in
the gallery. Pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Did they close it down for earthquake strengthening?

Speaker 1 (00:46):
I think so? Yeah, Plastic Wellington Shendigan's eye.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Did you feel that one on Sunday morning? It was
like five in the morning.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, it's been a while. I was like, oh, what
have to do again? Is the doorways tangle of life?
You know? I was like I quickly remember all that
kind of save myself.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, you would have gone into survival mode, I guess.
So did you dive under the bed? Did you dive
under the door frame. What did you do?

Speaker 1 (01:08):
It was only it was too short. So by the
time it was over, I hadn't even got around to
getting myself saved.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
And did you go back to sleep or you're sort
of a bit wired after that?

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, my baby had just woken out already, and so
people kind of just lying there, like putting her to sleep,
and it's chatting about, oh, we're really going to get
that water. So today, I think those keynes in the
events and supply ready.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Are all your cupboards stuck together with like rubber bands
holding them shut so that if the earthquake comes, they
don't pop open.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Not that prepared.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Sorry, that's okay, neither of mine. But it's something that
I sort of think about. I remember those TV ads
that Mikey have hosted and you're sort of you get
your shelves and you sticked into the wall so that
they went fall over and everything come crashing out.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, my stuff is fixed off. I'm actually a joining us.
I I'm pretty pretty pretty good at like fixing my
shelves away.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Let's cast our minds back even further to about a
year ago. The album came out and it was very
successful and there was a tour.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, it's always it's always so nice to get around
the country and see people known for years or new
fans or whatever, and it's nice to like share our
music with people. So yeah, we played christ Church in Dunedin,
Auckland and Wellington. Played a little cafe Internedin because Dive
closed down about two weeks before our gig, so we

(02:37):
had to like scramble and play a pretty diy show
in a cafe, which actually felt quite like returning to
our roots of playing kind of hilariously bad sounding shows.
And in Auckland we played in Hollywood Evandale, which is
amazing and it was really cool to play that amazing
stage actually sloped, which is I've never seen before the

(02:58):
stage slopes down towards the audio. The drums have to
be a special like triangular riser so you don't slide
down the stage fall off. Had a great time, loved it.
Aukham was a really good show. Actually we had some
special friends come out and like dance with us on
stage for the song I Like to Be Alone, and yeah,

(03:20):
it felt kind of like pretty camp but pretty fun.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
This song I Like to be Alone. This is the
one that you're nominated for the Silver Scroll Award tonight
at the very lavish ceremony at the Saint James Theater
in Wellington. Good luck by the way, Abe, But how
did that song go when you had the dancers on?
And did you have dancers at other shows?

Speaker 1 (03:41):
We didn't have any other dances any other shows. But
it went really well. Actually I just sort of I
made a gaff and I instructed this like using the setlist,
I was like you to come out after the song,
come walk out on the stage. But I got the
song wrong. So then the dancers like standing on the
stage for a whole song, like, wait, this isn't it. Luckily,
through the out of stagecraft he pulled it off.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
And so for anyone who hasn't heard this song before,
you're not the song writer, you're not the singer, But
what's the vibe? What's going on for you?

Speaker 1 (04:11):
It's got this quite epic drop in the middle of it,
which is really satisfying. It every kind of knows it's coming,
and it's like this tension of waiting for this big,
like cathartic drop where it just suddenly becomes totally crungy
and noisy. It's always really fun to just let go
and like thrash out, yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, all right, well I can't wait for that. That's
in a couple of minutes from now. But let's hear
the rest of the song.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
I'm abe from the Maidens. This is our song. I
like to be alone and you listen to radio hode.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Why do stars fall from us? Guy? When question your friend?
Where's your hand?

Speaker 4 (04:57):
Okay, your hand in my back pucket.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
When I'm on the raw, for I know how.

Speaker 5 (05:22):
To step aside with your hand in my backfucke it
fucking keep your.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
Hand in my backfucking.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Do know?

Speaker 3 (05:37):
I like to be a No? Is that so much?
No word on ah, always come back to why do

(06:09):
stops fall from the sky?

Speaker 5 (06:13):
When westy your friend? With your hand and my back God, keep.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
Your hand in my back bucket.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
That's not mas, it's something else.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
Don't take it the wrong way. Don't know what makes
me take it's making making you sack? No, why I
take it?

Speaker 6 (06:52):
I know it's that so us do to you?

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Don't well like to think? Hello, it is that so
much to us? I like to be it is.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
So It's already a hurdarchy and that's mermaiden's with I
like to be alone, and we're lucky enough to have
Abe on a zoom with us now from backstage at

(08:21):
the Saint James Theaterre and Wellington, where the Silver Scroll
Awards are currently underway. Abe, thanks for bringing us that
tune and congratulations on your nomination for it.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Thank you so much. Yeah, it's been a crazy year
and so excited to yeah, just to be here and
like share it with or just to be like, I
don't know, just to be nominated is such an impressives
such an exciting thing.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
To make the top twenty is pretty cool. But then
to make the top five as well, and this is
something that's voted for by musicians around New Zealand. Those
are the judges, if you like. So to have the
respect of your peers must be quite satisfying.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
It really is, because it's the popularity contest in some respect.
It's also, like you say, it's been like to have
the respect of other songwriters. It's quite validating.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
If you weren't to win it, if you took your
song out of the equation. Is there another song of
the remaining four finalists that you would pick as your
vote with the Silver Scroll?

Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's so it's so mean why are you making me
do this? I think there are some really amazing songs
in this set. In Stan Walker's song is so powerful,
Georgia Lions' song is like an amazing ballad. Skiller songs
so fun and like boppy and technical, and Comminson is

(09:40):
also an amazing position and she's got such cool co
popper and it's really awesome to see her there as well.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
And you will see her shortly, I'm sure. As for
you and the rest of the band. Gussie has been
in Europe.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
They're both in Europe. Actually, they're both together in Berlin,
Gussie and Lily. Yeah, Gussie has done a crazy to
her with Earth Tongue. She's been She've had like fifty
shows in like two months or something. It was really intense,
but pretty cool, lots of cool looking shows. Pretty excited
for her. Lily just on a holiday and now that
she's sort of a creative break with Gussie, they're actually

(10:16):
they've been recording music together in the winning of a
little writing retreat to Spain to the Little Irving b
and then they recorded another album, actually two, so we've
sort of got a whole bunch of music still going.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
That's amazing and for anywhere in the world to go
on the songwriting retreat. A little airbnb somewhere in Spain.
That sounds pretty idyllic.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
I was pretty jealous, Like when they asked, how can
we do this little trip? I was like, yeah, sure.
I was like, damn, is anywhere I can go? But yeah,
I was pretty tied down in here.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah. Well, you've got a baby, you've got a full
time job, you got a family, and was there a
way you were able to connect and perhaps send files
over the internet.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
They kind of went dark, but like two weeks I
was like, oh, what's happening, and they're gonna tell me something,
and then they after a while they were like, okay,
we present to you this gigantic folder of demos and
it was like two albums and demos. It was pretty
blown away. It was pretty hard to from not seeing
any of it happen to them come in and be like,

(11:21):
oh my god, how do I even process all of
this music? So it's pretty exciting to now like figure
out how we can move forward or how I fit
in and that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, So any chance of them coming back or you
think they're going to hang in there for the Northern
Hemisphere winter.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
They are both coming back in November.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, well that's great time because we will be coming
into summer at that point, so basically the sun.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Good time to be back in New Zealand. Everyone loves
in New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Summer, especially off the back of the European summer.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Damn, get three in a row.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
And so those songs, do you think you'll make them
proper back here in New Zealand or is that something
like you're saying you just need to work all that
stuff out.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, we actually have some time lockdown to record those
when we're all back in the same place. So pretty
exciting to already be rocking on although it has been
a year actually since the album came out.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Well, all the best for tonight, and I guess if
Mermaidens does when the silver scroll for I like to
be alone. Given that the other two band members are
in Germany, you'll have to get up on stage and
do the acceptance speech. Have you made a couple of
notes just in case?

Speaker 1 (12:29):
Gussy actually sent me a whole speech that she wrote,
but it's all in her voice, so I think I
need to like translate it into my first person so
that it Yeah, if I was to win, reading Gussie's
speech would be slightly weird, but yeah, it's the nerve
wrecking a to speak in front of such a large audience.

(12:49):
It's funny that I'm not nervous to play music in
front of a big audience, but to speak is way scarier.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
It's sort of like being back in English class or
something in high school.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Right, It's that nervousness of the teacher judging you. But
remember it's your peers that voted you there, so it's
your musical peers that are willing for you to win.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Absolutely, Yeah, so cheering us on.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Well, if we want to catch up on the last
album and keep an eye on any potential new material
or tour dates as they become available. We're the best
place to find information on you guys.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Mer Maidens band on Instagram.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Abe from Mermaidens thanks for your time on Hodaki.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Thanks so much, Greg.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Radio hoard Aches off the Record podcast.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
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Speaker 2 (13:39):
Thanks mate.

Speaker 6 (13:40):
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