APRAP WEB June 2005..

Ask Lisa Nimmo and Shelley Hirini from
‘Pearl’ how they met and their answer will
surprise you: “we were both seeing the same
shrink!” For these sassy Wellington
songwriters, their unexpected meeting has
dramatically changed the course of their
lives. For this edition of ‘From the Heart’
we have asked them to share their journey
so far with us.
Geoff Maddock (Goldenhorse)
Charlotte Yates was surprised by Geoff’s choice of ‘O Africa’. She explains
this was: “partly because of its brevity – it’s the shortest poem on the
album – and partly because of its utter bleakness. Co-writer Kirsten
Morrell also apparently had some qualms initially, but the resulting
track is evidence enough. That’s how the process works really – if the
composers feel a good match with the poem, then the setting will reflect
them and their sound authentically.”
Says Geoff: “I had one book of poetry by Hone Tuwhare, called No
Ordinary Sun. It was a book of his early poems, all published in the ‘60s,
and ‘O Africa’ just leapt straight out at me. One of the most appealing
things about it was its brevity, just 9 lines. Great. The next was the
imagery, simple and vivid, with dark reds and blacks. I realised that it
would sing well, and I liked it.
“I love using someone else’s lyrics, it means I don’t have to write any
and have to come up with themes and images that just bleed me!
Working on ‘O Africa’ was very freeing, it made me realise I could profit
from a different songwriting process, where I come up with the words
all first and don’t let myself deal with the music until the words are as
finished as they can be.”
“Some might say we left our run a little
late – it took us until our 30’s to muster
up the courage and belief in ourselves to
pursue the careers we have secretly always
wanted – to entertain people with our music.
At the time we were individually seeing a
life coach who, after identifying that we
both had a passion for music, suggested
that we hook up. And the rest is history.
We formed ‘Pearl’ at the beginning of 2003
and Wellington musician Chris Jones joined
us shortly after to complete the trio.
With all three of us being songwriters and
with a few years of life experience to
write about, there is never a shortage of
new material to work with. Our sound is
based on the fusion of two lead female
vocals and produced to reflect who we truly
are – people who have faced enough of life’s
challenges to know that each one of them
makes you better and stronger. The result
is reflective moody verses wrapped in hooky,
driving uplifting choruses.
APRAP June 2005
Our songs have been described as
sophisticated, fun and laced with optimism,
a bit like us really!!”
Pearl’s debut single “Fallacy”, is evidence
of their fresh approach to the pop genre.
You can currently download “Fallacy” free
from their website www.pearlband.com
Their debut album is planned for release
in December this year.
Whirimako Black
Whirimako was working with New York-born, Aucklandbased
composer and pianist Jonathan Besser – “exploring
my tones, notes and range with a good pianist” – when she
started on her song for Tuwhare: “I picked a poem – ‘Spring
Song’ – and I’d started a piece of music. I knew the man
with the chords was the man who played the grand piano
so I asked Jonathan to compose with me.”
“As I went through the poem with Jonathan I sensed
something awful had happened to Tuwhare in spring. It was
a very dark moment for him but felt I could express it and
would try and resolve it in my tones as well. It starts quiet
and gentle and works its way up till it’s full and gets its
‘internals’ out. I also couldn’t help myself but translate the
poem’s title into Maori, and open the song that way.”
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