Under Cover is a new series that brings musicians together via video link to bond, chat and play each other’s songs. The fifth episode features Troy Kingi and Warren Maxwell.

Troy Kingi and Warren Maxwell have shared stages and many musical memories together. Kingi still cites opening for Maxwell’s band Trinity Roots at the Leigh Sawmill “many moons ago” as his most memorable performance, with the audience demanding an encore and Trinity Roots egging Kingi on to do one as well.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, both Kingi and Maxwell took the opportunity to spend time with family, slow down the pace of their worlds and reconnect with nature. In this episode of Under Cover, Kingi and Maxwell discuss family life, making music from Antarctica and the mountains, and the loss of fellow musician Aaron Tokona.

Both artists are important to the musical story of Aotearoa: Maxwell has an unquestionable legacy as an artist in bands such as Trinity Roots, Little Bushman and Fat Freddy’s Drop, and Kingi with critically acclaimed releases and his kaupapa of creating 10 albums in 10 years, the third of which, Holy Colony Burning Acres, won the Taite Music Prize earlier this year.

During the episode, they perform covers of each other’s songs, with Kingi giving a raw, bruised version of Trinity Roots’ ‘Home, Land and Sea’, and Maxwell singing a stripped back, piano-only version of Kingi’s ‘Truganini’.

Under Cover is a multi-episode web series featuring two musicians chatting to each other from afar, and playing each other’s music. It is brought to you by Banished Music in collaboration with RNZ Music, and thanks to funding from Creative New Zealand.

Troy Kingi performs Trinity Roots’ ‘Home, Land and Sea’ from the 2010 album Home, Land and Sea.

Warren Maxwell performs Troy Kingi’s song ‘Truganini’ from his 2019 album Holy Colony Burning Acres.

Under Cover is a new series that brings musicians together via video link to bond, chat, and play each other’s songs. The fourth episode features Sharon Van Etten and Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins).

American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and New Zealander Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins found each other back in the MySpace days, but after everybody else had abandoned the social network and it had become a wasteland whose only purpose was for musicians to share their music. Fullbrook sent a message, and a friendship bloomed from there, with Tiny Ruins eventually opening for Van Etten on tour.

While Hollie has been lying low in West Auckland with her partner and two “very naughty dogs”, Van Etten has been in lockdown in LA, experiencing another Covid-19 surge and trying to explain the pandemic to her three-year-old.

The pair talk about Van Etten’s incredible show at the Powerstation last year, travelling to New Zealand beaches together, and how the BLM protests at the moment are affecting the way they see and engage with the world.

Van Etten had to cancel two weeks of shows in April – plus her own wedding – due to Covid-19, while Tiny Ruins had to call off a tour of France scheduled for April.

They perform covers of songs from each other’s catalogues: Van Etten has a spacey, mournful take on Tiny Ruins’ gentle ‘Night Owl’, while Tiny Ruins strips back and slows down Van Etten’s deep, dark ‘Jupiter 4’.

Under Cover is a multi-episode web series featuring two musicians chatting to each other from afar, and playing each other’s music. It is brought to you by Banished Music in collaboration with RNZ Music, and thanks to funding from Creative New Zealand.

Sharon Van Etten performs Tiny Ruins’ ‘Night Owl’ from their album Brightly Painted One.

Tiny Ruins performs Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Jupiter 4’ from her 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow.