The first day of NZ Music Month brought with it the third introductory single from Tāmaki Makaurau singer-songwriter Evie Bamford, a jazzy, uptempo alt pop track titled Company. She describes is her “sort of” attempt at writing a happy song.

“I find it a lot easier to turn to a guitar and write in moments of upset as a way to process, so I find that I’m sometimes less creative when I’m doing really well,” Evie laughs.

“Writing Company was an active choice against this habit, and it helped that I was really great mentally at the time I wrote it. I wanted to package all of these incredible feelings of contentment into a joyful track that gets you moving and tapping your feet.” 

Evie completed a Bachelor of Music at Victoria University’s NZ School of Music, and alongside her developing repertoire, has been working within parts of the Auckland music industry since. 

Adept on acoustic and electric guitar as well as her wildcard, the clarinet, she draws on a background in jazz and classical music to create indie pop/rock with colourful, textured instrumentation. With a very clear vision of what she wants her music to sound like, she’s also self-produced the singles to date, aided in the mix engineering by Tom Broome.

“I do struggle giving up ‘control’ with my music – by the time each song gets to my band it’s fully finished. I wouldn’t call myself a producer really at all, my skills are very basic, but because everything in my tracks is live it was do-able for me.” 

That formula, in conjunct with her supportive team of musicians (drums, piano, bass, trumpet, cello), meant she couldn’t find/afford a large enough space to record. All the recorded material to date was captured live by friend Ally Doe, in the lounge of her parents’ place in Matakana, in one June 2025 session.

“It was a complete labour of love and they made it work because it was the only way we were going to record anything at the time. Ally was amazing. It’s a huge amount of work trying to do everything yourself, and I wouldn’t be doing any of it without the huge contributions from those amazing musicians.”

All the guitar parts are hers, and as much as she loves playing with her band, Evie says she enjoys performing alone just as much. 

“Solo is hard but very rewarding. I love playing with my band, they’re so epic and it’s heaps of fun.”

She’s super excited to have her debut EP coming out in July, planning to celebrate it with a mini tour. Considering what key lessons she’s learned from her first single releases, Evie says the most important one has been to celebrate every success, no matter the size. 

“It’s so easy to compare yourself to others but it really helps to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve so you know what success looks like to you.”