Eli Superflyy is Te Whanganui-a-Tara musician Eli Chamberlain. Following a music degree from Massey as well as stints as a session and touring musician alongside higher profile local acts such as Riiki Reid, Eli recently released his debut album ‘Motor’. Single No No featured on NZ On Air Music‘s NewTracks compilation this July.

What is your full name, where are you from and what instruments do you play?

My name is Eli Chamberlain, he/him, I’m from Wellington and I play the guitar and sing.

Was any high school or other music training especially important to you?

My mum got me into guitar lessons when I turned 5, and drum lessons when I was 6. These stand out as pivotal moments for me. I really didn’t like learning songs and preferred fiddling about making up chords, which is where my songwriting started. I’m still not the greatest guitarist because I never/still don’t practise that much – just prefer writing!

Any other projects that we might know you from?

I played in Wellington local band Miss Cressida for a few years. This was the first band I fronted and wrote music for. Was really fun to play the songs I was writing in high school and the first wee while I was at Uni. It was really fun, and got to play music and travel the country with my best friends.

What’s the background story of how Eli Superflyy came to be?

It really comes down to my parents. My mum gave me the name ‘Eli Superfly’ and I added the extra ‘y’ because I thought it looked cool at the time, haha! It was an escape from the music I was making in Miss Cressida, and was initially bred to be a indie-pop project. I’ve been writing all sorts of music since I was young, and I thought I’d try give the more poppy music a go. Turns out it’s hard to force something that I’m not that familiar with, so nowadays the project is more open-ended/welcoming to other genres. More so in the alternative rock genre, which is what I’m really stoked on writing and exploring.

The brand is ever-changing, and it’s fun that I get to have full creative control over that. I also have some really cool and talented friends around me who help with influencing and executing stuff to do with my image/brand.

How has your writing evolved from your beginnings in songwriting to now?

I think I’ve really found my sound with the music I’ve been writing over the last 6 months to a year which has been cool, and with my album ‘Motor’, too. It’s a lot darker, louder and hopefully more mature sounding than previous stuff I’ve done. I’ve been trying not to write music to sound like other things, or am trying really hard to write music that I like rather than what others might like. It’s hard, ’cause you want people to engage and listen, but I want to have fun and get a lot of happiness pursuing this new sound.

Aside from this release, what’s been the big highlight to date?

Opening for Mako Road at Powerstation in 2022 is still one of the coolest and craziest shows we’ve played. The crowd packed out for us super early, and they were full of energy. Touring with Heavy Chest in 2022 has been a massive highlight for me too, as I was such a massive fan of Andre [Smith] when I first got into the music scene in 2017. Cool to look back to that, and it’s nice that we are such good friends now.

What makes No No stand out for you as a single?

This is the first song we worked on for the album and decided that this would need to be released as a single. It has been my favourite off the record since the beginning and was the lightbulb moment that got me inspired to write more and try to create an album. It’s quite a fun and upbeat track, and always gets me amped to listen to it.

What is the story behind No No?

Wrote it in the second NZ lockdown. Was missing everyone and normal life a lot, and had lots of time to muck around and try new writing styles. My flatmates had lots of gear that I borrowed that helped influence the sound.

What’s your favourite moment, musical or lyrical, of the single?

I think my favourite moment is the glitchy drum sections before the second verse. It was fun playing around with different production techniques and working with Reuben Brady to create this section. I also really like the melody I chose for the first verse’s vocals. The high and low layers really give it this fuzzy/chorus type feel which is inspired from Deftones and grunge rock.

Who did you record the single with and where?

Well for the vocals, I recorded them all in one week in Mosgiel with Steven Marr. The first day I got there we sort of chilled and got ready for the week, then by the second day I got really sick with a cold. So every morning I would smash back paracetamol and beroccas, and would regularly do nasal sprays to clear my nose up. It’s funny to look back on now, and the vocals sound fine, but it was so stressful and I ended up having to extend my stay because there was a day where I could not do anything.

Who else is in your team? 

Steven Marr helped engineer, mix and produce the record. Reuben Brady co-produced, Ben Morgan and Rachel Le Roux helped out lots with management and booking. Dylan Clark with publicity. Aaron Bray, Baxter Perry, Jamin Forlong and Huia Haupapa helped with recording and playing on the album

Are there any other musical endeavours you’re working on that we should keep an eye out for? 

Currently touring through NZ at the moment and am going to record a second album later this year.

Can you please name three other local tunes that would fit well on a playlist alongside your song. 

• Kane Strang – Summertime In Your Lounge
• Recitals – Gradient
• Nic and Reuben – Virtue

Was there an NZOA criterion you struggled with in the application? 

I think just having enough points. Understanding how to get points is great. There’s some certain spots in the scoring that can be achieved by reaching out to radio stations to do live-to-airs, hitting up your favourite touring act to see if you can open for them. For me, really grinding with the live shows aspect really helped, and that got me most of my points for the criteria.

Who did you make the video with?

Directed, shot, and edited by Damin McCabe & Riley Coughlin.