Abby Wolfe ‘s new single Free Falling is a beautiful Frankenbaby of a song, stemming straight from the minds of the former Dunedinite, along with Evan Sinton (aka Maala), Leisure‘s Djeisan Suskov and American songwriter Maize Olinger. The four of them found themselves in one room, tasked to write a song together at SongHubs earlier this year, and this song is the result. NZM asked Abby a few questions about the collaborative aspect of Free Falling.

Free Falling is a collaboration – can you tell us a little about how the group formed that wrote the song?

It was at SongHubs 2019 which was held at Roundhead Studios. Each day we were thrown into a different room with a mixture of people that the SongHubs curator Greg Haver concocts. So I had no idea who I was writing with until I arrived on the day!

How much of the song did you bring into the session, if anything?

None! This song is 100% a collaboration between Evan Sinton, Maize Olinger, Djeisan Suskov and I!

Can you remember who contributed which parts to the song?

Evan was on the keys playing some seriously gorgeous chords. Djeisan was parked up driving the session, writing drums and getting the structure down, and Maize and I were on the melodies and lyrical side. Then once we all had the building blocks sorted we came together and wrote the rest!

What was the biggest challenge in writing a song together like that?

Like SongHubs, you have to walk in every day, ready to work hard and share yourself with a bunch of strangers. That can definitely be challenging!

Did the collaboration help you been able to discover your musical contribution superpower? What is it?

I’ve found I’m good at going over ideas and refining them. Like, “Is that the right word?” “What if we did this melody here?” Or “Let’s try to add that snare there.” I love working with people who are energetic and have a constant stream of ideas.

For anyone out there yet to collaborate with others – is there any advice you have?

Jump in head-first and be willing to bare your soul. Collaborating can be so special and healing if you go in with an open mind!!

Created with the support of NZ On Air