Having just won the 2024 Taite Music Prize, as a self-proclaimed underdog among a number of what could be called modern classics of Aotearoa music, Vera Ellen Williams remains charmingly grounded.
Officially now being a multi-award winning artist (the Taite comes on top of a Tūī for Best Alternative Artist, won in 2022) doesn’t change the fact that she is still working a day job at Flying Nun‘s Te Whanganui-a-Tara record store on Cuba St, in between international touring and music release schedules. Perhaps not unusual but certainly a curious combo.
“Sometimes I sell my album to people, and they get me to sign it, and on other occasions, they won’t look at me twice,” she laughs brightly over the phone while on lunch break.
That’s the day-to-day life of being a rock star in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
She appeared on the radar of most music fans with the 2021 release ‘It’s Your Birthday’ after signing with now-employer Flying Nun. It was her third album under her own name, and was also up for that year’s Taite Music Prize which instead went to Anthonie Tonnon.
Vera’s prolific back catalogue dips into a number of noisier genres, among many highlights there was US-based punk project Gaol Bait which rattled bars at the time, poppy indie rock duo Girl Friday which still have a keen international following, as well as the comparatively low-key Wellington old school punk-leaning indie rock quartet Maple Syrup (NZM covered their debut EP ‘Ace & Gab’s Honeymoon’ in 2016), that should have reached more ears at its time.
In her acceptance speech at the Taite Music Prize ceremony, Vera paid respect to women who had paved the way. Who specifically? “Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Kate Bush…,” she starts listing some international greats. “But also Bic Runga, Brooke Fraser – people I’ve been listening to my whole life!
“My experience of the industry is definitely shaped by being a woman. It starts with things like setting up for sound check, and sound engineers asking if you know what you’re doing.” It’s in a lot of little things, but being surrounded by like-minded people helps.
Clearly highly capable, she looks after her own business, with help and advice from friend and producer Ben Lemi (Trinity Roots, French For Rabbits), Flying Nun on board with distribution, as well as a friend/hero who looks after her social media. She describes the business side of being an artist as overall, not enjoyable, though she does clearly have a knack for getting things done.
“I find I enjoy graphic design, making collages, posters and that sort of thing!”
Vera doesn’t shy away from candidly speaking about struggles with inner demons, imposter syndrome, depression and heartbreak – subjects that permeate her songs lyrically. Making music is her way of coping through darker times, she admits, her therapy even.
With her art tied up so closely to real life emotions, presenting those thoughts to strangers, be it as the recordings or in person from stage, can be a challenge, but again, a life of it also means that she’s got strategies in place to get through.
“I do have little rituals, like some self-hypnosis, to calm me down. Before I go on stage I take my shoes off, sort of like the person on stage is a different persona. It helps me to distance myself.”
Everything she says seems slightly self-deprecating, albeit self-aware, intelligent, and in good humour.
Talking about the development specifically between ‘It’s Your Birthday’ and 2023’s ‘Ideal Home Noise’ comparisons to Elliott Smith, who also started out making substantially louder music at the beginning of his career with his band Heatmiser, than the music he eventually became most famous for under his own name, come up.
“I do listen to a lot of Elliott Smith,” she happily admits. Not unlike Smith, Vera’s voice still carries traces of her rock roots into now more melodic music, the music nearly a coping strategy to deal with her mental health – a pairing that makes for a relatable, vulnerable and honest listen, while empathising, relating and singing along at once.
Mid-May will see the release of an EP, ‘Heartbreak For Jetlag’, that she is very proud of – recorded without any overthinking in her bedroom, very simplistic and raw. A full album, back to her rockier roots, is also in the works with guitars already tracked, again with trusted friend and collaborator Ben Lemi, as well as more of the gutsy, raw, live shows that Vera Ellen is gaining a reputation for.
