Magic, sausage rolls, and the ferry ride of a lifetime.
New Zealand’s most delightfully crooked alt-country band, Menzies, has finally done it.
The Wellington outfit has released their wildly anticipated debut album, Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm, a record that plays out like a ferry crossing between the North and South islands, complete with overhead intercom announcements recorded while their lead singer was dressed as Spider-Man.
Part concept album, part Aotearoa coming-of-age story, it’s a deeply personal yet universal collection featuring Suzy Cato, tūī bird-song from the garden, and romantic feelings toward the All Blacks. But Menzies aren’t just a studio curiosity.
With frontman Chris Brown’s former life as a working magician woven into their fabric, their live shows involve gloves thrown to the crowd and balloons that must stay afloat.
Below, Brown sits down with us to discuss sausage rolls, his parents’ lounge, and why holding a cold hand is sometimes the warmest thing you can do.
Plus, the band has just announced a full New Zealand tour for July and August.
HAPPY: What’d you get up to today?
MENZIES: Hi! Have just come from an interview after work with a Wellington radio station and gig guide – some stir fry for dinner, followed by chocolate ice cream with choc whiz (don’t forget about choc whiz :) )
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
MENZIES: I’m from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, New Zealand. I adore this city. I love that it’s surrounded by the ocean. I love the mountains.
I love the proximity to beautiful nature. I love its thumping creative heart. I’m lucky to live right by the ocean so swim almost every single day.
HAPPY: The album title is beautifully contradictory, Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm, Where did that image come from?
MENZIES: The words first came up as lyrics in the song Mash Potato. Then they found their way into ‘Appy also. ‘Appy started its life as a section of Mash Potato that we then stripped out into its own song.
Then we had a bunch of friends and family sing the line that made its way into the song Outro also.
By the time it was across three songs and two singles it felt like a fitting title for the album – the sentiment that someone might hold your hand, even if it makes theirs a little colder.
HAPPY: ‘’Appy’ feels like a very Menzies kind of wordplay. What’s the story behind the single, and why did you choose it to lead with a video?
MENZIES: My parents met flatting in their early 20s, they bought the house somewhere in their 30s, they had their 3 kids there (that’s me), and long story short they still live in the same house today that they very first laid eyes upon each other in.
The song and music video are a bit of an homage to their story, and also to the late-summer New Zealand BBQ and burgeoning romance – eyes across the room, trays of sausage rolls, RuffRuff the dog, you get the picture.
To shoot the music video we actually went to their house, cleared out the lounge, invited all our pals over and played a gig in their lounge while having a BBQ and just filmed the whole thing.
It was a lovely afternoon, and nice to bring the visuals back to the room at the heart of the song.
HAPPY: Suzy Cato, romantic feelings toward All Blacks, sausage rolls, and native bird-song all appear in your lyrics. Which of these is the most personal to you?
MENZIES: Yeah there are a lot of growing-up-in-Aotearoa-New-Zealand references through the album.
The songs aren’t strictly autobiographical but all of the above have a sense of familiarity to me one way or another. The tūī bird-song was recorded from my garden so it was lovely to weave it into the album.
View this post on Instagram
HAPPY: Working with James Goldsmith (Mermaidens, DARTZ) and Vivek Gabriel, what did they each unlock in this record that you couldn’t have found alone?
MENZIES: Working with James was amazing. He engineered and mixed the whole thing. We tracked almost the whole thing live, and he helped to bring out a super full sound that’s still very true to our live performances which we’re really grateful for.
This was our second time working with Vivek on mastering and he’s done an amazing job. I really appreciated his attention to detail in the flow of the album and making sure each track sounds right based on what came before it and what comes after.
This was super important to us because as a part-concept album, it’s made to be played start through finish. He did a wonderful job.
The album is a part-concept album. At the start of last year I had a gig performing as Spiderman on the Interislander which is one of the ferries that travel between the North and South Island of New Zealand.
While on it I recorded all of the overhead intercom announcements because I loved them so much.
They felt like such quintessential New Zealand messages – colouring competitions, scones being available, making space with a full sailing.
We decided to weave the recordings through the album start through finish, so that the album plays out like a ferry crossing between the two islands.
And so yes, the spiderman that gets mentioned in one of the interludes was me haha. A burly truck driver had to help me zip up my suit haha.
HAPPY: The album is a “coming-of-age” record for Aotearoa. At what age do you think you actually came of age?
MENZIES: Haha this is a great question. A few years back in a bedroom at a party somehow we all ended up asking ourselves a similar question (when did you become you), and then laughed at ourselves and our answers the next day.
Funnily enough, I think my answer is the same – honestly, I don’t know if I have, and still feel like I’m learning, changing, pushing myself.
That’s not to say I’m not comfortable with myself, but we’re all constantly changing, growing, so I find it hard to draw a line in the sand in the past. I’m sure life will look very different in 10 years time than it does now.
HAPPY: If someone only listens to Holding My Cold Hand on headphones in the dark, what do they miss most compared to the live show?
MENZIES: We’re really interested in live performance, and how to make it as much as a fulsome experience as can be.
I also used to work as a magician, so in live shows before we’ve blown up 4 balloons and had the audience (and us) keep them afloat or else the band stops playing if one hits the groud, thrown 20 gloves into the audience and the recipients have until the end of the song to find their glove-mate, performed live magic tricks.
This is a long way of saying we love having fun, love having fun together, and love making a show feel like an end-to-end journey.
We’re touring across Aotearoa New Zealand in July and August, you can get tickets to come see the song live here.
HAPPY: On release day how did you personally celebrate, and were any magic tricks be involved?
MENZIES: Haha there weren’t any magic tricks, apart from the magic of sharing food together with those you love. We went out for dinner as a band and had some yummy cozy Japanese food it was lovely.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
MENZIES: A very appropriate question for Happy Magazine and a band with a song called ‘Appy!
Creating with others, swimming in the ocean, making music, laughing, beautiful times with friends and family.
