Interview: Andrew Keoghan

You performed at the CMJ Festival in New York in October - what was that like?
The CMJ (College Music Journal) festival is known as a music marathon for good reason - 1300 bands from all over the world are scheduled in to play showcases at iconic venues all over the city, all within four days. 
The usual deal is that you arrive with all your gear, have a 10-minute line check (essentially a plug in and make sure everything works) and then you’re straight into a blur of a 30-minute set.  It’s a bit of an adrenaline rush – you give it your best shot, unplug and go off to your next show or leg it across town to see a band you’ve been listening to online. 
It’s certainly a unique kind of pressure, but the venues and the audiences are great.  While it’s a very industry oriented event, lots of enthusiastic music-going New Yorkers attend, all well versed in a wide variety of genres. I had a full on couple of weeks in New York, made some new friends, played some fun shows and saw some cool bands perform.  It’s somewhere I would love to spend more time.

We’re very excited to be having this as our first ever gig at Q – are you looking forward to performing in Loft?
I am, yes.  Loft is such a unique music proposition. Inside it reminds me of a big Manhattan studio or open floor apartment.  There’s really nowhere like it in Auckland and there are a number of possibilities in terms of where to position the stage and how to dress the space.

And we’ve heard rumours that you might be bringing a touch of the arctic with you...
The album came out in March and was called Arctic Tales Divide, so in keeping with the arctic vibe we’re running with the theme of a White Christmas for an arctic explorer.

What music can we expect from you on the night?
I’ll be joined by percussionist Chris O’Connor for most of the set and we’ll be performing songs from Arctic Tales Divide, as well as some new material.
I have a loop pedal to layer guitar, violin and vocals, while Chris plays the drums and uses a sampler to trigger other melodic or percussive phrases.  Some of the songs will be quite sparse, while others more densely layered.  

Can you tell us more about the special guests who’ll be performing with you?
James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia is highly regarded in songwriting circles as a Silver Scroll winner in 2009 for his song ‘Apple Pie Bed.’  We’ve been playing cricket together and recording the strings for his new album at Roundhead studio.  He’ll join me for a song I wrote called ‘I have only eyes for you’ – a story about desiring an unattainable love and the process of being thwarted at every attempt.  Two men singing it together seems to convey double the helplessness.  
There’s a new song to be performed as a duet with Claire Duncan (Dear Times Waste). 
Ben King (Grand Rapids), Victoria Girling-Butcher, Gareth Thomas (Goodshirt) and Arctic Tales Divide producer Wayne Bell were all involved with the recording of the album and will join Chris and I for a couple of songs later in the evening (we may have to extend the stage at that point).  She’s So Rad is playing first at  8pm and shouldn’t be missed, with Mr Crawley rounding out the night with a DJ set in the Q lounge.

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