#TagYourFolks - Connecting New Zealand's Local Talent
We got the chance ask Isla Norman some questions about her project; #tagyourfolks.
For those that don’t know, what is #tagyourfolks?
#tagyourfolks is a loop of kiwi artists honouring each other's music by releasing their own interpretation. Every May week day an NZ artist will cover a local gem, tagging them to continue on the chain. It started on the 3rd of May with Echo Children covering the RVMES, and at the end of the month Geoff Ong will complete the circuit by covering Echo Children. You can keep up with all the covers on each of the artists' platforms as well as through NZ Musician, who will be sharing them all!
What inspired you to start this project?
Last year during lockdown I was feeling all kinds of things about local music. It was devastating to see local artists have their big release gigs fall through, but it was also kind of exciting to hear that there would be no international acts for the year. I wanted to do something to both foster a sense of community and generate some excitement about all these phenomenal, under appreciated local acts. There are so, so many amazing musicians in New Zealand - you can spend $10 on a Thursday night to see four brilliant little bands sing their hearts out. I thought #tagyourfolks would be a cool way to connect until it was safe to do that in person again!
How has the project changed and/or grown this year?
It's bigger and better, basically. We've taken a more curated approach this year. After I found out who was keen I tried to organise the loop into a mix of genres and genders to bring out a different sound from each track. I'm really excited about some of the combinations of artists we have coming up - Albi & The Wolves has done a stunning cover of a Shana Grace song, and Jonathan Meyer completely flipped my track on its head. It's awesome. Zoe Scott released the most eerie version of an EJ Barrett track last Friday - I highly recommend a listen! Harry Platt made an awesome poster to advertise #tagyourfolks, too. People are talented, man!
What do you see for the future of this project?
I'd love to grow the project to the point where I can generate some funding for the artists. At the moment #tagyourfolks is all about pouring love and effort into another artist's track and in return hearing the same back out of your own music, but it would be so exciting to offer some remuneration for everyone's hard work. It'd be a lot of fun to organise a showcase for the end of the month too, where people could hear the songs in person. We'll see!
How did you go about curating the lineup?
I started by inviting a few of the artists who participated last time - Odds & Ends, Echo Children and Hazza Making Noise made awesome covers in 2020. Then I reached out to some extra people whose music I admire, and it was cool to see how keen everyone was. There are a few people in the lineup I've never met who heard about #tagyourfolks through friends and flicked me an email - that was an awesome moment!
What is your favourite recent NZ music release?
I've been listening to a lot of smaller artists recently as I write for a few music blogs. There's some awesome stuff happening very quietly in the indie circuit. I had the pleasure of going to The RVME's release gig in March, and their new stuff is so so exciting. I'd highly recommend it if you need a boogie.
What is one change you’d like to see happen in New Zealand music?
I wanna see more people out at live gigs! There's so much electricity running through all the little bars hosting big voices. My flatmates and I have the time of our lives going to see random bands we've never heard of. I end up having these magical evenings in a crowd of fifteen, wondering how the heck the rest of the town is missing out.
If you could only listen to one New Zealand musician for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Yikes! That's such a tricky question to answer. Is it okay if I say Flight of the Conchords? They never fail to make me smile.
