A Quick Peek Inside The Workshop Of A Musician

When Connan Mockasin announced a couple of shows in Auckland and Wellington, we got curious. Just what has Connan been up to lately? We contacted him and found out he’s been in New Zealand for the last few months recording an album.

In 2006 Connan and the Mockasins left New Zealand with the UK firmly in their sights. I remember their last New Zealand show fondly, it was a cold winter’s night in Wellington, Bodega was packed and Holiday With Friends were playing support. While it was a sad occasion, most people knew Connan and the Mockasins had outgrown New Zealand’s small, poorly funded indie music scene.

After a year living in London, flirting with fame and at times roughing it on London’s cold streets, the band’s dynamic changed. Ross Walker left and Connan moved to the historic East Sussex village known as Lewes. Remaining diplomatic and perhaps not wanting to talk much about Ross’s departure, Connan puts the changes down to “musical differences… I was just tired of playing that style of music”. James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) took up bass duties and together with Seamus Ebbs they recorded a few songs. As well as recording his own material, Connan has worked on a collaborative project; “A song I did with Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, (will be) coming out on his new album in September. It’s a collaborative album with Jamie T, Iggy Pop, Martha Wainwright, and my personal favourite, David Byrne from the Talking Heads,” he explains excitedly.

We were also interested to enquire about the name change. Although only a minor change, it brings with it certain connotations. Has Connan gone solo? Well sort of, “I’ve been swapping and changing musicians quite a bit in the last eight months so I don’t really have a fixed band as such now. I’ve also been involved in lots of other projects and have been getting named Connan Mockisan in them. So it just seems easier that way,” he says. For his upcoming New Zealand shows he will again be swapping and changing musicians. “I’m getting different players from over the country to play bass.” However, as the man behind the band, Connan may take the reigns himself, “I’ve found I have been enjoying playing bass myself more than guitar lately,” he says, leaving us with a curious “…”

For the past few months Connan has been back in New Zealand; always on the go and with his fingers in many pies, it comes as no surprise to learn he’s been recording, building instruments and even working on a soundtrack for a short film. Having not yet finished recording an album with James Milne back in the UK, and desperate to release a full length album, he has started recording a new album to release by the end of the year. Keeping busy, he’s also “Just started a soundtrack for a New Zealand short-film called Six Dollar Fifty Man“. As if that’s not busy enough, he spends his spare time inventing mechanical instruments in his workshop.

In mid-June, Connan Mockasin will play two New Zealand shows with his friend Liam Finn. The pair already have a close working relationship, most notably Connan explains: “Last summer we were mucking around and wrote ‘I’ll Be Lightning‘ together, then recorded it later that day with his dad and Matt Eccles.” Earlier this year at Happy in Wellington, Connan and Liam performed a song they had written and composed together, it is the closest thing I have ever heard to the Beatles. Continuing on his own mini tour without Liam Finn, Connan will play three shows in Auckland and one in Wellington. “I don’t like playing generic noisy pub venues. I enjoy very small venues or theatres,” says Connan, explaining just why he’s playing shows in Auckland’s Backbeat Bar, with a capacity of only 100 people.

So while much of the New Zealand music press concentrate on Liam Finn and Collapsing Cities, Connan Mockasin slowly goes about his work. He’ll probably be back in the UK before most people realise, and it’ll most likely take an article in NME to trigger a media response back home. To show respect to one of New Zealand’s best song writers, his upcoming shows need to be sold out.

Connan Mockasin- Macheeky: MP3

Connan Mockasin- Egon Hosford: MP3

Connan Mockasin- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under New Zealand, UK
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