From bedroom recordings to international music festivals, Dunedin guitar-slinger, singer and songwriter Kane Strang is poised for another great leap, writes Shane Gilchrist.
Kane Strang is sitting at his parent’s dining room table, fielding questions (so many questions) while attempting to calm the family dog, Jess, who alternates between nuzzling hands and growling, her attempts to wrest attention from the subject of the interview eventually backfiring as, with an apology, he removes the canine from the room and resumes a conversation about past, present and future.
His youthful 24-year-old face might conceal much of it, but the restlessness extends to Strang, who finds himself in limbo, not quite sure of the details of how the next month — or months — will unfold. What is clear, however, is that he will be on the move, again and again.
Strang has just returned from a week in Auckland, where his girlfriend lives. Before that, he was touring Europe and the United States, he and his band playing dozens of gigs aimed at warming up international audiences before the release of his new album, Two Hearts and No Brain, next week.
It’s the follow-up to Blue Cheese, his well-received first album (if you don’t count A Pebble and a Paper Crane, recorded while on a trip to Germany in 2013, posted online, but since removed from the internet, although the songwriter will send it to anyone on request).
Enjoying some rare rest at his parent’s Anderson’s Bay property, which includes a sleepout where he’s been hatching plans, Strang admits it has taken some time to get to grips with recent demands.
This has largely been brought about by his signing in 2015 to United States independent music publisher Secretly Publishing and affiliated record label Dead Oceans, which has global rights to Two Hearts and No Brain. Put another way, it means Strang’s mix of intelligent, melodic, guitar-driven alternative pop-rock songs will be pushed far and wide.
"It is inevitable that we will tour Europe and the United States again," Strang explains, his face dominated by a thick, dark fringe under which extends a green-eyed gaze that is both relaxed and intense.
"We haven’t been to Australia yet. And we also need to tour New Zealand, which I’m working out at the moment. That will probably happen shortly.
"I’m managing things myself at the moment. I have the time to do it, but I think I’ll be begging for help by the end of the year. I’m just learning as I go. There is a lot of emailing.
"I’ve been all over the place this year."
The latter statement, which has echoes of Strang’s lyricism on Two Hearts and No Brain — i.e. understated, slightly droll self-observation — merits further scrutiny.
A quick rundown of some of the places he and his band visited in recent months: Zurich, Manchester (a week before the Ariana Grande concert bombing), Leeds, London, Brighton, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam. Before that, a month-long United States slog that ranged from New Orleans to New York and included the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
"In America, we were thrown in the deep end, just driving from place to place," Strang says of a 25-date visit that encompassed more than 11,000km.
"With Europe, we had a tour manager, who was good at finding places to stay with his friends.
"I went over to Europe for a press tour by myself for a week before I met the guys in Zurich. We played that night and the next day drove from Zurich to London, which was a mission. We did a few drives that were more than 10 hours. One was about 15 hours.
"At first, I found it weird that we were touring before the album had been released, but I think it helps people take you more seriously once the album is out. People are more likely to get into it if they think there’s a chance they might be able to see you live.
"It also means, hopefully, people won’t see me as this guy hiding in some corner of the world, putting out albums and never playing."
The buzz surrounding Strang’s new album has been building since the release of Blue Cheese, a lo-fi, homespun effort recorded over two months in 2014. While his parents were away on an extended holiday, Strang mixed his university studies and a job in a cafe with a furious period of recording in the suburbs of Dunedin.
As NME commented, "Blue Cheese was so ambitious and polished, it was sort of amazing that he managed to record the whole thing in his bedroom".
Yet Strang has moved on. Having contemplated a similar approach for his follow-up, he instead enlisted the help of producer Stephen Marr, of trip-hop group Doprah. After recording drum tracks at a Christchurch studio, the pair moved the project to Chick’s Hotel, the former Port Chalmers music venue turned studio, run by music engineer Tom Bell.
"It is amazing there," Strang says.
"It has everything you could want but it’s not your typical sterile studio. Also, it’s a place I’ve spent a lot of time in, either playing or going to gigs. It’s sad that Chick’s has closed as a venue but it’s now benefiting the town in another way."
Strang played guitars, bass and sang on the 11 songs on Two Hearts and No Brain. He also programmed the initial drum parts, although those were replaced by real drums, played by Ben Fielding who, along with Peter McCall (guitar) and Rassani Tolovaa (bass), is in Strang’s touring line-up.
"There were three songs on which we collaborated. The rest were mainly performed by me, because it was just practical. If I’m writing a lot of the parts, it takes time to teach them to others. And if we are paying for studio time ... I may as well just do it. Usually, once I write one part I can hear the finished song."
This raises an obvious question, one Strang is happy to address: does he have, well, control issues?
"I am a bit of a control freak, but at the end of the day it’s because I care about my songs. It’s not that I think I’m better than everyone else; it’s more that I have heard a song in my head and just want to get to that end point.
"When I was younger, I think I did take myself quite seriously. I think I have learnt to loosen up a bit and realise that if there are flaws in a song it’s not the end of the world."
The cover art for Two Hearts and No Brain has a photograph of Strang atop a rocky precipice. Significantly, the image has been divided into diamond-shaped panes, a visual metaphor for the various angles of attack the songwriter brings to his work.
There is precise punctuation of bass notes and jangly electric guitar on the earworming Oh So You’re Off I See; a slightly robotic vocal chant on See Thru; and lengthy instrumental sections on the title track, which also features wall-of-sound harmonies. In summary, it’s a clever, polished yet somehow ragged-at-the-edges collection.
As Strang puts it: "It helps to mix things up. There are some staccato, weird rhythms in places on the album. Sometimes I’ll pick up the guitar and write in a pretty typical singer-songwriter way, but I also love writing drum and rhythm parts.
"The more I’ve looked back at the album, the more I think there are themes. It’s quite conversational; there’s a lot of call and response. I think most of the songs have some sort of story.
"I’m definitely not someone who writes 100 songs and picks the best 10. I write one song at a time and can feel when things are fitting. If something’s not working, I’ll cull it pretty early on.
"We had a listening party at my old flat just after Christmas. There were about 10 of us. Stephen brought around these big speakers and we sat there in the dark listening to it. It was very special."
As the June 30 worldwide release of Two Hearts and No Brain looms, expectations are building.
Certainly, NME’s review of Oh So You’re Off I See, the lead single from the album, laid down the gauntlet: "This, the first taste of his upcoming album shows ... a sleazy, languishing guitar line juxtaposed with ambitious melodies throughout. Fellow indie star Car Seat Headrest made the transition from the bedroom environment to studios sound so seamless, and Strang is poised to make a similar leap to acclaim."
Elsewhere, in its shortlist of artists to watch at March’s SXSW Festival, The Observer stated: "The buzz is strong with this one, and from what I can tell you about the new songs of his I’ve heard so far, the music is, too — more complete and fully realized than the ramshackle pop on Blue Cheese ... This is chugging, hook-laden indie rock at its finest."
Favourable reviews from various music media, early albums, new albums, international tours ... the clamour surrounding Strang has parallels to another 20-something Dunedin singer and songwriter, Nadia Reid, who stepped from the sublime Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs to the ridiculous — as in better — follow-up, Preservation.
At the risk of lazy comparison, they share a gift for glorious melody shrouded in non-obvious textures; they meld attention to detail with a breadth of vision; and possess self-belief without being encumbered by arrogance. In an age of empty gestures, the latter trait is refreshing. It’s also powerfully attractive, both to audiences and industry types.
A few years back, Strang sent a copy of Blue Cheese to New York-based Ba Da Bing Records after he had learned it was impressed with some of his earlier work on a compilation titled Selections from Dunedin’s Pop Underground 2011-2014, released by Dunedin label Fishrider Records, run by Ian Henderson.
"When I finished Blue Cheese, I thought I’d contact Ba Da Bing," Strang explains.
"I really didn’t think they’d be keen. But they wrote back saying they wanted to release it. That led to me signing a publishing deal with Secretly Publishing and Secretly Group, which Dead Oceans is part of.
"I’ve realised that the independent music world is actually smaller than I thought it was. Internationally, it seems as if everyone is connected in some way. The more I’ve had to do with it the more I’ve realised that if something tickles someone’s fancy, then it usually gets passed around.
"I can’t speak for every indie label, but I know Dead Oceans aren’t just looking for the next hit, or a song they can get on an advertisement. They just seem to sign bands they think are interesting and doing something different."
Those unfamiliar with Strang might conclude his rise has been swift. They’d be wrong. Back in 2010, as a 17-year-old Bayfield High School pupil, he came to attention when he won the Smokefreerockquest Otago regional finals (including the Lowdown Best Song award).
The point is, as he went from school to university to casual cafe jobs to pay the bills, the headlines have been building, slowly, steadily.
In fact, the name Strang has long been linked to entertainment in Dunedin. A generation of the city’s young people courted to his late grandfather Harry Strang’s music at the legendary Dunedin Town Hall and St Kilda dances, held between 1947 and 1968.
Kane’s father, Richard, played in Dunedin bands The Windows, The Magick Heads and Runt; and uncles Jim and David have played in various Dunedin groups. (Jim also runs a longstanding piano restoration, tuning and sales business).
"That side of the family is definitely musical. I also have a younger sister, Ashley, who is an amazing singer," Strang says, adding, somewhat diplomatically, that his mother’s side "is more sporty".
Genetics, role-modelling and parental bestowment of work ethic notwithstanding, Strang believes he has much to learn.
"There are things I need to work on. I want to be a better singer. It’s not until you play every day that you realise how much technique is required.
"There is so much about touring that causes anxiety, from worrying about getting sick to the van breaking down. It’s super-hard to keep up the energy and stay positive.
"I’ve realised — and this is after the fact — that I want to try harder. A lot of nights on tour, I would wind up standing on stage, zoning out because I was tired. I really need to work on finding that energy.
"It’s all about being present. I don’t want to be slack. You have to put everything into a show, otherwise you’re going to kick yourself.
"I never expected this to happen — and it has taken me a long time to comprehend that it is actually happening — but I’m now a touring musician who is releasing albums."
The album
•Kane Strang’s Two Hearts and No Brain (Dead Oceans) is released on Friday, June 30.
