In this interview spotlight, I chat with New Zealand based prolific songwriter and creative Robyn Rees of athamirra music.
We chat about Robyn’s path through music, how technology plays into the life of artists, the over saturation brought upon us by said technology, what motivates her and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I am from New Zealand. I am primarily a lyricist and a songwriter. I aim for music that is easy listening and easy to sing along with across many genre. I aim for lyrics that deal with issues of life, love and death with thoughtfulness, depth and soul for mellow and calm hopefulness and encouragement for a better perspective and better living and better relating. Songs are presented under “athamirra music” and my brand emphasises nature and natural rhythms.
The name athamirra is from “at the mirror”. Music is a treasure that enriches life and fulfills primal needs. To me, a metaphor of how a person connects with music is that of looking at a mirror –
no labels, living
connections, you and me
the universe, proof
no illusions, truth
athamirra, seemeseeyou.Many of my lyrics use metaphors because my environment and the people that surround me teach me and reflect to me how the world works and how I belong. I am constantly learning. I hope to produce more of my own music as time goes on but for now I have a good relationship with Supreme Tracks who produce high quality results from lyrics, vocal scratch and instructions. The new release, I Can Tell, is an excellent example of work from Supreme Tracks.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Well I am in my fifties now and I feel like I’ve lived. There is a need to contribute and to offer myself and how I see things in the hope that someone is helped somehow.
In the meantime music is just a whole lot of fun. Melody, rhythm and playing with words is fantastic fun. To get a great song out of it all is incredibly satisfying.
Over the years I have been disappointed with type of music that we are exposed to in everyday living – a lot of it seems the same. So I am motivated to bring into the scene music that is different and appealing and hopefully more accessible to a wider range of listeners.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
“Anyone who has been alone or lonely – which is everybody at some time or another – can relate to this song.
I Can Tell speaks to those difficult, out of control and hard to understand situations. It shows how communication and expression release the tensions that keep us stuck in a helpless loop.
This music is mellow, easy and intimate dance with confident emotion. A great singalong to remind us that understanding ourselves and others in tough times gives us confidence to get through better than ever.”
So that is a press release for “I Can Tell”. Musically, it is in similar mood to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. It is an attempt to bring forward a classic sound into the present.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Oversaturated is the perfect word. I started in 2016 and I’ve found myself confronted by conflicting aspects of digital music. It is a real learning process.
First and foremost, it would be impossible for me to produce, have produced and release any music at all without this digital age. I live in New Zealand. Supreme Tracks are in New York. The market for my music is potentially global. To have all these websites and avenues available for promotion and sale is mindblowing. Wow eh.
The biggest challenge is money. It seems to me that in the music market consumers have been groomed to expect their digital music to be free or pretty much close to free. The majority of licensees and promoters demand nothing less than the highest quality production and rightly so. So there is this huge gap between the creator and the listener. How to fund new music and how to find better or more appropriate music to listen to. The challenge is to offer consumers a chance to recognise that fair payment is needed for creators to bring new music. The alternative is a smaller market of more of the same old, same old and/or a smaller market of dedicated music lovers instead of the wider market of the general public.
Music is a treasure that enriches a life and fulfills primal needs. It is for everyone not a select few.
I’ve started a website at www.deepmoovs.com as a contribution towards solving this problem. My music website at www.athamirramusic.com puts this contribution into practice. The solution is nothing new and revolves around donations instead of a set price for music. Technology is never a problem – changing expectations is.
What was the last song you listened to?
Been singing a new song of my own “Water Dont Mind”. This one is about drought – literally in actual lack of water and figuratively in terms of love and the underlying conflict between the two for survival.
Last song I listened to was when looking for a saxophone bluesy style for production of “My Mountain” which Supreme Tracks are working on. It was Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic”. Another attempt to bring classic sound forward into the present.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
No great preference – vinyl is great except I’m having a lot of trouble sourcing a new needle for my old player at the moment!! mp3s are good and better than CDs because one can load up a USB which is more transferrable between devices. wav format is even better for better sound but metadata is more difficult to embed into wav. Most sites ask for mp3s anyway.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
None actually – just don’t have the time to wade through the swamp. My focus is on my own stuff and anything needed to generate my own stuff tends to come to notice accordingly.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Anything else before we sign off?
I very much appreciate this opportunity to promote my music and hopefully contribute to a better market for all of us.
