Miho pops up with Iggy
By MICHELLE COOKE - East And Bays Courier
FROM NEW ZEALAND TO MIAMI: Miho Wada was chosen to play the flute and piano in a new version of Iggy Pop’s The Passenger. Videos of her, the godfather of pop himself and seven other Kiwis will be compiled in an Orcon broadband advertisement.
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An experimental ad campaign that fuses music and technology has met its match in the small, but larger-than-life Miho Wada.
The Remuera resident is one of eight Kiwis who were chosen by Iggy Pop to create a modern version of the The Passenger for telecomunications company Orcon.
She is unique, vibrant and refreshing: Something Orcon hopes the ad will also prove to be.
Last week the New Zealand musicians, who are scattered throughout the country, were recorded and filmed in their own homes while using broadband to connect with Iggy in Miami.
The television advertisement, which will appear on screen from November 17, will compile footage of the musicians playing The Passenger and Iggy singing.
The godfather of punk guided them through the process, offering advice while each performer recorded.
Ms Wada, who was selected to play the flute was also asked by the Miami director to play the piano.
She says Iggy, who was "really fun, happy, helpful and chilled out" was pleased with her audition so told her to "just go for it".
"It was amazing," the 30-year-old says of the experience. "I mean it’s Iggy Pop – he’s a living legend."
Orcon chief executive Scott Bartlett says he’s amazed at the quality and number of musicians who jumped at the chance to audition for the band.
"Iggy obviously has huge pulling power in the global music community. We were expecting about 50 New Zealand musos to audition but in the end we had more than 200," he says.
"The internet is enabling Kiwis to do incredible things each day and this helps us prove that."
The eight who were selected get one year’s free broadband, something Ms Wada is very excited about.
"It’s a really new art – internet is so super fast you can play music to people overseas," she says.
"I couldn’t do all my bookings or networking without the internet."
Ms Wada has been living in Remuera for six months, after returning to New Zealand after five years in London.
Born in Japan, she moved to Christchurch with her parents when she was in her teens. Ms Wada studied at Burnside High School and then Canterbury University before furthering her musical studies in London.
She plays instruments including the saxophone, drums, bass and cello.
Earlier this year she played with London-based group Ska Cubano at the Womad festival in Taranaki and although it wasn’t intended, she ended up staying in the country.
She has since formed a Japanese punk jazz band under her own name.
The musician is currently in Morocco playing saxophone for Ska Cubano in front of an audience of 50,000.
