Bic Runga reborn

Bic Runga's musical career went on the backburner while she took on the role of motherhood. But she's back, with a new album and a tour, including two Christchurch shows.

Life's music by Kate Preece

When someone has achieved as much as Bic Runga has at 35, it's hard to avoid feeling a little nervous while the phone operator connects our lines. According to the woman putting the call through, I have a strict 25 minutes to get to know the off-stage Bic, and have the option of pushing the star key for help.

"It makes me sound important, when I'm not at all," Bic says from Auckland, as if her multi-platinum albums and induction into the New Zealand Order of Merit mean nothing.

As I try to counter her dismissive claim, citing some of her many awards and accolades, she diverts the attention to me.

"Are you calling from Christchurch? How's it going down there?"

It's a sincere question, as the humble songstress calls Christchurch home, but hasn't visited since October last year, when she performed at the earthquake relief concert Band Together in Hagley Park.

She's booked to visit in December, though, as Christchurch is one of the 12 cities welcoming The Classic Hits Acoustic Church Tour. The national tour includes two shows at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Durham St, on December 2 and 3. "I can't wait. I can't wait to be down there."

The event has extra significance for Bic. Not only is it her first solo tour since becoming a mum four years ago, but she was the headline act for the first church tour, in 2004.

"Last time we played in the [Christ Church] Cathedral, which is so sad to think about now, because it was stunning," Bic says. "It was quite a dream to play in there, because, growing up there, when you're in primary school you know it as the centre of the city and sometimes you might do trips in there, but to sing in there as an adult was really like having arrived."

Bic grew up in a household filled with music. Her mother would sing along to records of The Carpenters, The Mamas and The Papas, and The Beatles, while her equally musical sisters, Pearl and Boh, were busy crafting their own musical careers. As the youngest in the family, Bic was constantly trying to keep up with her sisters, who were inspirational to the budding super star.

"When I think of Boh, I always think Boh taught me how to be a girl," says Bic with a laugh, describing how she used to enjoy watching her sister get ready for gigs at the Papanui Tavern. "She'd go out the door, out of our suburban Hornby house, looking like a really glamour star."

Eleven-year-old Bic dreamt of producing New Zealand's biggest-selling record and, nine years later, achieved that with Drive. She believes her single-mindedness and focus is what has enabled her to reach her career milestones so early in life.

Bic went on to produce two more incredibly successful albums, Beautiful Collision (2002) and Birds (2005), in between experiencing life in France, England and the United States. Her latest album, Belle, has just been released.

It's taken the full-time mum four years to produce Belle, which has made its release all the more rewarding. She says that where Birds was "a bit like dying off", Belle is like new beginnings, a reflection of her life as a mother.

"Nothing feels like how it used to feel. I just can't explain how different my outlook is since having a child.

"I feel positive about everything and I kind of feel stronger about everything. You just have to get on with things, in a pragmatic sort of way. I was never a particularly practical person, but it's changed me in that way."

Bic has learnt to treat songwriting like a job with fixed hours, as being son Joseph's main carer makes her time even more precious. For her latest album, she called on other expert Kiwi songwriters and, for the first time, let someone else don the producer's hat. Kody Neilson (former frontman of The Mint Chicks) not only produced Belle but co-wrote some of the songs with Bic, who collaborated with several musicians, including Evermore's Dann Hume and James Milne (aka Lawrence Arabia) through a series of "songwriting blind dates". This light-hearted, social approach to writing stems from Bic's time in the US, where publishers commonly arranged for different musicians to meet and spend an afternoon together in order to compose a hit.

Belle includes upbeat singles such as Hello Hello, which are "undeniably happy", and topics that echo Bic's personal growth. Now, Bic looks back on her old songs and often finds them irrelevant and adolescent.

"They [adolescent problems] don't really count for anything once you become a mum. You don't sweat the small stuff and you're not the centre of your own universe any more."

Bic's favourite track on the new album is called Everything Is Beautiful And New and was inspired by a James K Baxter poem she reads to Joe. The Seagull describes how a bird views the world, and this different way of seeing things struck a chord with Bic, whose last few years have been less about music.

"I've really had a break from being Bic Runga! I've just been Joe's mum and that's really been the best thing I've ever done."

Her other accomplishments include a dabble in show business, with a small part in the film Little Fish (2005). Bic played a Vietnamese lounge singer and performed Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart by Gene Pitney. When asked if she has a future on the big screen, Bic bursts into laughter.

"My best friend from high school always said to me 'Bic, if there's one thing I know you can't do, it's act!' " Bic finds acting embarrassing and corny, and, somewhat ironically, doesn't see how actors can face their audiences: "It seems just so painful to me."

She recently dipped her toes into the film industry once more, but this time it was in a more behind-the-scenes role. Alongside Andrew McDowall, she co-composed the soundtrack for Kiwi romantic comedy My Wedding and Other Secrets (2011).

"I learnt a lot about trying to realise someone else's vision," says Bic, who had always wanted to write music for films. "You are really guided by the director and that was good for me because, for me, record-making has always been about my own vision and it was nice to serve someone else's."

The film features three of Bic's singles and a Chinese song, which Bic's Malaysian mother helped her master.

Bic's Maori and Malaysian heritage is not only responsible for her stunning looks, but also gives her name meaning. Her full name is Briolette Kah Bic Runga, and Bic, the Chinese word for jade, is pronounced "beck".

Topping the list of her proudest moments is playing at the Royal Albert Hall in London and, most importantly, having Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page attend her gig.

"I feel stupid prattling on about that, but it really was that exciting for me," says an animated Bic, who has been a devout fan for most of her life. Jimmy and Bic shared a drink before the elated singer took to the stage.

"That's enough to die happy, as far as I am concerned," Bic says with a laugh.

Christchurch has many reasons to be proud of Bic Runga. The down-to-earth, honest woman, so focused on her goals, is dedicated to a life of nursery rhymes and chart-topping singles. With so much more life to live, it will be worth tuning in to what Bic does next.