MINUIT continues to impress international music industry heavyweights while keeping their loyal fans happy, if not a little choked up.
The Newtown-based electro pop three piece set off on a delayed album release tour this week to promote Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death dot Com, released last year.
Their emotional and danceable single Aotearoa, in which bombshell Ruth Carr sings in a breathy, girlish voice “We are a New Zealand”, was the number one most watched music video on YouTube in New Zealand during its first week of release.
The band had invited Kiwis to send in photos that show themselves as New Zealanders spliced with archival Kiwi footage from the New Zealand Film Archive.
The images were choreographed to the music and feature Kiwis sitting in Pohutukawa trees, fishing, standing outside Scott Base, snowboarding, posing wrapped in glad wrap, and showing off tattoos of the country.
“When we started getting photos in we both had lumps in our throats,” says Carr. “One woman was moved that a picture of her deceased fiancée was used, another sent a photo of her dad on V Day holding a New Zealand flag and welcoming troops home. He was so happy to be part of things.”
Carr says a fan even set up a Facebook page calling for Aotearoa to be the new New Zealand National Anthem.
Another of the album singles, Wayho, reached number one on Alt Airplay in NZ, and 25 Bucks followed close by.
As well as pulling the fans, Minuit have attracted the attention of music bigwigs including Grammy nominated producer Andy Chatterley (Kanye West, Kylie Minogue, Muse and Blondie) who produced Wayho. They were also invited to record a 30 minute session on Radio 1 with Annie Nightingale. Nightingale is BBC Radio’s longest serving presenter since the death of John Peel.
Minuit also appeared on English DJ and record producer Pete Tong’s Fastrax video show. Carr says the highlight of working with Chatterley, Nightingale and Tong was signing the walls of the Radio 1 studio, alongside the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Go New Zealand.
Minuit, San Francisco Bathhouse, March 27.