Anna Coddington "The Lake" 2008

Growing up in the seaside Waikato town of Raglan had a big influence on singer-songwriter Anna Coddington. It gave her the time and space to learn to play music, first with drums which she started at age 11 and then guitar, which she took up at age 14.
Coddington’s first band Handsome Geoffrey, representing Hamilton Girls High School, won the Smokefree Rockquest in 1998. Alongside her in the line-up was Aidee Walker, who years later turned to acting and directing for theatre and the screen, and directed several music videos for Coddington...
...Following a trail well-worn by other Waikato bands (including Cambridge garage rockers The Datsuns, formerly known as Trinket), Handsome Geoffrey began to perform more in Auckland. Playing as often as they could, the band became a fixture on live stages in the following years.
With the addition of Jonny Corker (ex-Rubicon) on drums, the band was renamed Duchess. Late in 2005 they released a self-titled five-song EP, recorded by Ed Cake at Platform Studios in Auckland, before Coddington’s talent was recognised and called on by a steady stream of established musicians.
Earlier that year Coddington went on a songwriting road trip with Bic Runga, Shayne Carter and Anika Moa. This led to the four, in various formations, sharing backing vocals on albums by Bic Runga (Birds, 2005), Anika Moa (Stolen Hill, 2005) and Shayne Carter’s Dimmer (There My Dear, 2006).
In person, she’s both staunch and charming, scholarly and earthy. A keen runner with a black belt in karate has strong connections to Tūwharetoa (central North Island), and Te Arawa (Rotorua) – and the landscapes there, as well as Auckland’s Western Springs Park. “I like to run around there and just be down there next to the lakes … I find the presence of water very calming, maybe because I grew up by the sea. I find being by a body of water very relaxing.”
Anna Coddington is not a name people expect for a Māori singer-songwriter. “People have been telling me that when I was first starting out, trying to talk me into changing my name. But what do you change your name to? You’ve got to live with it the rest of your career. Occasionally I kinda wish I had if only to save space on my posters. But I’m very indecisive, I hate naming my songs or my albums, picking a name for myself would be quite an ask.”
Spending time with Coddington – middle name Pinenga – her sense of humour shines. She cites it as one of the bonuses the audience get from experiencing her music live. “I think with any artist you get more of a sense of them as a person, physically and also personally. And there’s no trickery with live performance. Anyone can make something sound good in a studio these days. I think a good live performance is what will really separate the wheat from the chaff.”
Duchess called it a day in 2007 and Coddington became a solo artist, releasing her acclaimed debut album The Lake in 2008. Recorded at Roundhead studios and Radio New Zealand, players include guitarist Ned Ngatae and drummer Riki Gooch (TrinityRoots), with Steph Brown on keyboards and Chip Matthews on bass.
Then in 2011 came Cat & Bird, recorded at Roundhead, and co-produced with Ned Ngatae. Riki Gooch was a key collaborator and other musicians on the album include bassist Mike Hall (Pluto, Dimmer, The Bads) and keyboard player LA Mitchell. Coddington also toured with Gooch’s project Eru Dangerspiel and with Barnaby Weir’s live musical collaboration Fly My Pretties
Cat & Bird’s ‘Little Islands’ is about feeling like there’s a glass ceiling in New Zealand. “You can see the rest of the world, you’re really aware of what’s going on in the music industry, or whatever industry, but it’s very hard to get out there and be a part of it from here because we’re so far away. It’s also about what’s awesome about living here.”...to be continued... - Alexander Bisley and AudioCulture

trax:
01 Hold you here 02 Low Tide 03 Sweet, sweet Nothings 04 The Long Way Home 05 Sentences 06 T-Shirt 07 Come Now 08 The Lake 09 Never Change 10 Excuse Me 11 What A Shame
…served by Gaius…