{"id":144340,"date":"2020-04-29T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T23:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hongkong\/?p=144340"},"modified":"2024-12-02T10:24:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T02:24:42","slug":"fazerdaze-amelia-murray-morningside-music-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/fazerdaze-amelia-murray-morningside-music-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Cathartic melancholy: Fazerdaze, AKA Amelia Murray, talks about the making of Morningside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, we’ve seen a diverse range of musicians and bands playing in Hong Kong, such as <\/span>Christopher Owens<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Sleep Party People<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>The Bilinda Butchers<\/span><\/a>. And when New Zealand indie darling Fazerdaze – real name Amelia Murray – made her long-anticipated Hong Kong debut at MOM Livehouse, we chatted with her about the making of her album Morningside. <\/span><\/p>\n

Interview with Fazerdaze (Amelia Murray)<\/h3>\n

Starting off as a small project by the 24-year-old \u2013 a self-titled EP that was entirely recorded in her bedroom studio three years ago \u2013 Fazerdaze is now beloved by many in the music scene. In May, 2017, she released her full-length debut album Morningside with Flying Nun Records, and has since gained widespread success with her mesmerising emotive riffs and dreamy magnitudes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hi, Amelia. Thanks for chatting with us. When did you start playing music?<\/h3>\n

When I was around 14 or 15, I started to get really absorbed in music. My family was going through a difficult time, and I was a bit of a loner at high school, so music was my escape from it all. I picked up the guitar around then and writing songs became an emotional outlet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Fazerdaze
Fazerdaze has been touring in Europe and is about to hit Asia (Photography: Fazerdaze via Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Your music is lowkey melancholic with a soft, bittersweet undertone. I\u2019m torn between feeling cheery and succumbing to pessimism when listening to songs such as Half-Figured. Can you describe your songwriting process and train of thought?<\/h3>\n

I find writing music similar to having dreams <\/span>\u2013<\/span> in the sense that it\u2019s hard to explain where the songs come from, but at the same time they are also total insights into what is going on in my head. I\u2019m often pretty down on myself, so I think Half-Figured was written when I\u2019d really hit rock bottom with that. I just felt like a useless mess of a person, and I had a lot of anxiety about leaving my bedroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which song on the album Morningside do you feel the deepest connection to, and is there a story behind it?<\/h3>\n

Maybe… Little Uneasy. I think I subconsciously wrote it about my high school boyfriend <\/span>\u2013<\/span> the push and pull of needing to say goodbye to each other and to move forwards with our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n