Words by Hannah Powell

I sat down for a virtual chat with the lovely RIIKI, a Wellington-based musician who’s doing some incredible things. Our talk turned to 121 Festival, Massey University, and her recent music trip to Los Angeles.

“The song is essentially about being belittled or discouraged by someone,” RIIKI says, describing the backstory of her most recent track ‘High Heights’. Studying Commercial Music at Massey’s Creative Campus, RIIKI has spent the last couple of years launching herself into both the local and national scene. Co-produced by Simon Gooding and herself, with recording sessions in both Wellington and Auckland, High Heights is her second electric single to date.

It’s about someone picking on the smaller person, she says, beginning to laugh at the rest of the backstory behind it. Chuckling, she says to herself “how’d you write a song about this, you weird bitch?” During a fish and chip date at the beach with her boyfriend, chips were flung at the seagulls as per New Zealand tradition. RIIKI retells seeing a smaller seagull getting picked on amidst the fight-to-the-death spree. When the other birds flew off, the little seagull stayed. “I don’t know how I was so inspired by a seagull,” she laughs. Nevertheless, it was an idea that took root.

It’s a song to be relatable to anyone, she says. To be able to see beyond, to know yourself, and to be yourself.

Now in the third year of her Commercial Music degree, her journey has been nothing but positive. When choosing her degree, “I used that opportunity as a launching platform to be able to start my own solo thing,” she says. With papers based around creating your own music, “it was the initial push” that was needed. “It was like ‘here’s a reason to stop shying away and do some shit’,” she laughs. And that’s how it started. Since then, she’s been gigging around Wellington, commenting on how great the music scene is there. In September 2019, her debut single ‘One Day’ was released, with ‘High Heights’ following two months later.

Just recently, RIIKI played at 121 Festival. “It was a really good vibe,” she said. “So fun to be a part of their first one.” Now, she says, it’s a lockdown.

Having been raised in Wellington, she says that with so many music venues and events happening all of the time, “there’s a good group of people to support you”. With venue favourites such as San Fran (to watch) and Caroline (to perform), RIIKI loves being a part of the local scene. She says that a lot of people she’s mates with are in bands or solo projects.

“They’ve found a reason to push and launch what they want to do,” she explains. Like with Logan in Macho Macho, or the members of STINK, a large chunk of people you see either watching or playing a gig are a part of her course – “everyone’s mates,” she says.

Talking about people, her mate Jane is both her best friend and personal fashion stylist. In RIIKI’s first year, Jane went to Italy to study fashion styling at Polimoda. When Jane returned to NZ last year, both of them knew what was to be the next step. RIIKI describes it as “we were both at a point where we knew what we wanted to do with our lives”. Deciding to build their portfolios up, as well as support each other, they jumped into the next stage with a collaborative attitude – “I’ll do this for you, and you can do this for me”. With their mates Rueben and Jono photographers as well, RIIKI says it was fun to involve their creative friendship circle and build each other up through something shared.

It wasn’t until last year that RIIKI and her manager Isaac took a trip to LA for music. During the ten days, RIIKI described it as “meeting a lot of cool people”. She performed a sideshow showcase for a little LA radio station that had been playing her song. For her, it was social networking. But, it also put the music industry into perspective. In LA, she explains it as being hard to keep track of all of the music artists out there. But to return to our smaller music industry, she says “it’s nicer to be noticed and appreciated in NZ”. “I love NZ, and I’m such a homebody as well,” RIIKI admits. “If I could travel, instead of moving for music that would be so ideal”.

Now in lockdown, what’s next is more of a challenge. RIIKI promises that there will be a music video release soon, as well as more music “as things get done”. She says COVID-19 is “devasting for the music scene – for Wellington; it cuts deep into the local scene”.

Currently, in isolation, she says “it’s been good to sit at home and slow down and focus on simpler things”.

Chatting with RIIKI