Muroki on ‘Middle Ground’ and moving overseas

Words by Hannah Powell. Images Provided.

Yo Vocal sat down with local indie groover Muroki after releasing his latest tune, ‘Middle Ground’. Showing a more vulnerable side of the ‘Wavy’ singer, we chat about growth, long-distance love, and recording in Berlin. Buckle up.

Muroki is a bit nervous about ‘Middle Ground’. Considering his last two EPs, it’s a different sound than the crowds are used to. It doesn’t quite sit on the dancefloor or the beach, rather it’s serious, frustrated, an anecdote of cold hard reality. "People know me as the surfer from Raglan who makes upbeat music. People have just put that on me, and they’re not completely wrong, it’s just that it’s one colour of the painting" 

“Releasing a song like Middle Ground doesn’t really fit that kind of character. But I don’t really give a fuck,” he says. 

“I’m unapologetic.”

Boosted to the top after signing with Benee’s Olive Records, Muroki caught Elton John’s ear after the world-famous rockstar played ‘For Better Or Worse’ on his Rocket Hour radio show back in 2020. Since then, he’s toured on international shores, stopping off to record in coveted places such as LA and Berlin, touring twice around Australia, and playing festivals in Aotearoa.

Berlin is where he met his partner, the relationship Middle Ground is about. 

“Being in a relationship has definitely been a big inspiration [for my new music],” Muroki explains. “All the stuff outside of music, I guess.” Considering he’s smitten, I ask if the next album will be full of love songs, then. 

“Yeah, probably,” he laughs again. 

What has also been inspiring, he says, is the amount of travel done recently recording music. Working with different people outside of New Zealand has given him a taste of different approaches to honing the craft. 

“I’ve been going to America and I was doing a lot of stuff in Berlin, and the approach to music over there is so much different to what it is here. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with New Zealand music because it is really great, and there’s heaps of amazing stuff that comes out of here.

“But I feel like when I was overseas, everyone’s just constantly on the search for the new sound.”

With minimal reference to the hits, and maximum emphasis on experiments, Muroki says you can’t be doing the same thing as the next person - otherwise, you’re just going to get shelved.

“It’s been amazing going over and experiencing and working…I was in the room with guys who have done stuff with Amy Winehouse, The Neighbourhood, Lime Cordiale. The fact that I find myself in the room with these guys, it’s trippy, but so cool.”

In LA, Muroki worked with producer superstar Dave Hammer, who produced Lime Cordiale’s 2017 album ‘Permanent Vacation’. 

He reckons Dave is a genius.  “Dave is crack up,” Muroki grins. “I’d usually go into recording with an initial idea, even if it’s just me playing guitar or something. We’d just lay it down and build from that. “[Instead] he has this approach where he’ll sit down for 20 minutes…playing the guitar and doing his thing…and then he’ll go, ‘alright, I’ve got something’ and will just hand me the guitar and go, ‘can you play this?’

Challenging Muroki on song making led the young musician to break outside of his habits and push the boundaries on his abilities - something he is eternally grateful for. “It’s been really good for me. Dave would just constantly challenge and push us to try and find [it], pushing me to be better at what I do as well.”

Muroki’s sessions with Berlin producer P*Nut were the complete opposite, using a favourite approach of P*Nut where the magic was found on a first take. “He’s put some beats down…he’ll say ‘sing it’, and then, ‘we can polish it all off later on’. 

“He’s all about the vibe, you know, just lay it down, move on. Working with [Dave and P*Nut] and two polar opposite ways of working has been very helpful. I’ve got a bit more knowledge…and [figuring out] how I do my thing.”

Now, Muroki is gearing up for a quinessental kiwi summer playing a range of festivals and supporting LEISURE on their tour across the ditch.  It’s been two years since Yo Vocal chatted with Muroki. I ask him where he thinks he’ll be this time next. “I’ll probably be in Germany,” he says. “I’m chasing the summers, and I’ll be coming back to play shows and tours over here. But I think it’s my time here for now, music-wise, and life-wise, I’m quite keen to switch things up and try something new.

“I’m pretty excited to try things out.”