Good profile

Musician, mum, karate queen and environmentalist - Anna Coddington is a woman of many talents. Good found out what’s in store for the Auckland-based beauty this year – and to say it’s going to be eventful is a slight understatement.

Meet Anna Coddington

When describing Anna Coddington, you could call her a serial multitasker – and a great one at that. She has to be, really, because 2016 is gearing up to be, quite possibly, her biggest year yet. Coddington’s days are busy, spent finishing her third studio album and caring for her two-year-old son Arlo, while preparing for the arrival of her second child with partner Dick Johnson, another boy due in June. She reminds you of that infamous duck metaphor – calm and collected on the surface, but most likely paddling madly beneath the surface to get ready for an even busier road ahead. Despite what she calls “her crazy life,” when we visit her in her Grey Lynn home Coddington is vibrant and easygoing as she continues to multitask away, fixing a tomato and cheese bagel while laughing at how she’ll need to replace her outdoor umbrella which had broken in the previous night’s storm.

New music, new direction

From an outsider’s perpsective, Coddington has had a quiet run, professionally, since the release of her last album in 2011. Personally speaking, that couldn’t be further than the truth, she says. “I’ve been writing that whole five years since, and in that time a lot has happened for me.” Her upcoming album Luck/Time, self-produced from her studio at home and to be released this year in Spring, is a reflection of her life over the past five years. “I had a seven-year relationship fall apart, so that was massive. [Writing] was a very carthartic thing – the songs are about making sense of things, exercising demons. Then I met my current partner Dick and it wasn’t really my intention to go and find love again but I did, and it was really great. And then we had a baby – so that was full on,” she says, beaming.

Becoming a first-time mother to Arlo in 2013 changed Coddington’s entire perspective on life – and in turn helped her to evolve and develop as a songwriter. “It just cracks you open – it takes you next level in terms of the human spectrum for emotions. You find new levels of love, new levels of fear, and all this other stuff around your identity and what makes you, you. It’s amazing for having stuff to draw on – I just feel like I’m living a different life now. That kind of arch is the main content for the album really, and all the things that come with having a child. I was really optimistic at first – thinking I’ll just work on music while he sleeps, I’d get heaps done and put my album out straight away – but of course that’s not how it pans out.”

It’s not just the content that has changed either – it’s the sound and vibe of her material too. “I’ve been quite conscious of making music that I have enjoyed listening to over the last few years. Great drums and basslines have been a big part of my writing process for this album – there’s a lot of yacht-rock influence and groove focussed songs rather than just writing everything on guitar which is what I used to do,” she says.

Take the girl from Raglan, but you can’t take Raglan from the girl

Coddington has achieved a lot in her 34 years – she toured London with Kiwi singer/songwriter Bic Runga, and New Zealand on multiple occasions for her own headlining shows. In 2013 she was a finalist for the prestigious Silver Scroll Award for her song Bird In Hand – ultimately won by Lorde for the worldwide hit Royals. She continues to remain humble in her success – possibly due to her down-to-earth upbringing in the surf town of Raglan where her passion for music began from an early age. Her father brought home a drum kit when

"You find new levels of love, new levels of fear, and all this other stuff around your identity and what makes you, you."

she was 11 and she was instantly obsessed. She took lessons all through high school. Her younger brother taught her the guitar and she’d jam to Metallica and Red Hot Chilli Peppers songs and “whatever else was cool at the time.” Coddington’s lightbulb moment – when she realised music was for her – was when she penned her first original song at 15. “That was my first experience of the freedom of music to create something that is your own and no one can tell you that it’s wrong,” she says.

Although Auckland has now been home for Coddington since graduating with a master’s degree in linguistics from Auckland University in 2004, Raglan will always have a piece of her heart. She and Johnson’s musician hours (Johnson is a DJ and music producer) make it hard to visit as frequently as she’d like. They attempt to head to Raglan at least once a month. Coddington credits Raglan as having a huge influence on the eco-friendly lifestyle she continues to lead living in the big smoke. She became a vegetarian by her own accord at the age of 13. “It was a plate of corn beef and the realisation that it once came from a cow’s body.” She was made aware of good recycling and waste management processes from a young age – environmental practices that Raglan is well known for. "My stance has always been if everyone could do what they can to make small changes in their day-to-day life – like minimising power and water, walking to places instead of driving where possible – that’s what’s going to make a difference on a larger scale,” Coddington says.

Natural beauty

Becoming a mum has also seen Coddington becoming a more conscious consumer with regards to the products she puts on her skin. The bare-faced beauty isn’t much of a make-up fan, but when the occasion arises, she goes for the natural and environmentally-friendly choices. “I use a Trilogy make-up remover which smells amazing and is really good for travelling with,” she adds. “I also had olive oil recommended to me by a vegan musician friend – you just rub it on, wet a tissue and rub it off and it’s like magic.”

Still growing and learning

Stocking up on more travelling goods is another task Coddington will have to add to her list as she gears up for a series of gigs and performances to coincide with the release of Luck/Time. Over the 2015 summer, Coddington put herself back out there performing, doing a double headline tour of 10 shows with the US band Lips, as well as shows with NZ music collaboration group Fly My Pretties. Currently, Coddington’s label Loop is promoting singles and organising a few “baby-friendly release shows” before looking ahead to the 2016 summer festival circuit. It’s an exciting time for Coddington with many first times being had along the way. It’s the first time she’s worked with a label for an album release, having released her previous two albums independently. “With a baby on the way this time around, it made sense to team up with Loop, and we already had an established working relationship from Fly My Pretties.” The Lab music studio in Auckland’s Mt Eden also helped to record some of the bass and drum instrumentals for the album too. “I do a lot of the acoustic work and vocals at home, and will have someone else do the other things that I think can be done better. It’s been great – I’ve learned heaps and it’s also been an exercise in learning to know your own limitations, and being okay with realising you’re not always the best person for the job,” she says. It’s hard to imagine there’s much spare time at all for Coddington. After her “little mate” for Arlo is born, Coddington hopes to get back into practising Kyokushin Karate, in which she has a black belt and practiced for 15 years before Arlo came along. She also hopes to run her first full marathon by the end of 2017. “I’ve also been trying to make time for reading good books again, it’s great songwriting food and so enriching when you read a good book. I’m starting Te Reo classes next semester too – Arlo is going to start at Kohanga (a total immersion Māori language family programme for young children) this year so I’m excited to take on the responsibility of supporting and reinforcing his Te Reo at home, and hopefully finally gain fluency for myself,” she says.

So yes, there’s a lot going on in Anna Coddington’s world. “I consider myself really lucky,” she says. Lucky with her growing family, and that she can continue to persue her passion as a career. “It’s the little things that make you feel really grateful for what you do,” she says. “Like if someone tells you they like your song and wants to get married to it – those little affirmations are always great.”