Theia: up close and personal
She’s played to a packed stadium and at New Zealand’s biggest music festivals, but Kiwi singersongwriter Theia is bringing it back to a smaller stage for her mini tour of the country.
Em-haley Walker, whose stage name is Theia, will be playing pared-back gigs of her alt-pop songs in Palmerston North, Auckland and Hamilton in September. She said it would just be her and her keyboard player, rather than her whole band.
‘‘I’m pretty excited. I just love the intimacy and cosiness of playing at small venues, so I’m looking forward to it. It will be really minimal, which is a nice change for me.’’
Theia emerged on the New Zealand music scene two years ago when her first song, Silver Second, gained the attention of entertainment websites such as Hillydilly and Pigeons and Planes. Once signed with Warner Music NZ, Walker released her single Roam, which was one of the biggest songs released by a Kiwi artist in 2016.
‘‘It all happened really quickly,’’ she said. ‘‘I’d been writing casually from a young age, just for fun, and then when I did decide to turn my attention to music I recorded a couple of songs. I just started sending them out to radio stations and I started getting plays and it just all went from there – quite DIY.’’
Bye Bye is Theia’s latest track. It debuted this year and she said she would try out new material on her tour audiences.
Theia’s shows are at Auckland’s Ante Social on September 12, Hamilton’s Nivara Lounge on September 13 and Palmerston North’s The Stomach on September 14.