Stellar* and the backwards song

Each week we ask an artist or performer about their best-known work. This week, stellar*’s Boh Runga explains the 1999 Kiwi anthem,

Violent.

‘I’m the one who does not really retain information. If you want precise dates, you have to talk to our drummer Andrew [Maclaren], because he remembers pretty much everything – he’s a bit special like that.

‘‘Violent was actually written quite late in the piece, as far as the body of work for the Mix album.

‘‘It was a bit of a funny process. I remember thinking how much I’d like to have a real anthemic chant for when we played live. So whereas the other songs on that album were written as fully-functioning songs in their own right, Violent was written back to front, from the chant backwards.

‘‘It was about relationships, basically. Just how, even as much as

"I knew it was going tobea strong tune that people would like, but I didn't know it was going to get thrashed on the radio." Boh Runga

you can care for someone and love someone, you’ve still got your own feelings about things and they don’t necessarily go with the people that you love.

‘‘It was the first time that we had, as a band, worked together to make an album. It was all very new, very positive and we were able to work with amazing people. That album sounds the way it does, not just because of the songs on it, but because of the people working on it. If it wasn’t for that team, it would be so different. We were very, very lucky.

‘‘We were introduced to producer Tom Bailey through the record label. I grew up in the 80s, and [his band] the Thompson Twins were massive. I knew their songs well – he’s a bona fide pop star.

‘‘When we met him, he was such a fun guy and so interesting to talk to and had a great work ethic. We were so excited to work with him.

‘‘I don’t think I knew the song was going to become a hit. I knew it was going to be a really strong tune that people would like, but I didn’t know it was going to get thrashed on the radio. It’s a great, fun song but I’ve written better.

‘‘I haven’t performed it [with the band] for quite some time. I’ve played it at solo gigs, and that’s obviously a bit different, but it still kind of works, even with a stripped down way of playing it.

‘‘It’s a bit of fun that audiences always like to join in on – people have a fond memories of it.

‘‘For us, that whole time was so much fun and such a blur. When that album came out we were doing a lot of press stuff, and touring and it was a lot to take in. Going from pretty-much unknowns to being played on the radio was so thrilling, but it was a whirlwind.’’

Stellar* are reuniting and touring New Zealand in 2018. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.

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