The DIY tourer comes to Christchurch
Do-it-yourself spirit lies behind the latest tour from a promising Kiwi songwriter.
Ciaran McMeeken, 26, is wrapping up his national tour, which he booked and coordinated himself. He plays Christchurch’s Blue Smoke, in Woolston, on Thursday.
‘‘It’s really been fantastic, you know, the whole process and learning how a tour works,’’ McMeeken said.
‘‘Really it was just one big excuse to travel around New Zealand.’’
Queenstown-born and Dunedin raised, McMeeken dabbled with music from a young age, picking up drumsticks at 11 years old. He moved to guitar and played in numerous bands through high school.
‘‘It wasn’t until I was about 21 that I took music seriously.’’
He abandoned playing cricket in England and a teaching degree back in New Zealand to make music his ‘‘number one focus’’: ‘‘Juggling too many things wasn’t really working out’’.
‘‘I went through quite a rough patch when I was about 19 to about 21, I left uni and left everything behind [that I had] taken for granted, that grounding of everything that I’d known and my friends etc.
‘‘I moved back to Dunedin, moved in with my parents and started writing songs and putting little EPs together, recording and playing shows.’’
His debut album, Screaming Man, was released in 2015 and his single City received extensive radio play. He put out his second, self-titled album in 2017, which he described as ‘‘a classic singersongwriter, pop, acoustic sound’’.
McMeeken, who has been based in Auckland for the past two years, said his songwriting matured to reflect his emotions, rather than ‘‘just writing songs with a catchy chorus, put to a beat’’.
‘‘It wasn’t until I was 21 or 22 that I really started to be able to express myself through music. [Recently] I really got a taste for feeling something and being able to articulate it and get it out through the tone or the sound of the guitar.’’
He was touring with his ‘‘best mate’’ Jasper Hawkins, a Nelsonborn musician who released his first studio album in 2017, called White Lie.
McMeeken said he planned to travel to Europe and Canada this year to ‘‘write and tour’’.
‘‘I’m just keen to throw myself in the deep end and take the next steps in my career, whatever those might be.’’
"This album is very much a classic singer-song writer, pop, acoustic sound. There are lots of fun, vibrant songs as well as some introspective, more melancholy songs."
Ciaran McMeeken, musician