With an ever-evolving lineup, New Zealand’s Brunettes sometimes feel like they’re covering their own songs. Singer Jonathan Bree talks to DOUG WALLEN ahead of an encore national tour.

Cheeky, lightweight pop has always been the forte of New Zealand’s Brunettes. While their lineup is often changing, the heart of the band has always been singer-guitarist Jonathan Bree and singer/multi-instrumentalist Heather Mansfield, who started The Brunettes as a recording project back in 1998. They’ve since released 2002’s Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks, 2004’s Mars Loves Venus, 2007’s Sub Pop-issued Structure & Cosmetics and new album Paper Dolls.

“It took a while for us to get our first album out,” Bree explains, “because of difficulties with financing such a thing and coming up with recordings that we were happy with at the time.”

After more than a decade, the Brunettes have seen unexpected brushes with fame – thanks to endorsements from the Shins and Sub Pop – but still sound as approachable as ever on their fourth album. Bubbling over with peppy songs and twinkling arrangements, Paper Dolls is a satisfying slice of catchy boy-girl pop. Mansfield is now based in New York, where the band spent most of the year (Bree has since returned to Auckland). “That wasn’t actually planned,” he says. “It’s just how things turned out with where the band actually decided to play and rehearse and record this year.”

Following album launches in Australia last month, The Brunettes are touring the country again in support of singer-songwriter Whitley. Ahead of the tour, Bree took the opportunity to discuss the band’s revolving cast, his record label Lil’ Chief, the “cute factor” and the legacy of seminal NZ label Flying Nun.

A lot of people seem to have come and gone from the band over the years.
Definitely. I help run a label over here called Lil’ Chief Records, so there’s a lot of artists that are on that label, and also not on that label, just in that circle of friends. There’s never really been a shortage of personnel to be in the band when it comes to touring. It’s quite expensive for a band in New Zealand to get out and tour other parts of the world, and we don’t do it in the most luxurious of conditions. So after people go to Europe once, they tend to want to go back to school when they get back here. So we’ve had a fairly decent turnover. [Laughs]

Some of them have since pursued bands of their own, like James Milne with Lawrence Arabia and Ryan McPhun with the Ruby Suns.
Yeah. That was a few years ago, but the two of them were in the lineup for a few years. I think it was great for them to go out and be in the band and get to travel with us, but it definitely made them get very focused on their own projects. Which is great, because I think they’re both pretty amazing songwriters. It’s been a real joy to be able to work with people like that over the years.

When did you record Paper Dolls?
It was last southern summer. It was recorded quite fast. In a period of about six months, it began and was finished. We’ve actually been sitting on it for quite a while. The last eight months of so have been pretty tedious, boring exchanges happening within the band and management. So it’s been a while coming out.

Is the band still signed to Sub Pop in the States?
No. That was one of the things we needed to work out. We basically parted company early this year. We’re doing [Paper Dolls] as a self-release.

You toured America with the Shins just as they were becoming huge. What was that like?
It was pretty amazing. We had been just trying to make ends meet, as most bands do, for about six years and hadn’t gotten any further than touring to Australia. We had the opportunity to support the Shins in New Zealand for two shows in Auckland, and during those two shows, they really seemed to like us, to the point of offering us an opportunity like that. We were really on cloud nine when that happened for us. It was very exciting for everyone involved, and that was when James and Ryan were in the band as well. It was fun and inspiring for all of us.

“The isolation does do a bit for us, in an artistic sense. I don’t think people have any clouded ideas of making it and being successful as a musician, so right from the get go, they make music for the right reasons."

What’s the lineup these days when you play live?
Well, we’ve never been a two-piece live. Since we started, we’ve always been a [full] band live. At the moment we’re a five-piece, but sometimes we throw together other musicians and flesh out the band. At one stage the band was a 15-piece, but when we actually got these opportunities of touring around, we had to keep in mind airfares and visas and stuff like that. It seems to have not gone down past five musicians on stage.

Are the songs somewhat nebulous when playing them in these different live lineups?
A lot of the time, it feels like we’re a band doing a cover of a Brunettes song. We will really just work with what instrumentation we’re using at the time, and not really worry so much about mimicking what went on with the recordings. Because a lot of the time, they’re just too layered in orchestration, which is something that’s helped us gain a bit of exposure. We like that and that’s why we do it, but you can’t produce that sound with five people. Or if you wanted to, it’s not going to be as fun. So we normally just deconstruct it and build it back up again using what band members we have at the time. That keeps it a lot more fresh for our ears and fun for us.

Between certain song titles and instrumentation, The Brunettes have a reputation of being quite cute and cuddly. Do you think that’s exaggerated?
Obviously, musically, it’s what we like. We wouldn’t do it if it was just for taking the mickey out of that particular genre. A lot of the time people don’t like it, and that’s cool. But I think some people that do like it like it because it’s not as direct as it might seem. I’m pretty terrible at being earnest. I’ve never felt comfortable doing that sort of stuff. When I was 17 or 18, I used to write these really terrible, poor-me, Joy Division-inspired pieces. I think when I was 18, I went to see Jonathan Richman play, and it really blew me away. It made me feel just stupid for everything that I’d musically done to that point. I just was inspired by the way he in particular had brought more of an innocence to music and focused on some of the things that make life worth experiencing. So that’s when I decided I wanted to concentrate more on that and come out on stage doing songs that have a variety of meaning, rather than being a serious singer-songwriter dwelling on his past. That didn’t really do it for me. Maybe it will one day. But at the moment, we enjoy playing pop music and having a relatively upbeat live show. It’s kind of fun.

New Zealand has this tradition of independent music that must be somewhat ingrained in any band just starting out. Alec Bathgate from Tall Dwarfs has a record on Lil’ Chief, so I was wondering what it’s like from your perspective.
I think musicians in this country are very proud of the musical background. The Flying Nun roster has a lot to do with making up the musical identity of this country. And that’s been a focus since the ’80s over here. When we first came out, we actually tried to get signed by Flying Nun. But at the time, Flying Nun was fast going downhill. And I found it really sad that there wasn’t a label in this country anymore that was willing to put out music because it was inventive and interesting, rather than going with something that was relatively safe and more rock and roll. And I’m not slagging out any bands that have been signed to Flying Nun, which is really just Warner for the last 10 years or something. But it’s really not acknowledging the great pop music it put out in the ’80s.

Is that where Lil’ Chief comes in, to fill that void a bit?
Well, yeah. I was inspired by Flying Nun, and the people that were involved with the record label wanted to do something similar to that. So the blueprint was basically: put out interesting bands and don’t really worry about how commercially viable they are. If they’re interesting enough, then the label will gain some sort of recognition. And that’s happened. I didn’t really want to sign bands that had the Flying Nun sound either. Having said that, Alec Bathgate had a great album he was sitting on, and Chris Knox said to us that we should put it out. So that’s how that one happened.

So it’s more in keeping with that outsider spirit.
Yeah. This is incredibly biased, but I think there are a lot of good bands that have come from New Zealand. And having traveled around the world, I’m quite astounded that there are a lot of mediocre bands out there. The isolation does do a bit for us, in an artistic sense. I don’t think people have any clouded ideas of making it and being successful as a musician, so right from the get go, they make music for the right reasons rather than consciously or subconsciously thinking about getting on the radio.

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THE BRUNETTES NATIONAL TOUR

Wednesday, November 18
Sands Tavern, Maroochydore, QLD
w/Whitley + The Mapletons

Thursday, November 19
Neverland Bar, Gold Coast, QLD
w/Whitley + The Mapletons

Friday, November 20
The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD
w/Whitley + The Mapletons

Saturday, November 21
Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW
w/Whitley + The Mapletons

Sunday, November 22
Bon Amici Café, Toowoomba, QLD
w/Whitley + The Mapletons

Monday, November 23
Brass Monkey, Cronulla, NSW
w/Whitley + Georgia Fair

Tuesday, November 24
Heritage Hotel, Wollongong, NSW
w/Whitley + Georgia Fair

Wednesday, November 25
ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT
w/Whitley + Georgia Fair

Friday, November 27
The Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle, NSW
w/Whitley + Georgia Fair

Monday, November 30
The Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC
‘Paper Dolls’ single launchn encore