Gemma Ray brings her band and reverb drenched atmospheric sound to NZ this May.
Berlin based/Essex born, Gemma's sound has been described as Gothic-folk,and pop-noir, but tags aside - it's a moody mix of psychedelic blues with a hefty nod to her sizzling cinematic side. She also writes and produces music for film and television and notably worked with famous German director Wim Wenders.
Counting such admirers as Grinderman, whom she opened for on her last jaunt down-under, and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, she has also collaborated with Sparks, the recently departed Alan Vega from New York legends Suicide, and Thomas Wydler, drummer from The Bad Seeds. Jimmy Page saw her open for Mott The Hoople at their three UK shows in 2009 and said she is 'not to be missed'
Gemma Ray’s latest opus The Exodus Suite is a dramatic 52-minute odyssey through her unique style of epic torch song psychedelia. Recorded live in seven days at the infamous Candy Bomber Studios (situated in the former Tempelhof Airport in Berlin) by Ingo Krauss, the album’s title reflects the personal-political themes of the songs within. The Exodus Suite was released on 20th May 2016 on Bronzerat Records.
An unexpected yet inescapable influence on The Exodus Suite sessions was the presence of 8,000 Syrian refugees housed in the hangar beneath the studio during the recording. The stark reality of the refugees’ circumstances (whom are still housed there to this day), and the experience of these sights, sounds and smells right within spitting distance, lent a profoundly immediate dimension to Gemma Ray’s lyrical explorations of love for all life, exile and relocation, nature's sovereignty, technology, class and most of all the need for human empathy.
GEMMA RAY New Zealand Tour 2017 with special guest Gris-de-Lin
Tuesday 2nd May - Auckland at Golden Dawn presented by 95bFM's Border Radio
Friday 5th May - Napier - A Sitting Room Session at The Old Mill
Saturday 6th May - Wellington at Caroline
Sunday 7th May - Christchurch at Blue Smoke
Tickets through Under The Radar (except Napier)
