Gareth Thomas Covers Voom's 'Beautiful Day' For NZ Music Month

Gareth Thomas soars through the clouds from his minimalist-styled bedroom as he plays a rendition of Voom's 'Beautiful Day' from their 2006 album Hello, Are You There?. As we've seen already from Ebony Lamb, Samuel Flynn Scott, Julia Deans and others, Thomas has selected an Aotearoa song to cover in celebration of this year's NZ Music Month. Best known for writing songs as part of Goodshirt, and his more recent solo releases under his own name, i.e. Fizzy Milk, Thomas set to proving the quality of 'Beautiful Day' after chatting to Voom songwriter Buzz Moller about "the 'durability' of a good song" and how "a good song should still carry when stripped right back". As evident below, the song is a hit no matter what way you look at it. Have a listen, and read through a brief email interview with the man himself further down...

Annabel Kean: How's Level 2 treating you? Are you verging on agoraphobia like me, or more of a hang out with every person you know in one week kinda guy?

Gareth Thomas: I'm basically still in stage 4; hanging out at home, finishing off a couple of albums with my partner - we love lockdown!

What's on the cards for you this year? Musically or otherwise.

We're working out how to release a new Gareth Thomas album and a new Fazerdaze album with all the new Covid19 challenges. Currently recording with an LA-based sound engineer via Zoom and a realtime audio transfer plugin. Haven't quite sussed a solution for live shows and touring yet!

Can you tell us a bit about your treatment of 'Beautiful Day' and why you choose it?

Buzz Moller (songwriter for Voom) writes great songs. He and I were chatting the other day about the 'durability' of a good song - a good song should still carry when stripped right back. I thought I'd put it to the test - I also wanted to share a Voom track.

Favourite Auckland venue and why?

I guess I can't say The Kings Arms any more. The Wine Cellar and The Tuning fork have been my favourites since. I like cosy intimate venues, with a crowd they have great acoustics and the best vibe.