Recently linking up with New Caledonia Tourism, Australian band Crooked Colours headed out to the South Pacific hotspot as part a new destination marketing campaign established to boost the number of Australian travellers out to the area. Crooked Colours wound up recording music inspired by their travels and even locked down a music video when they were in New Caledonia – a pretty gorgeous spot to film, if you ask us.
We think you might agree.
The band tells us of their time abroad, below.
Bringing your music together with a tourism campaign feels like an obvious fit now that we’ve seen it – but tell us a little bit about how this project came about?
It is definitely something quite unique for us, so when the campaign director approached us we were super excited to get involved. New Caledonia Tourism were just looking for an up and coming young Australian act and I think our sound just fit really well.
What did you enjoy most about your time in New Caledonia?
I think the most enjoyable part about New Caledonia has to be the diversity across the islands. You can experience so much in such a small space, it’s incredible.
Did anything surprise you about the overall experience?
Mostly just the fact that it’s so French! It was kind of hard for us to wrap our heads around. It’s funny when you get there, visually it’s a tropical paradise but everyone speaks French and eats croissants for breakfast!
While in New Caledonia you also filmed a music video – was that always the plan?
Yeah we really wanted to make the most of our trip there and I think it would have been a wasted opportunity if we didn’t make the most of the amazing landscape there. Plus, the setting really fit the vibe of the track we were filming for.
Tell us a little bit about the concept behind the music video and how that developed while you were there?
We worked with a very talented director, Patrick Rohl, who helped us develop the idea of having three separate settings throughout the film clip all coming together at the end.
What can you tell us about the music of New Caledonia? What did you hear/see/experience while you were there?
The music in New Caledonia is great, you can tell straight away that there are some really diverse influences in their music, which makes for a unique sound. We had one really special experience at the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, where we got to see a local Kanak ceremony and their music; it’s this amazing vocally layered, percussive sound. It was unreal.
It was an incredibly lively place, people enjoy their music and are all very passionate. It’s obviously a melting pot of different influences from the local culture to the French language, which created something very unique.
What’s in store for 2018?
We head over to the US for some tour dates in February, then back to Australia in April – and then off to Europe for shows later that month. So we’re pretty flat out. (You can see all the dates on their Facebook Page).
Your music has connected with fans on an international level – what do you think it is about your music that has connected with music lovers all over the world?
We ask ourselves the same question *laughs*! For us, our music is purely about what we want to create and what we would like to listen to. We don’t create music with the intention of going after a certain sound that is in fashion, and our music has definitely developed since some of our earlier work.
If you could work with another destination on a future campaign, is there anywhere on the bucket list you’d like to put a call out to?
On the bucket list… these would be:
1. Japan
2. Mexico
3. Spain
To learn more about New Caledonia, and the Sounds of New Caledonia campaign, head HERE. For more information about Crooked Colours, head to their official website HERE.
Photos provided and used with permission.
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