Sounds Crafty: The Phoenix Foundation

Top: The Phoenix Foundation
Above: Happy Ending
Below: On stage at Rippon Festival

Check out other Sounds Crafty showcases on Felt:
• Ruth Carr, Minuit
• Flip Grater
• Fleur Jack, The Twitch
• Nathan King
• Hannah Curwood
• The Phoenix Foundation
• Hera

They've toured with the Finn brothers, supported Split Enz, recorded the original score to the movie "Eagle Vs. Shark", and released three critically acclaimed albums. Back at home after a sell-out New Zealand tour, The Phoenix Foundation's Richie Singleton and Conrad Wedde shared with us their crafty experiences and Felt favourites...

Did you make stuff when you were a kid?
Richie: Yep - we had a great wood working workshop out in the shed and used to make stuff out there.

What's your earliest or most vivid craft-related memory?
Richie: Making little houses for my smurfs out of shoeboxes!

Are you crafty or do you make stuff now, and if so, what do you make?
Richie: No not really - at the moment the best I get to is fixing buttons on clothes - but I am keen to get a workshop set up, need to find the right space though and get tools together. Ultimately I would love a woodworking lathe.

What's the best handmade thing you've ever been given?
Conrad: I wasn't given this...but I bought a handmade blanket from the Red H'mong people in the the Northern hills of Vietnam, really awesome quiltwork styles.

Assuming time, materials and cost are no object and you were given the opportunity to make anything you wanted, what would you make? Richie: A grandfather clock.

Do you think craft suffers from pre-conceived notions of lace covered coat hangers and toilet roll covers? If yes, any suggestions for how craft can improve its image?
Conrad: Nah, I think craft is still pretty ruling!

If you were a crafty superhero, what would your name and superpower be? Richie: Captain Wood.

If your music took physical shape what would it look like? What would it be made of?
Conrad: A space suit fashioned from the fibres of the the rare silver galaxy sheep.

Hot glue gun, needle and thread or hammer and nails?
Richie: Hammer and nails.

Have you ever worn something you've made on stage or in public?
Conrad: No, don't think so, but we do have a handmade reindeer called Chris that has been making appearances on stage of late... along with his armless friend 'The Krisk'.

Why would you buy something handmade?
Conrad: Because it's a good vibe.

Keep an eye out for The Phoenix Foundation's fourth album, due for release later this year.

www.thephoenixfoundation.co.nz