A Recipe for Creative Collaboration

Take four musician / performers, 17 songs [some originals and some quirky covers] , and a very fine sound engineer / facilitator and put them together in a recording studio with top end technology for a weekend. Mix in supportive families, a graphic designer, a CD printing company and you have the recipe for a great CD of New Zealand music.

Such was my experience recently when the members of the band [Gumboot Tango] I play the drums for decided it was time to launch ourselves on the world - well New Zealand at least!!

This creative collaboration was prompted by an invitation to be guests at New Zealand's largest folk festival [although the music we play could not really be considered folk in the traditional sense of the word]. So with the encouragement from our families we descended on Robbie Duncan's Braeburn Studio in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. It was successful collaboration. We completed the task - the band's first CD.

Our recipe for success: We had a vision; we were committed to doing the CD; the short time frame kept us focused; we had been together as a band for several years so we knew each other well; we had the necessary talent and mutual respect for that talent; we had the resources of a number of co-collaborators - all factors critical for an successful creative collaboration.

So we had a CD but what to call it. Yet another creative collaborator steps in. A friend known for his quirky sense of humour made the link between Gumboots and rubber soles and the Beatles - we liked it and went with it. If you haven't made the link between all three then talk to me about taking part in creativity workshop!!

We picked the CD's up the day before our guest appearances at the Auckland Festival - a workshop and two concerts - all well received.

And still the creative collaboration continued. With friends like we have creativity isn't a choice - it just happens!!

"Masterpieces are not single and solitary births, they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice." Virginia Woolf.

So, if you would like a copy of our 'masterpiece' email me at wayne@future-edge.co.nz and I'll send you one. Price $NZ25 includes postage and packaging.