Shapeshifter frontman Paora “P Digsss” Apera isn’t scared of pop royalty Lorde.
The Christchurch-based group is up against the 17-year-old at tomorrow’s New Zealand Music Awards for Single of the Year as well as the People’s Choice Award.
“We’re not nervous at all,” he says.
“You know, what will be, will be. She deserves everything she’s up for and she’s done some phenomenal stuff.”
But nonetheless it was always great to be acknowledged at the awards.
“People’s Choice would be cool, and all the work we put into the album, so best album would be great, but I am not really too fussed.”
Comprising vocalist P Digsss, Devin Abrams (sax/keys/synths), Sam Trevethick (guitar/synths/sampler), Nick Robinson (bass/synths/ MPC), Darren Mathiassen (drums) and touring soundman Tiki Taane, Shapeshifter have played at festivals such as Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Parklife and the Big Day Out.
The band, formed in 1999, continued their reign as the country’s premiere drum and base outfit with the release of their fifth longplayer, Delta.
P Digsss sees the reason for their lasting success in their relentless touring effort as well as that they keep honing their skills.
“After every album we toured for quite a while, then we went to Berlin for six months, pretty much because we wanted to base ourselves in Europe and then tour a bit from there, and then we ended up writing [single] Monarch which came from jamming.
“Lots of ideas for our songs come from us touring, and then we get back into the studio and hone it out.”
Delta has taken Shapeshifter some years to put out, following its predecessor, 2009’s The System is a Vampire.
“The good thing about making an album is that is gets your juices flowing and we’ll be doing a few extra tunes and just for the sake to make music.
“It’s our fifth album and I think we learned a lot on our last album, so we went in with a bit of a more relaxed approach and it was good fun.
“It was the easiest and the best album to make, it was fun,” he says.
After tomorrow’s awards the band will focus on their yearly summer tour.
