Jeremy Fitzsimons has left the city but kept his city job – playing percussion.
He speaks to Bryan Crump about moving to the family farm while continuing to work as a musician.
Jeremy Fitzsimons on his family farm in Thames. Photo: BRYAN CRUMP
You could be forgiven for assuming the thrum of a big city would be the natural environment for a professional percussionist – but these days you'll find Jeremy Fitzsimons at the end of a country road.
After spending most of this century in Wellington, Fitzsimons has moved to the family farm in the Kauaeranga Valley near Thames, taking his partner and youngest child with him.
The former member of the percussion group Strike and regular player in both Orchestra Wellington and the Auckland Philharmonia says the move had been on the cards since his mother, the former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, bought the place.
While Fitzsimons didn't grow up in the Kauaeranga Valley, he has happy childhood memories of another hobby farm his family spent time on near Warkworth.
With his mother dying in 2020, and her widower Harry Parkes needing a little bit of help, the time was right for the move north earlier this year.
But despite leaving town for the country, Fitzsimons hasn't given up his music.
He can't afford to anyway. The farm is a great place to live, but it's not a profit-making venture.
Self-shearing sheep. Photo: BRYAN CRUMP
When RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump visited Fitzsimons, the first thing he noticed was the shaggy sheep.
"Those are Wiltshires," explained Fitzsimons, "bred to naturally shed their wool".
Crossbred wool doesn't earn enough to pay the shearers these days, so it's better if it just drops off the grower's back, or off anywhere else it might be growing.
Wiltshires are raised for their meat, which goes to the local home-kill market. Other crops coming off the land include chestnuts and olives.
Photo: David Selfe
Fitzsimons' main source of income remains musical. His next gig will take him back to Wellington to perform in the 30th birthday concert of the capital city's saxophone outfit, Saxcess.
He travels to Auckland regularly to play with the Auckland Philharmonia, there's Chamber Music New Zealand tours and even The Pink Floyd Experience.
Given much of the work he does involves touring, it doesn't really matter where he's based.
Practising involves being in a room on his own, and that could be "anywhere". He tends to practice in the afternoon and do his farm work in the mornings and be "living the dream". Being in the country means less worry over neighbours struggling with the sound of Fitzsimons hard at work.
There's also the bonus of having the space and time to build his own music studio.
"It's so satisfying, I mean compared to [music] you spend a day building and you can step back and go "wow! I made that today". You spend a day practising and no one knows."
Percussionist Jeremy Fitzsimons on farm studio. Photo: BRYAN CRUMP
That's all very well for Fitzsimons, but what about his partner and children?
The eldest has already left home, but the youngest Izzy has settled in well at Thames High School where she's already started a band. Partner Sarah – a dancer and Pilates instructor – not only managed to find work at the local dance school, she was able to buy it.
As for the farm work, Fitzsimons is "still at the stage where I just do what I'm told [by Harry], just trying to learn the ropes".
If there's one downside to the change of scene, it's the amount of fossil fuel it requires.
Like his Green Party mother, Fitzsimons worries about his carbon footprint. The farm itself is off-grid, powered by solar panels with gas cooking, but to get to gigs he still needs to drive his petrol van.
He's hoping he'll be able to replace it with an electric one.
At least it takes him less time to drive to Auckland than it takes most people to drive across it.
Jeremy Fitzsimons plays the musical saw Photo: David Selfe
