Eccentric country artist Orville Peck is returning to NZ after captivating audiences with his elusive appearance and baritone voice.
Photo: AFP
Charlotte Ryan spoke to the man behind the mask about his new album Bronco, country music and his mysterious fashion.
He will play to an already sold-out crowd at the Powerstation on 17 July as one of the many Splendour in the Grass sideshows.
Continuing to focus on pursing a career in music got tough during the pandemic, Orville said.
"I was in a really bad place, as I'm sure a lot of us were, and everything kind of just came to a head for me in that time period on a personal level and career work wise, and I feel very proud of myself for having coming through it and I feel very happy I didn't give up."
Orville Peck - Bronco Photo: Julia Johnson
Coming out the other side has embued Bronco with a new energy.
"It's entirely the reason why I called it Bronco, because I felt like it was a freeing for me in many respects: a literal freedom away from a bad situation in my personal life; a freedom in myself to be kind to myself and to be gentle with myself; a freedom in my career to not care about what other people thought or not have expectations of what I was supposed to be doing or what my album was supposed to be.
"It felt truly like I kicked down a big gate and was just running wild out into the sunset. It definitely has that spirit... that was the spirit in which I wrote it - just in a sense of freedom."
Orville has previously said he doesn't write love songs.
"I still maintain I've never written a love song. A lot of the songs to do with romantic live that I write about ... they're usually about failed love or heartbreak, but on this album there are songs about love for sure, and there are songs about relationships, and there are songs about loving of myself. I think I open up to a much more vulnerable place on this album than I ever have before.
"I am someone who's had to work really hard through things like therapy and journalling and all kinds of stuff, it took me thirty plus years to learn to be more vulnerable, be kind to myself, be proud of myself.
Orville said that vulnerability is essential in art as it taps right into human connection and shared human experience.
"As humans any kind of art that we are attracted to, at least for me... is the connection we experience when we see someone showing us who they are, no matter what it is - good bad or ugly. We experience the beauty in that, because we are witnessing somebody have a real feeling or a real emotion or exposing themselves.
"So we therefore in turn experience that same feeling in ourselves, we see ourselves in a song or in a film or piece of art. So the idea of being vulnerable is absolutely linked towards at least the longevity of something's success ... if there's not a lot of sincerity and vulnerability to it I'm not certain it's going to last the test of time."
Country music is changing, Orville said, but it has always lagged behind changes in general society on it's acceptance of many things, he said.
"There's still a big battle being fought in the disparity between how much even female country musicians are played over male country musicians, nevermind even beginning to tackle the conversation over gay country musicians and black country musicians.
"They're always a little bit behind and they always kick and fight when something new comes in. And then people stay at it for 10 or 15 years, and then suddenly it's just in the country canon.
"But it's beautiful to watch a genre that I've loved for so long and at times not felt welcome in - it's beautiful to watch that break away from the stigma and gatekeeping that is done by really what are just the suits in charge sitting in an office building in Nashville.
"Whereas I've learned from years of touring and meeting lots of country fans and playing lots of country festivals - that there's a really big portion of people who like country music who want to hear new stories and see new perspectives and faces. It's definitely changing, and it's absolutely changing for the better."
Ironically, Orville is immediately recognisable for his masks, which he used to handmake himself.
He now owns about 50 or 60 of them and an archive of outfits in Venice Beach, and has the same stylist as Post Malone - Catherine Hahn.
Orville's latest masks for Bronco were made by the experts.
"Those ones were moulded to my face by a special effects team, and they do a full face cast, it was the craziest experience, so they fit perfectly to my face."
Orville said he's excited to get back on tour.
"It's a little bit of nerves and dusting off of cobwebs, but we've just been having such a great time."
