Auckland producer Sola Rosa, real name Andrew Spraggon has just released his seventh studio album Chasing the Sun. He dropped into RNZ to chat to Music 101’s Charlotte Ryan, and to perform live with his all-star band.
Andrew Spraggon has been releasing music as Sola Rosa for 20 years, starting with his debut EP Entrance To Skyway. Since then he’s released six albums and been nominated for multiple NZ Music Awards.
Andrew Spraggon aka Sola Rosa Photo: Steve Dykes
Sola Rosa is playing a bunch of North Island festivals this summer:
- Wellington - Saturday, December 5 | Downtown Shakedown
- Hastings - Saturday, December 19 | Summer Solstice Festival
- New Plymouth - Thursday, December 31 | Festival Of Lights
- Martinborough - Saturday, January 23 | Tora Bombora
Tickets at solarosa.com.
Chasing The Sun – an expertly crafted collection of funk, soul and jazz – is easily Andrew’s most collaborative project yet with appearances from heavy hitting vocalists and session musicians including Streets singer, Kevin Mark Trail, Basement Jaxx’ long-term collaborator Sharlene Hector and genre-defying, rising UK reggae star Kiko Bun.
Closer to home, ex-pat Kiwi vocalist Wallace and Aotearoa’s own musical maverick, Troy Kingi add their vocal talents to the mix.
“In the early days Sola Rosa was a selfish studio project,” Andrew says, “But after the first few releases, I realised my limitations as a player and writer, and started to collaborate with other musicians.
“I realised how much collaboration contributes to each release. Each player brings their own life experience, style and skillset which creates music that is far greater than the sum of its parts.”
Andrew dropped into the RNZ studios to perform a set of songs for Music 101’s Live Concert Series, including a super smooth version of ‘For The Mighty Dollar’, captured in the video above.
