The New Zealand artist Fazerdaze has organized her career in a way that should be inspiring to any aspiring DIY musician. After a string of bedroom pop records that culminated in her hit 2017 debut, Morningside, she took an extended break from the music industry, only returning in 2022 with a new EP. Since that time, she has released a second full-length and, recently, a new single, “Motorway,” which seems to directly call back to the important New Zealand DIY lineage she is undoubtedly a part of. Fazerdaze’s narrative is proof that life is long and the creative path doesn’t necessarily have to move in a straight line. We talked with the artist—real name: Amelia Rahayu Murray—about DIY, both in her home country and abroad, her new single, and a whole lot more. Give it a read below.

Tell us about “Motorway.”

Fazerdaze: I spent ten years living in Auckland, which is a very car-centric city, so “Motorway” probably came from that era of my life. I spent a lot of time on the Northwestern motorway going through very tumultuous life moments just always with the motorway flowing quietly beneath me.

That track title recalls the great New Zealand label Xpressway. Are you a fan of that label? Any favorite releases?

Oh, thanks—that’s a real compliment! I interned at Flying Nun Records ten or so years ago, and worked at their record store Flying Out which is where I first heard of Xpressway. I remember discovering Sandra Bell, I had just started Fazerdaze and found her music really inspiring. I think it was her record ‘Dreams of Falling' I was listening to at the time. Obviously, The Dead C are great too.

Speaking of record labels. Could you talk a bit about Buttrfly?

I started Buttrfly Records as a sort of home base for Soft Power just for Australia and New Zealand (I work with section1 for the rest of the world, who are amazing to work with). I guess I’m very focused on building a sustainable career, and launching my own label felt like something worth exploring.

I gave it that name because I was finding myself drawn to the spiritual meaning of butterflies: transformation, growth, rebirth, renewal—and also freedom, all things that were feeling very relevant to me in this new chapter of Fazerdaze. So this label represents those things to me. I spent so much time trying to appease “cool” music dudes in the industry and got super burnt and demoralized by that. Buttrfly is my fun little corner where I get to call the shots. I’m not trying to impress anyone—I’m just doing my own thing, putting out music.

I’m lucky to run it with my dear friend Erica McQueen, and we work with distributors here that we love (Universal in NZ and Virgin in Australia). They give us a lot of support, backing, and guidance.

It feels like, at least in music, the term DIY gets thrown around to describe a lot of different contexts and methodologies. What does DIY mean to you?

For me, DIY in a literal sense, is about being very hands-on and tactile with my project—whether that’s editing a video or recording the music myself. Allowing things to be rough around the edges, and prioritizing spirit, and heart, over perfection and sheen. I enjoy working very closely on the music production, the music videos, the artwork, all the nitty gritty stuff.

In terms of the DIY ethos, for me it is about being rooted in building a career on my own terms, without compromising artistic integrity, or even business intuition. And also, about having genuine and caring relationships with the people I work with. It’s also about carving my own customized path instead of defaulting to how the music industry always does things - which, in my experience, can leave a lot of artists feeling powerless and facing massive, un-recoupable debts. But in saying this, I do sometimes “play the game” to get Fazerdaze out there a bit, then I always find myself dipping out and returning to DIY.

Lately, even the way we ship out Fazerdaze merch, we run the store out of Erica’s garage so we can include extra stickers or handwritten notes for fans we know by name, and we work with local NZ manufacturers we love and can build real relationships with. The project’s getting big now, so I don’t always have the capacity to be as hands-on as I’d like, but I try to carry that DIY ethos and heart with me in everything—whether that means choosing to work with people whose hearts are genuinely invested in the project, rather than handing things over to some random industry person who charges a fortune, delivers subpar results, and leaves us with a super hefty invoice.

Who were a few DIY artists that influenced you early in your journey and what was it about them that stuck with you?

It was artists like early Clairo, Frankie Cosmos, Car Seat Headrest, and Alex G in their very SoundCloud demo years that really inspired me. I completely fell in love with those bedroom recordings—so rough around the edges, but full of spirit, heart, soul, interesting songwriting, and great ideas. Obviously I’m still a massive fan of them all now. Locally in NZ though, it was artists like Chris Knox, whose output was so prolific, free, and raw which I found very inspiring too.

You took some serious time off from music, at least publicly. What did that experience teach you?

I learned a lot. I learned that self sacrifice or playing small is not some heroic thing. I learned that fear will never disappear, that you just have to take steps forward anyway. I also learned that the more you stop people-pleasing, the easier life gets.

Related: How have you changed as a songwriter over the past decade?

I’m trying to be less of a “good” songwriter these days and more just make sounds, beats and melodies. I spent so many years trying to do "correct" songwriting, and now I am doing my best to trust in the time I have sunk into my craft. I’m finding there is much less tension in my creative practice these days without overthinking things, and trusting first instincts. Just generate as much as possible and come back to it the next day with fresh ears. 

Put us on to some underrated New Zealand artists.

I love this Wellington band called Womb, they make beautiful, immersive, dreamy guitar music. It’s so good. Jim Nothing is amazing. I think Vera Ellen is one of our country’s best songwriters of today. Elliot and Vincent are doing great stuff, same with Salt Water Criminals. Mokotron is absolutely incredible, his music is iconic. There are so many.

(Photo Credit: Frances Carter)