Tiny Ruins

David Lynch produced the track, which itself is a dazzling detail. But once you learn that the partnership with Lynch came about after he tweeted he was a fan and then Ella Yelich-O’Connor (AKA Lorde) put him in touch, it begins to sound like an embellished Hollywood scenario. It’s certainly good press release fodder, but what’s more significant is that Fullbrook’s session with Lynch resulted in another elegant, scenic folk number to add to the Tiny Ruins catalogue.

That said, one can’t help but enquire into the Auckland musician’s experiences alongside the American film and television auteur. “I got an email from Ella,” Fullbrook says. “She knew that David Lynch was a fan of ours because he talked about us on Twitter about a year previously. And like only she can do, she took the initiative and called his people up, and because he already knew us I think he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it.’ Then I had to send a whole bunch of demos and he chose ‘Dream Wave’ out of three demos that I sent.

“[There was] maybe a week or two while we were still on tour where I was not really sure whether it was going to go ahead or not. It was a very bizarre feeling – ‘Either I’m going meet David Lynch in the next week, or it’s not going to happen.’ Then it did all happen very quickly and it was just lucky that we had two days off, so I flew to LA and that was that.”

Luck, however, can’t take responsibility for the spacious excellence of ‘Dream Wave’. “I had to keep reminding myself, ‘There was a reason he wanted to do it. He really liked the song,’” Fullbrook says. “I’m trying not to be that annoying humble person all the time. I know it’s something that New Zealanders instinctively do. I think it’s important to celebrate that it did happen.”

It’s a stripped-back recording, featuring just Fullbrook and Lynch, with the rest of the Tiny Ruins band absent. “He did add some really amazing elements to the song, with the Twin Peaks-y bassline, and he used a cinematic technique that picks up on what chords are being played and adds this kind of atmosphere sound. We were working in his cinema editing suite, which is also his music studio. It was really amazing hearing the songs through his cinema speakers.”

‘Dream Wave’ is the latest in a succession of impressive releases from Tiny Ruins. The project’s second LP Brightly Painted One landed in early 2014, and it’s just as capable of slowing down time two years later as it was on first listen. Then came Hurtling Through, a collaborative EP between Fullbrook andHamish Kilgour of The Clean, which came out late last year. In the wake of these releases, Tiny Ruins’ international profile has continued to expand, with the group making headway in Europe and the US as well as appearing at the Meredith Music Festival and supporting the likes of Sharon Van Etten. Despite this ongoing stream of success, Fullbrook doesn’t believe the band has hit the big time just yet.

“It’s quite hard for a band these days to know how many people are listening to them,” she says. “But then something will happen that will hit you and you’ll go, ‘Oh shit, maybe people do know who we are.’ I do feel like every year we’ve stepped it up a little level more in terms of our playing and our writing and recording. I would never have expected to still be doing this. I always dreamed of playing music for my job, but I never really imagined that we would get this far.”

This feeling of incredulity is something Fullbrook wants to hang onto. And anyway, it’s not yet possible to take her success for granted. “We’re in a weird place, because in some territories, like in Europe and the US for example, we’re still relatively unknown. Our shows there are still very small and touring is really low-budget, sleeping on people’s floors. So we’re in a space now where we’re able to do quite big things at home and in Australia and a few other places, and then we’re brought down to earth very quickly as soon as we go a bit further afield.”

One of those big things is Tiny Ruins’ upcoming Vivid LIVE performance at the Sydney Opera House. Fullbrook and the band are well accustomed to life on the road – in recent years they’ve played in dingy bars and tiny theatres, zoos, churches and at major festivals. But while they’re not unfamiliar with unique shows, headlining the Sydney Opera House represents a certain level of achievement.

“We were thrilled to bits when we got asked. It was totally out of the blue. It made me feel like we’ve come quite a long way in the last three or four years of playing together as a group. I feel like for any international band it’s a huge honour to play at the Sydney Opera House. It is one of those venues that everyone knows. We’re really excited about it.”

[Tiny Ruins by Georgie Craw]