Mattingly said the final moments were peaceful.
”Pascal and Chris were there with their instruments and they were able to play for him. I sang for him and played for him and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
“It contributed to the deep sense of peace that he was in and we all felt at the very end. It was just beautiful.”
Young was a familiar figure across New Zealand’s music scene for decades, on stage and behind the scenes.
Micheal Young in the RNZ studio. Photo / Steve Bone
A founding member and double bass player of Albi & The Wolves, he also performed with acclaimed bluegrass outfit Wires & Wood, country-folk band Too Far Gone, Americana group Rainberry Pie and other projects.
Away from the spotlight, he became one of the country’s most respected recording engineers in folk music circles, producing and engineering award-winning albums including Wires & Wood’s Over The Moon and Albi & The Wolves’ One Eye Open, both of which earned Tui awards.
Dent said Young’s influence stretched far beyond the bands he played in.
“We’ve worked together closely for more than a decade, and I feel like I’ve had the privilege of getting to know so many of the people that knew him, but even I’ve been blown away by the sheer breadth of influence that he’s had.
“That’s a hell of a legacy to leave behind.”
Raised in a city called Mexico in the state of Missouri, Young trained as an engineer and built a successful career in technology before reinventing himself in New Zealand as a full-time musician.
Micheal Young. Photo / Stella Gardiner
Mattingly said many people only knew the second chapter of his life.
“While he was in New Zealand, he was just immersed in music. But before that, he was immersed in his career as a mechanical engineer and as a software developer.”
She said he was part of a team that developed one of the world’s first ATM cash dispensers before later working in telecommunications and technology.
In 2009, he left the corporate world behind to focus on music, recording engineering and teaching.
That career change reflected his tenacious approach to life.
Micheal Young spent his final hours surrounded by the people and music he loved most. Photo / John Flatt
Young met Mattingly through competitive sailing. The pair discovered they shared the same dream.
“We discovered that we both had the same dream, and that was to sail around the world,” Mattingly said.
They sold their belongings, bought a yacht in New Zealand in the early 1990s and set out across the South Pacific.
“We quit our jobs, packed everything up, sold the house, sold everything and shifted aboard the boat.”
What was meant to be a journey around the world became a new life. The couple settled in New Zealand, became citizens and built a home together.
For those on the scene, Young became known for his brightly coloured “happy pants”.
The loose, vibrant festival trousers became a fixture at folk gatherings around the country.
“He loved colour and there wasn’t enough colour in this world and his goal was to put as much colour into the world as possible,” Mattingly said.
Young taught aspiring musicians when he wasn’t performing.
His final performance with Albi & The Wolves was at the Whangateau Folk Club on October 19, just days before the crash.
Three weeks before Young’s death, they celebrated their 40th anniversary with a trip to the Bay of Islands.
“He was chuffed he lived to be 71,” Mattingly said.
“He was happy with his life, he was ready to go, he was happy with the choices that he made.”