{"id":554159,"date":"2026-08-01T04:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554159\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:40:10","slug":"boh-rungas-old-north-studios-brings-musicians-to-rural-kumeu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554159\/","title":{"rendered":"Boh Runga\u2019s Old North Studios brings musicians to rural Kume\u016b"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m just the tea lady,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling having people come here to be creative and really enjoy it. I love hanging out with other musicians and there\u2019s lots of banter \u2013 that\u2019s the best bit really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Boh\u2019sBoh\u2019s keen to bang out a few hits in her brand-new studio. Photo \/ Emily Chalk<\/p>\n

All those months of lugging sheets of soundproof gib board around and painting walls now seem worthwhile. There\u2019s plenty of space for big bands and even video shoots \u2013 already, Ardijah singer Betty-Anne Hall and her band have used the studio.<\/p>\n

Boh\u2019s given the place a cosy feel with beautiful rugs on the floor and a light-filled control room that overlooks their garden. <\/p>\n

She explains, \u201cWe wanted to make it a friendly environment where people can feel relaxed. On a nice day, they can take a break to go hang out under the magnolia trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

In pride of place in the new studio is a vintage Sames upright piano, which Boh thinks is about 100 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been hunting for a piano for ages. I found this one on Trade Me and although it\u2019s in great condition, it\u2019s not worth anything. It being free was highly attractive \u2013 it being ornate even more so. It\u2019s gorgeous. So now I need to make time to get some lessons and improve my piano playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boh hopes that having a studio right next door to her home will kick-start the creation of new music.<\/p>\n

\u201cTroy has a folder full of ideas, so we started by recording something he and I wrote together, then released it as a kind of showcase for the studio. It\u2019s called North and it\u2019s quite dark rock, which is not normally my thing \u2013 I\u2019m a very poppy, cheerful person! But I love how massive it sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BohBoh with Stellar* bandmates Chris van de Geer (left) and Kurt Shanks. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also planning to work on some projects of her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cApart from this thing with Troy, I haven\u2019t done any songwriting for a few years. I actually have to make the time for it! So I\u2019ve booked some studio time for a songwriting session with my DJ friend Chris Keene and an artist called Sam Cullen. We\u2019re going to write together.\u201d<\/p>\n

As her 60s approach, Boh\u2019s aware of how fast the years are racing by and she wants to fit in as much creativity as possible. As well as new songs, she\u2019s busy producing new designs for Boh Runga Jewellery, which has \u201cBohtiques\u201d in Auckland\u2019s Ponsonby Rd and at the airport \u2013 and she still performs with her band Stellar*.<\/p>\n

In August, Boh also teams up again with a crew of female musicians<\/a>, including Fur Patrol\u2019s Julia Deans and Dianne Swann, for three live gigs taking on iconic girl-power rock anthems from the likes of Blondie, the Eurythmics, Kate Bush and Madonna. Their band Atomic! will perform in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like being at home, so to get me out of the house, it has to be something I really want to do and Atomic! is such a great time. We\u2019re playing songs we love and it\u2019s an amazing group of women to hang out with \u2013 everyone\u2019s so funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fulfilling stage of life. <\/p>\n

Boh smiles, \u201cI\u2019ve travelled a lot, I\u2019ve done lots of things and I\u2019ve got great friends. Now I just want to make more music, and I want other people to come and make music here in our studio because it\u2019s super-fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atomic! plays Christchurch on August 13, Wellington on the 14th and Auckland on the 15th. For tickets, scan the QR code or visit atomicconcert.com. For more info on the studio, visit oldnorthstudios.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m just the tea lady,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling having people come here to be creative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4523,51,1558,1972,272145,6757,1038,11776,651,4731,55312,49239,156,29052,1866,5838,1345,110242,424,263,91124,272147,130,15219,65041,40940,3180,272148,111,139,529,69,9716,42900,384,3263,225778,272146,3175,4625,4499,37108,1361,8475,165,24359,15314,6035,61,77689,3807,19135],"class_list":["post-554159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ambitious","tag-auckland","tag-been","tag-block","tag-boh","tag-bringing","tag-brings","tag-busy","tag-close","tag-days","tag-doorstep","tag-enjoy","tag-entertainment","tag-fellow","tag-find","tag-help","tag-home","tag-kume","tag-life","tag-lifestyle","tag-lots","tag-mckubre","tag-more","tag-mostly","tag-musician","tag-musicians","tag-near","tag-nevertheless","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-old","tag-peaceful","tag-people","tag-project","tag-runga","tag-rungas","tag-rural","tag-singer","tag-small","tag-studios","tag-that","tag-thats","tag-their","tag-these","tag-theyve","tag-things","tag-to","tag-troy","tag-west","tag-working"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}