NATHAN HAINES
Oceans Gallery
View gallery
New Zealand is bound by oceans and this gallery reveals their hidden depths, with life-sized replicas of the sea, shore and marine animals, and a saltwater aquarium.
Beneath the Waves
Track 5 length 4:22
Throughout the 10 years Nathan Haines lived in London, the first thing he would do on his annual trip home to Auckland was take a swim in the sea. It became a kind of ritual reconnection with the Pacific.
In the Oceans gallery, he was reminded of the sounds he had heard underwater, and the schools of dolphin and orca he would often see from his home on the North Shore.
These became the source materials for the piece he has written and performed, inspired by the Oceans gallery. He emphasises that he did not take a literal approach to re-creating the sounds of the sea. No actual recordings of the ocean or its inhabitants were used. Instead, he created a sonic ocean of his own, mingling the sounds of vintage analogue synthesisers, flute, percussion, voice and even whistling.
Recordings he had heard of dolphins at Great Barrier Island sounded to him like pieces of wood being struck together – so that’s what he used for the dolphins in his piece. Listen and you might hear them amongst the tones and melodies that swim through this piece, then float to the surface or disappear into the depths.
About the Artist
Nathan Haines, New Zealand’s famed jazz musician and producer, grew up immersed in music. His father Kevin was a full-time musician who fed a steady diet of jazz recordings to Haines and brother Joel. The multi-instrumentalist went on to study and perform in New York, returning to New Zealand to record the classic Shift Left album in 1994, the country’s biggest-ever-selling jazz album. Two of his albums have since achieved gold status in New Zealand. During his long stint in London, Haines teamed up with various influential drum and bass producers and fused live music with top DJs at his weekly club night. Haines has performed on the international jazz circuit and is a sought-after collaborator and session musician. He recently recorded an album with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, featuring arrangements by Grammy award-winner Alan Broadbent, with a BBC critic calling Nathan’s lyrical talent "a revelation".
Nathan Haines website
Track Credits
Roland Jupiter 8, Oberheim Matrix 1000, flute, percussion, voice and all recording and mixing by Nathan Haines for Haven Music. Special thanks to Auckland Museum Curators and staff. | 
