QUARANTINE PROFILE: Navvy
We’ve launch a profile series to highlight how artists are spending their time during quarantine. Several times a week we’ll highlight a new artist across the globe and see how they’re keeping busy during COVID-19 lockdowns.
I discovered Navvy’s track “Mad At You” last year and it quickly became an anthem of mine. Now we have some new tunes to love with her latest EP The Final Pieces. It’s another beautiful piece to showcase her unique songwriting with frighteningly honest lyrics about relationships, friendships and everything in-between. Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand Navvy lets us know how things have been in quarantine and the new EP.
Where have you been spending your quarantine?
I have been at my parents house in Auckland, NZ. It's actually been wonderful to spend time with them, because I usually travel a lot, so it's nice to have what felt like infinite amounts of time to sit and chat or whatever.
How have you been staying busy during quarantine? (or not keeping busy is totally fine too)
I really appreciate you saying 'or not keeping busy', because it has kind of felt like quarantine has been an excuse for competition around who works the 'hardest'. Which is so subjective, ya know? Working on music 8 hours a day 5 days a week would not be productive for me, so I haven't been doing that. But I have written a bit, both on my own and on zoom with some wildly talented people. I have also done a lot of painting, both water colour and paint by numbers. I go skating at night when the streets are quiet. I have felt busy, I guess.
Anything new you’ve learned?
I had never really painted before but I LOVED the idea of it. I am the type of person that really hates being bad at things, so if I don't pick it up right away, I tend to just give up. With water colours, I feel like it always looks kind of messy and fluid, so I have actually been really enjoying that. I also learned to candy walnuts, which is the easiest thing in the world but has such a huge pay off (they're delicious).
What’s something new you’ve cooked/baked?
At the beginning of quarantine, my mum would wake me up in the morning by saying "The bakery is open" and we would do a lot of baking. It wasn't necessarily new stuff, but it was so fun. I made mini pecan pies one day that were excellent.
Thing keeping Navvy sane right now:
My mum holding my skateboard, mainly because she is the only thing that keeps me sane EVER, but also because she actually looks 15 and it's made me laugh a lot, and also, the fact that she is holding my skateboard says so much (I probably pretended to tie my shoelace so I wouldn't have to carry it on the gravel). It was taken on one of the streets in our neighbourhood one day.
Go to quarantine snack:
Probably candied walnuts. Which I think are made to go on top of things, but are delicious on their own. Also mandarins are so yum.
Album you’ve had on repeat:
I LOVE albums. I am such an album person. At the start of quarantine, I would listen to an album a day while I somberly danced through the empty streets at night. A few stand outs were Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves, Barbara Trixie Mattel, and 3, 2, 1 Lennon Stella. That last one particularly stuck. I also listened to Punisher Phoebe Bridgers last night and wow that album is something else.
If you could only watch one film or TV show for the rest of time what would it be?
Film: Hot Rod. There is not a circumstance in which I watch that film that doesn't make me laugh.
TV Show: I think Gilmore Girls.
Anything new we should know about that you’re working on?
I have an EP of songs I absolutely love out on September 4th. This one feels really special to me, because it's not just songs about a boy who broke my heart, it tells other stories from my life too. It's called The Final Pieces, and it is kind of me closing the door on 2019.