Ladyhawke

Meet the Designer Part 1: Ladyhawke

Meet the Designer Part 2: Why Ladyhawke is Great Full

On being passionate about music...

I was always interested in music. After taking piano lessons when I was eight years’ old, I started learning the drums when I was 12. Around the same time I started teaching myself guitars. My mum gave me a chord chart and her old acoustic and my stepdad brought a lot of instruments into the house - bass, amps, keys, guitars, drums. Me, my sister and my stepsisters would jam and have fun, little band sessions in the lounge. We used to busk and were all in the Masterton District brass band as well. We were a very musical household.

On the importance of being nurtured...

As a kid I was very good at art – painting, woodwork, design. My mum always had this whole blown away reaction every time I did anything. With music, I would  play the same  stuff over and over and I never got:“Stop playing the drums. Be quiet - it's too loud.” I just would play and practice, play and practice. Mum was so encouraging and still is to this day.

On family and whanau...

Motherhood’s shifted my whole attitude. A lot of things that I would focus on before I had my daughter, Billie Jean, just aren't as important anymore. Billy Jean's the most important thing to me. While my house in Auckland is being renovated we’re living in the house my mum grew up in, the house [where] I grew up. My daughter's creating lasting memories of the same sort of experiences I had as a kid, like holidaying on the beach at Castlepoint, collecting shells, and digging for pipis.

On supporting local...

Supporting local is hugely important. My mum and stepdad own and run the Old Bake House, a small bakery in Masterton. It's not on the main drag – it's a word of mouth thing. After lockdowns last year, my mum was terrified that when it opened again, they would've lost all their customers. But when they eventually re-opened the bakery people were queuing to get in. It was heartwarming. 

On the inspiration behind Mokonui...

Mokonui ('big lizard') is inspired by a beautiful watercolour painting Sarah Larnach made for my single Back Of The Van. Sarah’s my best friend of 20 years and she does all of my album artwork. For this project we felt that the artwork had to be dinosaurs. Both our daughters love dinosaurs. Every kid loves dinosaurs!

On supporting children’s health through Cure Kids...

The work Cure Kids does is incredible. It’s about kids – I'm a mum, you worry constantly; the worry never ends. So you think about all the worry  other mums are going through and all the help that the research can give to these kids’ lives –  it's massively important.
  
On collaborating with Great Full on ‘Jams’ to support Cure Kids...

Pyjamas are very close to my heart. Anyone who knows me, knows I am an adult that still wears pyjamas. [Jams] are cool, organic, beautiful clothing that you get to put on kids.  It'll be great if the jams were just popping off [and] all the money was being raised.  I can't wait to see my own daughter in the jams. She's going to love them.