Ivy Blue’s Patience is Worth the Wait

Written by on November 13, 2018

Patience by Ivy Blue

Patience by Ivy Blue

Seven studio albums deep into the game, New Zealand musician Ivy Blue is set to hit the world with his new project. Patience is set to be available to the public on November 17, 2018.

James Brodie, better known by his stage name Ivy Blue, is an alternative musician from Te Aroha who dabbles in rock, pop, electronica, and alternative music. He sees the world through the eyes of an individual who deals with the neurological disorders Autism and ADHD. However, these challenges do not stand in his way of being a a successful Indie musician.

We recently caught up with  Ivy Blue. He was nice enough to take time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions for Hits You Love Radio.

What is your music background?
My name is James Brodie and I perform as Ivy Blue, an alternative musician from Te Aroha, New Zealand. I perform live with a guitar, a loop-station, and two microphones. However, over the course of seven studio albums and a studio EP- me and my friends who have played on the albums have proven that the music is far-reaching and can relate to many walks of life.

From the debut studio album “REVEAL” and hard-hitting break-through “ILLUSIONS” right through to recent material such as “Present Shapes” and “21”; Ivy Blue has shown their skills in rock, pop, electronica, and alternative music, forming a back-catalogue that is both varied and well-loved by his fan base; despite the fact I am battling Autism and ADHD- neurological disorders that make him see the world through a different set of eyes. I’m typically a man of few words and I like the music to speak for me. I very rarely appearing in my own music videos and giving very few interviews to support this work, which is a testament to not only the varied back-catalogue; but this project’s subsequent success. Having given unique live performances through New Zealand and Europe to ever-growing popularity; Ivy Blue has cemented its place in music’s long and varied story.

Ivy Blue’s 7th studio album Patience will be released on November 17th 2018 and I’m currently preparing to embark on Ivy Blue’s most expansive tour to date. There are many more adventures that lie ahead of Ivy Blue on the long, broken roads; but this is not the end of the journey. Because Ivy Blue is only just getting warmed up.

Ivy Blue

Ivy Blue

Who are your musical influences?
Too many. If I had to tell you them, we would be here all day. But three that really stand out are Robbie Williams, REM, and U2. The other guys have lots of different influences as well which makes things very interesting. Again, we’d be here all day if I tried to get into that comprehensively. But we always listen to a variety of things and then we try to take what we’ve learned musically and put it to work. I think it pays off.

What are your long-term career goals?
I think the long term goals would be to play as many shows as possible in as many places as possible, and creating a catalog of work that will stand the test of time. We’re up to album number 7 with Patience and I honestly think we’ve grown and developed a long way since the first album REVEAL. And as we have continued to make albums, the variety of music has changed to include multiple genres with an increasing amount of musicianship

What type of recording process do you use? Who produced your recording?
Typically, we tend to record everything in live performance so that way the immediacy of us performing and the passion within it is captured in an accurate and truthful way. We’ve tried doing things in the studio layer-by-layer, but we just enjoy playing live and capturing the moments of a song’s creation (which makes life easier later on).

Do you ever get the chance to perform live?
Not as a full band, but I have been able to get out and play live under the name (with the blessing of the boys) surprisingly quite a bit. I’ve gone through New Zealand and Europe with this music before, and we’re putting plans in place for a US tour next summer (June/July 2019) so I get around a bit. The tour for Patience is probably going to be the most comprehensive tour to date for Ivy Blue and it’ll take a couple of years to get everywhere but it’s going to be a lot of fun playing these songs with a new production and being able to see everyone. I can’t wait.

Are you looking for to remain independent or to get a major label deal?
I’ll be honest, we’re not very smart around this stuff. We wouldn’t know the first thing about getting our names out to labels or anything like that. And honestly, I’m cool either way. If we get signed and get to that level then that’s great- my five year old self would be over the moon. But if it never happens, that’s OK too. Getting signed is not the reason why you become a musician. You become a musician through the love of your instrument and the desire to develop your craft. So we’ll see, but I’m open minded.

James Brodie AKA Ivy Blue

James Brodie AKA Ivy Blue

If anything, what would you change about the music industry today?
I’m no expert on this sort of thing either, I’m a musician after all and for me my main focus is on the music that I’m creating. I do think that there should be more accessibility to opportunities for musicians to further themselves worldwide. We come from New Zealand. It’s hard to get anywhere over here so we have to make great music and play the best shows that we can create- and even then your chances of making something of yourselves is very slim. Increasingly, I am lucky that Ivy Blue is still able to be successful in music, even after 7 studio albums, and still do what we do. Not a lot of the bands who started out when we did are still around, so if I were to facilitate any kind of change in the world of music, it would be opening people up to more opportunity to get their names out and make something of themselves instead of falling to the alternative (which is not a pleasant thought).

Do you have any advice for up-and-coming artists?
Just go do it. The world won’t wait forever for you to wonder if you should do it or not. Go play a show. Go make racket with your mates in a garage. Write a few songs just to see if you can. Everybody has the same 24 hours in a day

Anything else you want to say on the people?
Thanks for allowing me to speak with you today and thank you to everyone in the USA and Canada for their continued support of Ivy Blue. I’m looking forward to coming and playing for you next summer. The dates aren’t fully confirmed yet, but they’re getting pretty close to it. I’m also quite sorry that we didn’t get down this year as planned. All our logistics got knocked out by the wildfires in California making it impossible to get into America and play. I hope you’ll give me another chance next year when I do come as I really want to give you my best performance and start a relationship that could last a long time. See you soon.

PATIENCE TRACK LISTING:

  1. Before The Next Chance
  2. Bridge
  3. Survive
  4. Ascending
  5. The River
  6. Night and Day
  7. Stars
  8. Spectrums

BONUS TRACKS:

  1. Stanley Avenue
  2. Long Roads To Home
  3. Stripped Sessions (Live in the studio)
  4. Sun Shines Blue


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