Briolette Kah Bic Runga MNZM (born 13 January, 1976) is a Singer-songwriter whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one in the New Zealand charts, and has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists of our time. Runga has also found success internationally in Australia and the UK.
Early Life
Runga was born in Christchurch. Her mother, Sophia Tang, was a Chinese Malaysian lounge singer in Malaysia when she met Joseph Runga, a Maori soldier on leave from Vietnam. They both moved to New Zealand to live.
Runga grew up in Hornby, Christchurch surrounded by a musically-inclined family, and started recording songs with her sisters, Boh and Pearl, when she was only four years old. Runga's older sister Boh is now a vocalist in the New Zealand rock group Stellar*, while Pearl is a session singer.
She learned how to play drums at the age of eleven, and guitar at about fourteen. Runga also learnt to play the keyboard at around this time. She attended Cashmere High School, joining high school bands and performing with local jazz groups by her mid-teens.
Early Releases
Runga and Kelly Horgan entered the 1993 Smokefreerockquest in Wellington under the name of Love Soup. They won third place and a music contract with Pagan Records. Using a QEII Arts Council grant, Runga recorded the first Drive EP in Wellington. Unsatisified with the direction that her music was being taken, she moved to Auckland in 1994 and spent a year writing and performing.
In 1995, she sent a new Demo of Drive to Sony Music, who signed Runga in September of that year and bought her Wellington recordings from Pagan Records. Sony had her re-record the song with more instruments, but it was eventually her demo that was used on the upcoming album. It entered the Top 10 in New Zealand and won her the Silver Scroll Songwriting Award in 1996. She next released "Bursting Through", her first single from her upcoming album, also entitled Drive.
Drive (1997)
Early success eventually led to the release of her album Drive in 1997. Runga's song "Sway", along with a duet with Dan Wilson of Semisonic called "Good Morning Baby", both made their way into the film American Pie. Six singles were released from the album, while "Sway" was released in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Beautiful Collision (2002)
Runga released her second solo album, Beautiful Collision, in 2002. It entered the New Zealand charts at number one.
Birds (2005)
Her third studio album, Birds, was released in New Zealand on November 28, 2005. It was her third studio album in a row to enter the New Zealand charts at number one.
Birds has currently sold up to 3xPlatinum in sales.
Discography
Albums
Live Albums
- 2000 - Together in Concert: Live (with Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn)
- 2003 - Live in Concert with the Christchurch Symphony
- 2007 - The Acoustic Winery Tour - Ascension Vineyard, Matakana, NZ (Not Released Yet)
EPs
Singles
- 1996 - Bursting Through
- 1997 - Sway
- 1997 - Suddenly Strange (Bic Runga Single)Suddenly Strange
- 1997 - Roll Into One
- 1998 - Hey
- 1999 - Sorry
- 2002 - Get Some Sleep
- 2002 - Something Good
- 2003 - Listening For The Weather
- 2005 - Winning Arrow
- 2006 - Say After Me
Compilations
Bic Runga has made an alternative version of Sway for Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2
Trivia
- In 2000, she toured with Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn and a live album of the tour (Together in Concert: Live) was released.
- Along with Anika Moa, Bic sang back vocals on Dimmer's 2 albums; You've Got To Hear The Music and There My Dear.
- Runga has recorded not one, but two songs called "Drive". The first was her own, which appeared on her debut album of the same name. The second was a collaboration with fellow New Zealanders Strawpeople, providing guest vocals for their cover of The Cars classic.
- She moved to New York for a while, but then decided to move back to New Zealand, lived in Paris for a year, and then London. Runga has since returned home to New Zealand.
- Runga played a 'Vietnamese lounge singer' in the 2005 film Little Fish'', and covered Gene Pitney's "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart".
- Runga was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2006 New Zealand Honours List.
- Regarding the pronunciation of "Bic": "'You say it Bec, rather than Bic,' explains New Zealand singer-songwriter Bic Runga. 'It's Chinese, it's a strange vowel sound which doesn't seem to translate in Australia. It means the colour of jade, which I suppose is just green.'"
- Both Elton John and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page can be counted amongst her fans.
Relevant Links
Jun 2007
