After a decade-long silence, Minuit are making noise once again. Hailing from Nelson, the electronic trio – Ruth Carr, Ryan Beehre and Paul Dodge – rose to fame in the early 2000s with their high-energy live shows and gold-certified debut album The 88. Following years of international touring and a farewell in 2014, the band has reunited for a long-awaited comeback tour. Kate Russell caught up with Ruth and Paul after their sold-out performance at Nelson’s Theatre Royal on Saturday.
What made you decide to get back together this year?
Ruth: Mainly gratitude at still being alive and able to do stuff. Also, I wanted to prove to my son, who constantly complains about my singing, that people really did use to “pay to hear me sing”, lol.
Paul: ‘Go Live’ Festival in Christchurch asked us if we’d get back together and we've always had a soft spot for Ōtautaho – that was the first city outside of Nelson that got us to play in the early days. That got us thinking that we could actually do a reunion.
Where are you all based now and what’s it like coming back to Nelson to perform again?
Ruth: I’m in Te Ika-a-Māui. It’s pretty fun coming back and seeing old friends again, and now they can bring their kids!
Paul: Ryan lives in Nelson, so it was very cool to do a show at the Theatre Royal. What an iconic venue! It was a full house, and the vibe was a-mazing.
What are some of your best memories about Minuit’s early days in Nelson?
Ruth: There weren’t any venues where we could play our kind of music back in them old days, so we got a place to let us play gigs at midnight as we thought we could get the hospo crowd to come after they finished work. We called ourselves ‘Minuit’, French for midnight, because of that – so I guess you could say Nelson/Whakatū named us!
Paul: Handmade posters and homemade EPs. Ryan has always mixed allour music, starting from his bedroom studio in Hardy St. Does anyone still have a Sonic Experience EP cassette tape? And we were always trying to get our songs played on Fresh FM (which they did!) No digital or social media back then.
What was the local music scene like back then, and how did it shape you?
Ruth: The Gathering (NYE dance festival on Takaka Hill) was a really big deal, and we had a goal to play there. And we succeeded – got a 2pm slot! We were pretty rapt with ourselves!
Paul: Level unlocked! Yep, that was 1997. And then later with the Artery, followed by the Phat Club, Dave White and crew put Nelson on the national band circuit map. We loved the DIY approach to music. Grant Ellis was helping us with PA and sound systems from before day one. And then he did sound for us at the weekend for the Nelson reunion show, and it was fabulous – it was like full circle.
Which songs do fans still connect with the most today?
Ruth: Hmmm, we’ll have to do a poll.
Paul: People sing along. A lot.
If you could give advice to young musicians starting out in Nelson today, what would it be?
Ruth: If you like doing music, just make music and express yourself and enjoy.
Paul: Play live as much as you can. The other day I heard of COMMOTION, the youth music colab. Opportunities like that for being able to learn about the industry and write and hang out with other musicians is pretty impressive. And of course, Rockquest! Any opportunity to play is good, ‘cos those people in the other bands, may one day be someone you want in your band, or to do sound for you, or record you!
How important has the support of local fans been throughout your journey?
Ruth: Without fans, there is no band!
Paul: True that.
