Sunday Chats With… Minnie Robberds from There’s a Tuesday

There’s a Tuesday playing Go Live at the Christchurch Town Hall, 24th July 2021.

From L-R: Angus [Gus] Murray on drums, Natalie Hutton [Nat] on guitar and vocals, Minnie Robberds on guitar and vocals and Joel Becker on bass.

There’s a Tuesday, you know the name. Originally made up of two members, Minnie Robberds and Nat Hutton who blew the roof off Smokefree RockQuest a couple of years ago in Christchurch, are absolutely making a big storm more fun! The band now consists of four members, adding in Joel Becker [bass] and Angus Murray [drums]. Fun fact: There’s a Tuesday was originally called There’s a Tuesday between a Monday and Wednesday, but the name was too long, so they changed it to dwindle it down a bit more. Fun!

There’s a Tuesday are on their way to revolutionizing New Zealand music with their cool personalities and fun stage presence, so watch out for them over the next few years because they will be ones that you will want to keep following.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I sat down and gave Minnie a call to have a casual catch up about their upcoming tour with Benee, mental health and what it is like to be a female in the New Zealand music scene.

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How did you find last night, playing at Go Live [Christchurch music festival]?

Minnie: So, so incredibly fun. It was a really cool night and it was a special kind of event and it was just so cool that it was $10 at the town hall, I just thought it was such a cool event eh.

10 bucks is a steal for a festival, right?

Minnie: It actually is eh! So many really cool bands were playing too, which was amazing. 10 bucks! I’m still in shock about it eh. Nah, it was really good.

You looked like you enjoyed yourselves up there, as you always do!

Minnie: Yeah, it was loads of fun actually, it was a cool wee stage to play on.

Did you have a standout artist that you went and watched before you played?

Minnie: Yes! We watched Emily C. Browning - she’s really cool. We are personally a big fan of her stuff, so that was a really nice wee set to watch. It was on the acoustic stage, I think! She’s so good, yeah.

She was so nervous, but she done so well, eh! Were there any other acts you went to see?

Minnie: We actually had to do some last minute practices, which is a bit of a shame because we don’t get to practice very often because we all live in different places, so we went and did a very last minute practice session at Angus’ flat, so we only caught Emily’s set and our set, which I was pretty upset about. We’ll just go next year and enjoy!

The girls in front of me when you were playing, they were so into it and I was "like “I want to be up the front like that!”

Minnie: Aw, that’s so sweet, that’s so cool! Awesome.

Another shot of the lovely TAT members at Go Live on Saturday night! They got that room moving so much, it was amazing. Clearly the girl in the bottom right hand corner was having a blast! I feel that, girl. Totally.

So you’re actually going on tour with Benee [another Kiwi musician making waves in the music scene] shortly, how pumped are you for that?

Minnie: So extremely pumped, yeah! We’re really excited - it’s going to be pretty amazing. Really cool opportunity - we’re feeling pretty lucky about it!

Are you doing all of the shows with her, or are you just doing some of them?

Minnie: We’re doing the whole lot, which is really special and there are lots of places I’ve personally not been to before, so it should be really, really fun.

I think she will be so much fun to watch eh.

Minnie: She’s so cool! She’s such a legend. A great musician. So special.

I’m so proud of you for landing that [tour], that’s huge! I see that between her shows, you’re in one city one night, the next you’re back in Christchurch for your gig [at The Loons, Lyttelton] and then you’re in another city the next night with Benee again?

Minnie: Yes, it will be quite hectic eh, but really special. We are just so excited, it’s going to be like, pretty full-on, but amazing.

I see you saw your idol the other day, Julia Jacklin too!

Minnie: Yeah, so good, wow!

She would’ve been amazing to see live right.

Minnie: Honestly yeah. Actually, she announced a really last minute show in Auckland today at a record store and Nat was actually going to fly back to Auckland tomorrow [Nat has recently moved up North], but when she announced it, she was like “that is too good of an opportunity”, so she ended up going back this morning and paying heaps of money just so she could see her again. Pretty crack up.

She’s a big fan then!

Minnie: Yeah, huge fan. We are both pretty die hard fans! She’s pretty sick. So special to see her live.

That’s so cool! You also cover one of her songs when you perform, don’t you?

Minnie: Head Alone. Yeah. Such a cool song.

It’s got some pretty good, hard-hitting lyrics eh.

Minnie: Yeah, beautiful. So special. We love those lyrics. It feels like one of those songs that when you really love the lyrics, or you really feel a certain way towards the words that you are saying, it feels so powerful to sing them. Such a good song.

A crowd pleaser, that song also! Speaking of crowd pleasing songs, is there a particular song of TAT’s that hits it off?

Minnie: I always find that people sing along so nicely to Dandelions, the chorus is super like, I guess, it’s pretty simple, there are only like, four different words. It’s not too hard to catch on to! I’d probably say that one goes off the best. It sounds so cool when everyone sings it back.

That’s awesome! Dandelions is a great song. Every song that you’ve written is. So, do you have a favourite song right now?

Minnie: My favourite song at the moment… I do have some real faves right now. Gosh, I’m really enjoying an artist called Samia right now. She’s a really cool artist from America and I’m really liking her song called Waverly, like Wizards of Waverly Place, but just the word Waverly.

Oh my gosh, imagine if it was about Wizards of Waverly Place though!

Minnie: Yeah, I don’t think it is, but I really wish it was. Even just the words give me a good vibe. Yeah, it’s a great song, you should definitely check it out.

I definitely will! What kind of genre is her music?

Minnie: I’d say like indie, dreamy, poppy kind of stuff. Yeah, super nice and fun. Super cool.

Just doing their thang on stage, of course.

Who are your inspirations, apart from Julia?

Minnie: Julia is absolutely up there, but that’s something you already know. So, we’re super into an artist called Phoebe Bridges - she’s an amazing singer/songwriter from the US. We are inspired by a lot of people to be honest. We’re really inspired by a girl called Molly Payton, she’s a really lovely musician from New Zealand and also a good friend of ours. We’re feeling really inspired by the moves she makes in the music industry.

That’s so empowering, eh! It’s really beautiful to see females in the music industry doing well.

Minnie: Totally eh, it’s amazing. I’m trying to think - there are definitely a few others! Always inspired by… I don’t know. Loads of musicians, eh! This is such a tricky question because everyone is so inspirational in their own way. All the people doing great things. Everybody, anybody creating music, probably pretty inspired by them. Such a special thing. Unless it’s not kind music, then it’s not cool. If it’s kind and cool, I’m into it!

That’s awesome, I love that. It sounds like you can just listen to a musician and like you said, if they’re cool and kind, you’ll probably vibe with them eh.

Minnie: Yup, exactly!

Using that question as a segway to the next, this is for you and Nat [obviously Nat was in Auckland at the time of this interview], you’re both powerful young females in the industry, do you feel that you get treated different to Joel and Gus, or the males in the music industry?

Minnie: Yeah, sadly I think, yes sometimes there have been a lot of times where we’ve had kind of, yucky things said to us and that wouldn’t happen so much to the boys in the band, but we’re lucky in the fact that - it’s sad that they have to do this, but they’re often there to say “hey, that’s not cool bro” or whatever to people saying that, but yeah. We have had some sad wee instances with that, so I think there is a long way to go in that regard in the industry. But yeah. It’s sad, but I think, it’s getting better - I hope! Yeah. I do find that there’s a difference, yeah.

I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve had nasty stuff said to you.

Minnie: It isn’t cool, but yeah. There isn’t really a but, it does just suck.

Whoever you are, what you identify as or what gender you are, I think you should be treated the same way as the next person.

Minnie: Exactly, exactly. Absolutely.

How did the pandemic/how has the pandemic helped you?

Minnie: I think we were - we’re so lucky in Aotearoa to be playing music full stop right now, live. I think it’s just such a huge, like, opportunity for a lot of musicians who wouldn’t usually have the opportunities just because like, festivals would be more interested in having this really cool international act instead of three small Aotearoa bands. We were so lucky with last summer, getting a lot more gigs and there is absolutely no doubt that we probably wouldn’t have landed them without the sad realities of covid, but yeah it was I guess, a silver lining for us personally, even though it was a tricky time for everybody. We feel really, really, really lucky to say that there were some opportunities that came out of such a terrible time.

Like I said, you’re doing so well. You’ve taken off, literally. Everybody knows who There’s a Tuesday are!

Going back to the powerful female question, I think it’s just so inspirational with what you’re doing. I hope that outweighs the negative comments you’ve received!

Minnie: 100% and the more we do it, the stronger we feel in what we’re doing. I just think there is so much more to be done and we are just excited to do it!

I know that you are quite passionate with talking about mental health. Do you think that New Zealand could do more to help young people, well, anyone of any age that needs help with their mental health?

Minnie: I think there is so much more that could be done, yeah. Definitely. I think it’s such an important resource for everyone to have access to all of the time and unfortunately that’s not currently the situation and I feel there is a bunch of mahi to be done in that regard, so, yeah. That’s a totally important thing to all of us. I personally have my own struggles with mental health and I won’t speak for anyone else, but you know, it’s such an important thing for anybody. I feel so passionate about there being more done here, for sure. Definitely. It’s unfortunate that some of that stuff [help] has to start at the top and it’s hard. It needs to be so valued, I hope that is on the incoming.

The thing with organisations such as Bring People Dancing, they combine the music and the mental health and that brings things together [without the help of the government, though it is not a replacement of proper care].

Minnie: I haven’t actually heard about that, but that sounds awesome!

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Thank you for talking to me, I really, really appreciate it! I’m so stoked. You’ve got your gig at The Loons in Lyttelton coming up on the 13th August, so I’ve got my ticket already for that with Park Rd.

Minnie: They’re so good eh, so exciting! I can’t wait!

Just to finish off, do you have anything you want to say? Anything at all?

Minnie: Lots of love, I guess! Lots of love. Thanks Ash!

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A massive THANK YOU to Minnie for taking the time out of her busy schedule to have a chat with me for Welcome to the Gig. I am constantly inspired by her, Nat, Joel and Gus and I am very grateful to have them as pals!

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For There’s a Tuesday tickets, you can visit here and here.

You can read my Feature Friday with Minnie on behalf of TAT here.

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For interview queries, reviews or to simply be featured on the blog, you can email here, DM here or here.