When Nesian Mystik released their second album, ‘Freshmen,’ in 2006 it was during a lull in the local hip hop scene which followed two significant breakthrough years. The album pre-sold gold, but it was a short-lived success and produced just two successful singles – What’s Next (which preceded the album by six months) and If It’s Cool. In that time they also formed their own label, Arch Dynasty, to release new acts such as JB & Tyna and Flow On Show, though this enterprise fell by the wayside in the wake of falling local sales.

Rather than remain tied up in the changing conditions at home, in late-2006 the group headed overseas for an extensive tour through the Pacific Islands, Japan, and Australia. David Atai (aka Demon Finguz or Dmon) – guitarist and musical centre of the group – found the trip inspiring and eye-opening.

The trip reinvigorated the group and, once home, they immediately went into their new studio and began work on their third album. ‘Elevator Musiq’ is due for release late October. Keeping up momentum was seen as a way to avoid the trials that beset their second album. On that occasion they had taken an extended break from music after their huge initial success and, when they returned to the studio, they had a serious case of writers’ block. With this album Atai says, they were more comfortable in their approach to writing the songs. Having their own studio also meant they were able to experiment more freely with new ideas.

At the heart of the studio is a computer running Logic 6, along with a midi-keyboard for laying down keyboard parts. In fact, the album starts with four tracks that are driven by horns and funky synth sounds rather than the guitar lines that Atai had previously made a trademark of the group. He saw this as keeping their music in touch with overseas trends.

"It’s hard when NZ is influenced by a lot of music that comes from overseas and a lot of it is synth-driven. So we thought – how are we gonna use these synths to keep people listening to us, but still add our own flavour? Our answer was to go back to the old school synths of the ’70s and ’80s – that’s where all the synths came from and we’ve always liked that music."

The midi-keyboard not only produced the synth sounds, but was also used to write the horn lines. Once guide versions of the parts had been recorded, they could be printed out as notation, straight from Logic, and given to the horn players. Members of the now-defunct One Million Dollars (who previously appeared on So Good off ‘Freshmen’) were brought in to provide horns for album-opener Can’t Stop the Progress.

Group members Feleti Strickson-Pua and Te Awanui Reeder also used the midi-keyboard to come up with drum parts. Various keys were assigned with the sound of different percussion instruments and by finger-drumming on the keyboard interesting combinations could be created. The funky rhythms underlying the album’s third track, Come And Get It were constructed using this approach.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Nesian Mystik album without Atai’s intricate guitar playing and this time his Les Paul was joined on the guitar rack by a new Fender acoustic. Atai says he unleashed a howling guitar solo on You Already Know, but later trimmed it back when he realised it needed to be made concise if it was going to fit within the sound of the track as a whole.

All six members of Nesian Mystik were involved in bringing in ideas for the new tracks. Heath Manakau (aka Notiq) still gets jibes for being the new member of the group (despite being with them for three years), but he created one of the album’s most interesting samples – a loop of flute playing that forms the melodic basis of Break Drop Flow. Each time someone came up with an idea, they would quickly have it recorded, the weaker ideas weeded out until they had settled on the 15 tracks that make up ‘Elevator Musiq’. Surprisingly the album’s first single Nesian 101, a song written to explain the meaning of ‘Nesian style’, was almost scrapped during this process.

"The first time we did it, it sounded completely different. It didn’t sound fresh at all. We were writing about the whole stereotype of being a freshy and the song just sounded nothing like it. That was one of the occasions on which we went back to using old school synths, then we added guitars and ukuleles. We even put in some really deep 808 bass, so if you play it on an 18-inch sub then you’ll probably blast out a few windows!"

This novel combination of sounds may explain why Dean Godward (owner of their label Bounce Records) initially found the track hard to push at radio.

"Mai FM were the only station that would champion it at first, so we attacked it from the internet instead. We used YouTube and Bebo to gain interest in the track and it started to get a real life through that instead. We’d already had a meeting where we discussed pulling the track and putting out another single, but during that week it just went crazy. Next thing you know, it’s number one on the charts."

‘Elevator Musiq’ also has an impressive range of guests behind it – the most surprising being solo artist Kimbra. Nesian Mystik has seldom worked with female musicians in the past and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring someone in from another style of music, adding a new layer to their sound. The resulting track, Mr Mr, also features Che Fu and members of Cydel. It has been earmarked as a potential single though with such a raft of talent involved, organising a video shoot has so far proven an organisational nightmare.

Elsewhere on the album, things are kept moving along with the inclusion of a couple of rappers with more confrontational styles. Young Sid showed his skills by creating his slick verses for You Already Know on the spot, then going straight into the booth to record them. PNC produces one of album’s most striking punch-lines: ‘Here’s a drink, sit back, don’t scull it and vomit on my Louis Vuitton wallet. Yeah, it’s fake eh, I’m balling on a budget and you’re falling for it. Like I’m Warren Buffett’

Nesian Mystik’s Japanese experiences are reflected in second single Dance Floor, which incorporates backing music originally written for Japanese group, Kasumi who made it to the top of Japan’s iTunes chart with their song. Atai found the musical ideas too good to leave aside so used them again as the basis of Dance Floor. The lead rapper from Kasumi also appears on ‘Elevator Musiq’ – doing a couple of verses on the last track Game Over.

Throughout the recording of the album Atai took the perfectionist’s approach of laying down multiple versions of each musical part.

"That approach comes from our experience of recording. We’ve learnt that with every vocal line, it is best to record it four times over. Even if we already have a decent take of a particular harmony, then we’ll go back and get three more of the same one. So when we’re using Logic, the minimum amount of audio tracks that we’ll use is usually around 64 to 70 tracks per song. That’s nothing to us. We’re track pigs! I think Mr Mr took up about 150 tracks."

Atai then entrusted the mixing and mastering to Simon Holloway from Beaver Studios.

"We went to Simon mainly because I like the way he captures our feel. But he’ll also listen if we want something changed. Other producers are like – ‘If you turn that up, it’ll interfere with this’ and so on. Whereas if you ask Simon, he’ll always say ‘Alright, okay’ and will find a way to make it work. Though he still had a nervous breakdown when he saw how many sessions there were! He was sick for about two weeks – it was like he saw the sessions and thought, ‘With all these audio tracks to mix, how am I supposed to fit in time to sleep?’ But he got there in the end."

The heart of the Nesian Mystik approach to making music remains the drive to make real music for real people, says Atai.

"Our whole approach to writing music is driven by the idea that real will recognise real. With the song Magazine Dreams people might think it’s about living the flashy life, when really we’re talking about what people think when they see the magazines – they think that you’re living the life, but it’s not really like that. People will automatically put you in that category because of what they see on TV. After this interview, I have to go and hang out my washing, just like anyone else would!"

In making ‘Elevator Musiq’ the Nesians have had to tread the fine line between keeping their trademark sound and introducing new elements to keep it sounding fresh and exciting. Atai hopes this new album will continue pushing forward the Nesian sound.