The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra returns to Auckland

A group of New Zealand's best musicians are gathering for the fourth "songbook" show by The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra on 4, 5 and 6 November.

For Auckland musician and composer Joshua Worthington-Church, who leads the psychedelic orchestra, one of the best parts of putting on their shows is watching artists take in the orchestra playing their song for the very first time at rehearsal.

"Getting to see people's faces as they get up to front this huge ensemble and hear their songs sort of erupt outwards - that's a real treat for me," he tells RNZ's Music 101.

The prep for the shows - mostly talking with the artists via email - started back in March, Worthington-Church says.

Each supplied a demo of one of their songs to be arranged by the orchestra - usually a track that is "pretty scrubbed up" but not quite finished. 

"Sometimes you get some very scratchy phone demos, which is kind of my favourite, because it's really raw, and it just leaves the most room for interpreting."

While the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra sometimes use songs that have already been released, he always asks them for unreleased tracks, partly to avoid any "baggage".

"If we have to do somebody's number one big hit of all-time, it puts someone who's arranging it in a difficult place as far as people listening and bringing associations and stuff."

As the members of the orchestra are all working musicians, the shows are "low rehearsal", Worthington-Church says, but the music is rendered in a really clear and concise way, so it's easy for them to pick up and play.

When it comes to the songwriters, it feels like a "big ask" to borrow one of their original songs and "mess it up a little bit", he says. Until the night of the shows, the artists don't necessarily know what's going to happen.

"Their letting go has felt like a really big ask, but people have really embraced it."

While Worthington-Church is very excited about the three November shows, he's also just remembering - a little too late - what a workout it is to hold a conducting baton up for an hour straight, as he did it for the first time at Exploding Rainbow Orchestra Volume 2 songbook shows back in 2023.

"I had no concept of how exhausting holding your arms horizontal for an hour can be. Normally, about 20 minutes in and my shoulders are falling off. I always forget, and then I'm like, 'Oh, God, that's right.'"

This year, Worthington-Church will be wielding his baton for three consecutive shows, because in 2023, just two nights of the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra didn't feel like quite enough, he says.

"We got to the end of the second night, and it was like, 'Oh…' It's a magical evening. You want to sit in the music a little bit longer."

The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra performs at Hopetoun Alpha in central Auckland on Tuesday 4 November, Wednesday 5 November and Thursday 6 November. You can find tickets here.

Watch Lucy Suttor from Auckland punk band Dick Move perform 'Shut Your Mouth' with the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra in 2023:

Artists performing in The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra Songbook Volume 4 (in alphabetical order):