BGS 5+5: You, Me, Everybody

Artist: You, Me, Everybody
Hometown: Ngaruawahia, Waikato, New Zealand
Latest Album: Southern Sky (January 2021)
Latest Single: “Heart of Stone” (June 3, 2025)
Rejected Band Names: Captain banjo & the Bluegrassketeers

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I remember playing a gig on Valentine’s Day way back in 2013 at Matterhorn in Wellington. There was a huge crowd there and at some point, towards the back of the room, there was a major kerfuffle. Medical staff were on the scene, but the band just kept on playing, having no idea what was actually going on. At the end of the show it was revealed to us that somebody had actually gone into labour, giving birth just outside the venue. I believe that my music had a hand in creating life and am disappointed that the baby was not named in my honour. – Rob, bass

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do they impact your work?

I have been ocean swimming for about six years now, after decades of not being a swimmer at all. My wife and I each have a swim buddy and we go year-round. The blast of cold water has been a welcome grounding for us both as we lost our son a few years ago. I made it through with water and music: the cold Pacific ocean for clarity and sanity, the band for the transcendent moments of joy that only music can bring. – Nat, banjo

What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?

Playing music from such a young age has meant I have gone through many musical changes. The hardest change in my music career has been going from spending all my time playing music through my teen years to working a full-time job. Transforming my mindset to find balance has been tricky and still is, but music will always be a very big part of my life. – Sam, mandolin

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

I am a big-time house music appreciator, so as a bluegrass musician and fan, I think people are surprised to find this out. The two genres don’t really share any instruments in common, but if you strip them back they do have similarities, which is why I think it really resonates with me. Who knows, maybe I will try adding some Roland drum machines to the next YME next bluegrass hit! – Laurence, guitar, vocals

If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?

I’m a teacher, Rob’s a teacher. We all have jobs outside of music. For a long time I thought that meant that I couldn’t call myself a musician, but I’ve long ago stopped making excuses about this. So many musicians need other jobs to pay their bills. I taught drama and I’ve found more and more that the creative processes I’ve undertaken with my students now really plays into my writing process and the collaboration we do as a band. We work really hard to try everyone’s suggestions before saying no to something – you don’t know it won’t work until it actually doesn’t. All of my skills tend to come out in everything I undertake. – Kim, guitar, vocals


Photo Credit: Ebony Lamb

LISTEN: Graeme James, “The Weight of Many Winters”

Artist: Graeme James
Hometown: Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, but living in The Hague in the Netherlands now.
Song: “The Weight of Many Winters”
Album: The Weight of Many Winters
Release Date: January 1, 2021
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “Full of potent metaphors for the darker aspects of our human experience, the season of winter lends itself to thematic explorations of death, desperation, and weakness. The Weight of Many Winters is the second in my series of four seasonal EPs, and of all the tracks on the Winter EP, I especially wanted the title track to sound like winter. There is a beautiful stillness that settles on the world after a heavy snowfall that is unique in our noisy modern times. I wanted this song to embody a silent moment of honest and sober reflection. In essence; doing business with your soul in the middle of one’s ‘Winter of Discontent.'” — Graeme James


Photo courtesy of Nettwerk