Strawpeople originally formed in the late 1980s when Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney met at student radio station 95bFM. Also there at the time was Fiona McDonald who went on to become part of the Strawpeople history.

The pair released three albums, starting in 1990. There was Hemisphere, Worldservice and Broadcast, the latter going on to platinum sales and containing the iconic songs Sweet Disorder and Trick With A Knife. It featured the voices of Fiona McDonald, Stephanie Tauevihi and Leza Corban and Johnson’s trumpet. But by the time Sweet Disorder won the APRA Silver Scroll award in 1995 the partnership had run its course.

The next phase of Strawpeople started with the album Vicarious, with Fiona stepping up as main collaborator and singer. Victoria Kelly’s string arrangements elevated the songs (she also wrote the track Porcelain). It was named Album of The Year at the NZ Music Awards in 1996 with the song Taller Than God charting. A remix album followed in 1997 called 100 Street Transistors.

Then, tumbleweeds. Until Paul and Fiona started meeting every few weeks to work on songs in 2017. The new album, Knucklebones, is the result.

New Zealand’s electropop icons Strawpeople return in 2023 with a brand new album, Knucklebones, which sees Paul Casserly and Fiona McDonald back together as the core of the project.

Knucklebones is a collection of all-new material produced by Paul and Fiona, and while the guts are the work of the pair, there’s a cast of New Zealand music’s heavy-hitters including: Matthias Jordan of Pluto on keys, Nick Atkinson of Supergroove on sax, drumming legend Chris O’Connor on drums, Mark Hughes on bass and even a cameo appearance from legendary Auckland busker Luke Hurley on guitar.

Guitarist Chris van de Geer and bassist Joost Langeveld are also back; as players, producers and label owners at Bigpop, with the album being recorded in their Auckland studios. “It’s so cool to work with these guys again” says Casserly, “they live and breathe music. They’re kinda the godfathers.”

At the heart of Knucklebones is that familiar Strawpeople combo of sampled beats, bass, guitar, keys and more than anything, the voice of Fiona McDonald.