It’s been a big year for you with w h o k i l l. Critics are loving you and you’ve managed to find yourself a heavy fanbase – did you have any expectations of the kind of impact w h o k i l l would have?
Not at all. During the recording process I really had to keep my head down and focus on finishing the album. Anytime I thought about what people were expecting, or what might happen with the music after I finished it, I would get farther and farther away from feeling good about the work. So I took some days in the woods at a cabin and other things that got me focused on the work versus the outcome.
All to say, I've been really stunned by the response to the album.

The album seems to be one that everyone loves at least one track no matter what kind of music they’re into. Is there a standout track for you in terms of writing, production or theme?
Hmm...that's interesting. I think they're all stand-outs in their own way, but I think you're right, it sort of depends on the kind of music you're drawn to. Doorstep seems to have touched people with very different interests, so maybe that's the one...it is sort of unassuming at first but I think it gets under people's skin eventually.

On that oh-so overused term of “production”, I’d hazard a guess that there must be a very meticulous way you put everything together. Was there any point when creating the album became a bit of a chore to do?
When I first started mixing the album myself, I was using software that I didn't understand...in fact, that was the most time-consuming thing, learning Cubase and ProTools in the process of making the album. But albums just take a long time, and at a certain point you wish you never had to listen to a song ever again. I programmed some of the drum patters on Gangsta and that took a long time. Also editing the tracks, figuring out what to leave out and, mostly, what to trash. But that's not a chore, that's the nitty gritty of the work which makes me want to get up in the morning.

Can you give us a brief walkthrough of the ‘Bizness’ video? 
Mimi Cave, the director, initially approached me with an idea for a video for “Fiya.” I told her it probably would make more sense to do a video for a new song, and played her the (very early) demo for Bizness. And from there we brainstormed...she had worked with Maddy, the kid who plays me, in another video she had done, so that's how that idea came about. And then we brought in Sonia Reiter to work with us on choreography. Sonia and I discussed my desires about the quality of movement, and then she created wonderful combinations of gestures.
Mimi enlisted an enormous crew of talented artists from the Bay Area, and somehow they all agreed to do the project for no money. She also got Autofuss, a production company in San Francisco, to donate their space and many of their staff. Jeez, we got so lucky. And everyone worked just for the glory of having created such an incredible piece of work.

I see your name pop up every now and then when music and/or culture sights are talking about the Occupy movement. Can you talk about your involvement in that and Occupy Musicians?
Well, a lot of it is just making itself clear. I just went to my first Occupy gathering yesterday, to shut down the port here in Oakland. At this point, I just want to show my support for what the movement is shaping up to be, which (in my mind) is a revitalization of individuals being an active part of their government and the economic systems that shape their lives.
Occupy is exciting to me because it's one of the first times I can remember in my lifetime that people are taking this kind of initiative to change the systems around them. The '80's and '90's in the US were pretty complacent times in this country, specifically for middle-class white folks, which was the world I grew up in. The last time I worked in politics was to try to get Bush out of office in 2004, and that was such a miserable heartbreak for so many of us. I'm thrilled to see the future of Occupy.

As every fan of anything does, people read into things they like a lot. For lack of a better or less common word, there certainly seem to be messages and opinions/views in your tracks – songs like ‘My Country’ and ‘Es-So’ for example seem like we’re getting some insight into your thoughts of the world today, right off the bat of the album. Do you think about how people will receive and contemplate your songs? Are you cool with that?
I figure I have to write about what I'm passionate about, and not worry about what anybody else thinks.

The collab you did with Thao and Mirah was nothing short of absolutely solid. Do you try and work with likeminded artists a fair bit?
Different-minded artists! And friends, which Thao and Mirah are.

Are there any bands out there that you’d really like to work with and why? Is there something brewing already? Or is that a bit of a spoiler alert?
This year we've had appearances with The Roots and Yoko Ono, and collaborated with Cut Chemist on some of his new (exciting) stuff, and I've also contributed to Nate Brenner's projects (Beep and Naytronix) and that of a local band here in Oakland (Mwahaha.) Which feels like a lot given that we've been home a total of 3 months in the last year or something crazy! I'm sure there's more to come...I'm just too tired so I'm forgetting! And of course I'd love to work with other bands, and rappers (KRS-One and Big Boi and Andre 3000 for instance) and Cee-Lo and I'm really excited to work with an incredible guitarist named Ava Mendoza who lives here in the Bay.

What brought on the visit to NZ?
Doing a tour in Australia became a possibility through a promoter there who had been encouraging us to come for some time. And then someone said, “Well you can't do Australia without doing New Zealand...it's the most beautiful place in the whole world!” So clearly I aimed to check it out.

Are you familiar with the country at all? It’s always nice to know what someone from overseas imagines when they think of New Zealand. And don’t say the whole “everyone seems nice” thing – get honest.
I honestly know so little about your country except for the following:
a) It is lush and green which I sort of knew but mostly know because everyone talks about how Lord of the Rings was filmed there (sorry! but that is most people's understanding of New Zealand's physical beauty these days, and I wanted to be honest.)
b) The Māori people and their facial tattooing, which have been of great interest to me.
c) You are an island way, way down there.
Please excuse my ignorance. I promise I will do more research before we come.

Is there a proper way to spell or write tune-yards? Any specific upper case letters that are a MUST?
Nope, do it as you wish.

Now that the year is wrapping up what have been some things that really stand out for you? Music you’ve loved, places you’ve been, any sweet learning/growing wisdom, the state of the world socially, economically, etc?
I loved Leipzig. I loved Milwaukee and all of the Midwest United States where people came out in friendly, passionate droves. I have loved discovering Turkish musicians like Selda and Kamuran Akkor, and Khaira Arby from Mali, and seeing woman-fronted bands finally not be labeled as woman-fronted bands, like St. Vincent and Wye Oak and Wild Flag. Lots of growing and learning, mostly that I have to take care of myself so that I can be strong in this world to be part of making change, instead of thinking I have to make that change all myself, right now.

I think heaps of my friends are going to try and be friends with you when you’re over here. Are you up for some new friends? They’ll be really happy if you are.
Yep, 2012 is the year of new friends, didn't you hear?

What’s the best friendship-pickup line?
“You're a badass.”

See Her Live: tUnE-yArDs
Thu 12 Jan The Kings Arms, Auckland