The future soul-funk project of heavy hitters in their own respective realms, veteran Detroit producer / jazz drummer Karriem Riggins and LA-based multi-hyphenate Hailee Olivia Williams aka Liv.e, GENA (“God Energy Naturally Amazing”) perform in Aotearoa for the first time ever this week. Touring their acclaimed 2026 debut album The Pleasure Is Yours, GENA have headline dates locked in for Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and they’ve just released a new version of album standout ‘Lead It Up’, remixed by KAYTRANADA. Who better to speak with the world class duo than always engaging host of 95bFM Drive, Nicholas Lindstrom? Read onwards and snag tickets while you can…
GENA – Liv.e and Karriem Riggins
Thursday 1st October – Neck of the Woods, Auckland w/ VIDA
Friday 2nd October – Meow, Wellington w/ Romi Wrights, Awa
Auckland tickets on sale via banishedmusic.com
Wellington info HERE
Nicholas Lindstrom: Karriem, I heard that you were making a whole other project, but you decided to shelve it after you got a track back from Liv.e. Do you remember the moment when you decided that you wanted to do a full collaborative project with Liv.e instead of the first record?
Karriem Riggins: Yeah, it was pretty much from that first track, but the second one I sent her an instrumental and she sent back the song. And I was like, nah, I have to hurry up and tell her we need to do this because I didn’t want to go further on the project I was working on. We had to do this.
Liv.e, do you remember what the first track was that Karriem sent — that you started writing on in the car on the way to a party?
Liv.e: Yeah, it was ‘Thatsmyluvr’. Wait, that’s crazy. Damn, I was going to a party.
We do our research around here.
Karriem: What party was you hitting?
Liv.e: I don’t even know. I was heading somewhere when I wrote that first song; that’s crazy!
That’s how you know the music’s good, when you are writing to it in the car on the way to a party.
The album itself has that kind of energy, a sense of urgency but also this strong sense of confidence and assuredness. I’m interested in what space you were mentally Liv.e, that produced that energy in your writing for this record?
Liv.e: Oooh, what kind of energy was I in? I actually can’t really remember, but I definitely felt very good and locked in. It must have been the winter time or maybe fall. I think a lot of people have a flow and a clock on their creativity. Not to say that you can’t really keep going on and on. But I know for me, I know when my peak time for creativity is. Because right before fall, I’m cooked! So when fall and winter start to happen, and other people start to slow down, that’s when I start to go.
I feel like winter shows you who’s really strong. Nah, I’m just playing! But I do love the winter though, so if I was writing it during that time, I know I would’ve just been feeling great. Knowing that I had no obligations outdoors, because who would want to be out there in that?
I read that the whole album was recorded while you were apart from each other, but there are all these organic moments. Like that part in ‘Readymade’, where Liv.e has that false start, and she says, “Am I in the wrong key?”…
Liv.e: I hope that people know that I knew I was actually in the right key!
I knew.
Liv.e: [laughs] I feel like that’s such a ‘Liv. e-ism ‘. I’m sure I’ve already done that somewhere else. It’s kinda my easter egg in my music, for myself and others who have listened to me for that long.
Karriem, on the production side — how did you approach your work knowing that you were making tracks specifically for Liv.e’s writing style?
Karriem: I was experimenting with tones more than style. You know, saturated tape – the drums I was recording had this certain kind of dirt and grit to it. I was finding these synths that I used for it, like the ARP and the Moog, kinda just belonged to the same family sound-wise. Other than that, it’s just creating and trying things. Sometimes I think things will work, but a lot of the time things I thought wouldn’t work ended up sounding great. I would push send, then Liv.e would come with a verse and make it go crazy. Just take a step out on faith, which is what I was doing.
You guys have such great sonic synergy. Was there a particular artist or piece that you might have shared with each other, that confirmed that connection for you both?
Liv.e: Yeah, we have whole playlists and all these conversations. It’s kind of immeasurable how much music we’ve shared.
Karriem: It’s stuff like Wild Man Fischer to Urszula Dudziak. Really everything — from far and wide, we found music that we love to share.
It’s cool that you have that connection, especially considering you’ve been on this massive tour together. Do you have a favourite memory that sticks out from the tour so far?
Karriem: Yeah, I’ve been really appreciating our long drives, which we’ve had a few of recently while we’ve been in the UK. It’s us just going back and forth with music. It’s like a party man, we need a bus for real.
So you’ve been on that Northen Hemisphere tour and now you are coming to our shores. What energy do you want New Zealand audiences to bring to the shows?
Karriem: I really hope that people just feel us and feel the frequencies live. Because the vibrations are real when you’re in person. It’s a blessing to be able to feel it myself from the stage, the frequencies. I hope we can get there, cause that’s what we want to spread.
Liv.e: That part! I don’t think it’s anything specific, because every city is different. It’s just about trying to create a perfect circle of flow with people. Like okay is this where y’all at? I think I spent so much time in my career being disruptive, in a good way. That now it’s like aww man.
