Designed for opening of Tempo Dance Festival

A Soundwalk Called Cliffnotes

A response to Phil Dadson's exhibition at AF

something something garden

Machine Therapy

A OK

post

Pleasure Farming

“The Signal” by Harbour Board continues the band’s exploration of memory, distance, and storytelling first heard on their debut EP The Strays . Matthew Sunderland’s baritone vocals layer over ambient folk textures, subtle brass, and analog synth as the track builds through spoken-word verses into an emotional sonic landscape. The song reflects on communication and emotional reception—picking up the EP’s themes of transmissions, lost connections, and echoes across distance. 

The Signal (Calling You Mix)

Dangerous Electricity Machine is Harbour Board’s spring 2025 single, blending bubbling analog synths, flutes, electric guitar, and layered percussion with baritone vocals from Matthew Sunderland. Originally composed as a soundtrack to a site-specific dance project by Jeffrey Holdaway, the track was later restructured by the full band into a multi-part narrative.

The lyrics reflect on fatherhood and suburban wandering, shifting through ambient sections, chorus-driven swells, and a brass-led bridge featuring a trumpet and saxophone call-and-response. Percussion builds from live drums, handclaps, and processed vocal textures. 

Dangerous Electricity Machine

The instrumental version of “Astronomy” offers a meditative blend of ambient folk and cinematic minimalism. Built from layered field recordings, brushed percussion, warm analog textures, and slow-building brass, the track unfolds gradually—evoking space, memory, and landscape without the use of words.
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Featured in the RNZ podcast The Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History, this version was composed as an atmospheric soundscape, with the narrative structure held by layered violins played by Tamasin Taylor (of The Nudie Suits)
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The song was originally the first ever recorded by Harbour Board. Matt and Jeff were discussing the formation of the band in Matt's Devonport lounge and comparing their mountain road trips, being lost on NZ's "lost highway", spending nights in snow bound towns with distant trains rumbling through the hills. Microphones were picked up and the initial version of Astronomy was recorded.
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Later this song was re-imagined, made more salty and sunken as it was re-worked into the Rainbow Warrior podcast in 50 different ways.

HARBOUR BOARD - Astronomy Instumental

KRISTIAN LARSEN - PREAURICULAR PIT - 10.18.2024

Harbour Board is an Auckland-based band blending ambient, folk, experimental pop, and cinematic sound design. Formed by Matthew Sunderland, Jeffrey Holdaway, Marc Chesterman, and Nicolas Tillon, the group combines analog synths, field recordings, brass, and spoken word in layered, narrative-driven tracks. Their music often begins as soundtracks or site-specific projects before being reshaped collaboratively into reflective, textured compositions exploring place, memory, and atmosphere.

The Signal (Calling You Mix)

Harbour Board

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