Rheumy are a self-described “kosmiche noise group” who materialised into Ōtepoti’s music scene in early 2025. The trio create compositions that can be difficult to pin down with descriptions — the music is somehow free-form yet intentional, rhythmic yet droning — but it's always enthralling. Critic Te Ārohi rendezvoused with the group in a dark Dunedin alleyway to talk inspiration, gear, and evolution.
Pulling inspiration from kraut rock, noise/industrial music, and post-punk, Rheumy is in a constant state of evolution/devolution, crafting haunting soundscapes with their arsenal of effects pedals, synths, drum machines and guitars. There is no doubt the band pushes the boundaries of what a three-piece can achieve sonically.
Izzy (she/her) is the group’s vocalist, Omnichord (a cyberpunk-esque ‘autoharp’) player, and percussionist. Izzy’s vocalisations range from impassioned screams to abstract spoken word passages: haunting lyrics soaked in reverb or distorted and pitched up into something resembling inhuman squeals. Tomas (he/him) plays guitar and synths. For Rheumy, his guitar operates as a secondary, scratchy layer that exists between melody and feedback.
Izzy describes the beginnings of Rheumy as “high concept”. Inspired by the repetitive nature of kraut rock, she attempted to build the band’s sound around tape loops, which proved to create a mountain of challenges. She recalls the meticulous process: “If you take a cassette shell, pull the tape out, very intricately wind it around the reels and tape it closed, it will be an infinite loop of a few seconds [of a drum machine sample].”
When Mack (he/she) joined Rheumy, Izzy said it felt like a “puzzle piece fitting in.” Mack, having met Izzy during a music class at uni, is now Rheumy’s bass player: providing the backbone for many of the group’s songs, and contributes his own noisy feedback when the moment calls. Mack’s presence added a slight flavour of post-punk that helped Izzy and Tomas break out of the more free-form ambient music they had previously made together.
On stage the band is surrounded by cables, synths and drums. When asked about their gear, they list out a string of names and numbers that would only make sense to the most gear-obsessed musos: an OM-27 Omnichord, a Behringer TD3 Bass Synth, a Telex LOC C1 Tape Machine. The soundscapes they produce can be abstract, but the members seem to understand how it’s all meant to progress through telepathy.
The trio explained that all they have are broad, loose structures for each song, with Mack’s basslines and the drum machines arguably being the only predetermined elements. “I think a lot of our live sound relies on luck,” says Tomas. “A lot of the parts that I’m playing, I really don’t know what they’re going to be until I play them”. Seeing Rheumy perform live is indeed an entirely immersive experience, a different realm entirely from a Pint Night or a sweaty show at the Crown.
While the improv remains a key element of the Rheumy equation, their process of constructing a song is painstaking and arduous. “I feel like a Rheumy song being written is like something crawling out of primordial sludge and taking form into something… It’s finding order in chaos,” Tomas explains. Many of the group’s early writing sessions began with a drum beat programmed by Izzy, and the group “would listen to them until music started to happen [...] a couple of those songs we played for hours on end before they would become anything…” she says.
Similarly, Izzy’s lyrical process is born out of repetition. Often, she just starts with a central theme and begins improvising lyrics until something calcifies into a more solid idea. A big part of what makes a Rheumy set so haunting is the content of the lyrics themselves. “Every song Rheumy plays is about the way humans have power over each other,” says Izzy. “I think that’s pretty much what every song will be about as long as the band [exists].” This continuously proves to be a deep well of inspiration, with their songs topics ranging from environmental destruction, to exploitation of labour, and cannibalism.
Rheumy are working towards a five-track album, which Izzy says was actually the original goal for the band: “Once that mythical album’s done, that might be the band. Probably not, but that one album is the point of the band.” And while the band has evolved a great deal in just the last year, Rheumy seems happy to exist in a constant state of change and metamorphosis, adding that after this album they “will probably change heaps more… I can totally see a fully electronic Rheumy.”
Ultimately, Rheumy provides a live sonic experience unlike any other in Ōtepoti’s musical landscape, one which only gets better with every set they play.
Follow Rheumy on Instagram @rheumy_dn to stay up to date with their upcoming gigs and musical outings.
