There’s something about Harry

Kiwi musician Naomi Ludlow – aka Ny Oh – may have her own music coming out this week, but she tells Stephanie Ockhuysen she’s still buzzing from touring with a One Direction heart-throb.

International pop star Harry Styles is a fantastic boss, that’s according to the Kiwi musician who recently finished up touring America with him.

Naomi Ludlow, who was born and raised in Tauranga but calls New Plymouth her chosen home, toured the United States with the former One Direction member as part of his Love on Tour band in 2021.

The 27-year-old, a musician in her own right who goes by Ny Oh, and is prepping the release of a new solo EP in March, said she really loved working for him, and he was the best boss she’d ever had.

‘‘It was incredible, absolutely incredible, no words really. It’s going to take a long time to even process that it’s even happened still,’’ Ludlow said on Tuesday from managed isolation in Christchurch having recently returned to the country.

‘‘When you’re in the middle of a tour like that, everything is happening simultaneously and you feel like you’re constantly on the move, there’s not a lot of time for processing. So when you step out of it, it’s like ‘did that even happen? Where are all those people that did that with me?’’’

At the end of the tour, Ludlow thanked Styles on Instagram.

She said it was an honour to bring his songs to life.

Ludlow, who sings, plays guitar, piano and percussion, had been touring America with songwriter and producer Jonathan Wilson a few years ago when she was approached by

‘I played Dreaming by Scribe in the dressing room and my bandmates were like ‘What the f... is this?’’ NAOMI LUDLOW

someone from Styles’ team after a show.

She says she was actually approached while having a chat toa Flight of Conchords funnyman.

‘‘I had just met Bret McKenzie. He was at the gig, and I was talking to him, I was far more interested in having a yarn with him, he’s a legend.

‘‘You don’t believe it’s really happening, especially growing up in New Zealand you think stuff like that only happens in movies.’’

Ludlow said a particularly special moment of the Styles tour was playing Madison Square Garden in New York. She even tried amping up her bandmates with a little taste of New

Zealand.

‘‘It’s so beautiful, and you can feel the energy of everyone who has ever played there. It was cool. I played Dreaming by

Scribe in the dressing room and my bandmates were like ‘what the f... is this?’’’

Ludlow, who has a new single of her own called Australia out on Tuesday, moved to London when she was 17 to study vocal performance and spent the next 10 years travelling and busking around the world. She said it was a great experience and really opened her eyes to the world.

‘‘Growing up in Aotearoa you think you’re a little bit more multicultural than you actually are, especially as Pa¯ keha¯ .’’

She describes her sound as folky, old singer-songwriter vibes.

Many times she thought about giving up music and moving home to New Zealand but kept persisting.

It was this persistence that landed her the touring gig with Jonathan Wilson in the first place.

In 2018 she was having an

‘‘I’m going to move back to New Zealand moment’’ and as a last ditch effort messaged Wilson on Instagram asking to go on tour with him, sending him multiple voice memos of her singing.

‘‘I thought, you know what, f... it, I’ve got nothing to lose are you going to let me be in your band? No response for six months and then just before the tour he messaged me saying ‘alright then, let’s go’.’’

She’s excited to be back home for a while to visit family who she hasn’t seen since the start of the pandemic. ‘‘I’ve been craving it. I would love to move back one day, but that day is not yet.’’