THE ART OF SCENTS
To know Nate is to love Nate. He's a calm, gentle soul on set, he's a decisive and collaborative colleague, and he manages an Art Department like a dream. By my count we have worked on five film and television productions together. When Nate's on crew you know the set is going to look amazing. But here's the other astounding thing about Nate, when he's not working on film and television, being a wonderful partner to Soph and father to his two girls, he's also an incredible scent artist.
Of Body is Nate's perfumery lab, nestled in Te Aro. He handcrafts bespoke fragrances that are out-of-this-world. I've always wanted to peek behind the curtain and capture Nate crafting scent so I feel very fortunate that he let me into the lab one evening.
How would you describe yourself and your mahi in the world in 2026?
I think I am an artist. I certainly practice it. I'm always chasing creative ideas and trying not to hold myself back. I am very motivated to make art, and I can't really imagine a world where I don't practice it in some form. I feel like I can really connect with something on an emotional level and then link it to a medium. I enjoy making people feel something deeply through my work - some kind of multi-sensory experience. Seeing a vision while listening to certain drones or sounds, or making people hear a smell. I'm always trying to evoke feelings and emotions using different artistic mediums. I'm interested in confrontation and honesty in mankind, and I'm fascinated by the darker side of the psyche and human nature. I enjoy exploring that space. Hopefully my work is psychological, profound and impactful. It's deep and emotional, but ultimately I hope it's healing in some way.
Nathan Taare completely focused on his craft of creating bespoke scents in his Te Aro lab.
What brings you joy on a regular basis (big or small?)
Experimentation, risk-taking, and my family. Having a family has been a really cool, fun and loving experience, and if anything it's only fed my creativity. I love trying new things and finding different ways to approach design and film work. Perfumery also gives me endless opportunities to experiment and dive deep into an incredibly complex and nuanced world.
My brain is constantly turning over creative ideas and trying to solve problems in different ways. I don't really enjoy repeating myself - I enjoy discovering something I haven't seen or experienced before.
What's been a recent rewarding work experience you've had?
Getting to do some really fun, big things for Secrets at Red Rocks, like all of the flooding, wet sets and earthquake effects. One of my favourite moments was creating earthquakes using sonic waves. We had a sound engineer on set with a trolley full of synthesizers shaking a huge bass plate covered in rocks and sand. We would literally shake the ground with sound to get all the rubble agitated. It was a real challenge to figure out, but it ended up looking super cool. Those kinds of practical effects are always really rewarding because you're inventing solutions rather than relying on VFX.
The lab is a wonderfully clinical space with hundreds of different bottles, vials, and containers with scents and flavours collected from around the world.
What's one favourite thing about growing up in wellington?
The tight-knit creative community. It's so diverse and so rich, and everyone seems genuinely motivated and driven by creativity. I also feel like the weather keeps things fresh for me. It blows away all the bad juju, and I've always loved dark, heavy weather. There's something really inspiring about it. I also have a strong connection to Kaitoke Regional Park. It's one of my favourite places on Earth and somewhere I always seem to come back to. Also Shihad and the Killjoy album! Total Wellies soundtrack.
What was your experience of being photographed by me?
It was really cool and fun. It was super creative, and I felt like you knew exactly what you were doing, so I felt completely in good hands. I wasn't worried at all - I totally trusted you. Technically you are incredible, and you're such a fast worker that the time just flew by. I kind of went into a zone, especially because of the dark, atmospheric vibe with the red light. It felt really immersive. You were also great to watch work. Your direction was bang on, so I never really had to think about what I was doing - it all felt very natural. I wasn't nervous at all, which surprised me because I thought I would be.
Nate is constantly creating. He's always smelling different notes on white paper perfume sticks and you can see his mind working away, formulating and crafting new perfumes.
bonus question: any recommendations for podcasts / books / music that you’ve enjoyed recently that I should make time for?
As a total synth geek, I am absolutely LOVING the new Boards of Canada album, Inferno. Give it a go if you want a really unique, weird and dramatic trip. And an album that has popped back for me is THIRD by Portishead. One of the best things to ever happen in music! I also always enjoy listening to the Team Deakins podcast. They have some incredibly interesting interviews with people across the film industry, and I always come away having learnt something new.
x Thank you so much nate
If you'd like to learn more about Of Body and Nate's incredible scent work I highly recommend checking out Journey of Scent on RNZ. This six-part series follows Nate and Whitney Steel as they create bespoke fragrances for well-known Aotearoa creatives.
