NZ Musician February/March 2015

VO L . 18

NO.8

Fe b r u a r y / M a r c h 2015

ITY GRAV

FREE

MAISEY RIKA BERGERAC GLASS BOAT ALAN BROWN ANTHONIE TONNON THE FUNKY NORTH RACE BANYON TASTE NASA PAUSE APPLAUSE LI’L CHUCK OPHELIA THE FLORAL CLOCKS MAREE THOM

TRINITY ROOTS

NZ MUSICIAN magazine PO Box 99-315, Newmarket 1149 Auckland New Zealand Phone: (09) 373 2572 Fax: (09) 303 3349 editorial@nzmusician.co.nz

www.nzmusician.co.nz

VO L . 18

N O . 8 Fe b r u a r y / M a r c h 2015

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Publisher / Editor: Richard Thorne richard@nzmusician.co.nz Assistant Editors: Silke Hartung Michael Cathro editorial@nzmusician.co.nz Advertising: Michael Cathro Website Contact: web@nzmusician.co.nz Designer: Silke Hartung Pre-Press & Printing: MHP Print

Contributors Martyn Pepperell, Chip Matthews, David McLaughlin, David Parker, Kevin Downing, Hannah Brewer, Jamie McCaskill, Huia Hamon, Darryl Kirk, Mal Smith, Sammy Jay Dawson, Trevor Reekie, Godfrey De Grut, Amanda Mills, Maisey Rika, Thomas Goss, Margaret Gordon, Jesse Austin, Rob Burns, Maddie McIntyre, Caitlin Smith, Karin Vincent, Simon Hughes, Eddie Dawn-McCurdy, Michael Hollywood, Bing Turkby, Mohamed Hassan, Stu Edwards,Colin Selby,Ania Glowacz, John Paul Carroll, Chris Dent, Anna Schlotjes, Lisa Tagaloa, Greta Yeoman, Ethan Roberts

NZ Musician magazine is published six times a year.

Available direct by subscription and free through selected outlets.

For advertising or subscription enquiries please contact: editorial@nzmusician.co.nz or phone (09) 373 2572

Contents and design remain the property of

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REGULARS

FEATURES

LESSONS

Trinity Roots . . . . . . . . . .

2

The Lawful Truth. . . . . .

7

The Funky North. . . . . . .

6

Ex-Pat Files. . . . . . . . . .

8

Race Banyon. . . . . . . . . .

10

Fresh Talent. . . . . . . . . .

14

Li’l Chuck . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

Tutors’ Tutorial . . . . . . .

17

Maree Thom . . . . . . . . . .

22

Moments Like These. . .

20

Alan Brown. . . . . . . . . . .

25

Building Blocks . . . . . . .

26

Ophelia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

On Foreign Soil . . . . . . .

30

Bergerac . . . . . . . . . . . . .

34

X-Factory . . . . . . . . . . .

32

Taste Nasa . . . . . . . . . . .

35

Fresh Cut . . . . . . . . . . .

36

The Floral Clocks . . . . . .

42

Out On The Street . . . . .

44

Anthonie Tonnon. . . . . . .

46

Finding Your Voice . . . .

48

Glass Boat . . . . . . . . . . .

49

Postcards From Berlin .

50

Guitar Cool . . . . . . . . . .

12

Deep Thinking. . . . . . . .

43

COVER Trinity Roots

Photograph by Vanessa Rushton

Old Mother Earth screams blue murder in the night, I’m being pulled to the left and I’m being pulled to the right, So many of my friends have upped and left this town, My house of cards is tumbling down, But I know, water will find its own level, But it’s so hard to see when the ground beneath your feet is dancing with the devil.

– Water Will Find Its Own Level, Li’l Chuck, p18

New Zealand Musician.

All rights reserved.

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Trinity Roots

TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY hey say the tale is in the telling, but someTRINITY stories feel like they’d The history of Wellington’s pretty well legendary Trinity Roots stretches ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS stick with you regardless of how they were related.

It was a snowy all the way back to 1998, allowing for a five year hiatus from 2005 until January afternoon in Glasgow, and the latest iteration of Trinity late 2010 when they announced the original band was back together, TRINITY Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY Roots had just arrived at the hotel they were staying at. They’d forsaken and embarked on a tour of the country they had eulogised so beautifully New Zealand’s summer to travel to Scotland to showcase ‘Motu :: Oiléain’, in Home, Land & SeaTRINITY . The re-formed ROOTS line up of gutarist/frontman their new collaboration with a group of talented Irish folk musicians at the TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Warren Maxwell, bassist Rio Hemopo and drummer Riki Gooch prestigious Celtic Connections Festival. Trinity and their friends weren’t changed then changed again – and again – with Ben Lemi occupying the only visiting entertainers though, not by a long shot.

Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY “When we were waiting to check in at the lobby, and these Romanian the drum stool for the recording and March release of their comeback gypsy musicians Taraf de Haidouks rocked up,” reflects dreadlocked third album ‘Citizen’. Martyn Pepperell caught up with them shortly TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS drummer Ben TRINITY Lemi. “They pulledROOTS out their pianoTRINITY accordions and violins after the band returned from a quick northern hemisphere excursion. and went straight into some virtuosic shit. Funnily enough, there was a scrum happening between the TRINITY Irish and Kiwi contingents at the bar.

They Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY were like, ‘Come join the scrum bro.’ I thought, ‘I think I will listen to these TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS EV\Z ' lll#COBjh^X^Vc#Xd#co Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY

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ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY Romanian cats do what they do best for a bit “It’s really tough getting bums off couches and ROOTS beforeTRINITY I join the scrum.’” ROOTS With that short story, Ben makes an into venues. Just educating people that $15-20 is illustrative statement almost emblematic of TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY not a lot to see a band or artist who has worked Trinity Roots. First and foremost, they’re here for the music and the potential of what can be their arse off is a challenge.” — Warren Maxwell ROOTS TRINITY explored within it. Yet asROOTS much as they can be informed musically by what frontman Warren repeated the whole thing at Celtic Connections, over a decade.

Maxwell ROOTS will self-deprecatingly describe later TRINITY TRINITY playing a couple of surprise shows along the “I think it was just a matter of the dots being as “… a wanky arty point of view” when the way. When the festival was done, Trinity Roots joined and finding the right people to do it,” time is right (or even wrong), any pretence that flew over to London and played a sold out WarrenROOTS suggests.

ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS suggests will be left checked at the door. show at Bush Hall.

In 2014, Paul brought American blues/jazz “It's the Kiwi way,” Warren laughs. “You gotta “It was really great man,” Warren smiles. “It guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps to NZ for a series TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY drink beer and have a scrum anywhere in ROOTS the was hard, fast and pretty productive.” of shows – and Warren ROOTS helped put theTRINITY tour world, in the hotel foyer.”

Discussing Celtic Connections, Warren is together. They got talking, and ‘Motu :: Oileain’ It’s TRINITY a sunny FridayROOTS afternoon in TRINITY early open about the importance of networking. blossomed from there.TRINITY The British Arts Council ROOTS ROOTS ROOTS February, and we’re at an outdoor café in the Admitting that in the early days of Trinity Roots and Creative NZ came on board, proposals Wellington suburb of Newtown. After spending they’d just get up and have a jam at showcases, were put together, and it began to take shape.

TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY some time listening to some new recordings he concedes his approach has dramatically“In November our Irish cousins came over extremely loudly at Dr. Lee Prebble’s nearby shifted. and we worked on tracks and a concept,” Surgery Studios, I’m sitting in conversation with ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS “I’ve just realised how important the WarrenROOTS reflects.

Ben and Warren. The third (and other original backend of it is,” he says. “That’s getting out “Irish cousins” is shorthand for fragile-yetalongside Warren) Trinity Roots member Rio there and forming relationships with people firm singer Pauline Scanlon, flute playerTRINITY Alan TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Hemopo is absent, occupied with unavoidable in the industry. It’s really beneficial. That's Doherty, and fiddler Tola Crusty. The three have tasks. Thankfully, Ben and Warren are generous something I’ve recently learned.” long played together in a trio called Keeva.

ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS conversationalists, leading to a sprawlingTRINITY hour Having spent the last 2- so months Together, Trinity and Keeva began to explore long conversation. Over the course of it, we co-running the 250-capacity King Street Live the parallels and commonalities between Celtic discuss Trinity’s new return-to-form TRINITY ROOTS TRINITYalbum ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY venue in Masterton, with local businessman and NZTRINITY music, culture and history through ‘Citizen’ and other current projects. ‘Motu :: Carl Schdroski and their respective partners song.

Oileain’ and the Celtic Connections Festival Ange Kalogeropoulos and Toni Schdroski, “There is always that fear or risk that ROOTS these ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY hangs heavy in the air, as does Warren’s Warren has been learning a lot more about the sorts of collaborations will be shallow or token,” involvement in Masterton venue King Street business side of things recently. They’ve turned Warren admits openly. “You have to make sure TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY Live. We also touch on Ben’s entry into the band the part time venue into a regular touring you go TRINITY deep.” replacing recent drummer Jean Pompey. stop-off for both local and international acts, While joking around about both bands Let’s start with that collaboration, which by helping reinvigorate the culture for live music wearingROOTS the same TRINITY Swanndri shirts ROOTS and SROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY the way, translates into ‘Islands’ in Te Reo and in the Wairarapa region – as indeed has his connecting socially over whisky, they’re quick Irish respectively. own highly productive Featherstone Studios, to highlight the weight Scanlon brought to the YTRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY “It came about through [guitarist] Gerry located in Featherstone. table as a vocalist.

Paul,” Ben recalls.

“I was recording a young band from “Pauline has a real activist streak,” Ben says.

“Gerry is a mover and a shaker,” Warren SROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY Masterton,” Warren recollects. “I was having a “I don’tROOTS want to use that term lightly, butROOTS she elaborates. “He is the epitome of the global conversation with their dad [who happened lives in Belfast, which is a real stronghold for minstrel. He’s a gypsy, a traveller and he plays to be Carl Schdroski]. We realised Masterton the politically and socially driven community.

Y TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY everywhere he goes.” needed a live music venue, and he owned a When she is singing, you can totally hear that Born to an Irish mother and a Kiwi father, building that was vacant.” happening in her tone.”

SROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS Paul had evidently beenROOTS thinking aboutTRINITY how Warren checked it out and saw all the Following rehearsalsTRINITY and three well-received to connect his two cultures through music for aesthetics and potential for a great live music performances in the Wellington region, they Y S Y S Y S Y S Y S Y S EV\Z ( COB ;ZWgjVgn$BVgX] '%&* Y

Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS and occasional reggae rhythms of the almost had anything new to say. We were keen toTRINITY find venue. Handling the bookings with partner legendary band’s past work, the album sees out as well.”

Ange, he’s built it up from the ground. them TRINITY drawing substantial inspiration from With ROOTS Jean Yern (nee TRINITY Pompey) sitting inROOTS the “We TRINITY get emails from overseas saying,TRINITY ‘Hey, Y ROOTS ROOTS modern folk music. Warren cites Thomas drummer's chair at the time, they started writing we are touring, can we come play?’ There are Dybdahl, Iron and Wine, and Bon Iver as key and recording demos at Warren’s Featherstone local promoters around as well now. It’s on the TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS inspirations.

Studios, just over the Rimutaka Hill from Upper circuit.“ “In the recent decade I’ve been loving Hutt.

As enthusiastic as he is, Warren measures Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY those TRINITY vocalists. We referenced the odd Bon Two weeks into recording, they woke upROOTS one his considerable energy with caution. It might Iver track during recording. His production is day to learn that Jean had moved to Melbourne be satisfying to bring live music to a provincial amazing, ROOTS there is such an ethereal nature to it, withoutTRINITY telling them. town, but it is hard work.TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY it’s human.”

“Classic sis aye,” Warren laughs. “She’d met a “It’s really tough getting bums off couches Using an anatomical analogy to describe new love and she was gone. Me and Rio were and into venues,” he admits. “Just educating Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY the process, they built the bones and muscle like, ‘Oh shit!

Now what?’”TRINITY ROOTS people TRINITY that $15-20 is notROOTS a lot to see a band tissue of the record at Warren’s studio, then The solution came in the form of Ben Lemi, or artist who has worked their arse off is a moved down to Surgery Studios in Newtown a talented drummer, multi-instrumentalist and challenge…

We’re stubborn, ignorant and TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS to work with guest players and vocalists, before producer Warren and Rio were well familiar stupid, but I think you have to take those risks.” mixing. with from around the local scene.

His key takeout from the experience isTRINITY the Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY “As those guests came in, and we began Actually, close to a decade and a half earlier, extent to which musicians are in the hands of mixing, the spirit just arrived in the songs,” Ben had been a student of Warren’s when their own dealing.

TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS Warren enthuses. he was TRINITY teaching a foundation jazz course in “It’s really important to keep up the quality Warren, Rio, and Ben began with a rich Wellington. and integrity of your performance and songs. mixtureTRINITY of guitars, drums, percussion, strings, “I remember a very quiet and gifted young I think that is where we built most of ourTRINITY fans Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS brass and keyboards. From there vocalists and man,” Warren says. “Who was covered in ladies as Trinity Roots in the first place. We’ve never instrumentalists; Tami Nielson, Ed Zuccollo, right?” pulled huge numbers to shows. We’re not really TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS James Illingworth, Lisa Tomlins, Vanessa Stacey, Ben chimes in with a cheeky grin. about that. But if you can secure the ones who Holly Beals, and Ria Hall (and others) helped “No!” are genuinely about what you’re about, you’ll Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY expandTRINITY their sound world substantially.

Warren chuckles back.

“FoundationROOTS is be alright.”

“We let the music tell us what should come interesting,” he continues. “All these different Over the last three years, Trinity have next,” continues Warren. “If Ben heard a cello strangers from around the country get together been quietly working TRINITY towards the band’s TRINITY ROOTS ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS over something we’d put it on there. But that and start learning this language called ‘jazz’.” forthcoming third album – which will arrive only happened because we built it right. I In the years following, when Ben was playing five years after its predecessor ‘Home, Land and Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS spend TRINITY a lot of time on bone work. Ben will with the likes of Hikoikoi Reserve, Urbantramper Sea’. Advance notice of it came with the release come in and add little colours and details. The and French For Rabbits, Warren says he got to of first single Haiku in spring 2014, a sublime word thatROOTS comes to mind is ‘beauty’.” really see him for who he was musically. TRINITY piece of ROOTS work that had the Trinity Roots’ stamp TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS There is plenty of that word’s meaning on “I chatted with Rio about getting Ben in, and of quality all over it. display throughout ‘Citizen’, especially in some it made sense,” he says. “I’d noticed his spices.”

The genesis of ‘Citizen’ began about a year Y ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY of the guest-assisted vocal performances.

Together, the three painstakingly carved after their first reunion shows in 2010.

“We always tried to attempt harmonies. The out ‘Citizen’, testing songs out live along the “We realised we were just playing the old TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS TRINITY TRINITY ROOTS vocal harmony has always been a big part of way. Retaining the heavy ROOTS rock motifs, soulful material,”ROOTS Warren admits.

“That’s great, but I Trinity, I feel like it is essential to our makeup. group vocal harmonies, psychedelic flourishes, think our fans were quite keen to hear if we Bully, TY ROn O Clarity O Tand theS11-minute Citizen they expand on this through the support of Holly Vanessa Stacey.

TY RBeals,“When OLisaOTomlins TandSangelic we needed sounds, we called on Holly,” Ben grins.“She has that real crystalline TY Rtone.OIt’s pure.”

O T S On Village Man and Bully, Warren hands TY Rover OsomeOverseTdutiesSto Tami Nielson and Ria Hall respectively.

“Tami has some mean gospel country pipes,” TY Rcompliments O O Ben.T“When S you hear that, you go, ‘that's a different sound!’

TY Rbeing“For OinBully O weThadSthe idea of the verses the old Maori waiata koroua chant TY Rstyle,” OWarren O continues.

T S “We had Ria Hall come in with a kapa haka group. She just took charge.

When I listen to that song the hairs on my back stand up.”

While they’ve been back together as a band for close to four years, ‘Citizen’ marks their first new material since reformation.

“After our break, I felt like we had unfinished business,” Warren finishes. “Even though we are releasing this new album, I still feel like we have something to do. What that is, I don’t know. It might not even be related to the music, but you only live once.”

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The Funky North

It proved to be a rare rainy Saturday afternoon in January when Chip Matthews met up with DJ Definite and MC Blaksword.

Making it doubly ironic, the two musicians in focus hail from Kaikohe in the ‘winterless north’. Meeting ahead of soundcheck for The Funky North’s debut Auckland gig at Black Note bar, they discussed the fledgling act’s journey so far.

Photo: Sarah Strathdee

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he Funky North is Brent Strathdee-Pehi, aka DJ Definite, and Tremaine Poutama, aka MC Blaksword. As we talk it is soon apparent that these two have had varied stories, leading up to the band’s formation in late-2013.

Brent is the one with a more established pathway in the NZ music scene. Having played in Wellington’s Tetsuo and with DW Browne in Auckland in the late ’90s/early ’00s, it was his work as part of Definite & Bling that arguably first brought this multi-talented musician to prominence. Following that he played with rock/groove band Hangman, before moving first to Dunedin, and then settling in Kaikohe with his family.

The diversity exemplified by the various genres Brent’s musical career has embraced provides an insight to what would be the early sound of The Funky North. That sound however continues evolving.

“It’s all just music, regardless of whether it’s punk, rock or hip hop,” he says, illustrating the approach both these musicians have towards their music.

It’s a consistent theme throughout our chat, that The Funky North seek to engage with music at their pace, and with an ethos, as Brent later mentions, where, “Everything we do… is reflective on the group.”

Tremaine’s musical background was more subdued. Originally out of Onehunga, Auckland, he was what he describes as a “bedroom MC”, writing rhymes whilst at high school and doing formative recordings at home.

“In the ’90s, when hip hop was great,” he jokes.

Tremaine had a connection to hip hop via another Onehunga-based group, RES, in

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his cousin Venomous. As an aside, it was at this point, where interviewer and interviewee, worked out they were whanaunga. But it was not until a move north to Kaikohe with his partner – then expecting their first child – that his own relationship with music developed further.

Hearing of each other as local musicians, and connecting online, Tremaine and Brent came together to record a first track called Mad Life.

Reflecting on his relationship with the more musically experienced Brent, Tremaine says: “It’s because of this man here, that I have this knowledge and experience, I’m just a sponge… and I’m definitely blessed”.

The early sound of the still unofficial group was more built around live musicianship than traditional hip hop production. Brent played guitar while Tremaine MCed. Throughout these early days that Brent’s brother, DJ, was asked to jam with the duo, on djembe. What followed soon after, was Brent’s push to get them performing live through busking.

“It was to take our music on the street and have some fun, and it just kept sort’a like growing”.

Indeed it got to the point of realising they were a three piece, now with 10 songs. Thus, the unofficial became official.

“We’re enjoying what we do, and we’ve got a sound that’s quite unique – we’re The Funky North bro, that’s us.”

The group spent the summer of 2013/’14 playing shows in and around Kaikohe, however the three-piece became two with the departure of DJ. Brent and Tremaine resolved to move forward. It also signaled a change in the musical composition of the group.

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“We adjusted,” Brent laughs. “Okay, dust off the turntables… get the mixer out… yeah bro”.

I ask how the group managed to keep a continuous thread between the two quite separate approaches to their shows.

“Regardless of the tools we use to present our music, ultimately we’re presenting ourselves,” replies Brent, later adding that “the songs and the narrative is the same.”

In August last year, the group released a street album, which brought together all that they had recorded to that point. Incorporating a diverse range of tunes, it included a traditional DJ mix, as well as recorded tracks and acoustic demos. A small physical release sold well at shows, and it served as a pivot point; a form of demarcation from transient to more settled.

The Funky North recently completed a new EP, which they will look to release over the coming months. To be released on USB, along with extra content, it is another way the band are seeking to work in a more unconventional model.

Our broad conversation covered topics from musical infrastructure, the moving to a small Northland town – as well as the need to be everything from musician, to promoter, to logistics person, to accountant. What came through was a resolve to approach their music on their own terms, as well as contentment with the place music played in their lives.

Set against their other more primary life roles, The Funky North seem to approach their music with incremental and considered moves, all the while, as Brent reflects, keeping it pretty loose.

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UIF MBXGVM USVUI with David McLaughlin

Performance Agreements – Part 2

I

n this edition of The Lawful Truth we’ll continue looking at the key aspects of Performance Agreements that every gigging musician should make sure they are well schooled up on.

Having last issue considered some of the general logistical issues that should always be provided for in a Performance Agreement – things like soundchecks, load in and load out times, advertising and promotion – this column will look at some of the more legal issues, such as payment and cancellation provisions, and also how to best enforce your rights under the agreement.

How an artist is to be paid under a Performance Agreement can vary greatly from situation to situation. No matter how though, it’s always vital that the details are clearly drafted so that no confusion between the parties can arise down the track. As with any contract, nothing is more likely to lead to disputes than disagreement over the money to be exchanged.

For larger shows it’s quite usual for a sizeable deposit to be paid on signing of the agreement. The amount of this deposit can again vary greatly depending on the nature of the show and the artist involved, but deposits of as much as 50% of the total performance fee due are sometimes seen.

Having things simply and clearly set out in a Performance Agreement becomes even more important if, rather than a set performance fee, the artist is perhaps taking a share of door or ticket sales, or even a share of the food and beverage sold by the venue on the night. The simpler these terms can be kept the better.

Also when it comes to the timing of any payments. Ideally the Performance Agreement should provide for all amounts due to the artist (less of course any deposit already received) to be paid immediately following the conclusion of the performance.

Despite everyone’s best intentions when

entering into a Performance Agreement, the issue of what happens if someone wants to cancel the show should always be provided for. Such provisions also need to cover the ways things will be handled when the artist, or alternatively the party contracting the artist to perform, is looking to cancel.

In the case of the other party cancelling the show the artist should always be entitled to keep any deposit already paid. It’s also reasonable for the artist to expect a further payment to be made to reflect the added cost and inconvenience that goes with a late cancellation.

Where it is the artist cancelling their performance it is of course reasonable to expect to have to repay any deposit. However artists should avoid agreeing to make any other specific payments as well in such a situation.

Performance Agreements should also make it clear, when it comes to larger shows, that all necessary clearances and permissions required for the show to take place (whether in terms of performing rights licenses or local council approvals) have been obtained by the party who is contracting the artist to perform. This is important firstly to ensure that the show will actually be able to go ahead as intended, and secondly so that the artist can in no way be seen as being liable to any third party in the event that the show does go ahead and such licenses and permissions have not been obtained.

Of a similar nature to the above, the Performance Agreement should also make it clearly the responsibility of the party engaging the artist to obtain and hold all appropriate insurance to cover any potential risk to third parties arising from the performance.

The future enforceability of performance agreements is another important issue to consider. To bring about a resolution to any dispute in a faster way than going through the courts, and also to ensure that any such

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proceedings are conducted on a confidential basis, it may be worth providing that, rather than reverting to court action, the parties commit to a mediation and/or arbitration process in the event any disputes arise.

When it comes to disputes and the enforceability of performance agreements, even if there is not enough money involved to justify bringing in a lawyer it may be possible to have the dispute dealt with in the Disputes Tribunal, which is a fairly cheap and unintimidating process compared to getting the courts involved.

As a final point, even if you don’t have a formal Performance Agreement as such, if you have written or email correspondence between yourself and the person who booked the show clearly showing the terms you both agreed to, at law this could be deemed to actually be a legally binding contract. Although not as good as having a specifically created agreement it’s still definitely going to be better than nothing if you are looking to try and enforce your rights against the other party.

Even if the information you are relying on is not all in writing you may still have a legally binding contract at law, but unfortunately in these situations the exact terms that were agreed on may be much more difficult for you to prove. This in particular shows the benefits of getting a well-written Performance Agreement in place wherever possible.

David McLaughlin is a specialist music lawyer with Auckland law firm McLaughlin Law (www. mclaughlinlaw.co.nz). He can be contacted by email at david@mclaughlinlaw.co.nz or on 09 282 4599.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide a general outline of the law on the subject matter. Further professional advice should be sought before any action is taken in relation to the matters described in the article.

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In late November 2014 the fourth annual Natural NZ Music Festival was staged at the outdoor Red Hill Auditorium venue in Perth. A week later Riverstage in Brizzy saw the first of what is likely to become an annual event there.

Big name Kiwi acts featuring on the bill in both cities were (from the top) Shapeshifter, Dave Dobbyn, The Black Seeds, House of Shem, Sons of Zion, Scribe, P-Money and Anika Moa. Perth saw a crowd of 3000, mainly Kiwis, while over in the Sunshine State over 2000 attended Brisbane’s inaugural Natural NZ Music Festival.

Quite apart from the positive of taking such a large troupe of Kiwi artists onto Aussie soil without need of taxpayer-subsidised support, the Natural NZ Music Festival has the enormous appeal of being run by an out and out music enthusiast, a Kiwi obviously, and an outsider on Aussie’s high-stakes, big-money festival circuit. November’s a busy time for us here at NZM Towers so we didn’t make it to Perth ourselves, but early this year spoke to Brian Terry, the man behind Natural Touring.

When and why did you move from NZ to Perth?

I’m from Cambridge, in the Waikato.

Pretty little town that I was really happy growing up in. I played drums in pubs to pay the rent back home and never imagined I’d go from that to doing what I do now. Honestly, those were some of the most enjoyable years of my life. Slugging out the covers to pubs full of party goers – I made lifelong friends from those days.

I moved to Perth after living on the Gold Coast for four years. The choice was purely for work reasons, to launch my festival. I hopped in my van and drove by myself actually. Four and a half days of boring as hell, lol... I don’t recommend doing that drive by yourself.

When you first arrived in Perth what were your biggest challenges?

On a personal note it was finding somewhere to live. All my money was going to launch the festival so I didn’t have the money to set myself up, I just had to rent a room, which took six weeks to find someone to take me in. There was a bit of housing shortage for a while in Perth.

Luckily I had close friends to put me up, I’m forever grateful to them. On the work front there was the huge challenge of launching not only a new festival in a new city, but also it was a NZ music festival all the way in Perth, the most isolated city in the world.

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How difficult was it to become integrated into the Perth music scene?

I wouldn’t say it was difficult to integrate because in some ways we haven’t, or didn’t really attempt to. We’re so niche and boutique we have created our own little market. We were not trying to tap into a scene that others had already been doing well in, we made our own scene – which funnily enough, since then others have tried to tap into.

Has Perth’s isolation created any issues or benefits that may not have occurred in other Australian cities?

Obviously being so far away means high costs for certain things, flights being the biggest expense I guess. But being so far from NZ also creates a stronger patriotic feeling within the Kiwi community, which has helped the festival and my business in general.

Being a promoter is risky business. What made you decide to become a booking agent and promoter?

I kind of just fell into it. I played in bands all of my formative years and promoting was purely by chance. I didn't really know what a ‘promoter’ was to be honest. The first show I did on the Gold Coast was a reggae Sunday session. I just happened to know a few great local reggae bands and put the day together because I thought it would be fun. On the day we had good turn out and it was a big success. My soundman that day said to me, ‘Congrats, you’re a promoter.’ As for being booking agent, it’s a natural progression for good promoters

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to pick up work booking shows for artists who need some support. By being a good honest promoter you build solid relationships.

And more often than not that translates into more work in other areas of the industry.

How did the Natural NZ Festival come to fruition?

Initially it came to me at a Shihad gig on the Gold Coast. I was standing around with some friends (all Kiwis), and they were talking about what festivals they were going to that summer.

It was like a light bulb went off – A NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA. Not long after I told my friend I had the idea, to which he replied, ‘That’s a shit idea!’ Needless to say I didn’t let him deter me. Depending on who you talk to it’s either the most out-there idea ever, or the most simple, ‘Why didn’t someone think of it earlier?’ idea. Kiwis are in Australia in droves, we have been for a long time.

How did you go about convincing such high profile acts to play a festival in Perth?

It’s the old ‘it’s not what you know it’s who you know’ I guess. I grew up playing music in Hamilton alongside Katchafire, they went on to be the massive force they are now and I began promoting. It still took a fair bit of nagging on

my part, but eventually their Australian agent Mikki, and lead singer/manager Logan gave me a shot. The venue we have in Perth definitely helped get their interest, Red Hill Auditorium is a beautiful venue. Once they came on board The Blacks Seeds, Tiki Taane, Che Fu and Hollie Smith followed and I had the first line-up. Since then it’s been word of mouth once these artists go home. For that level of artists it’s a small circle, so they talk.

What sort of support team do you have around you to help accomplish these events?

The first three years I did it mostly by myself, other than the first year when I had a mentor, a beautiful soul called Sarcha Thurston. She showed me some key things that first year and without her guidance I wouldn’t have my current career. The next two years was just me, until game day when I bring in the whanau to help with key roles. But all prep up until then was done solely by me. 2014, was different though, I have had to bring in some help as we expanded to Queensland. Even then the core of it is only a few people.

Are there enough New Zealanders living in Australia to support regular tours of large Kiwi acts?

It is tough and goes in peaks and troughs I believe. The big acts can do well but it is tough for the mid-level acts to tour here regularly in a sustainable way. Touring bands anywhere is expensive, so a lot needs to be considered.

There are definitely lots of Kiwis in Australia and they love to go and see live NZ music, but it’s about bands touring at the right time, in the right cities and the right venues. These things can make all the difference.

How have you found the Australian reaction to New Zealand acts?

Honestly I can’t really answer that because it’s about 95% Kwis at our shows.

Could the success you’ve had in Australia be replicated in NZ, or are there conditions there that have facilitated your success?

I get asked all the time why don’t I do what I do here back in NZ, or take my festival home. Here my brand is niche and it works. If I went home there are some big players already doing their thing and I’d just be like any other festival. I am happy where I am for now. As for conditions that have facilitated my success, that’s definitely down to the strong economy and good lifestyle provided by Australia.

What would you suggest to any musicians considering a move to Perth?

Like everywhere in the world making a living in the music game is a tough one. Get

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a good day job to support yourself, but stay focused and still never give up on your dream!

Anything you wish you had known before moving?

Not to drive across [Australia] and book a plane ticket instead!

Do you have any favourite/secret spots in Perth that you frequent?

Perth has great food and drink. Leederville and Mt Hawthorn are favourite areas of mine to eat. There is plenty of coastline and beaches for those who love that kind of thing. West Coast sunsets with a feed of fish’n chips are pretty special, even though Aussie fish’n chips are a bit shit.

My favourite spot is actually three hours south of Perth, Margaret River. It’s a beautiful little town with great beaches, wineries and a cool little venue that has a lot of cool shows.

Gigs are still my favourite thing to do, whether it’s putting on my own or being a punter, live music is number one for me!

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Lontalius/Race Banyon

As most musical instrument retailers will tell you, the rise in popularity of EDM has caused the electric guitar market to tank in recent years. These things are cyclical and guitars will come back soon enough, perhaps with Lontalius leading the charge. If not, Eddie Johnston is still likely to be near the head of the local creative pack, under his alternate loop and sample-twisting guise of Race Banyon. Both musical entities are attracting attention, in particular the latter’s globallydiscussed extreme covers. Barely 18, this former Wellingtonian is already regarded as something of a musicians’ musician. Auckland producer Dave Parker took up the challenge of conflating his musical personalities and summarising his achievements to date.

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ow do you get so much done?”

I ask Eddie Johnston. He smiles.

“I’m not sure actually, I don’t feel like I’m doing as much as I am.” He is in fact doing quite a lot – Eddie Johnston has become somewhat reknowned for being prolific.

Under the moniker of Lontalius he has created a few albums-worth of perfectly melancholic covers of RnB and pop songs.

Minimal Casiotone keyboards accompany layered, almost drawling vocals, to bring a new voice to songs that you’d otherwise hear on commercial radio. His version of Pharrell Williams’ Happy is the only way I can hear that song without an urge to stab my eardrums with the closest available inanimate object.

And it seems I am not the only one to enjoy the Lontalius covers, he has racked up hundreds of thousands of plays on Soundcloud. But before you get the wrong idea, he is far from just another internet covers sensation.

Lontalius actually started as an originals project known as Shipwrecked.

“Shipwrecked first was just random electronic doodles that I put on MySpace and then Blink [A Low Hum] asked me to play a show with Die! Die! Die!, and I was like too scared to do electronic music because it’s quite an intimidating thing. So I picked up my guitar and wrote some simple songs to Casio beats.”

Eddie changed identity to Lontalius (a name he found by clicking the ‘random article’ button on Wikipedia) and has been self recording guitar-based solo music. He is impressively prolific here too, having released four EPs of solo material since 2010.

At the same time he has been working on another, more electronic project that he has dreamed of for a while.

“It’s kind of what I’ve always wanted to do.

Not always, because before I was like 12 I didn’t know what electronic music was, but since then it’s what I’ve wanted to do”.

As Race Banyon he has played around 50 shows in the last year with no sign of slowing down. He has a long list of festivals and shows coming up and recently played at Rhythm & Vines, also managing to sneak off to perform as both Lontalius and Race Banyon at A Low Hum House in National Park.

“I did my Race Banyon set at midnight on New Year’s eve. Blink did the countdown into a microphone and then I played. That was

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probably the best show I’ve ever played I think.

Usually I have to warm up at the start, do a long intro to let people get into it and start dancing.

But this time it was like from the very start people wanted to go insane.”

We met for this interview at Auckland’s Silo Park, where a few days later Race Banyon would be playing from inside one of the silos at the Laneway Festival. I caught that set and he proved a compelling performer. The meek and calm Eddie I had met a few days before seemed transformed. For half an hour he didn't stand still. Rocking from foot to foot, shoulders hunched and head down, his whole body was bobbing in time with the music.

I watched from backstage as he scrolled through a seemingly never-ending Ableton

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session. Eddie had casually mentioned that his live set up was based around one big session but I hadn’t realised how big. He seemed to navigate the screen confidently,knowing exactly where to look for the next sample or loop.

When not frantically scrolling the computer (and often whilst simultaneously scrolling) his fingers were constantly grabbing at controls on a Novation Launch control, triggering loops and samples, sweeping filters and who knows what else. There were no pauses, the tempo slowly increased and songs merged into other songs. He explains that for his live set he puts everything into the same key.

“Most of my songs are more or less in the same key, but I do pitch stuff up and down for live.”

Rather than inhibiting creativity this opens up many more possibilities with triggering loops and samples from Ableton.

“I can play the chords from one song, the drums from another and a Drake song on top of that, and even if I've never played it before I know it will work because it’s all in the right key.”

While I was recognising parts of songs from his ‘Whatever Dreams Are Made Of’ EP, I had to remind myself that it was most probably a set no one had heard before or will hear again, something that Eddie is fearlessly proud of.

“I could automate everything and then just pretend. I’ve played shows where they were really important and I wanted to get everything perfect so I’ve planned out everything ahead, but it’s so cool seeing someone mess up. It's like, ‘Oh, they're actually having fun and trying stuff out.’”

After what seemed like a solid 25 frantic minutes the tempo dropped for the first time and for a brief moment Eddie stepped back from the controls. I realised that it was the first time he had done so, but not for long. For a bar he breathed, before bringing his set to a final crescendo. It really is amazing to watch someone so fluent with software, a talent in its own, but to bring moving and emotive music out of a collection of loops was the real skill on display. Something that Eddie knows all too well when it comes to writing “Lontalius is a lot easier to express myself and my feelings, because it's obviously quite a natural thing, you know, to be able to play guitar, and so it’s quite physically my outward emotions. It’s harder with Race Banyon where

“I think I hold Race Banyon a little bit closer to my heart… but I know that with Lontalius I’m doing something that obviously resonates well with people and it’s definitely the right time for that.”

I’m just clicking things in the middle of the night. But I think that a really interesting challenge for electronic music is that you kind of have to push yourself to say something in the music.”

Eddie has also been in the studio, recording at Roundhead’s Brick Room working towards a Lontalius album. He has been performing live with a combination of Miles Sutton (ex-Attic Sky’s), Taylor Groves (ex-Kitsunegari) and Daniel MacBride of Sheep, Dog & Wolf fame.

“Because Daniel is so busy with his stuff we don’t always play with him, but Taylor and Miles will generally just share a table of stuff, so there will be like three Casios, a little synthesiser, a cymbal and a kick drum and they’ll swap between instruments, providing backing to what I’m playing on guitar.”

The album will be featuring the whole band in more of a collaboration than previously.

“I like doing everything myself, but I’m lucky with Daniel, Taylor and Miles. Often I will tell them to do exactly what I want in my head, but other times I’ll just let them do whatever they want and they understand what I’m doing enough.”.

Roundhead engineer Jordan Stone has been helping with drums and some guitar tracking before the recordings get taken to be worked on in the usual Lontalius fashion – late night sessions in Eddie’s bedroom.

“Jordan was the perfect engineer to have, he understood that we weren't trying to make a big rock album or anything. He helped us find all the right drum sounds so I could take those stems home.”

Usually working alone, collaborating with other musicians isn’t the only thing Eddie is learning to get used to.

“Roundhead is incredible and it feels amazing to be there, but I find it quite uncomfortable, I guess because I’m so used to making music in my bedroom and I’m the only one there – and then suddenly there’s an intern and an engineer and other people upstairs. So I think it’ll take a long time to get used to that but I’m definitely interested in being in studios more.”

Both projects have been receiving an amount of critical acclaim as of late, plus Eddie seems to have a few celebrity fans name dropping him, so with talk of another release for Race Banyon and plans to release a Lontalius record here and overseas, it seems 2015 will be a busy year. For

now he appears to be managing the balance between the two musical personas quite well and with a work ethic like his it shouldn’t be

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hard to cope with both projects on the cusp of something big.

“I think I hold Race Banyon a little bit closer to my heart... but I know that with Lontalius I’m doing something that obviously resonates well with people and it’s definitely the right time for what I’m doing as Lontalius.”

As we part I foolishly ask if he has any plans for the evening.

“I’ll probably just work on some music,” Eddie replies.

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HVJUBS DPPM HVJUBS DPPM with Kevin Downing

Melodic Minor Workout

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any guitar students wonder why they have to learn scales. You hear mutterings that they are boring to practice, or they would rather play songs, and the like. With the right attitude knowing your scales can get you to the next skill level very quickly. Practising scales can improve two hand co-ordination, speed picking, tone, and even improve your ear. Of course there are many more benefits of learning scales too numerous to mention here.

The Melodic Minor scale is simply an E minor scale with the sixth and seventh degree raised a half step ascending, while descending the sixth and seventh degrees return to their natural state. So ascending the scale looks like this E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D#, E. Descending the notes are E, D, C, B, A, G, F#, E. Another way to look at it is it is just an E major scale with a flatted third ascending, and a normal minor scale descending.

If you look at the music for the E Minor melodic scale you can see I have notated a two octave scale in the open position. It would pay to play it without any time to begin to get the notes under your fingers, and in your brain first.

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Then it would be best to play through this scale very slowly, keeping in mind the fingering is one finger per fret. So all the notes at the first fret are first finger, second fret is second finger, third fret is third finger, and fourth fret is your little finger.

When practising this scale strive for a smooth flow of notes, no buzzes or scratches, and listen to the sound the scale produces. This is what many guitar players miss, they don’t use their ears. Many players can’t hear a melodic minor scale at all. It is called the Melodic Minor because it is very melodic, and because of that, many of the world’s greatest composers have used it in their compositions.

You need to have this scale memorised.

Once you have done that, then it is best to learn a song or tune that uses it. J. S. Bach was one fairly successful composer who used this scale.

His famous suite Bouree in E Minor was written for lute and this portion is taken from the fifth movement of the suite. This tune has been covered by many people including Jethro Tull, who made it famous in the 1970s, and is a must learn tune for many guitarists.

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Classical music is sometimes dismissed by beginner guitarists, but I can tell you there are many cool things to learn in that genre. Classical music sounds great played on an electric guitar with a bit of overdrive on. Do be careful of the open strings as sometimes they can ring on and clash with other notes, so you need to be mindful of your open string muting.

The music I have written for you here is only the A section of the tune to demonstrate the use of the E melodic minor scale. There is also a B section which you can get from my website if you want it. Classical music is fun to play, turn on the overdrive, turn up the volume, and go for it.

You can hear the mp3 for this music at http://www.guitar.co.nz/category/resources/ freelessons/ Kevin Downing is a professional guitarist, teacher and author. His contact details, along with many freebies are on his website at www. guitar.co.nz

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graduate of the prestigious Toi Whakaari Drama School, Moana Ete has extensive acting experience and is currently directing a Fringe Festival show. However Ete finds acting and performing her own music very different, and says that singing is, to her, a lot more challenging.

“Acting you can always hide behind a character, whereas singing is standing up and saying; ‘This is everything about me, this is who I am.’ It’s very personal,” she says. “I only really get nervous if I’m going on stage to sing… it’s a lot more vulnerable.”

The epitome of a down-to-earth creative, Ete’s own identity is central to her songwriting.

“I want to be true to myself, and to be able to make that attractive. I’m really big on femininity and talking about what it is to be a woman, to be

a real, strong woman who pays her bills… I like to experiment with how that can be glamorous.”

Growing up in church was significant in developing her voice, the choir upbringing teaching her how to hold a harmony and the rich vocals and harmonies layered throughout her songs are testament to that. A multi-instrumentalist from a young age, music is in her blood.

“I wasn’t a good student but I loved to make music. I would do my piano practice but just not to the lesson plan,” she laughs. “In that sense I wasn’t very disciplined – I guess it was a sign that I was more of an artist, that I loved to create.”

Ete took the Best Female Vocalist prize at the 2006 Smokefreerockquest.

Influenced by the likes of Boyz II Men, Mary J Blige, TLC and Missy Elliot, she describes her music as indie RnB. Combining elements of ’90s hip hop and electronica with powerful, soulful vocals, her songs are in a style that’s completely her own.

“It’s taking those influences, mixing them and making them current,” she says.

She spends hours creating beats, recording instruments, layering vocals and creating music exactly the way she wants it to sound. Definitive on her sound, the dynamic artist is still working on her live set and hopes to be playing more gigs around Wellington and wider soon.

Moana Ete is unlike any musician I’ve ever encountered. She is confident, yet modest and entirely sure of herself – which is refreshing and something that is apparent in her songwriting. A true artist, Moana wants her music to speak for itself, however she may finally create a Facebook page or some sort of online presence with the release of her new EP, which we can expect at the end of April/May. Until then her gems can be found on SoundCloud.

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Photo: Kieran Taylor

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ormed in 2007, two-piece alternative pop act An Electric Heart has released five EPs as well as a recent album. With Brandon Gellar on guitars and Luke Pell on vocals, synths, samples and programming, the ’80’s-style electronica beats of this Napier-based duo has been described as “a welcome respite from mindless pop.”

The pair are both practitioners of Muay Thai and after meeting through a local gym several years ago started a short-lived punk band. An Electric Heart was subsequently Pell’s solo project, and when he decided to

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expand it into a live band he invited Gellar to join him again. Unable to find a suitable drummer they settled into a more electronic sound. Five early releases are available free on their Bandcamp page.

Having released a dynamic first album, the aptly named ‘An Electric Heart’, in September last year, they are already halfway through a second album, with six songs written, a single and video soon to be released.

Pell has been an audio engineer for 15 years and is the self-confessed driver of the band. Indeed talking to him provides plenty of inspiration for others to keep at it, to just keep going. He writes most of the compositions with guitarist Gellar adding to the sound.

“We’re into the same thing so it works.”

Influenced heavily by ’90s punk bands such as NOFX and The Offspring, their electronica sound is laid over the top of these influences, making for a delightful mix of electronic punk harmony and psychedelic sci fi. But that’s not all they can give. They can strip their music back to just a guitar and vocals, allowing the listener to appreciate the work and thought that goes into the sound of this duo.

“I’m into art and music is just one of the things I do,” says Pell.“I did our website and do all our design stuff plus making videos.”

Further evidencing his resourcefulness, he animated the music video for Prototype, the first song on their self-titled album.

“I see a lot of bands grind to a halt because they don’t get funding, but I prefer to charge forward and just do it.”

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otboxed Treehut have a great solid sound and as a group display realistic perspectives and laudable work ethic. They understand the dynamics of creating music and the next steps needed to have a long-lasting musical career.

With an EP recorded at Capgun Studio in Otahuhu and a single release called Positive Music – featuring Ihi, another upcoming band – Hotboxed Treehut are building authenticity with audiences Aotearoa-wide. This seems to mirror the journey of others such as Katchafire and Sons of Zion, two bands that Hotbox Treehut are inspired by.

Formed at MAINZ in Auckland, they have a core of reggae with fusions of rock and RnB with the seven members all contributing to the sound.

While Travis Dearden is the main lyricist, he says he encourages all band members to start writing and recording as well.

“That’s what I like about Katchafire’s ‘On The Road Again’ album, it has a mixture of songs sung by different band members. That’s I what I want for Hotboxed Treehut.”

Ironically, they have never hotboxed an actual treehut, the name came along because they thought it was entertaining and a catchy string of

words. It was a name that just stuck with them and, as you can imagine, they get asked the question of how they came up with that name all the time.

If their music was kai, Dearden describes it as “…like a Carls Jnr burger, with a bit of everything – beef, chicken, bacon, cheese, mayo, lettuce, a little crunchy and crispy on the outside, spicy and juicy when you take a bite.”

At the same time, natural, not full of steroids or preservatives, free-range grass fed beef! From listening to their music and seeing their high impact engaging live sets, this description seems bang on.

The solidarity of this band seems to come from the platform they have created as friends first and band members second. Dearden describes their touring as a huge experience and a solidifying confirmation that they all want to spearhead the idea of music being their main source of income.

“That’s why we all studied music! To aspire to be full time musicians, what’s the point otherwise?”

On a self-funded, self-managed tour when we talk (managed by bassist Tyler Dent), for the future the band has clear goals.

1. Play at major festivals. 2. Tour internationally. (“Even to Australia,” says Dearden, but it will most probably be Hawaii.) 3. Release a full-length album.

With conscious lyrics and an authentic foundation, this irie reggae fusion band can look forward to achieving much, much more.

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4MIGIW 3J 1SPP] Kiwi heroes The Datsuns, Pieces of Molly are well on their way to earning themselves a leading position in Christchurch’s rise as our hard rock capital. Opening for The Datsuns has been one of the band’s biggest highlights according to Glasgow, “The early 21st century garage rock revival was one that inspired us very early on, so it was an absolute honour to play with one of the bands that spear-headed that movement and made us want to pick up guitars in the first place.”

While, 2012 saw the release of debut EP ‘Pieces Of Molly’, with live favourites Hells Decibels, Bucket of Booze and of course their signature tune Pieces Of Molly, it’s the band’s recent activity, complete with a new line up, that is gaining national attention.

“Although I started out learning the drums by playing rock music, Pieces Of Molly has demanded the most amount of physicality and stamina,” says most recent addition, drummer Jonty O’Connor. “As a drummer I’m very interested in the free improv and more jazz-influenced styles of playing, so it’s great Photo: Tony Kim to be a part of a band that has its roots in the music I grew up with. It’s a great feeling playing with a group of both friends and ailing from Christchurch, Ewen Glasgow, Doug Stewart, Sam musicians, and know that we can all push each other, night after night, to Kubiak and Jonty O’Connor may describe Pieces Of Molly’s sound play at our full potential.” as ‘primal hard rock’, but in reality they have found a perfect blend 2015 is shaping up to be Pieces Of Molly’s busiest yet. Fans will finally of Black Sabbath riffary, The Who’s ’70s chordal energy and Bonhambe treated the to band’s sophomore release, although the lads are inspired power drumming, underneath a Jack White-like blues howl. reluctant to divulge too many secrets.

“It’s taken us a while to find our footing,” says frontman (vocals and “We’re really excited about the new tracks, and we can’t wait for people lead guitar) Ewen Glasgow. “In the last year, we’ve really discovered what to hear them. Although we can’t give too much away, it’s going to be a the band’s strengths are and how to best serve them.” whole new dimension to the Pieces Of Molly sound.”

Although it is easy to draw comparisons to a host of classic rock influences, the band’s sound is a tightly constructed cocktail that includes UJ939`S>OSMMnY,"P73"OUY3SO everything from Aerosmith to Red Fang. s 3AMMY *AY $AWSON Having recently played support for Canadian metal legends Anvil, and

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his Pale Fire is a vehicle for the songs of 24-year old Aucklander Corban Koschak.

“Music has always been around in my life from a young age but I never really studied it. It was about 10 years ago when I got an acoustic guitar, I started jamming and learning tabs and those kind of things.”

Writing by himself, exploring the folk idiom and dabbling in other genres, he had become used to working in isolation.

“My friend Karl heard my songs and encouraged me to take them into the studio.”

Recording took place at the now closed Studio 203 with Nikhil

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Mokkapati at the production helm. The result is This Pale Fire’s seven-track debut ‘Dusk’. As Koschak explains, the original thinking was that it would be a solo acoustic record, those plans were changed with the introduction of Nick Douch (of Ekko Park) on drums and Kyle Wetton on bass and electric guitar.

If you were to scattergun their sound you might say folk-through-indie pop, with some rock shapes touching the heavier moments. Koschak’s voice is much harder to pin down, closest maybe to Dan Smith with some of Thom York’s falsetto brilliance brushed on. This gets you into the neighbourhood rather than an exact address, Corban’s sound is all his own.

“I’ve never had any vocal training, I just sang all the time as a kid and it seemed to pay off. I usually try to come up with a vocal melody over guitar chords, something that sounds nice and catchy, and then write lyrics around that rhythm and mood. Bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Coldplay and Bon Iver have inspired me both lyrically and vocally.”

The record was cut in two major sessions.

“We began the initial conversation, I think, around November 2013. It was in February when we got most of the backing tracks done. Then we sat on it, and digested it a bit. We changed some things, having time to reflect, and it is better for those changes. We went through a lot of electric and acoustic guitars for each of the songs so they sounded different. I can remember a Telecaster being used at one point and we had three acoustics. Mine is a Martin and we had a Guild also.”

His inspiration perhaps gives some indication of why the band is called This Pale Fire.

“The song arch is a reflection of my own experiences, and things like Norse mythology which I’m into.”

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by Mal Smith

A Change is as Good as a Rest

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irst off, let me disclose my medical qualification – I have none. So what I’m about to discuss is mostly from personal observation and research. I guess the thing that drives me to write this is that I have suffered from (and to some extent still do) this sort of musically debilitating condition.

I don’t know exactly when I got it or in fact when I was ‘cured’, but I do know that when I ‘had it’ it caused a great deal of musical dissatisfaction, and that was the least of the issues. My musical timing suffered and if I spent several hours playing or practising I could be in severe pain for days and sometimes weeks after. This can lead to a vicious cycle of practise, pain, rest (inactivity), frustration…. practise, pain, rest (inactivity), frustration…. practise, pain, rest (inactivity), frustration, etc. Of course, when you haven’t been able to practise for a while you are inclined to try and get back the facility that you had as soon as possible and that can lead you into a new cycle.

RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury), OOS (Occupational Overuse Syndrome), carpel tunnel, pinched nerve, tendonitis, epicondylitis or deQuervain’s stenosing tenosynovitis are various types of afflictions that musicians commonly suffer from. Whatever they are called there is pain in the hands, arms, shoulders or neck. The causes of such disabilities are many and varied and the cure may involve anything from rest to surgery in the worst cases.

Musicians are not the only people to suffer from such problems but are definitely in the high-risk bracket. If you think about it for a minute – how do you get to be a better musician? There are many ways but ultimately you will have to practise, and the more practise you do the better you will get. Or will you? There comes a point where you can overdo anything and the improvement will not be as great as the effort that you put in.

Economists call this the law of diminishing marginal returns. It basically states that the second ‘x’ amount of a resource that you apply to a problem will give you a smaller improvement than the first ‘x’ amount.

Back in the day there were a few common sayings about improvement such as; ‘No pain, no gain’, ‘Play through the pain’, ‘Work with the pain’ etc. If you adhere to this doctrine then you can think that unless you are hurting you are not improving, and you will be inclined to keep on going. Don’t.

Pain is the body’s way of telling you that something is wrong, so ignoring it may not be such a good idea.

These days the issues are complicated by the fact that a musician may also be the composer, engineer and the talent. The compositional and engineering tasks could quite possibly involve long periods of time sitting in front of a computer screen, which of course probably means performing the same or similar actions over and over again. It is the repetitive nature of the actions that can contribute to RSI, OOS, etc.

So, how can you avoid getting it? I don’t know if it’s possible to avoid, some of us are more prone than others, but hopefully some of these ideas may help.

In the first instance – if it hurts, don’t keep doing whatever is causing you pain. Perhaps change to a different activity or have a few minutes rest. There are some new programs that you can download that will guide you through some exercises you can do when you get to this point. Have a look at this webpage http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/ five-free-apps-to-help-remind-you-to-take-a-break/ or this one http:// www.workrave.org Another option is to find different ways of doing the same thing. For example if you use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) there are a number of ways to operate the transport. You can click on Play with the mouse, there will be a key command, in some cases several key commands. Ideally avoid using the mouse, which uses pretty much the same series of actions for everything you do. Apart from anything else it’s often the slowest way to do things with a computer.

If you cannot do without the mouse then perhaps buy a new mouse that can perform multiple functions, such as a gaming mouse.

Alternatively try a track ball (see Fig. 1 and 2). I used to hate them but with

a little practice I have found them to be very effective. The main thing here is that it is a totally different action to using a mouse.

1

2

Another great advantage of trackballs is that they are always in the same place, whereas a mouse tends to move around on the desk a lot more. Perhaps alternate between the mouse and the trackball.

Another very handy controller is a jog/shuttle wheel. (See Fig. 3 and 4.) These are made by several different manufacturers and can be as simple as a single wheel, or can incorporate several switches that can be dedicated to specific tasks. There are also some computer keyboards that include them. Unfortunately most stores don’t stock them but you can get them from websites such as Fishpond or Amazon.

3

4

If you use lots of plug-ins in your DAW consider buying a controller that has some knobs on it (see Fig. 5). There are several different brands on the market ranging from small ones with half a dozen knobs or switches to extravagant control surfaces. Again this will speed up your workflow and there is something reassuring about having things to physically move.

5 According to Robert E. Markison, a renowned hand surgeon and specialist from San Francisco, there are some important characteristics that can reduce your risk. These include widening your musical interests to areas such as teaching, composing, arranging, and keeping up with technological advancements. Play more than one instrument. Keep expanding your repertoire. Maintain good general health and a healthy diet and avoid use of drugs and alcohol. Try to maintain a good posture when you are playing, warm up before you play and always keep your hands warm.

Hopefully some of these ideas might help to limit your chances of incurring the inconvenience of RSI, OOS, etc. Good luck and keep practising, but bear in mind the wise words of Winston Churchill, “A change is as good as a rest.”

Mal Smith has been a lecturer at SAE Institute in Parnell for the past 15 years.

He also mans the keys for Auckland band The Blue Jaffas. You can contact him at m.smith@sae.edu

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Li’l Chuck

GOING IT ALONE Though the name Li’l Chuck may not ring many bells, perhaps David Thorpe aka Davey Backyard Music will. Having spent the last decade in Christchurch’s Black Velvet Band, as well as various other projects, for Thorpe, originally of UK origin, Li’l Chuck - The One Man Skiffle Machine is his chance to pay tribute to the musical glories of the past, as Sammy Jay Dawson discovers.

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nspired by the sounds of early jazz, western swing, ragtime, blues and folk, Li’l Chuck - The One Man Skiffle Machine is the culmination of a lifetime obsessing over music from the good old days for Christchurch musician David Thorpe.

“This isn’t my first ever project, I’ve been involved in a lot of things over the years, and they’ve all taught me little things, but this is the first where it’s 100% me. I’ve written everything, performed everything, been in charge of every aspect of release and promotion. It’s truly a labour of love, and feels like something I’ve been working up to all these years.”

Li’l Chuck’s left and right feet are busy stomping the kick drum and hi-hat respectively, and while his guitar and harmonica skills are immediately impressive, it’s his art as a story-teller that propel his songs to life.

“In Manchester in the late ’80s, while walking down the street I saw a bloke playing hi-hat, kick drum, resonator guitar, harmonica and singing. It was mind-blowing. I’d never seen a resonator guitar before, or for that fact anyone doing anything so raw without accompaniment. He was called The Little Big Band. I bought his cassette and loved it.

“At the time I was really into classic metal, AC/DC, Def Leppard etc., but because of my love for those bands I’d started to work backwards and discovered the blues. So to find this artist playing old blues songs, Dylan songs, it really started to expand my musical horizons. It was like a light bulb going off in my head. From there I delved into many styles of roots music.

“Through trial and error I started to teach myself harmonica, traveling and meeting others, picking up bits here and there. Joining bands, jamming with people, just started learning as much as I could. But as the years went on I still had that dream to do an album in that one man band style I’d seen.”

“I had to start taking control of what I really wanted to do in life. So that’s when Li’l Chuck started.”

Moving to Christchurch in 2003 has perhaps been the biggest inspiration for Li’l Chuck, with the 2010-2011 earthquakes a period that coincided with the start of a young family of Thorpe’s own.

“I thought, ‘If there’s any time you start focusing on what you want to do it’s now.’ I had to start taking control of what I really wanted to do in life. So that’s when Li’l Chuck started.”

As a result, his debut release, ‘Blues In Full Swing’, recorded at Peel Production Studios by John Gardner, is as much a love letter to old time music as it is a celebration of his own family. The 13 tracks showcase not only his masterful co-ordination, but also his skills as a songwriter and their potential in a one-man format.

“I met John through kids’ playgroup, of all things. When we formulated EV\Z &-

the plan for recording I knew I wanted it to be live, in a relaxed situation.

We set aside an extended period of time, took the clock off the wall, put the kids to bed. It was very laid back. I did a few live takes of each song and let John do his thing. He was very vocal about getting me to do a better take if he thought I could.

“There’s a limit to what one man can do simultaneously in a live setting.

If you count the two drums separately I’m playing four instruments and singing. If you decided to add keyboard overdubs and things it would mess with the dynamic. Live I wanted it to sound like I was playing in your living room, so I felt no need to add unnecessary overdubs to the recording.”

Whether busking or performing in an array of venues, connecting with his audience is something of a specialty for Thorpe/Li’l Chuck. A quick flick through the album’s sleeve notes reveals that he is, in his own words, a “music geek”, inviting listeners to play harmonica along with the provided lyrics. There’s an obvious personal attachment to the album, but one can’t help feel that ‘Blues In Full Swing’ is just as much about having fun and expanding the possibilities of the one-man-band as it is paying tribute.

“His old time/skiffle niche is very natural and authentic for him,” says fellow Christchurch one-man-band artist Stompin’ Nick. “There’s a lot of warmth and optimism in Chuck’s music because that’s a reflection of his personality. It was great to see him go the one-man-band route. I’ve always been impressed by the way he wins people over at gigs, he has a lot of friends in Christchurch.”

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NPNFOUT MJLF UIFTF Curated by Trevor Reekie

John McCready has had a career spanning 33 years in music and radio before he changed tack in 1989 and went to work in the TV industry. Educated in Wellington in the late ’50s, his passion for music saw him employed at Philips Records NZ, working with seminal Kiwi bands including Larry's Rebels, The La De Da’s, the Hi-Revving Tongues and later a young Shona Laing. In 1970, when Philips morphed into Phonogram NZ John was appointed GM and launched the hugely successful 20 Solid Gold Hits compilations. He spent a significant part of his career in the UK, originally at Phonogram (working with bands like Kraftwerk), before moving to Decca Records UK as Marketing Manager and later, CEO of Motown UK. Returning to Aotearoa in the late ’70s John used his versatile skill sets and knowledge to form his own record label, RTC, who licensed the Virgin catalogue. That led to him being asked to run CBS where he worked international catalogue and developed local signings including Sharon O’Neill, Citizen Band and Jon Stevens. His career includes considerable achievements and success, from years of experience in creative marketing, people skills and an understanding of the big picture.

When and where this photo was taken and what was the occasion?

The photo was taken by Murray Cammick in my CBS Records office, in 1978 at the signing of Citizen Band to CBS. Did you always consider that music was going to be a career in one form or another?

As a schoolboy I had two great loves, sport and pop music. My goal was to be involved in either as a job on leaving school. My passion for pop music was all consuming as rock’n roll took off with Elvis, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Buddy Holly leading the charge.

I came from a poor working class upbringing and had little success in the classroom. I was shy and not confident. However, I excelled at gymnastics, rugby and rugby league and in sport, I was very aggressive.

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Left to right: Mike Chunn, Brent Eccles, John McCready, Geoff Chunn, Gaynor Crawford (CBS Records PR Manager) and Greg Clark.

Photo at right: Barney Ales, John McCready and Ken East, 1976.

What was your point of entry into the music business?

On leaving school I saw an advert in the paper ‘A Career In The Record Business’, placed by Philips Records. I cheekily applied, was interviewed and to my amazement, was hired.

I credit Philips NZ with making my career. For the first few years they trained me in every aspect in the record business, starting with the warehouse packing record orders, moving on to stock control, then on to the financial side, including the calculations of royalties and payments.

The company sent me on many courses, including time management, staff management and public speaking.

This was over several years and during that time I persistently applied to the A&R boss Keith Anderson for a transfer to his department. Finally, I got the transfer and my first job was a junior responsible for radio promotion. Keith mentored me and involved me in the decision-making on new releases and with our local artists, including Bill and Boyd. When Keith took up a position in Australia I was promoted to A&R Manager.

Initially I got involved with the studio production of artists’ recordings, but found I hated being locked up in a studio all day. I had used the original Stebbing Studio in Saratoga Avenue, in Herne Bay, Auckland, producing records from Herma Keil and Eliza Keil. I had got to know Eldred Stebbing and liked him a lot. I got the idea that the ability of Stebbing to find and produce artists and the Philips Records marketing and distribution expertise could be a good combination.

Eldred and I agreed a contract to market the Stebbing artists on the Philips and associated labels. The agreement was a success and on occasion I even managed to have a closer input by finding songs for the Stebbing artists; How Is The Air Up There for the La De Da’s and Rain And Tears for the High Revving Tongues included.

We also put together the album ‘Till We Kissed: The Greatest Hits Of Ray Columbus’. This album was put together specifically as a Record of the Month for the Philips Record Club, mail order business.

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Photo: Murray Cammick

John McCready

Parallel with our Stebbing agreement I hired two good music guys; Terry Condon and Jay Boulee to expand our in-house A&R department. We had success with The Chicks, Farmyard, Dedikation, The Rumour and Suzanne as a solo artist.

I was later made Marketing Manager which involved setting up a whole new line of budget priced records for selling in supermarkets and other non-record outlets. I named this new venture, Music For Leisure Ltd and it was a huge success – resulting in my being a finalist in the NZ Salesman Of The Year Awards.

In 1970 Philips became part of Phonogram NZ with which you signed a young Shona Laing and developed the phenomenally successful 20 Solid Gold Hits brand.

Becoming General Manager of Phonogram NZ allowed me to put into action an idea I had had for some time, which previous management had rejected because of cost and risk. I wanted to make a compilation album of 20 hits and market it by using television advertising.

So, ‘20 Solid Gold Hits Vol.1’ was created and I took the risk of spending $30,000 on TV advertising, which in those days was a large amount. We sold 90,000 copies of Vol.1 and future additions sold in access of 120,000 copies. ‘Solid Gold’ became a long-term brand.

Chris Bourne, the producer of the TV show New Faces showed me Shona Laing’s audition tape and as a result I invited Shona to come to my office at Phonogram to play me more of her songs. I couldn’t believe how good her songs and voice were, especially 1905. I immediately offered her a recording contract, later by letter as her parents’ consent were needed as she was just 17.

I put Shona with producer Dale Wrightson to record her first album ‘Whispering Afraid’.

Shona deservedly won two Rata Awards, Best New Artist and Recording Artist Of The Year.

In 1974 you were asked to become manager of the A&R division of Phonogram UK. The CEO of Polydor UK, John Fruin offered me a job as Polydor’s Marketing Director.

However, head office wanted me to go to sister company Phonogram UK and I ended up there as GM of A&R. The new job saw me in charge of all product, both local and international, with the local recording being extremely important with artists like Status Quo and Rod Stewart on the roster. I had a great number two in Nigel Grainge who introduced me to Thin Lizzy, and after seeing them live they became my first UK signing.

Our German company had an electronic band called Kraftwerk and they asked me to consider their new album for UK release.

Florian and Ralf came to see me in London and played me ‘Autobahn’. I found the album and the group very exciting and agreed to sign them for the UK. However, on playing it to our sales and promotion people I received a totally negative response and the feeling in

the room was that I had gone totally mad. It gave me great satisfaction in later months to see Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ sell in the millions worldwide.

In 1975 you accepted a new position at Decca Records, which developed a hot pop roster in the ’60s, but was in decline by the time you arrived.

As Pop Marketing Manager at Decca I was responsible for the entire pop music division.

Initially we gained market share and income by re-packaging and creating greatest hits albums from the enormous Decca catalogue.

This included Best Of compilations from The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck.

Huge success followed with an album from Moody Blues’ members Justin Hayward and John Lodge, working as the Blue Jays, plus independent label Gull delivered us the summer hit of 1975, Barbados, from group Typically Tropical. Our USA contracts gave us success with Al Green and Chilites.

Ken East and I took great pride in managing to turn around Decca in just a year and without changing any of the staff. I felt my time in Phonogram UK was a learning experience, but at Decca I had become an effective UK record executive.

Ken East became International President for Motown and in 1976 asked me to join him. My key role was appointing licensees throughout Europe and negotiating those contracts.

It was also my responsibility to ensure that Motown artists were promoted successfully throughout Europe, and when artists toured to make sure that they were totally looked after.

I worked with such greats as Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Diana Ross, Jermaine Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

What brought you back to NZ in 1977?

Whilst at Motown I was offered the position of MD Phonogram Australia. I resigned, sold our house and was a few days away from moving to Australia when Phonogram head office dropped a bombshell. They had a legal problem in Australia and couldn’t make the management change there. I was offered instead the position of MD of the group’s UK publishing company Interson. Having sold our home that didn’t suit me so I declined, received a payout and made my own way back to NZ. I decided to start my own company in NZ and before I left the UK I approached Ken Berry at Virgin, whom I had got to know through my time at Decca. Ken surprised me by immediately agreeing to let my company, then un-formed, have the New Zealand distribution rights for Virgin, which included Mike Oldfield and The Sex Pistols. This demonstrates the importance of contacts.

Back in Auckland, with friends Warwick Woodward and Brian Pitts we formed RTC, to distribute Virgin and opened a retail record store Peaches.

It wasn’t long before you were asked by CBS Records to open its NZ operation.

Brian Pitts and I realised that to grow RTC we needed another major label. I approached

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Bill Smith at CBS Australia and pitched him for the NZ rights. His response was to ask me to set up CBS for him in NZ. As it happens Phonogram made Brian, Warwick and I an offer for Peaches, which we accepted, allowing Brian to carry on with RTC and me to start up CBS. I handled overall management, marketing and A&R and built the rest of the team by poaching good people who had worked with me before at Phonogram, plus outside recruitment. The two managers who followed me, Murray Thom and Michael Gladding, I recruited from outside in the early days of the company.

Our original top priority artists were Michael Jackson and Meatloaf; both of who, hard to believe now, radio would not play. We solved this challenge by placing advertising spots on key stations and so good was the response we forced airplay.

To make CBS a true player in NZ I felt we needed to be successful with NZ artists.

We signed Jon Stevens, Sharon O’Neill and Citizen Band. These three gave us success and established CBS as being local.

In 1981 you became MD of CBS Records Australia. How different was the Australian musical climate from that of NZ? Wow, Australia. Loved it. The local music scene in the early ’80s was pub based. You had this circuit of big drinking venues with some wonderful live bands. These formed the basis of what record companies were signing; they had a built up fan base and because with the constant touring they were very very good.

Midnight Oil, INXS, The Angels, Australian Crawl, Mi-Sex, Dragon, The Church, just to name a few.

The industry in Australia was (and is) a mature and vibrant one. Strong radio, a press that sees pop music and artists as good copy, a wealth of talent and a TV industry that makes world class TV, be it music or drama.

At the end of 1982 you returned to NZ for family reasons, working in radio and later TV. Why was that?

I went to radio because in reality there was not a challenging NZ music job that appealed to me at that time and the task of resurrecting an ailing Radio Hauraki looked exciting. I found my management and music skills from the records days fitted well into radio. After seven years with success at radio, having taken both Radio Hauraki and 89FM to No.1, I was approached by TVNZ to join them.

Whilst I never considered TV as a career move the job they offered me looked extremely interesting, at the time when I wanted a change and once again I found my previous experiences in records and radio a bonus.

The best advice you ever got was...?

When I was advising SKY TV on possible channels and came up with the concept of a lifestyle channel, my wife JT said to me “Let’s do it ourselves.” We did and created The Living Channel and Food TV.

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Extended Play For the extended version go to

www.nzmusician.co.nz EV\Z '&

Maree Thom

On Bass With

Sugar Man the next day and signed up for bass lessons, initially on double bass but pretty soon I found the electric and realised that was my instrument.

I had lessons with Alberto Santarelli in high school and later I attempted to study at jazz school, but it didn’t work for me.

Photo: Trevor Villers

Her name may not be familiar, but Maree Thom spent much of last year touring with Rodriguez, the very famous American singer and songwriter whose extraordinary story was told in the moving film, Searching For Sugar Man. She played bass with the legendary Rodriquez on four consecutive tours that took in NZ, Europe, USA and Australia, the only musician to remain in the same role throughout the year. Returning to NZ in 2014 she has settled in Christchurch, a new city for her and is building her teaching practice, improving her drumming, guitar playing and singing, and practising on the double bass she will be playing in an upcoming season of Phantom of the Opera at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch. Silke Hartung posed the questions.

What were your first music and band experiences?

I grew up on the North Shore in Auckland and played in an accordion orchestra for a couple years from about age 12. I actually played the bass accordion most of the time, there is usually one in each orchestra, and I’ve often wondered if it was that experience that gave me a good grounding in understanding the role of the bass. Around 14 I formed a band with my friends at high school, playing jazz, funk and original compositions. We played gigs around the place and had heaps of fun.

Why did you first pick up the bass and what made you stick with it?

I saw Matt Penman playing the double bass with Tony Hopkins and Greg Tuohey at some stuffy school jazz competition when I was 14. After a day of mind numbing jazz standards those guys really put things in perspective for me about what was possible with their instruments.

I was a trumpet player at the time but I knew straight away that what I was seeing was the direction I wanted to head in. Matt was all over the bass like it was this soft malleable thing he could do whatever he wanted with.

And he gave the bass a voice in the music that I’d not heard before. He had such a massive groove that I was completely mesmerised. I went to school

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Who are some of the important people and bands you’ve worked with before?

There have been so many groups and musicians over the years that have a made a real difference to my musicianship, lots of little projects and many larger ones. Some of my longer standing involvements include: Neil Watson; Cameron Allen; Anthony Donaldson (Po Face, Village of Idiots, and The Flower Orphans); The Dodecahedrons with Jeff Henderson; Tom Callwood; Anthony Donaldson; Johnie Marks and John Bell; The Topp Twins; Don McGlashan & The Seven Sisters; The Joy Toys and Jonathan Besser.

I was lucky enough to find two musicians who kept me on my toes in my early 20s, Anthony Donaldson (drums) and Jeff Henderson (saxophones). Anthony woke me up to a whole lot of music I would never have known about and he allowed me to take my time and feel my way back into bass playing after a serious injury. This lead me to figure out a way to play the bass that was useful to a group and also satisfying personally, and has become my own way of playing that’s sustainable for me. I am eternally grateful to Anthony for his gentle approach with me, allowing me to find my own unique expression on the bass while contributing to his projects over the years. I probably wouldn’t have a music career if it wasn’t for him.

Jeff Henderson was the first person to push me so hard intellectually that I would come home after a jam session exhausted. Playing with him made me realise a greater depth of musical communication was possible through my instrument and I remember thanking the universe that I’d stumbled upon him and the musical collective he led in Wellington know in those days as The Space – later Happy.

Chris O’Connor (drums) is another musician I’ve learned a lot from over the years, as well as Don McGlashan of course. Working with The Seven Sisters taught me about recording and what it’s like to develop a pop song into something really great.

Let’s cut to the moneyshot, Rodriguez! How did that series of tours come about?

We met on his first visit to NZ (2013) when The Seven Sisters (Don McGlashan’s band) were asked to back Rodriguez for a couple of shows here. The next year he asked me to join his European tour with guitarist Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry, Detroit) and Sebastian Beresford (Leftfield, Arkana) on drums, then the US tour with guitarist Ed Coonagh (The Resistors) as well as Beresford again, and later Australia with Kiwi guitarist Brett Adams (The Bads) and Australian drummer Pete Wilkins (Blue King Brown).

Every band was great and really different. Rodriguez loves mixing it up and finding new areas to explore in the music. It was a real treat for me to play with such great guitarists after a few years of not playing a lot of rock.

Each guy had his own style and put a different energy into the sound.

Matt Smith blew my head off every night with these incredible guitar solos that bent the hell out of Rodriguez’ music and for me just made the experience unforgettable. Each time the guy took a solo I’d be listening like crazy to catch everything, he is such a beautiful player and so ‘out’ musically. I loved that band. Matthew lives in the same neighbourhood as Rodriguez in Detroit, they’ve been close for many years.

Ed Coonagh has been playing for Rodriguez alongside Sebastian Beresford for about 10 years. He has a really fantastic handle on these beautiful tunes and worked with me a bit to get the arrangements happening in the US. Before Christmas last year we went out with the Australasian band and that was a whole lot of fun. Brett Adams is a force of nature I would say, he brought a warmth and an edge to Rodriguez’ music that I

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really appreciated. The guy is what I describe as a ‘gifted’ musician. He doesn’t just play a guitar solo, what I hear and feel is someone channeling music from another place. I had goosebumps all the time when he’d take solos and lead breaks on that tour. I was lucky to play with him and Pete, also a fantastic musician and extremely musical drummer, it was a special trio somehow.

Did you see Searching For Sugar Man before you knew this was going to happen?

No, but I saw it a day or two later and was suitably blown away.

Rodriguez likes to use a different band in each country he visits, but you got to stay in the band and travel along. Can you speculate why?

I got lucky is one way of putting it. Another is that I’m very good at what I do and I do a good job for him. He’s into women’s rights and was encouraging of me from the moment we met, so maybe it’s got something to do with being a female as well. There is no difference once the band starts playing though, we’re all in it together – it doesn’t mean anything that I’m female, you’re either holding your end up or you’re not. I’d like to think that I’ve stayed with him because we connect musically.

Can you share a story from one of the tours?

One day I woke up on the bus, headed to Poland, and the guys in the band were giving me real strange looks and shaking their heads as I made coffee... eventually the tour manager says, “Maree, you’re not gonna like this but... Rodriguez

wants a keyboard player for the gigs in Poland.

They’ve put an ad in the paper and you guys will be holding auditions when we get there.”

So we drive to the gig thinking we’re gonna have to hear a hundred keyboard players belting out To Whom It May Concern until our ears are bleeding. We turn up and one guy is there with an electric keyboard, another arrives half an hour later with a Hammond and Leslie.

Neither of them know who they're auditioning for as the ad had simply said, ‘Keyboard Player Wanted Fri, Sat, Sun’, and neither guy had ever heard of Rodriguez.

Turns out the man (Rodriguez) loved them both so much he couldn’t choose between them – so we had two additional band members for those gigs, playing to a packed audience, neither guy knowing the tunes let alone arrangements. And naturally, on gigs like those, the audience loved it! Go figure.

How would you describe your style of playing?

I’m a groove player, I lay down big fat grooves.

How do you promote yourself?

By playing every gig like my life depends on it. The session work I’ve done has come via word of mouth and that just means being around doing what you do, hopefully to a very high standard.

What music are you into personally?

Rock and Improvised music. I don’t give much time to pop music, I’m still checking out and trying to catch up on 20th Century

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music. Occasionally I’ll hear something through a friend or my boyfriend that might be on the radio and I’ll check it out, but my interest is rarely held. I like bands and instrumental music, the more left of field the better. I write stuff on the bass and sing. I’m working on new material with a blues harp player, I think it’ll be fairly experimental, possibly involving field recordings from camping trips.

You recently relocated to Christchurch – how come?

It’s about a thousand times more beautiful and relaxed down here than Auckland. The people are absolutely lovely and I can go out walking and camping in the hills anytime I want. It’s just a better place for me to live. I don’t subscribe to the idea that it’s a ‘small pond’ and that’s a negative, if you wanna do something just make it happen!

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In Memorial

Remembering Alan Kingsley Smith 1932 – 2015

Alan Kingsley Smith passed away early February on the Gold Coast, where he and his wife Norma have lived for almost a decade. He was 82. Once the unassuming ‘power couple ’ of the NZ music trade, most of Alan’s working life was spent in musical instrument retail – the 1970s, ’80s and even into the ’90s. He was much loved as a friend and mentor, with a big smile, old time manners and values. NZM asked a few who knew him well if they might care to pay their respects here.

I first met Alan Kingsley Smith as a 13 year old in 1972, hot off the bus on a Friday night to check out all the cool guitars at his small Rutland Street, Auckland store.

In those days it was a big deal to see an American guitar due to import license restrictions, let alone have the opportunity to play one. Alan and his assistant Mike Thorn tirelessly allowed a number of wannabe musos to hang around the store and be a nuisance until closing time at 9pm.

He always had a number of second hand instruments for sale. On one occasion I remember him offering me my choice of one of three L Series Strats he had in stock for around $300. Of course at that time we didn’t realise how these guitars would appreciate in value and I remember saying I would wait until I could afford a new one. These days those three guitars would have a value in excess of $40,000!

By 1976 I was playing pro in a band called Riff Raff, still shopping at Kingsley Smith Music when my friend Bill Lattimer (Bungalow Bill) who was head salesman at the store, now bigger and based in Customs St., announced he was heading to England and would I like to be his replacement?

Of course I jumped at the offer and spent the next few years at the coalface with Alan and his apprentice Sean Murphy selling guitars during the day and playing till 3am six nights a week! During that time Alan taught me to become a proficient vacuum cleaner operator, autoharp string changer, instrument polisher, how to close sales, treat customers with respect and honesty, and stay ahead of the changing trends in our industry.

I have many great memories of working with Alan, eating lunch out the back of the shop and watching him repair brass instruments and reminisce about his playing days – always letting me take off early and being kind and generous to all he met.

In the early 1980s Alan and his wife Norma set up a successful music wholesale company called Custom Music, and on my return from England Alan offered me a job as their sales rep, which led to the career path I find myself in to this day.

I have met a number of people in the music industry over many years but without doubt Alan Kingsley Smith helped write the book for me, and I owe him for the chance he gave me and the support he offered over the years. I will miss him.

Rob Magnus Hawkes Bay Agencies

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My first meeting of Alan Kingsley Smith was in 1973 when my father asked me to take him some Gretsch guitars to look at in his music store in Rutland St., Auckland city. He struck me then, as always, a smiling, quietly spoken, friendly guy with a ready laugh and a good sense of humour – and very well liked by his customers.

He hopped around different shops in Auckland city but his biggest and most successful shop was later in the 1970s in Customs St. near Britomart.

I remember going in there on the occasional Friday night when the racket and noise going on would be deafening as 20-30 guys would all be jamming at once on electric guitars, basses, keyboards and drums, all getting turned up louder and louder with everyone trying to be heard above the next guy.

It was totally out of control and Alan would sit cowering at his desk with his head in his hands.

Absolute mayhem with Alan being too polite to shut them up!

In 2000 we purchased Custom Music, the distribution side of their business, from Norma and Alan and it was a pleasure to deal with them.

Norma worked on with us for several years before her and Alan moved to the Gold Coast to “warm their aging bones” as son Michael (who still works with us) put it.

Roger Smith South Pacific Music My first introduction to Alan was when his shop was in Customs Street. I clearly remember his quiet courtesy and friendliness, his listening politely to my spiel about Martin strings and guitars (even though his allegiances were elsewhere…), and his willingness to be supportive because, I suspected, he didn’t want me leaving without an order…

Those were the days! Relationships were more important to him than figures. He was a true gentleman in every way, so very well respected by musicians and by the music trade in general, so knowledgeable yet so unassuming.

He will be greatly missed.

Lyn McAllister In 1983 the Wellington Music store that I worked for was in the final death throes, and Alan asked me if I could manage their embryonic local store at 32 Manners St. This was the start of import de-regulation and Kingsley Smith was a tiny cornucopia of stuff that previously we could only dream of.

I took over management and we entered a wonderful period of rapid expansion and the honour of becoming the hip store in town. After a year or so of growth we moved the operation into Manners Mall.

Alan was a benign soul, however this mild exterior concealed a razor sharp brain. He had the good sense to stand back and let me run the operation, which I did until it became obvious that it was time for me to cut the strings and start my own operation, The Kiwi Music Company.

Rest in peace Al – you were an inspiration and a big part of my life in the music business.

Dave Berry

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It was the ’70s when I got a phone call that changed my life in NZ, an offer of a job at Kingsley Smith Music Store, the coolest shop in the city. My dream job.

I worked for Alan Kingsley Smith from 1975 - 1986 on and off. Alan was not just my boss, he also became my friend, mentor (and if we were still in the ’70s‚ my guru). He had a wicked sense of humour but never at anyone’s expense.

Al was one of the greatest guys in the music business, he ran Kingsley’s with humour, kindness and morals. He liked to laugh, we both did, as did his lovely wife Norma. Rob, Nigel and I all feel that we were the luckiest guys in Auckland to have worked with and known Alan Kingsley Smith, a wonderful, wonderful man. You will be greatly missed.

Bill Lattimer Bungalow Bill Like a number other musicians, I was fortunate enough to have been employed by Alan and worked at Kingsley Smith Music in Customs St. for a good part of the ’80s.

I turned up on his doorstep one morning in 1982, having been recently made redundant at an instrument importers, and on hearing my tale of woe Al asked if I could start tomorrow. I couldn’t believe my luck as his shop was pretty much ‘the’ destination music store in Auckland at the time.

Probably the most rock’n’roll shop of the time.

There was no pressure to sell, or budget to chase, we were pretty much allowed to play to our strengths and interests. In my case, synths and electronic instruments which were very hot at the time.

His act of kindness to me, I discovered, was typical of the man who took everyone pretty much as he found them, whether it was the old homeless guy we called Jimmy who would come in every couple of days to strum and talk to the guitars, or Lou Reed buying a packet of strings.

Nothing really phased him and I don’t recall him ever losing his cool.

Toward the end of the ’80s the retail landscape began to change and I moved on to the supplier side of the market, where I have remained to this day. The lessons I learned, both in business ethics and human nature have shaped my dealings ever since and for this, I am eternally grateful. Rest in peace Al. Nigel Russell Oceania Audio Sales

Alan Brown

For followers of New Zealand jazz the name Alan Brown is not unfamiliar. Known from a myriad of quality live and recording projects over the years (Blue Train, The Grand Central Band, Alan Brown Trio), as well as tutoring at MAINZ, it’s interesting that this Hammond organ aficionado has now – after decades of work within bands – begun his foray into solo albums. Sam Carswell talked with him about ‘Silent Observer’ and the sound of space within the room.

Music Within The Silence I t’s not just that this is what might be termed as his debut solo work that makes Alan Brown’s upcoming record notable, but also his fairly dramatic departure from a genre he’s become renowned for.

‘Silent Observer’, deemed by Brown as being “a return to my earliest loves”, eschews the more conventional jazz/funk colours of his previous work in favour of ambient textures.

“The only way it’s jazz is, I guess, it’s improvised. Even harmonically, I kept it very, very simple. Very straight forward. Because I wanted that sort of ambience.”

Interestingly, the genesis for this change of direction came from Brown’s own studies.

“Part of teaching at MAINZ is that it’s a requirement for you to be currently researching.

I’ve always wanted to explore this idea more, and this was the opportunity to do it.”

Recorded in the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber by Paul Streekstra and Chanelle Keoghan, the dozen tracks of ‘Silent Observer’ are piano improvisations, with the intent of reflecting the environment they were recorded in.

“I was trying to be informed by the sound and the atmosphere, and the actual ambience of the space, so that what I was hearing back was what I would respond to.”

To add to the research, the frequency response of the Concert Chamber was also measured by Dr John Basset.

“I want to compare the results to what I was playing, analyse the frequency of certain keys or notes, and see if there’s some sort of correlation to what I played. Maybe the hall has an actual tuning about it, which highlights certain frequencies. From that research, you could, hypothetically, produce (or select) compositions to play that could be enhanced by the space.”

Incorporating this into improvisation was an unfamiliar process initially.

“I started to play the piano there and listened to the notes in terms of the reverberation of the hall. Certain things, to me, sang a bit more than

others – certain notes or certain frequencies would actually hit a sweet spot. It was just trying to find how I could use the sound of those notes and then developing an idea or direction from there.”

The result is, to some degree, what you would expect, given the method employed.

The album sounds spacious and resonant, and the ambiences of the hall ring clear within the music. The space Brown leaves in his improvisation gives him an opportunity to respond to the atmosphere, but also creates an atmosphere within itself. Thus listeners find themselves placed in an intriguing position where they’re able to focus both on the mood created by the relationship between the space and instrumentalist, and also on the dynamics of the relationship between instrumentalist and space. In the simplest terms, this album uses the space quite literally as an instrument.

Noteworthy for an album that might have been easily labelled as ‘free jazz’, the structure of each piece plays a very central role. Many of the tracks rise and fall in intensity in a very natural way.

“Wanting it to be very stripped back, and not wanting it to be as free, I guess I relied on coming up with an idea and seeing how I could work with that idea... I didn’t want the tracks to just be meanderings. I wanted to develop some kind of form or structure.”

Throughout our conversation Brown talks about making music that can be both ignored and focused on with great intent. A large part of this stems from the use of structure within the improvisations. He uses his knowledge of convention to develop abstract musical ideas in a more traditional way. Through structure, we find a familiarity in what can seem like a very unfamiliar environment.

This dichotomy, combined with the space in Brown’s playing, emphasises

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the listeners’ focus. They can tune in to the ideas, or the way they are being developed, or the sound of the space, or the timbre of the instrument and backing synthesisers/samples, as well as a plethora of other subtleties that Brown’s low-key improvisations bring to the forefront of the listening experience. To an extent, the music highlights that the listener has as much freedom as the improviser. It can become backing music to the mundane bits and pieces of one’s life, in the same way as it can be listened to studiously.

There’s a subtle sense of freedom to Alan Brown’s new direction, freedom born from structure and convention, as much as improvisation. A measured, calculated sense – to the point of taking frequency response into consideration – but simultaneously, a highly emotive and natural sense. Brown’s music has taken acute turns over an expansive career, but as our conversation wraps up, it’s easy to get the sense that this latest direction has the potential to be his most thoughtful and interesting.

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Peak Performance Part Six: Last-Minute Emergencies

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ver the past five NZM issues I’ve taken you step-by-step through the hands-on process of nightclub gigging – from transport to soundcheck, changeovers to set order, and even stage etiquette. I’ve outlined how to deal with most situations, and what should happen when things go right. But they seldom do, which is why the last item in our Peak Performance series deals with when things go wrong. Not that you should be a pessimist – but rather, you need to expect that part of your job as a performer is dealing with emergency situations. No matter what happens, the show must go on.

Technical Emergencies & Emergency Kits The most obvious, easiest thing you can do to prepare for the unexpected is to anticipate it. The basis of everyone’s emergency kit should be a charged cellphone, some spare cash and a relative level of sobriety. Those three things may get you out of the worst situations immediately.

Add to that a dependable set of procedures such as I’ve laid out for you in the first few articles of this series; reliable transport, safe storage of instruments, and so on.

set up and teardown for their kits is already pretty involved. Nevertheless, extra snare head, another drum key and many spare sticks are a given. A bag of hardware is useful when the vibration from playing causes things to fall off – wingnuts, bolts, cymbal sleeves, felts, pedal springs and beaters, etc. And of course, a patch kit is essential for emergencies, along with a roll of gaffer tape.

Logistical Emergencies Every gigging situation has its own unique set of variables. There may be no other way of safely getting your gear in the venue other than to cart it several blocks or risk a parking ticket. You may realise on the day that you haven’t planned how certain band members or their gear is going to arrive.

Obviously, this is a topic so messy that there’s no way to cover any specific problems, the only thing you can do is to prepare. For logistical band emergencies this involves three steps. The first is to think individually. Each band member should be preparing as much as they can to handle their own personal business in relationship to the gig. Each of you should have

The only road map is a sense that develops over time of what upcoming crisis needs management.

Sometimes that sense of what to expect is the only insurance a professional musician can rely on.

After these universal safeguards come each player’s instrument. Guitarists should have at least two complete sets of strings at all times, and perhaps even one or two extra 1st or 6th strings, depending on how your strings last and playing style. Add to this extra picks and a backup for any other device you may use, like a capo or slide. Build a basic repair kit with a screwdriver, string winder and wire cutters. You might also throw in a tuner and your own direct box. Bass guitarists may only need one extra set of strings, but everything else is essential.

Then there are the externals like effects boxes, amps, and cables. It’s not reasonable to carry a backup cable for every single box on your pedal board but you should have at least a few extra shorter effects cables, spare instrument leads and a backup amp-to-speaker lead. Spare fuses, tubes and batteries should also go into your emergency kit for each one of your devices that needs them. Throw in an extra jug lead while you’re at it, because they break down more often than you might expect.

Drummers usually have this sorted, as

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your own checklist, with things like: “How am I getting to the gig? Do I know how we’re going to deal with changeovers as the middle act?” and so on.

The more that people personally take responsibility for the logistics of an event, the easier it is to implement the second step, thinking collectively. Once you can count on everyone to have thought ahead to sort what they can on their own, then you can come together to solve those problems that only a group can solve. Sometimes it takes several heads put together to anticipate a problem, not to mention think up a range of possible solutions.

The third step is what develops after a series of performances – learning from experience.

In some ways, the whole business of popular music is a constant emergency, because there’s no set way of doing anything, everything is ready to come apart at any time. A manager spends more time putting out fires, tying down loose ends, and building bridges over huge pits in the road up ahead, than they ever spend

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in booking gigs. The only road map is a sense that develops over time of what upcoming crisis needs management. Sometimes that sense of what to expect is the only insurance a professional musician can rely on.

Personnel Emergencies These are the hardest to do anything about.

Almost nothing can be done to save a gig if your drummer breaks a leg getting out of the van or if your keyboardist walks off in a huff during the middle of a set. A situation that takes a (non-replaceable) band member out of the mix is usually best dealt with by cancelling the appearance with as much grace as you can. If the band can perform an impromptu gig as a smaller act without the missing member, then you may add a certain spontaneity to your appeal.

The most common personnel emergency is conflicted personal feelings. We’re all human, and we all perceive and imagine things differently. Sometimes the tension around performing brings many contrary emotions to the surface in a way that puts members at odds with each other and threatens to stop a gig before it starts.

Sometimes, the only thing that really helps is to listen. If someone has been holding onto a grudge for months and just has to air it before soundcheck, then you may just have to let them get it off their chest. It might even help the band move forward over a crisis that some members didn’t even know existed.

After hearing people’s grievances, the best response for the gig’s sake isn’t to argue or challenge, even if some of the statements were hurtful. If you feel that the band can still move forward from that personal crisis and have a successful gig on the night, then it pays to be supportive, and for the moment accepting of your bandmate’s feelings. Remind everyone of the responsibility that’s been taken on by booking the gig, the followers who are gathering in the audience, and the opportunity that awaits by following through. Remember that the noblest part of us is the ability to get past our grievances and mutually face the challenges ahead with optimism and courage.

Then get on that stage and give it everything you’ve got.

Thomas Goss is a producer, band coach, and composer/orchestrator with an international clientele that includes Billy Ocean, Melanie C, and Canadian jazz star Nikki Yanofsky. He is Education Composer-In-Residence for Orchestra Wellington, and his online orchestration course is available from macProVideo.

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Photo: Milana RadojÄ?ić

Ophelia

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Alex Wilson and Patrick Shanahan have been prolific in their short time together – producing a debut EP ‘Face of the Sea’ barely a year after establishing themselves as Ophelia. The pair hope their soon to-be-released sophomore EP ‘Invisible’ will reflect the musical journey they have made since and, as they tell Maddie McIntyre, expect it to reveal a darker, more mature side to their music, whilst maintaining the catchy dance rhythms of their earlier release.

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ou know‌ I had never really even listened to dubstep before we got together and started experimenting‌ but I think that’s why we enjoyed it so much, it was just so different from anything either of us had done before,â€? Patrick Shanahan, Ophelia’s composer/producer, muses. “Is what we do even dubstep? I don’t know,â€? he laughs.

If you like to organise your CD/vinyl/cassette/mp3 collection by genre then Ophelia are going to do your head in. (Unless you already have a folk-dubstep-orchestral category – in which case I recommend your friends and family mount an intervention immediately.)

Auckland-based singer/songwriter Alex Wilson and Patrick Shanahan comprise the two halves of Ophelia’s weird and wonderful whole, and have been unassumingly developing a repertoire of exciting dance tracks since they met in late 2012. Ophelia combines Wilson’s passionate, folk-inspired lyrics with Shanahan’s polished production and composition skills. The duo have worked hard over the last two and a half years and now look forward to the March release of their second EP, ‘Invisible’.

The pair met through Patrick’s friendship with Alex’s brother. After hearing some of Alex’s original indie folk compositions on YouTube,

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Patrick got in touch with her and Ophelia was soon born. “Originally we just got together to explore my folk stuff,� Alex explains. “But we quickly got bored of that and decided to move on to co-writing some songs and exploring different soundscapes.

Eventually we ended up with this crazy sound that was quite dubstep-ey.�

Alex’s early musical career in folk music explains the unique structure of Ophelia’s songs, though the young songwriter is quick to mark the differences. “I’m writing on very different instruments now from my folk days.�

Despite the majority of their releases being beat/bass-heavy, EDM tracks, the lyrics stand out from traditional pop or electronic tropes by maintaining that thoughtful, conversational style loved by the folk music community. Odd as the combination may seem on paper, Ophelia brings together the best components of folk, electronica, blues, dubstep and even orchestral classical music to produce an organic, exciting new sound that could just be the next big thing.

The name is a literary reference to the tragic heroine in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and reflects the pair’s desire to create a lasting and other-worldly impression on listeners.

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“We also want to work more on writing with the Australian company Alberts – “After her death, [Ophelia’s] significance and performing simultaneously. Up until so we might head over to Sydney to do explodes onto the consciousness of the other now we’ve kept the two very separate, with some collaboration with some of the other characters,” Shanahan explains, “leaving all new material kept under wraps until the musicians on their books.” behind her an eerie wake, mysterious and EP has been released. somehow indelible.”

We’re hoping to make Such arresting imagery is appropriately “After her death, Ophelia’s significance explodes it a more organic process of writing and reflected in Wilson’s onto the consciousness of the other characters, performing and then dark, unpredictable recording if lyrics and haunting, leaving behind her an eerie wake, mysterious and maybe it does well in a live multi-layered vocals.

‘Invisible’ is the name somehow indelible.” – Patrick Shanahan setting for our future projects.” of their upcoming EP In the meantime, due out in March. They with festival discussions underway and the Wilson is excited at the prospect of further hope it reflects the musical journey they release of two new videos as well as the EP developing their live performance. have made since ‘Face of the Sea’ and will to look forward to, the pair have their hands “We used to have essentially a third reveal a darker, more mature side to their full managing an ever-growing social media member who was a VJ who did live projection music, whilst maintaining the catchy dance fanbase while working on new material. mapping. He moved to Japan, so we are rhythms of their earlier work. trying to find a new VJ to create a really Having produced their debut EP barely a exciting, interesting live show. year after starting to play together, ‘Invisible’ lllYSUG9MJ"Y3SYPp is the product of many months of hard-work and long studio hours.

Recorded across a total of four different studios, ‘Invisible’ has been crafted and shaped by many talented members of the local music industry – with contributions made by guitarist Fabian Aravales, Jordan Stone from Roundhead and Ben Feggans from Sydney’s Studio 301.

“Everything starts off in my home studio,” Shanahan explains. “We begin the recording process here, and then for this record we actually went to Depot Sound in Devonport to cut some trial tracks, and then finally finished up recording the majority of the instrumentation and vocals over at Roundhead Studios. That’s also where we mixed the record.”

Despite the majority of the new EP being recorded using software instruments – in particular a drum machine – both members of Ophelia were appreciative of the opportunity to use the professional studios’ high-quality instruments and recording facilities, not to mention the invaluable mentoring and advice provided by the engineers.

“The Roundhead experience was great for us,” he says, “… just the sheer quality of gear was incredible. We worked with Jordan Stone over there, and he just added so much to the EP. It was great to bounce production ideas off somebody so experienced and he really made a lot of our songs come to life.”

Eden, the first single off the five track (plus a remix) EP, was released on iTunes back in September. Wilson wrote the song with the intention of catching the indescribable feeling she experiences climbing up Mt Eden and looking down on the city below. Close friend and film-maker Chris Williams came up with the concept and made the psychedelic animated music video that accompanies the single, and is the mastermind behind music videos of two more tracks from the new release.

Ophelia are very focused on the future and what their next move will be once the EP is out. Shanahan hints at a tilt across the Tasman being on the cards.

“We recently signed a publishing deal

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Celtic Connections Winter Festival, January 23-26, 2015

While most will have heard of WOMEX and the Australian version AWME, it turns out that there is a similar cultural music event that takes place annually in Glasgow – deep in the Scottish winter. This January Aotearoa was a focus country for the Celtic Connections Winter Festival, with a contingent of NZ performers arranged by the British Council to travel and perform there. The eclectic collection of artists included Trinity Roots, Waiora, Louis Baker, Thomas Oliver and Tiny Ruins.

NZM asked the delightfully obliging Maisey Rika if she could tell us the Scottish happs. Here’s her account‌ Heading to the chills of the northern winter Maisey and her crew sensibly started their own journey with a trip to Hawaii.

Hawaii – January 12-21 It was such an amazing experience in Hawaii, everywhere we went we were treated with the utmost respect, welcomed with open arms. I left with such amazing treasured memories. The Manoa University whÄ nau in Oahu put on a pohiri and kai for us then performed a theatre piece all in the Hawaiian language. It was something else watching their legends and history come back to life on stage through their beautiful customs of chants and hula.

When we hit Maui we were stunned to see the airport police security waiting for us to land so they could escort us out to where a whole halau, or group of women, were waiting to pohiri us with a traditional hula song and dance into Maui. Afterwards we were taken into the hills where there was another pohiri performed for us, I ran out of neck space for the leis, lol.

On the big Island in Kona, we were invited to a school fighting for their mountain in Waimea. Big corporations are wanting to build huge sonic machines and devices on it. The people know the balance of their mountain and its surrounding environment, thus its people, will heavily pay the price. I found myself willing, thinking and praying just asking – if there are any taniwha or spiritual guardians I have acquired in any of my travels, that some stay to help our Hawaiian cousins fight the fight for their precious Mauna Kea. The shows were lovely, sell outs on each island. Everything flowed. I think it’s because of that respect and honour they showed us, we felt so at ease and grateful we just wanted to give it our best, our everything for them. It was a spiritually moving experience from the day we first set foot to the day we left. Even the kaitiaki were coming out to play. We saw the humpback whales, the deep sea turtles and exotic birds everywhere we went – it was absolutely wonderful. It was meeting the people, hearing their stories, having them listen to ours, singing and performing for each other, honouring each other so openly with dignity and respect – that was the real reason we went there I think, the shows were an excuse.

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Hawaii to Scotland – Wednesday 22 January It’s snowing out, OMG such a contrast to Hawaii, but beautiful none the less. Settling into our hotel in Glasgow I’m shaking with fatigue and excitement as we have been in the air and in transit from Hawaii since early Monday. Ever since I first picked up and read the books to my all time favourite series, Outlander, which is based here in Scotland, I’ve wanted to come and experience this unique historical beautiful place. The Scottish people have come through similar grievances as my own people, with oppression of their language, banning the wearing of their tÄ onga the tartan, the land wars, the stolen generations thus the recovering, the reclaiming and the redeeming of what is rightfully theirs.

Glasgow – Thursday 23 January We’ll be playing at the Tron Theatre Friday night, then again at the Aotearoa NZ Showcase reception Saturday afternoon at the Glasgow Art Club, then we’ll be having our last show at the St Andrews Cathedral in the square, Sunday night. Can’t wait to catch up with and listen to all of our own Aotearoa acts and friends – Trinity Roots, Waiora, Louis Baker, Tiny Ruins, Thomas Oliver and co!‌ Just finished our first rehearsal for the shows, random-as how we got a rehearsal space too I must add. JJ and Seth found a cafe around the corner from us and what do you know? There’s a piano set up, a music store built in and rooms down below with amps and such, thankyou Lord.

Tired again, I just can’t seem to shake this jetlag. Dunno if it’s from the timing difference of Hawaii, the plane rides or the cold outside? Time to naninap, then a meeting about the shows with Aunty Emere. Going to see the brothers in Waiora and Louis play tonight‌ Waiora were so beautiful tonight, while watching and listening I felt so happy and proud! Louis was inspirational too, beautiful to watch how far he has come.

Rura is a real deal Celtic Scottish band with bagpipes, guitars, violins and this choice drum beat contraption! They gave what I wanted and so much more of the Scottish music and culture I longed to hear and experience. This festival thus far has absolutely blown my mind just so inspiring and amazing. I’m so grateful. I guess the one thing I’m missing – karekau he kilts (no sign of any kilts!) lol.

Trinity Roots, Warren e hoa, I had to check and bring myself back into alignment after your show. Inspirational e hoa. So different to Rura

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with their violins, guitars and bagpipes and your drum and bass sound. Such a welcoming contrast to each other, like earth and sky, but in your uniqueness comes your beauty.

Glasgow – Friday 24 January Feeling optimistic about today. The plan is breakfast then head off to run our set from top to bottom a few times at our new found rehearsal space haven before resting up for soundcheck at 4.30 this arvo. Because the venue is a bit of a drive I’ve made the call to stay from soundcheck onwards.

The Tron is a theatre, warm, nice and intimate.

We also just found out from our meeting with aunty Emere that we now have another extra late night show at the Royal Concert Hall.

11.30pm, so a couple of hours after our first show finishing at 8.45pm. It’s only a 20 minute set so will think about it once we’ve done our main show.

I only get really nervous if I don’t know what I’m doing. The boys and I have practised hard. We even had actual practice gigs for our Scotland set in front of audiences back home just to get us ready and to seal the deal. One of the practice gigs was at Vector Arena. I had the honour of being asked to open for John Legend and picked Seth and Rob because I wanted to run our show for Scotland, it gave us the ammo we needed to tighten up. Then there was the Lantern Festival show in Opotiki – if you can get up in front of your own you can get up anywhere.

We had our full day and night numerous weekend rehearsals, plus our two days rehearsing here in Scotland, so things should go smooth. Why then can’t I shake this feeling of inadequacy? Hmmm...

It’s funny looking at myself from a ‘selling’ point of view, trying to impress potential ‘buyers’ at every opportunity to hopefully be invited to their respective countries for festivals.

I just love doing music and do what I do in the hope people whom are meant to connect, connect. I would hope people just relax into the music and just let it be, rather than sit there cross armed with knitted brows analysing comparing and finding faults. I ask myself, ‘Why am I here?’ I took my concerns to Rob, he said, “... the kaupapa and wairua of your waiata will lead you to where you need to go...” Well if that side of things is sorted and the practice side of things is sorted then I take comfort. I guess all that is left to do is get up there and do it!…

The show went well, a full theatre, nice and intimate setting. The soundies were awesome, they had us set up exactly how we rehearsed and also had the exact piano Seth has at

home. They didn’t rush us and we were happy with the sound. We had a small dressing room so I politely excused myself so that the boys could have showers and such and found a room with couches to sleep some more of this jetlag off.

When I woke up the boys were all around ‘out the moki’ as well, lol.

We had our karakia then lived and breathed every word and melody. After a late dinner we hightailed it back over to the Royal Concert Hall for our late night show. We were ushered straight onto the stage to set up line check, then perform.

No time to get nervous or even think about anything else bar our songs. It was great fun. I did a couple of my songs, swung the poi, pulled a few actions and then before we knew it, it was all over. Proud of the boys very professional attitude. Our liaison didn’t get back to us on time so we just got ourselves to shows by taxi so we weren’t late on others’ account. Although the boys had no sleep they clicked into gear and were respectful, clear and gave it heaps on stage. That’s all you can ask for isn’t it? Oh and they also looked the part as well. I didn’t even have to say a thing, they just knew!

Glasgow – Saturday 25 January We have the Aotearoa New Zealand showcase this afternoon. Each group from NZ is to do two songs as a part of the showcase. Every year there is a country of focus for the Celtic Connections Winter Festival and this year it is NZ. It’s only just dawned on me the significance and honour this is for us, and for our country to hold this. We are first up for soundcheck at 9am, and last on this afternoon…

Well got to soundcheck early and weren’t checked till 10am. By then the others had turned up and the pressure was starting to show in the actions and words of the soundy, it comes with the territory. I had to give a li’l of the ‘death stare’ to stop the soundy from rushing us. The way I see it, we’d travelled far and just wanted to get it right for us, for our country, for this great honour – and we were on time.

Beautiful cathedral-like acoustics, perfect for all our music. We had a whakatau/pohiri it was quite different being allowed to be the first voice heard in the proceedings in foreign land but as was explained that is how things are done in Scotland. Horo blew the puuoro

putātara, aunty Emere did the karanga but chanted ‘karanga mai rā’ (call to us) rather then ‘nau mai rā, haere mai’ (we welcome you), Horo did a brief speech of acknowledgement in te reo Māori, then I started Purea Nei (written by Tā Hirini Melbourne). Everyone who knew it joined in and the others stood united in music and blood ties to our land.

The show started and ended with a hiss and a roar, smooth as. Two years of planning came together and flowed, I left feeling even prouder of our contingent representing our beautiful country.

Glasgow – Sunday 26 January Tonight was our last show. We were so overwhelmed by the beauty of the Cathedral of St Andrews. We took our time and let our set breathe. The room was full, the soundy was lovely and so was our koroua stage manager.

He was a mischievous man so we were in fits of laughter most of the time we were on and off stage. It was quite emotional for us tonight I don’t yet know why.

We gave everything we had left and it was such a great way to finish off an amazing tour for the Celtic Connections Festival. The first person to come up to me and present me with a proposed invite for an upcoming festival was from Pakistan. I felt so aroha for him.

At first I flinched, a li’l taken aback, a li’l scared thinking ‘No way!’ Why? I guess it’s because of what we see and are fed from the news and in other forms of media about what is happening with his people in his country. But I’ve thought about it and if that is a place I’m meant to go to then so be it.

New Zealand – Thursday 29 January How grateful am I to have been a part of this beautiful exchanging of cultures through music inspired from all of our own unique lands and cultures. There were many times over there listening to others and singing for others I thought to myself, ‘Yes, I’m exactly where I should be!’ quite a gratifying and satisfying feeling when you find confirmation in what you are doing is right and how ironic it is to find when you are so very far away from anything, everything and everyone that is familiar.

My guess is that it doesn’t really matter how, what, when, why, where and who, so long as you find it ay, so long as you get inspired!

Tapadh leibh! (Gaelic for thank you.)

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Anika Moa – Running

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’ve been lucky enough over the years to accompany Anika Moa on many of her shows and am always taken aback by the heartfelt commitment to honest storytelling she strives to project so purposefully in each of her songs.

When I heard she was again teaming up with Jol Mulholland who had produced 2013’s ‘Anika, Boh, Hollie’ record I was expecting something lyrically and sonically special from them, but nothing as crazy as her first single, Running.

Running is a complete departure from anything she has done before.

Gone are the sweetly strumming acoustics, the country picking electric twangs and the lush string sections from days of old. The very first thing you hear is Jol’s bass and Nick Gaffaney’s drums smashing out an extremely heavy and syncopated rock beat in 6/4 (John Bonham and John Paul Jones would be proud). That is followed by a spartan call and response vocal against sampled/processed vocals from Anika setting the basic harmonic framework of G and F major chords over a pedal G bass line (overall indication of a G mixolydian tonality).

The first verse at measure seven shows off Anika’s characteristically penetratingly husky vocal tone with a decidedly Prince-esque pentatonic G lick, “I could never be the woman that you need�.

Straight away we can guess at the lyrical flavour of the song, lost love, but not the anguished type that requires a minor key to set as a backdrop. No, this breakup song has some decidedly upbeat and positive reflections scattered throughout the unconventional stanzas.

I’m suggesting they are irregular because her arrangement veers away from your usual pop ABABCB form and instead pegs more importance on non-repeated lyric sections such as the verse (only one of them), short interlude-thingy between the two choruses, bridge and outro (which borrows melodic fragments from the verse).

Where choruses generally serve as punctuation to the narrative by distilling the message of the song into catchy sound bites, Anika has chosen to offer a more open-ended story arc to the listener, with a first-person coda to end that, while not apologetic, is at least conciliatory and explains the narrator’s good intentions, rather than reinforcing the mild chiding the second-person choruses had previously administered.

To be specific, unlike most pop songs, only a third of the length of Running is devoted to the unpretentious chorus section, which appears only twice and very close together. In it, Anika uses an accessible descending G mixolydian scale to repeat the word ‘running’ via a nifty syncopating rhythmic cell.

Little sonic embellishment is added to the first chorus other than the hats switching from quavers to semiquavers and the processed vox sample from the intro returning halfway though. Overall the song production leading up to the rock-out bridge section later on is fairly sparse, relying for the most part on calculated groove and spacious atmosphere amplified by the methodical pedal G in the bass underpinning it all, rather than letting strumming guitars and plonking keyboards clutter things up

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texturally. This approach really opens up space in the mix to focus the listener’s ears on Anika’s irresistible vocals.

I find the most interesting compositional device driving this song however is the overlaying of her 4/4 vocal phrasing with the 6/4 rhythm section riff. It may be a subtle thing to some ears but most will definitely hear the natural phrasing of Anika’s lyrics falling within a repeating four beat pulse, which phases in and out of the rhythm section’s six beat riff, providing a nifty sprinkle of tension to the mix.

This polymetric device works because the drum pattern follows (for the most part) the conventional rock feel of alternating kick and snare in a binary arrangement (2+2+2) against the 4/4, rather than the other (asymmetrical 3+3) subdivision of 6/4 which would align less frequently with the pulse of her vocals.

In the score below you can see where the starts of phrases line up every 12 beats

This means conventional 16 beat vocal phrase lengths occur out of sync with the drum and bass riff. This is most obvious at the start of the first chorus where the rhythm section cycle into their riff two beats before the vocal phrase begins. It’s cleverly masked by a subtle switch to sixteenth note hi-hats, which at that particular point feels more like a fill than textural layering.

The ambiguous six and four phrase length-combo continues right up to the bridge where for the first time Anika’s phrasing snaps to the 6/4 grid. It’s a striking point of difference and is coupled with the gradual addition of full spectrum synths, the supplementary harmonic chord Amin plus more adventurous drum fills.

There is also a more urgent sense to the vocal delivery in this section because of the need to squeeze the lyric information into six beats rather than the previous eight beat pattern (2 x 4/4 measures) of Anika’s previous verses and choruses.

This breakout section is immediately followed by the aforementioned coda, or outro, which serves to release the tension of the bridge and guide the listener gently to the end of the song.

Although releasing two singles in her career with the word ‘Running’ in them is a tad confusing, her latest Running is a glorious surprise of a song and testament to Anika Moa’s fearless approach to delivering meaningful narrative without stylistic boundaries.

Godfrey de Grut is a Silver Scroll co-winner with Che Fu, MD of the 2013 Silver Scrolls and was co-artistic director of Coca Cola Christmas in the Park 2015. He is a freelance writer, arranger and producer, lecturing in popular music studies at the University of Auckland. Follow his musical ramblings @ GodfreyDeGrut on Twitter or email godfrey.degrut@gmail.com

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Bad Dad Rocking

Bergerac

Christchurch is home to a number of bands, Into The Void, by way of example, which apparently aspire to little more than a good local reputation and the luxury of longevity. Bergerac is the mould-fitting duo of drummer/multi-instrumentalist Simon Nunn and keyboard player Mike Boulden, for whom a sense of humour takes precedence over any kind of music business. Margaret Gordon well knows the shtick but still couldn’t help herself.

T

he 1900s central city villa is cracked and mouldy. Its six rooms are packed full of musical instruments, recording equipment, computers, books, games and god knows what else. To be honest it’s quite a mess, but the whole place costs under $200 a week so no one’s complaining. This is ‘Crimefront Kilmore’ home and HQ to Christchurch ‘Bad-dad rock’ duo Bergerac, aka Simon Nunn and Mike Boulden.

As they explain, “It’s not in that the music is bad, but the dad himself is bad. He’s a bad dad. It’s a bad dad’s music.” These two joke around constantly and it’s clear that they take very little seriously.

Bergerac’s debut album ‘Freezing’ was released on Bandcamp in December. Not easily compared to, you can hear strains of bands like Ween, Regurgitator and even at times, Joy Division.

In fact Bergerac isn’t really dad rock at all; it’s an eclectic mix of funk, psychedelic, world, folk, rock’n’roll and more. There’s plenty going on. Vocals range from choral to growling, and organs such as Yamaha, Hammond and Lowrey are a big part of the Bergerac sound. The album opener, Footworkers, features duelling Casiotones. Plus there’s samples, funky drumming and the occasional wailing guitar solo. Overall the sound is surprisingly cohesive, and the creative choices pay off, giving it a real musical depth.

The duo started out by recording covers, and to date have produced about 50, one of the first being Mamy Blue, a roomy version of the 1971 hit written by French songwriter Hubert Girau. This track has made it onto the album, along with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Gallows Pole.

“We use their arrangement and I try to mimic Robert Plant’s singing of the sound,” Simon tells me.

Mike quickly jumps in.

“And you end up sounding like Ozzy Osbourne, in a good way.”

“Ah well yeah, I’m a fan of both those men.”

Originally from Wanganui, Simon Nunn has been a stalwart of the Christchurch music scene for nearly 20 years, playing in bands such as SFRQ ’94 winners Kate and the Lemon Tree, The Steffan van Soest Hit Machine, The Undercurrents and the High Tone Destroyers to name a few.

These days he plays drums for corporate gigs to earn a living. He plays almost all the instruments on ‘Freezing’, or as he has it; “I’m reclining in a toga, eating grapes, occasionally flicking a drum or something,” – a classic Bergerac understatement.

Mike Boulden is a relative newcomer. He plays keyboards and is a self-taught sound engineer, learning on the job. It took a lot of skill to make this album but these two seem almost worried that people might find out.

Bergerac have been working on ‘Freezing’ since they formed in 2009.

“Life throws you a lot of curve balls and you’ve gotta deal with them,” Simon explains of the delay. “You might have a baby. You might lose a leg.

You’ve gotta just man up and take it.”

I point out that neither of them has lost a leg, or had a baby, and they even live in the same house.

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Mike dryly responds.

Indeed. Nonetheless, they recently finished the last song for the album and decided the time was right to release it, and since then have received a positive response extending as far as bFM. Bergerac has a tried and true formula for writing songs.

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“You jam, then you listen back to it, get a mix that you’re happy with, take a few loops that you like, build a verse out of the loops, chorus out of the loops and the other bit, explains Simon. “Then you put it all together, loop ’em all up. Then you get a bit drunk maybe, and sort of just sing gibberish over the top, and then go back and attribute words to all the gibberish, and then re-record the vocals that you made from the gibberish… voila!”

The Bergerac name will be familiar to some as it is taken from the ’80s British TV crime show about a detective (Jim Bergerac) who lives on the island of Jersey. “[We chose the name] because the show is about the good feelings that come with ’70s, and early ’80s British programming. It just makes you feel good. It’s amazing. Bergerac is the epitome of that,” says Simon.

“You’ve got Cyrano De Bergerac, you’ve got the psychedelic, the tripped out old guy – people can read whatever they want. But then you look at the logo and it’s obviously ripped straight from the show,” Mike elaborates.

Being a production band, playing live could prove to be a problem, but they have a solution in mind.

“We need to employ a rhythm section and we’ve got a few people shortlisted,” says Simon “They don’t know who they are,” admits Mike.

“I know who they are,” Simon insists.

“They don’t know who they are…”

There are also plans to make a video, as Mike has worked in television post-production for the past 16 years. It will involve filming in their back garden where there once was a mighty stone-fronted building belonging to the Christchurch Theosophical Society.

“Oh man there are some great weeds out the back,” cracks Simon. “It looks like a mini adventure land. Like Siberia out there. A mini Siberia.”

But like all things to do with Bergerac, it might take a while.

“Well cricket is a lot more important. If we’re in the backyard we’re playing cricket, we’re not looking at the f#n weeds.”

Bergerac have big aspirations for their first northern gig.

“We want to play in Auckland at that place with the snow.”

Snowplanet?

“Yeah, in the bar there.”

Again, they’re not serious, but it’s something I’d like to see. In the end the Bergerac philosophy is about good times, as Simon sums up.

“Yeah, I just think everybody should just chill out a bit and enjoy life.

Because we live in a beautiful country, one of the best countries in the world, and you can have a lot of fun. So do that.”

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Taste Nasa With less than a year having passed since Taste Nasa’s debut EP ‘No Questions Asked’ was released, Leroy Clampitt has been all over the place. After moving to the States in May 2014, he has seen the sights touring with Strange Babes, helped produce a radio show which looks at Kiwis living in the States for Kiwi FM, and has spent his time making music day in, day out. With a three-track sophomore EP nearing release, Jesse Austin talks with the man behind the music, Leroy Clampitt.

W

ith the swirling synth chords and groovy bass lines, Taste Nasa’s first EP ‘No Questions Asked’ undoubtedly pays homage to the world of ’80s dance music. After being heavily involved with indie poppers Banglade$h (formerly known as The Good Fun, winners of 2010 Smokefreerockquest), and doing a lot of producing work with rapper Mzwètwo (formerly Loui the Zu), this solo project under the Taste Nasa banner was a new musical direction for Leroy Clampitt.

because every time we are recording, we are recording in my bedroom or in a basement which have lots of pings. In order to get away from the pings you have to record stuff really lightly and we found out that if you record stuff lightly, and turn it up really loud, it sounds really mean.”

And while Clampitt is having many exciting adventures on the other side of the world, he has not forgotten us New Zealanders back home.

A Taste of Pirongia in LA “I’d been messing around with electronic music for a couple of years”, says Clampitt.“I wasn’t super passionate about getting anything out, it was just something I wanted to do for fun, and I wanted to learn about it.”

It wasn’t long before messing around turned into releasing material.

“Connor Nestor was the one who I ended up showing one of my first demos to (Night Guy), and he decided that I would release it and do Red Bull Sound Select under his curation. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if anyone would have heard Night Guy or any of the other songs so far.”

Since being a part of Sound Select little over a year ago, Clampitt has released his first EP under the name Taste Nasa, and left our beautiful country for big adventures over in California. Coincidentally, both of those milestone moments happened on the first of May, 2014.

“I always wanted to move to the US since I was a kid, to be a builder. As I got into music, I decided I would move to Los Angeles as a musician rather than a builder.”

Having just completed his jazz degree at the NZ School of Music, Clampitt had the opportunity to get a graduate’s visa to the States.

“The initial strike to get me over here was because I got invited to play with Strange Babes [led by Sam McCarthy of Kids of 88 and Goodnight Nurse] who were about to go on tour. I was good friends with one of the co-writers [Jaden Parkes] who suggested that I play bass to the other co-writer [McCarthy]... When I moved over to LA, for three weeks we were in pretty intense rehearsals, and then we went on tour for another three weeks.”

When the tour with The Naked and Famous came to an end, Clampitt found more time to work on his own tunes.

“After the tour I didn’t have any co-writing or session work, and I like to do work every day, so all I had to do was write my own music.

The main involvement in the new EP was Sam McCarthy who has been the co-producer/ co-writer/co-mix engineer. Joel Griffin has featured on the tracks as a saxophone player, and Madeline North has featured on tracks on vocals and both are NZ natives.”

When it comes to describing the sound of the new Taste Nasa music, Clampitt settles for ‘soft dance’.

“It’s music that you want to dance to, but only lightly because everything that we record is really soft. If you listen to claps in the music, we are clapping as softly as possible

“I engineer A Kiwi Abroad with Connor Nestor and it’s so awesome to hear conversations with New Zealanders that are over here, and you get to deal with New Zealanders for Kiwi FM, and it’s so nice just having that connection constantly.”

Having talked with the likes of Streets Of Laredo’s Dan (Kingston) and Dave (Elemeno P) Gibson, The Naked And Famous’ Alisa Xayalith and Aaron Short, Jimmy Mac (Lorde) and heaps more, you may be surprised that he still has time to work with other artists.

“I’m working with Madeline North on her EP, and I’m working with the guitarist from Strange Babes on his project, which is kind of world pop. I’ve also been playing guitar on some Mzwètwo stuff. It’s funny though because I don’t play guitar very well, so when he sends something through I’ll get my guitar and play dumb-as solos and stand on my guitar, and everytime he ends up using those parts and it sounds great.”

And while Clampitt is enjoying his time in the States, it is sadly coming to a close for him.

“I’m definitely coming back in June, and I definitely want to be back for at least a month to work on music with a couple of people, but at the same time I am pretty keen to get back over here. I’m just trying to secure a visa, and I’ve kind’a got a way of getting one, but it’s a publishing deal, and I just have to decide if I want to sign it.”

Even though the future is uncertain at the moment for Clampitt, there is plenty planned before he leaves for home in June.

“I’d like to tour the Taste Nasa music before June as America provides such good opportunities for doing so. Hopefully working with an American-based label might help secure that, but if not there’s plenty to keep me busy in the studio/ bedroom/basement!”

While we await the release of the sophomore Taste Nasa EP, we can be sure that it will be just as dazzling as the first. If ‘No Questions Asked’ is anything to go by, I’m sure it will be the healthy kick needed to help spur on an ’80s dance revival.

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DEVILISH MARY AND THE HOLY ROLLERS: Devilish Mary and the Holy Rollers Devilish Mary and the Holy Rollers are a three-piece swing doowop group from Christchurch. Their self-titled album is subtle and melodic, and relaxing in a way that is never dull. Their sound relies on vocal harmonies and thick warm instrumentation, and fans of Django Reinhardt might hear something familiar in the guitar here and there. Anita Clark provides vocals and violin, Ben Woolley vocals and double bass and Simon Gregory guitar, but the album features a whole host of guests who contribute percussion, brass, vocals and strings, adding to the lush period sound the Holy Rollers have. The album was recorded and mixed by Ben Edwards at the Sitting Room Studios in Lyttelton, with production by Edwards and the band, and mastering by Ben Delaney. The production is polished, but not so slick that it eliminates the character or the warmth – the result has a handmade, analogue feel that harks back to balladeers and crooners. That old-fashioned style is reinforced by decisions like covering the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople), originally recorded by The Four Lads in 1953. This is a good indicator of the styles and genres that Mary and her Rollers are mining.

The album feels old, but that’s not a criticism. In the same way that villas are nicer than modern apartments there’s a sense of class and substance to the music, and a lasting appeal.

You could dance to these songs today, or 50 years ago, or tomorrow, and they’ll be just as enjoyable and heart-warming. s %DDIE $AWN -C#URDY

%92%4/. (!,, &EATHERSTITCH The lilting sounds of art-folk duo Eyreton Hall evolved from both sides of the Tasman, Australian Andrew Keegan meeting Cantabrian Toni Randall in Sydney while studying jazz. Initially performing as The Portraits before moving to back to Auckland via Christchurch, they took the name Eyreton Hall from where they recorded most tracks. At front and centre of Eyreton Hall’s sound are Randall’s gorgeous, crystal-clear vocals, effortless and fluid at once. This is best exemplified on the absolutely beautiful Loveless, which reminds me of Bic Runga’s phrasing and textures. Eyreton Hall slip effortlessly from folk to pop, to singer/songwriter confessionals throughout ‘Featherstitch’ – courtesy of Randall’s vocals, their knack for writing graceful songs and the considerable musical talents of their band. The traces of jazz in the slow, bluesy And So It Goes, and the lilting Bellbird are both natural and unexpected at once. It’s accomplished, and flawless, though I’m struggling to get a sense of Eyreton Hall’s true self. There are glimpses, then I’m distracted again by the sounds of their influences. Whatever, their music is often sublime and why not sound like the music you admire? s !MANDA -ILLS

4/ 4(% ")2$3 .OVEMBER -ETEORS With the increasing amount of ready technology that surrounds us it’s not often that you find someone who takes a step back to earlier years. Andrew Beszant has done just that with ‘November Meteors’, making the decision to record and mix to tape in Auckland’s Earwig Studios. While the album begins with dash of indie pop on Lucky Penny, the whole feel tends to be centred towards folk. Bearing this in mind, Beszant does not fear taking inspiration from other areas of music. You Gotta Love Me Now has various time signature changes every now and then in the verses, Red Eyes’ vocal line has clear jazz influences and Hole In The Wall is To The Birds’ attempt at going instrumental. While it doesn’t feature many super catchy hooks, it is a refreshing folk-oriented album, with many influences from other styles of music to keep it interesting. s *ESSE !USTIN

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/4)3 -!#% "ALACLAVA %0 “Someone's trying to write a song to change the whole world...” sings Otis Mace on A-Marie, the third of four songs on the Auckland troubadour’s latest EP release. It’s a simple enough line, and one we can all relate to. It also might very well work as a mission statement for Mace. It certainly had me thinking about what might motivate him, as a much-travelled singer/songwriter, hovering around the periphery of the local music scene for at least three full decades. During that time he’s travelled the world, living in London for a spell, performing as a busker, as a solo act, and as part of various bands.

Trends, scenes and venues have come and gone, yet Mace has remained faithful to the modus operandi that has served him well. ‘Balaclava’ offers up a prime example of that, four quirky songs that traverse precisely the sort of unusual frameworks we’ve come to expect.

From the power-pop bent of the title track and opener, across the humour and eccentricity of The Revenge of the Five Hundred Thousand Tonne Baby, right on through to the environmentally conscious closer Miner Key, which reminds us all that once we’ve screwed with nature, we’ll never get it back… “Once it’s gone, it’s gone, you see.” Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Tony McAdam at the Ice Station Zebra studios in London, ‘Balaclava’ is a more than worthy addition to an already extensive catalogue of work. s -ICHAEL (OLLYWOOD

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Ha ha – very clever name for a band isn’t it?! Once you get past that and the low-tech DIY album cover you’ll find that the band The Very Best Of is perhaps surprisingly musically accomplished.

Oh, and lyrically offensive too. Their album’s loaded with lad humour. If you’ve heard F^$k Off Rugby Head by Noddy On The Cross then you get a rough idea of what track 1 on this album is like. After that it seems to fluctuate between impressive feats of musicianship and lots of burping and farting. There’s an interesting tribute to Chris Knox on track 3, which is pretty spot on (also with lots of swearing). In many places there’s an astounding musical inventiveness and a willingness to muck about with form, like an extremely blokey ‘White Album’. They veer from punky rock to chamber pop to drunken chanting. At times they stretch out in an almost jazzy manner, at other times things just run out of steam and fall apart. There’s a really good pop/rock album hiding amongst the schoolboy humour. If I was 13 again this would easily be my favourite album. s "ING 4URKBY

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This is a stunner from the get-go, and the best Goth album I have heard for a very long time. Most people consider Goth to be the ’80s sounds of Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus, Fields Of The Nephilim et al, but what Bat Nouveau do is take it all in, distill and disseminate further, incorporating other largely unrecognised greats such as The March Violets, Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, Wellington’s own Disjecta Membra and many more. The bottom line is that they make it all sound fresh, unforced, powerful and dynamic. All this from just two musicians – Todd Manion on voice and bass, and his partner Alex Palmer on guitar and drums. There have been other releases since October 2010 (the band began in ’08), but this is their first full release, and it’s a proper gem with plenty of appeal beyond the Goth label and should not be overlooked by any lover of quality underground/ indie/ alternative sounds. Personal details are scarce, but the duo have been based in Brisbane for at least the last while. They have distribution in the US with Mass Media Records and Hands And Moment in Japan which might be why my Sample Only CD copy is in Japanese on the disc – with the only English word recognisable besides the band and title is Bauhaus! I can’t praise this album high enough, the best ‘darkwave’ release since Disjecta Membra’s ‘Achromaticia’, and that was a while ago. s !NIA 'LOWACZ

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Some real thought and energy has gone into every aspect of this album. It’s what you need in this day and age to stand out from the rest and this debut does so well. Lucid Hiest is Isiah Ngawaka from Hawkes Bay – rapper, singer and producer, and this is an independent release from Voodoo Creation Records. From drum ’n bass to some more laid back trap tracks the songwriting and effect placements are stand out. The juxtaposition of the characters on the artwork reflects the music with each track showcasing different parts of his forte. It has some apparent influences such as Salmonella Dub/Tiki vibes and a little Outkast feel. A very New Zealand electronic sound gives it that point of difference for travelling the rest of the world. Lucid Hiest will be getting called up for all sorts of feature spots once publicists hear this album. The only part that may be a put off is the referencing of females as ‘bitches’? For me it’s a distraction within an otherwise tight cohesive flow. Isiah will hopefully keep developing his own kaupapa, letting go of some Americanised lyrics and honing in his own sound. I’d be keen to hear some te reo Māori vocals in this style. ‘Absence’ in Motion is a great album all-round especially for an upcoming artist. s (UIA (AMON

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Veteran practitioners of the blues, BoP’s Kokomo are no strangers to the pages of NZ Musician, their unique combination of harmonica and trumpet section giving them a unique twist to an oft cliché genre. Formed in Tauranga in 1991, Kokomo Blues, as they were then called, have now released 10 studio albums and there seems to be a bigger folk influence here than has been felt in the previous few. Songs like Joe The Bartender, could be mistaken for a Pogues’ cover, while opener Vinegar Hill sounds like a modern Kiwi take on New Orleans’ treasure trove of musical delights. Recorded and mixed by band members Derek Jacombs and Nigel Masters at The Boat Shed Studio, there’s a definite sheen to ‘Bigger Than Brando’, only on the live stage will Kokomo offer more delights than here. Jacombs (acoustic guitar, banjo, vocals), Masters (upright bass, accordion, bvs), Mike Kirk (electric guitar, resonator guitar, mandolin), Ian Gilpin (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Sonia Bullot (trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn, backing vocals) and Grant Bullot (harmonica, backing vocals), have definitely not distanced themselves from the sound that made them so popular in the first place, but it is great to see them expand their formula.

There are plenty of blues romps to keep fans happy however. Look no further than Homesick Blues, Lightnin’ Gold Tooth or I’ll Do Anything, Kirk’s lead guitar cutting tastefully through the band’s creative arrangements. s 3AMMY *AY $AWSON

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From the get up, the production shines. Masterfully exploited synth loops, grimy kicks and snares, and subtle horn samples let this album punch above its weight, even before the round bell rings.

It’s a necessary reminder of the calibre of producers NZ hip hop is boasting these days. The beatmaking talents of George 'Shaqles' Gavet draw heavily from the old school reigns of Dr. Dre and DJ Premier, but it doesn’t feel like a gimmick; it feels like a voice he knows how to wear, and he has a few tricks of his own, as evident on White Walls. The Doqument crew is made up of MCs $ikeOne, imaGe and Shaqles (who doubles as producer), and Mac Major on the turntables. It seems clear what’s brought them together is a shared appreciation for the golden days of the genre, the kind most of us grew up idolising. ‘Black Canvas: Wall & Piece’ is the first collaborative project for the four, and it successfully evades the awkward plasticity most hip hop collabs get trapped in. The MCs trade bars efficiently and to great effect, as seen on Heart of the City, one of the standouts on the album’s A side A, WALL. The heavyweight guests are reserved to side B, PIECE. The David Dallas’ driven Legacy has all the commercial sensibilities of a single, but lacks the spark heard on the solo tracks. Avant Garde features an appearance from PNC, but still feels like something is missing. On the other hand Shawn Kemp, an ode to the NBA great, is instantly more identifiable. With repeat listens the depth of content is revealed. There doesn’t seem to be any fillers, instead an enviable collection of solid work the group has undoubtedly sweated over for a time, carried by the warmth of grit of the production. The Doqument’s is the latest in a series of albums to come out over the last year shining a light Ê <½ÃÊL }Ê «Ê «ÊÃVi i°ÊUÊ-OHAMED (ASSAN

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This self-titled debut is a mix of fuzz and grime and sing-along fun, and a good representation of what the band sounds like live.

I described Thee Rum Coves to a friend the other day as ‘The Datsuns but without the ’70s long-hair stuff – the riffs and leather jacket side of The Datsuns’. Add in Stiff Little Fingers and ’50s rock’n’roll and set it all in the kind of bar that has a pool table and motorcycles parked outside, and we’re maybe getting somewhere. The four-piece consists of Jake Harding on vocals and guitar, Jono Goss drums and percussion, Tomas Marin on guitar and Ryan Alderton covering bass plus vocals. Additional vocals are provided by Kendall Elise and Jimmy Christmas (who also plays bass on Baby Please). The album was written by the band, recorded by Bob Frisbee, who also produced it with Jake Harding, and mastered by Chris Chetland. It’s a solid production that doesn’t sacrifice energy for polish. Harding and Christmas are D4 alumni and there’s definitely a crossover between that band’s version of garage rock and this. Thee Rum Coves aren’t just a carry-on of the D4’s sound though – while there’s a similarity in the fuzzy guitars and high-energy delivery, they bring in a soul influence that makes their music their own. Overall this is a consistently raucous album, and a great soundtrack to rowdy house parties or the tattoo booth at a hot-rod convention. s %DDIE $AWN -C#URDY

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The one man band concept in the blues setting is a great tradition and Li’l Chuck takes his own stories of difficult times and spins them around that foundation. Resonator guitar in hand, kick drum and hi-hat under foot and some classy harp in his mouth, these songs tell stories we can all relate to. Some of the songs are paeans to his wife and children, others are directly related to living through the Christchurch earthquakes. Then there are others that tackle more homely subjects like shelling peas, and who doesn’t like fresh peas? For me the stand out among so many good tracks is Water Will Find Its Own Level, with a master class of picking and slide guitar it gives a clear voice to what has happened in Christchurch. Recorded at Peel Studios in North Canterbury the sound quality is crystal and production every bit as quality as the songs on offer. The kick drum might have been more prominent on a couple of tunes, but that is small beer in an otherwise champagne set. The packaging that comes with this album should be a lesson to anyone wanting to get an album out. The sleeve is very well designed and offers insights to the origins of the songs. Take note all aspiring stars or journeymen; if you can do half as well as this, you might have a fighting chance. Five stars. s $ARRYL +IRK

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Just One Fix is a name synonymous with the NZ metal scene, having been around for the better part of two decades in various incarnations, and opened for the likes of Megadeth. This is the Auckland band’s third full length and offers an uncompromising selection of songs showcasing their brutal yet technical and accurate approach to the genre. Opening track Gladiator echoes the album name in the lyrics, and first hints at Sharne Scarborough’s immense technical chops on the guitar, before expertly executed shifts between thrash and groove from the rhythm section (Martin Kemble – drums, Lee Steele – bass) build on the melodically charged riffs, and are akin to a performance sports vehicle changing gears. Lead single Proxy God is politically charged and aggressively spells out its intent. Metalmorphosis tells the story of a man-turned machine laying waste to the world, and Succubitch (with vocals from Riccardo Ball reminiscent of Lemmy) describes, enthusiastically, the date from hell. Sons of Cain’s doomy riffing gives way to a rare patch of clean, articulately orchestrated instrumental before it is stomped out emphatically by prolific and purposeful riffing, and City Of The Damned features more clean instrumental to introduce, which highlights the control of melody that the band keeps in the pocket between brutal, blazing riffage. By the time the eight rhythmic, scarcely relenting and entertaining tracks come to a finish, the listener gets a sense that Just One Fix has, with the help of producer Zorran Mendonsa, distilled the messages they wanted to deliver with efficacy on ‘Let Them Hate… So Long As They Fear’. The guitar riffing, groove shifting and lyrical content will keep even the casual metaller interested, while hardened fans will be rewarded thoroughly. A must to check out for fans of genuine metal, Kiwi style. s *OHN 0AUL #ARROLL

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When they’re not unfurling the Jolly Roger on cutlass-waving, rumravaged voyages around the southerly seas of Port Chalmers, pirate rock stalwarts Scurvy Dogs are regularly playing live rock’n’roll around the ale houses, inns, and dens of decadence that make up Dunedin’s live music scene. There was a national tour a few years back, a support slot for Stiff Little Fingers last year, and a number of releases over the course of the band’s decade long existence. It sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. So much so, the current three-piece incarnation decided to record more of that swashbuckling merriment for posterity. The result is ‘Set Sail For Hell’, a rocking and rollicking five-track release, produced by long-standing first mate Paul Sammes. While there are keen Celtic-rock reference points throughout, and the entire album is pirate-themed, punk rock sits right at the very core of this release. This is rebel music played with attitude. Good old-fashioned hard and fast fun.

Sinking of John Barleycorn is one such example – less about a maritime disaster, it’s more about raising an overflowing tankard to the gods of fire water, and it rivals the Johnny Horton cover Sink The Bismarck as the best thing here. s -ICHAEL (OLLYWOOD

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‘Possession’ is the product of the psychedelic melting pot of influences that is His Masters Voice. Hailing from Auckland, the four-piece has carved a loyal following in the two years they have been together, and show no sign of relenting. The EP’s opening title track is as much Black Sabbath as it is blues. Drummer Rene Harvey’s bludgeoning approach on Don’t Trust Myself lifts the energy levels that tease what they are capable of live. Diversity and groove are the keys to the recording’s success and the band’s uniqueness is in their disregard of convention. While His Masters Voice has harvested a classic sound, Follow Me Down dishes up a modern flavour that could comfortably stack up next to modern icons such Black Stone Cherry or Mastodon. Bonus live track Lucid Dream is a weighty eight minute insight into what the band are all about. s 3TU %DWARDS

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The Floral Clocks is the name of the musical collaboration between filmmaker/musician Gabriel White and poet Richard von Sturmer (lyricist of Blam Blam Blam’s There is no Depression in New Zealand). ‘Desert Fire’ is their first recording (another is planned for late 2015), and is intriguing – rich in cinematic imagery, with a sense of stillness coming through the quiet, acoustic-based guitar music. Von Sturmer’s lyrics are based on postcards of the American west, and the disquieting Wooden Highway brings to mind the sparse landscapes of the Old West. Historical figures Abraham Lincoln and Buster Keaton appear as figures moving through the songs, without being the central figures, though Geronimo tells a small story about the Native American leader. ‘Desert Fire’ is a quiet, affecting album, where White’s music doesn’t break much of a sweat, though A Flock of Seagulls rhythmically takes flight, and Florida Angels has an upbeat, almost celebratory groove. White’s voice reflects the emotion and pathos in the lyrics, veering between higher and lower registers to communicate von Sturmer’s meanings and stories. This is one of those rare albums that is an art form, from sound, to words, to packaging, and needs to be experienced as one. s !MANDA -ILLS

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Darryl Baser has been around the music scene for decades, both as performer and critic, and has been in all sorts of bands, from synth-pop to Clash covers. Now re-invented as a solo artist, he tips the hat to Elvis Presley with a unique deconstructivist take on In The Ghetto, and includes two other covers, as well as two original compositions. They have a confessional tone and a poetic feel. In fact first track The Whiff Of A Great Deed Lingers is a poem by Richard Langston that Baser has set to music. These songs are a precursor to a full album (‘Raw Selfie’) to be released later. From the sounds of passing cars, to the stumbling guitar chords, to the low-key delivery, this five-track EP fully lives up to its Bandcamp tags: indie, lo-fi, alternative. Sometimes sounding like a chilled-out acoustic Chris Knox, Baser doesn’t quite attain his melodic sensibility, but the hypnotic delivery slowly wins you over. Recorded to Minidisc and cellphone, this is indeed music at its most raw, and like a selfie, it’s a close-up portrait of one man and his guitar. s "ING 4URKBY

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The Eastern have been on a roll for a long while now; a string band who mine country, folk, bluegrass and rock… often in the same song. Released late last year this fourth album has been receiving rave reviews from near and far, the band’s authentic sound and knowing, self-effacing lyrics touching a nerve with listeners. Having not been a follower of the band previously, I was converted by ‘The Territory’. There is something in the band’s delivery that makes me want to listen at a deeper level – maybe it’s Adam McGrath’s storytelling in Talking Americana Cowboy Yeehaa Blues, or What It Is – tales of irony and sadness that require repeated listening. Maybe it’s Jess Shanks’ plaintive, acoustic songs of loss and love. Whatever it is, it’s beguiling, and powerful. There is a cast of many contributing to the 16 tracks – along with the core band members, friends, peers, and musicians have assisted, including Reb Fountain, Lindon Puffin, and Barry Saunders. As albums go, ‘The Territory’ is a hell of a ride – it takes no prisoners, and goes in with all (musical) guns blazing. I wish more albums were this ambitious. s !MANDA -ILLS

Prolific Wellington-by-way-of-Whanganui musician Gavin Burgess surfaces again with a project of great personal meaning. Darling While You Sleep is a touching paean to a lost love. Initial impression are of bombastic (in a good way) ’80s-style synth-pop, except those are actual strings you’re hearing. Burgess’ background includes compositional study, which allows him to deftly add orchestral flourishes to his rock roots. There’s even a classy string quartet version of a previously released song. When the Bullshit Shows has a sound reminiscent of recent Phil Judd work. It’s a quirky pop vibe, and the vocals have a feeling of vulnerability underneath the strong delivery. Burgess adds a ‘radio mix’ of this song later on the disc, and I think it’s a good choice for a potential lead single. Drumming duties were performed by Neville Messent, strings by the Elios String Quartet, but everything else (from guitar to iPad synth bass) was done by Burgess, and he proves himself adept at all of it. By avoiding the trap of overplaying he makes each guitar chord or group of notes mean something. ‘The Only Constant’ is a tasteful and moving collection of songs. s "ING 4URKBY

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Behind her large framed glasses, Nadia Reid has a clever mind for carefully crafted folk songs. This debut album arrived in late November thanks to the 128 pledgers on NZ crowd funding site, PledgeMe. It’s a truly cohesive album, produced and recorded by Ben Edwards of The Sitting Room Studios in Lyttelton, which keeps stylistic integrity while also showing off a special skill for melody. From the hymn-like Runway to the held-back Some Are Lucky, this is one of the first albums, in a long time, that has truly tugged at my heartstrings. Nadia Reid’s soothing voice compliments her arrangements, as performed by Sam Taylor (guitar), Joe McCallum (percussion) and Richard Pickard (electric and double bass). Whether with a band or completely solo, I fail to see how Nadia Reid could not give an intimate performance. This is full of individually great songs that when put together create an album that undoubtedly provides a satisfying experience. s *ESSE !USTIN

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Hailing from New Plymouth, Darkwater have been around since 2009 – originally as a four-piece, which recorded the album ‘Only When It Does It Will’, but soon after becoming a tight, re(de) fined three-person unit consisting of Nathan Waipouri on vocals and guitar, Merran Dixon on bass plus vocals, and Ross Kilgour on drums. Their’s is a brand of melodic, dynamic ‘alternative’ rock, that many bands do without sounding like each other– some NZ examples being Fat Mannequin, Heathen Eyes, I Am Giant... you get the picture. This self-titled EP is mainly a teaser for their next album – and it really sounds like the band are fine tuning their craft. The dual vocals work beautifully, and you never quite know what to expect next – hard or soft; an acoustic interlude; a hard out (vocal and instrumental) bridge in the middle, or another kind of melodic/dynamic corner turned. s !NIA 'LOWACZ

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Cantando means ‘to sing; chant; sound; perform’ and Eduardo Diaz can certainly do this. As the originator of NZ’s most remembered and award winning group, Kantuta, Diaz’s story as a Chilean from a refugee family is an inspiring one and his journey translates into his music seamlessly. Opening with pan flute for Amanecer, this 14-track album quickly sets the emotive scene of Latin America, ancient civilisations of Mayas, Inca, Aymara with some Peruvian vibes. This is how Diaz describes the influences for this album. Each track offers a new rhythm. It will make you dance with layers of vibrant guitar, piano, crunchy percussion, diverse instruments and the undercurrent of ancient Latin America. Being careful to not only describe this as ‘world music’ (which is a super general term), ‘Cantando Latino’ is a thoughtful album, produced in both NZ and Australia. It has a traditional and contemporary feel without losing sight of the richness of Latin culture. Also a few bilingual tracks such as the flamenco feel of Before The Next Teardrop Falls. Renacer is the perfect instrumental rest before the beat kicks in. It’s obvious from track to track that Diaz is a perfectionist when it comes to musical performance, energy and vibration, making this a great album for any setting. s (UIA (AMON

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With almost two years from recording to release, it’s safe to say that The Psychs’ debut album has been long awaited. Recorded in Rex McLeod’s drum studio with seasoned producer Kody Nielson, ‘Supa Color’ is a burst of surf pop, garage rock, and endless hints of other flavours. With Jaisi Sheehan’s (guitar, keys, vocals) catchy melodies in She Was A Girl and Sam Beca’s standout bass lines in tracks Outtasight and Blanks, we see that this is not only a catchy group of songs, with great sing-along moments, but also a very musically accomplished album. Gee I would be loved by all fans of The Strokes, while Dumb feels quite reminiscent of the producer’s former band. You can just hear the energy they bring with them and know that The Psychs would bring a great live show. It’s taken a long while to prepare, but Sheehan and Beca, along with other bandmates Lukas Starkey (guitar, vocals) and Tom Jennings (drums) have brought a great offering to the table, hopefully signifying that The Psychs are here to stay. s *ESSE !USTIN

Anti, indie, and folk are the first things that come to mind when you hear the opening track of ‘Devilled Songs’, and although the rest of the album is less aggressive then the first song, it never quite loses its feeling of organised chaos. Auckland-based Richard Nevitt’s solo creation keeps the folk feel by using acoustic guitar and simple messages to hold things together, thus leaving a lot of room for diverse instrumentation, with the instruments including violin, whistle, flute, slide guitar and organ. In true lo-fi style he plays all of these himself, winding up with a crazy combination of Neutral Milk Hotel and Arial Pink. It’s always impressive when an artist can write an album, but when they can also record and produce it themselves, as Richard did, it makes it even more so.

This though unfortunately brings much risk and while the sound is mostly even, and well presented, occasionally there are some unexpected volume jumps. With that in mind, it is an experimental album that pushes the boundaries of what we have come to expect from singer/songwriters these days. s #HRIS $ENT

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Eccentric and intricate Sarah Macombee, aka Macombee and The Absolute Truth’s ‘No Man’s Land’ is an experience of its own. A six-year labour of love, the trance-like offerings are emotive and intensely personal, engulfing the listener in a beautifully composed hypnosis of self indulgence. Opening track, The Absolute Truth, packs a punch, starting with confident guitar strains and the promise of all encompassing love and truth. The rest of the album feels like a Bat For Lashes’ kind of experience. Well produced composition, in this case, predominantly piano-driven, with orchestral filler to create texture and colour.

Ambitiously, Macombee experiments with synths in sections of certain tracks. In the case of Gravestones, the electronic input gives the track a more urban, trip hop feel. I found the synthy introduction to Flotsam and Jetsam a bit jarring, but it only lasts for a matter of seconds before evening out to become a dreamy, wishful ballad. Ultimately this 10-track release feels a bit like a journey into the melancholy. It’s beautiful in parts and, like any journey, has its hurdles. Fans of emotive musical experiences will be pleased. s !NNA 3CHLOTJES

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Getting the band back together after 32 years is no small feat and Iceberg tackled this milestone the only way they know how – with masses of frenetic fervour. With hints of prog rock, The Doors and The Police and various others, ‘CCU7’ contains six of the Auckland act’s classics reworked for today. The drive of Chris Otter’s drumming with the meshing melodies of Ken Green’s keyboards hooked me in, and the dark/ light contrasts of Gone But Not Forgotten and Holy Matrimony were definite highlights, but it was the unexpected musical twists and turns of Fool For Love that made it my favourite track. I found Grant Hanna’s bass and Richard Raven’s guitar mix a little jarring at times and Paul Coppins’ vocals didn’t quite capture me, but the conviction in his delivery does the songs justice. With peers like Hello Sailor, Citizen Band and Mi-Sex having engendered a belief in their own abilities back in their heyday, it’s not hard to see why these forever rockers continue to share their passion with the world. Classic Kiwi rock energised by mature musicians out to keep pushing their boundaries. s ,ISA 4AGALOA

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A collection of mostly acoustic-based blues-rock songs that Aucklander David C Russell has worked on for some time, this debut album was recorded in Auckland with the assistance (mixing, engineering, and mastering) of Jesse Wilde. He has brought the acoustic guitar to the front of the overall sound, emphasising the singer/songwriter aspect of Russell’s music. The acknowledged influence of John Lennon is blatantly clear in his vocal style and phrasing, though Russell’s slightly abrasive voice doesn’t have the same melodic appeal. While the album stays in mid-tempo for much of the album and relies mostly on acoustic guitar (and drums), it picks up the pace on the raw Incomplete Tomorrow. A personal project, ‘In-A World’ is itself raw and perhaps incomplete, but there is Ê`i Þ }ÊÌ iÊ «>ÃÃ i`Ê«iÀv À > ViÃÊvÀ Ê,ÕÃÃi °ÊU !MANDA -ILLS

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New Zealand-born, now London-dwelling, songwriter Jordan Reyne might draw comparisons to Feist but she’s forged her own individual sound. This 5-track EP is the second of her ‘Maiden, Mother, Crone’ trilogy, the opening track, Don’t Look Down, a mesmerising beginning with Laura Marling-esque tones to it. Her Celtic sounding vocals draw you in and could capture any audience with their unique sound, each song building layer upon layer as it continues to grow on you. The background to the EP trilogy, as described on her website, is ‘3 sets of songs grouped according to how women are perceived at their various life stages’. The Crone is the altering body (growing old), the Mother is the ‘public and moral body’ and the Maiden is the body constantly measured by society’s ideals and beauty. Each of the five tracks offer a different sound, with backing humming, bassy drumming and powerful guitar, all connected by Reyne’s powerful emotive vocals and lyrics.

If you’re a fan of Laura Marling, Feist or Tracy Chapman check out this release from one of New Zealand’s relatively unknown international representatives. Jordan Reyne’s ‘Mother’ is simply stunning. s 'RETA 9EOMAN

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A collection of conservation songs written by primary school teacher Jenny Ward and performed by the Ohope Beach School Choir. The CD, which is housed in a little booklet containing illustrations, stories and lyrics, comes packaged in a little fabric bag adorned with a stencil-painted kiwi. I can’t help but imagine a long production line of scholars, teachers and parents working tirelessly to sew and paint these bags. This project is charmingly parochial as is clearly evident from the opening track. I could almost smell the bush and hear the cicadas as I listened. The production is, by admission, warts and all and sometimes held together with some classic no. 8 wire. It is, however, held together. I don’t think any of its intended target market will bemoan any imperfections.

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The conservation-themed stories were written by eight year-olds and the idea is to have the listener (mums and dads included), read along as they listen. This is a fantastic effort to celebrate New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural environment along with its unique-as critters. It beats the pants off writing essays or building paper-mache models. s #OLIN 3ELBY

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Ed Castelowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dictaphone Blues received widespread acclaim with 2011â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Beneath The Crystal Palaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; but it was still not enough to break through to the mainstream. Cue 2014â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mufti Dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, in which Castelow really shows us what he can do musically. Very much a musical experiment, consisting of a very diverse array of instruments (guitars, bass, drums, harp, egg shaker, harmonium, analogue synths, cowbell, keyboard, tambourine, guiro) almost entirely played and recorded by Castelow himself, the album is full of catchy choruses, addictive rhythm sections and chiming melodies. making â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mufti Dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; feel very breezy and relaxed much like the days the album is named after. Each track is infectiously catchy with songs like Cryptic Lipstick and album highlight 365 (which also features Emily Edrosa of Street Chant) certain to get stuck in your head for days on end. Attention to the mixing is evident with all the different range of instruments leveling out nicely, sounding clean and clear. The album was mixed by Castelow himself but some credit has to go to the excellent mastering job by Ollie Harmer, at The Lab, where this was recorded. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mufti Dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; should earn Castelow the mainstream attention and wider-than-student-radio success his songs fully deserve. s %THAN 2OBERTS

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Darkness/Lightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is one of the most aptly named albums Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come across, reflecting not only the material but the conditions under which production took place. The two musicians involved were on opposite sides of the world, Leo Barrer here in NZ and Sharon Ware knee deep amongst the political unrest in Turkey. Developed in multi-instrumentalist Barrerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home studio, the highlight of the album is the combination of Wareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lilting melodies and vocal delivery with Barrerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precise, yet naturally simple, instrumental execution, giving tunes like Sunny Day and Say Something a great, easy going flow.

I felt more care could have been taken to ensure the vocals were in tune and kept wanting to hear more dynamic builds. Overall, this album is a collection of raw, honest musings from two people enjoying the exploration of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creativity and is recommended if you enjoy lullabies, rough simplicity and a great back story. s ,ISA 4AGALOA

Dirty Little Fights or the classic drumming of Jerusalem, the 11-track album presents a musical journey, each song progressing to a new sound. [Shift]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fourth recording jumps around, presenting a soundscape that roams between soft vocals and raging guitar climaxes, more bluesy sounds in Julia and the deep lyrics of single In The Middle, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want more than a common goal, growing old, killing time...â&#x20AC;?. With vocal sounds similar to Boy & Bear and the opening track The Blood reminiscent of Opshop, they play to their influences (noting Opshop and Switchfoot as two of them on their Facebook page) whilst remaining entirely unique in their sound. This is an outstanding debut album from one Aucklandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emerging alternative acts, with credit also due to producer/mix/mastering engineer Nathan Tiddy. s 'RETA 9EOMAN

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From Lyttelton, The Lucky Lost is the songwriting vision of Darren Tatom who sings, plays guitar, percussion and glockenspiel here.

He is ably assisted by William Field on double and electric bass, bass plus bvs; Lu Whitely on cello, keyboards and vocals, and drummer Jack Cameron. A couple of others made the sound happen, not least recording engineer Ian McAllister, who pulled out the finest vintage microphones he could find to capture this largely â&#x20AC;&#x201C; call it what you want â&#x20AC;&#x201C; alt-country folk, alt-acoustic pop, acoustic countrified folk... In any case, the words of the songs are delivered in a very straightforward manner, not exactly spoken word but without any vocal pffaferry. Straight up sentiments, lots of geographical references, largely acoustic instruments and clean melodic lines. A personal favourite (besides the cello in general) would be Bitch! with lead female vocal (presumably Whitely), and the classic refrain of â&#x20AC;&#x153;the bitch is back...â&#x20AC;? Can be interpreted in so many ways! (Actually this one sounds like a Bernie Griffen number). Ready Or Not sounds more Leonard Cohen then Leonard Cohen. The pace is deliberate, almost jaunty in places, the mood hardly upbeat but not overly serious or bitter either, a 13-strong set of gentle songs to sing along/ tap/ click/ nod or simply listen to. s !NIA 'LOWACZ To submit your album or EP for review in Fresh-Cut, please send TWO copies along with a brief bio to NZ Musician, PO Box 99-315, Newmarket, Auckland 1149. It must be available for sale and only CDs with completed artwork are forwarded for review.

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Tiny Ruins have may have taken the idea of performing quiet and beautiful shows to spellbound audiences to our attention, but in reality this has been a tradition that has stuck around since music performance began. From Taranaki, Glass Boat are another example of a captivating well-rounded act who capture this in their debut 6-track EP. The three contributing artists, Missie Moffat, Diarmuid Cahill and Matt Herrett took centre stage at New Plymouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4th Wall Theatre to record live with all their banter included.

The music is spacious in its arrangement and often takes advantage of the three contrasting voices. Each artist takes their turn to lead a track, and harmonies are used to raise choruses.

Counter melodies swap between acoustic and electric guitar, added to by cajon-based percussion, giving things a little groove when necessary. The production is clean, mixing together very well. I think this EP fits neatly in the genre of AC, crossing genres smoothly, seamlessly and coolly during the set. You can hear how relaxed Glass Boat are, and that in turn will relax Ă&#x17E;Â&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x160;>Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x17E;Â&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x160;VÂ?Â&#x153;Ă&#x192;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x17E;Â&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;iĂ&#x17E;iĂ&#x192;°°°Ă&#x160;>Â&#x2DC;`Ă&#x160;Ă&#x153;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x152;Â&#x2026;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x152;Â&#x2026;>Ă&#x152;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x17E;Â&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x153;iĂ&#x20AC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x152;Â&#x2026;iĂ&#x20AC;i°Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;#HRIS $ENT

[SHIFT]: The Traveller

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get confused between Shift and [shift]. The first recently released an album â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Music for Atheistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, the latter is our subject, an Auckland band who conclude their album credits with, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We want to thank God for making all this possible and for giving us something to write about.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Led by vocalist and guitarist Sam Burrows (also part of folk duo We Stole The Sun), this four-piece act have produced a fantastic alt-rock debut in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Travellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Whether the hypnotic riffs of the title track, the ringing vocals of

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The Floral Clocks Gabriel White and Richard von Sturmer have already had stellar careers in the arts – White as a filmmaker, and von Sturmer as a poet and lyricist. They began writing songs together just over a year ago, initially for White’s film called Oracle Drive. Von Sturmer knew White’s mother in the mid 1980s, when he was artist in residence at Northcote College, and White knew of von Sturmer through his artistry.

The pair started collaborating formally as The Floral Clocks at the start of 2014, when White started to put music to von Sturmer’s poems, and he in turn began writing dedicated lyrics for White. They accumulated a large number before White recorded their first album, ‘Desert Fire’, mostly alone, as Amanda Mills reports.

It’s time for...

The Floral Clocks T

he striking name seems to scream ’60s psychedelia, but The Floral Clocks maintain that’s not the case.

“It came from a postcard of a floral clock… in Edinburgh” the duo’s wordsmith Richard von Sturmer explains.

“I just liked the strange alliteration in the words, ‘floral clocks’, it’s a bit of a mouthful!” his musical partner Gabriel White chimes in.

The song The Floral Clocks provides an intriguing illustration.

“It’s generational”, the lyricist explains. “About a [man] who came to NZ and destroyed native bush, and mowed everything down, and his son –as part of his penance for what his father did to the vegetation – decided to visit floral clocks all over the world to redeem himself.”

White and von Sturmer are each known for previous accomplishments.

White made 2013 film, Oracle Drive, while von Sturmer is known for his work with the nascent local punk scene, as part of The Plague, Whizzkids, and notably Blam Blam Blam, writing lyrics to New Zealand’s unofficial national anthem, There Is No Depression In New Zealand. White has also played a lot of music, performing with Steve Abel for several years and with James McCarthy. After leaving art school in the 1990s he was a founding member of Spacesuit with Ben Holmes and Sandy Mill.

“Spacesuit was kind of improvising a garage, punky, jazzy kind of thing… instrumental music,” he expands. “Getting into a working relationship with Richard suddenly got me back into music, because I’d always wanted to write songs. Richard provided the keys to unlock a thing that I’d always wanted to do.”

White recalls he started songwriting again towards the completion of Oracle Drive.

“It was just a kind of a gag. I thought, ‘I’ll write a song for the film,’… and Richard wrote the lyrics for it. And then we thought, ‘That’s great, let’s keep doing this.’ And so that became the next project.”

“It just happened,” laughs von Sturmer. “It was a good synergy that Gabriel and I just had. It was just a good sort of creative outlet.”

“They were written really fast,” White agrees. “Richard would send me a poem, or a set of verses, and… I’d fire back a song within a few hours… it wasn’t polished, but the songs came about like that. I just totally react before I have even reflected on what the lyrics were communicating. I…

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processed that through making the music around it.”

“It’s good for me,” von Sturmer adds.“I write in a number of different genres; poetic fiction, prose poems, poetry, and I find that sometimes you sweat blood to finish a poem, but songs come quite easily! I think we’re complimentary.”

There is some crossover between von Sturmer’s lyrics and poems – Geronimo was one poem transformed into song lyrics.

“It was only an eight line poem, and then I wrote an extra verse to turn it into a song,” the lyricist explains.

“There’s a couple of other ones on the album where I’ve just literally turned Richard’s poetry into lyrics for a song,” White expands. “The Perfect Love Song is one… it was not written to be a song, it was written to be four verses and they actually went with postcards… but in the song, they’re just verses. Richard writes with images, he tends to paint a lot… with the words. There was a bit of an analogy between the layers of images, layers of harmony and rhythm, and these interwoven passages of music.”

So, how would they describe their sound?

“I didn’t want it to be easy listening, but I… didn’t want to write something that was really abrasive” he says. “I have this guitar… it’s got a very soothing, sort of soft sound, and wistful too… the sound is the sound of this guitar! I do tend to impregnate songs with lots of different layers of feelings I convey… but there is overall, a kind of gentleness to it which I’m really just exploring as a musician.”

“It’s something of a new style, but resonates with the past,” von Sturmer concurs.

The duo’s influences are broad.White describing himself as“omnivorous” and a big fan of classical and orchestral music, while von Sturmer devours world music, with West African and especially Brazilian music as important touchstones. One artist who made a big impression on his work is Stephin Merritt from The Magnetic Fields, whom he considers a “genius songwriter” and wrote A Perfect Love Song as a tribute to.

For White, the songwriting process has changed over the years.

“When I got to my 30s, I sort of went off writing pop music or those kind of things that had inspired me to be creative… then I grew back into it as I grew into my 40s!” he laughs. “I discovered all these artists that were writing pop music that was really not juvenile, it was interesting… grown

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or this first issue of the new year I thought we might consider fretting technique, as very few publications seem to focus on it. I have several American publications in my office that assume everyone can already play well and sight–read. I also have some (far fewer) that start from the ground up, but rarely go into technique.

Wherever you are on the playing scale, there are a few things that you need to think about to ensure a lifetime of pain-free playing. I say this because, for the first time in my life, I have a nasty case of tendonitis from an injury to my left wrist. I am obviously aware that the height of where one’s bass hangs is a kind of ‘fashion statement’ but, unfortunately, there are some physiological ramifications that go with it. The following advice is by no means a criticism of successful bassists who have their own playing styles, but I am not alone in the pain stakes, having been a professional player for nearly 30 years in the United Kingdom before I moved to NZ in 2001. There are many of us playing who keep Messrs. Ibuprofen in business! Firstly, I will talk about two extremes of where you might wear your bass.

wears his bass extremely high and who is not only a superb instrumentalist, but can sing while he is playing. He is one of the few bassists I have seen who switches between slap and standard finger picking easily.

3 2

I know it looks very ‘rock and roll’, but if you wear your bass very low (like in Figure 1), your fretting thumb goes over the top of the neck – something guitarists do for musical reasons. If your thumb is over the neck, your fretting fingers are consequently shorter and less mobile. This limits your speed and dexterity. I fully acknowledge that there are many famous bassists who play exactly like this, but it’s usually in one particular style and if you want to be more eclectic, this style will be limiting.

At the opposite extreme, some funk players like to wear their basses very high, as in Figure 2. I can think of one UK slap bass player who

The fact that the slapping hand and the wrist are in a straight line means that you will not damage anything if you are predominantly a slap player. If you then start to pick with your fingers, however, you will need to bend your hand and wrist at a very sharp angle. This can lead to tendon problems and/or something called a ‘ganglion’. I had this problem in my ‘funk/ fusion phase’ in the 1980s (check this out http:// orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00006), but fortunately the problem went away when I lowered my bass slightly.

Without wanting to seem like I am getting you to change your entire way of playing, there is one logical way to avoid problems in either hand.

It was explained to me by a guitarist who had trained as a classical guitarist before becoming an in-demand session musician playing electric.

We were recording for a television show in London many years ago and it was a long session, so we were all seated. I noticed that his guitar stayed exactly where it was whether he was seated or standing. In other words, his strap adjustment ensured that the physiology of his arms and hands when playing were always the same. I promptly did the same with my own strap and, apart from my current issue, I have never had any problems, no matter how long I have spent playing at any one time.

By having your bass at this height (see Figure 3), your fretting thumb stays more or less central on the back of the neck (you may have to move it up or down a little if you are using a five string bass or a six string bass), your wrist is straight, and your fingers will fall directly onto the fingerboard, with the entire length of each

up and full bodied, and not obsessed with the things younger people get obsessed with!”

‘Desert Fire’ is sold through Bandcamp. The whole package (a visually arresting lyric book containing the CD) of ‘Desert Fire’ is stunning, and based on postcards used by von Sturmer as lyrical inspiration.

“That’s Marcus [Hofko]” he explains.“He did a good job… for songs that are American western, south western themed… there’s quite a few postcards that relate to the songs directly.”

“I’ve just been writing a Creative NZ thing

about this”, White laughs, seeming slightly surprised.“I got all this feedback from people… it didn’t matter what age… they liked it.”

He hopes they will tour ‘Desert Fire’, though laughs that it all depends on how well it sells.

Keyboardist Hermione Johnson, bassist Robbie Rolls and drummer Danny Mañetto have been recruited to play in the live band, the musicians are bringing a different timbre to the music.

“They are really changing the way the songs are played, and it’s really interesting.

The keyboardist… her melodic sensibilities are

1

finger unhindered, as in Figure 4.

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4 One more fretting tip. Keep your fingers right behind the frets. This eliminates fret buzz and will mean that you will have few intonation problems if you want to play fretless. With regard to your picking hand, I would need another couple of pages. If you are a pick player, practice up and down picking (if you don’t already), particularly on adjacent and alternate string patterns. If you are a finger player, it’s up to you, there is no one way – James Jamerson just used his index finger, Jaco Pastorius mainly used his first two fingers, Billy Sheehan uses three fingers and John Entwistle tapped his strings using all four fingers. Maybe three is safest as Billy is, fortunately, still alive! See you next issue.

Dr. Rob Burns is an Associate Professor in Music at the University of Otago in Dunedin. As a former professional studio bassist in the UK, he performed and recorded with David Gilmour, Pete Townsend, Jerry Donahue, Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, James Burton, Ian Paice and Jon Lord, Eric Burdon and members of Abba. He played of the soundtracks of many UK television shows, such as Red Dwarf, Mr. Bean, Blackadder, Not the Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones. Rob is currently a member of Dunedin bands Subject2change and The Verlaines.

Photographs by Caroline Davies

starting to play out with mine. I’m quite excited to play with her.”

The pair are already hard at work on the next Floral Clocks’ album, with three songs written and more on the horizon.

“The second album will probably come out about September, I hope… we’re having a lot of fun doing it,” White enthuses.

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OUT ON THE STREET Black Capping for our Cricket World Cup team with local industry news, gossip, rumour and guesswork Full Credit To The Spin Bowlers Ê UÊ Great North celebrated Auckland Anniversary in style, leaving January’s Auckland Folk Festival with their second Folk Album of the Year Tui award, this time for their 2014 album ‘Up In Smoke’. The reliable Aucklanders beat out the French-recorded ‘Pigalle’ by Kiwi chanteuse Flip Grater and Rachel Dawick’s more traditional ‘The Boundary Riders’, an album of songs about NZ pioneer women. Based around the songwriting of Hayden Donnell, Great North includes Rachel Donnell, Dale Campbell, Strahan Cole, Ryan Attwood and Matthew Hutching. ‘Up In Smoke’ was produced by David Parker of Little Monster Studio, as was the band’s previous Tuiwinning album, 2013’s ‘Halves’. Last year’s Folk Tui went to the now Nashville-based duo Tattletale Saints.

UÊ/ iÊÓä£xÊNew Year’s Honours list included an upgrade of honours for former Split Enz bassist Mike Chunn, writer and head of the Play It Strange Trust, to Companion of the NZ Order of Merit (CNZM). Chunn was previously made an officer (ONZM) in 2002. Congratulations also go to educator and musician, Bob Bickerton, manager of the Adam Chamber Music Festival and former director of the Nelson School Of Music, who has become a Member of the NZ Order of Merit (MNZM). A number of Queen’s Service Medals (QSM) were announced for various services within the music sector including: Janice Webb of Auckland for her work as performer and voice tutor; Jeremy Whimster of Tauranga (MD of the Tauranga Civic Choir); music therapist Margaret Knight of Te Awamutu; performer and accordian/piano teacher Heather Gladstone of Christchurch and Aucklander Maria Collins, for services to the community and music.

Strong On The Off Side

UÊ/ ÀiiÊÀiV À` }ÃÊ>ÀiÊ ivÌÊ ÊÌ iÊÀÕ }ÊÌ ÊLiÊ > i`Ê the 2015 Best Jazz Album of the Year – an eclectic mix of finalists including some of our leading jazzers.

Super-group DOG comprises four of NZ’s most renowned jazz musicians, composers and educators in Kevin Field (piano), Roger Manins (saxophone), Olivier Holland (bass) and drummer Ron Samson. They are all music lecturers at the University of Auckland and now Tui finalists for their album‘ Dog’, released on the Rattle Jazz label.

‘Dark Light’ is the latest album from Jonathan Crayford, in a trio featuring rising-star New York musicians Ben Street on bass and drummer Dan Weiss. What started as a rehearsal band for students and tutors at the NZ School of Music jazz school in Wellington turned into an octet called The Jac. The group’s sharp five-track album ‘Nerve’ blends influence from the older members’ experience with the students’ youthful enthusiasm. The Tui winner will be announced at the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga on Easter Monday, 6 April.

U Moana and the Tribe have been nominated for the Songlines Music Awards 2015 (entries drawn from the musical talent that has been featured in UK-based Songline magazine) in the category of Group of the Year.

Public vote will determine the top four in each category, with those results published in the April/May issue and the final winners selected by the magazine’s editorial team announced in the following June/July issue.

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U Likely triggered by Lorde’s “no postcode envy” challenge, APRA AMCOS recently released national rankings of the top songwriting postcodes in NZ – based on the number of earning APRA songwriters by postcode. Greater Auckland, particularly the inner city suburbs, is overall where most songwriters in the country call home. 15 of the top 20 songwriting postcodes in Aotearoa are in Auckland, followed by Wellington, with Newtown/ Brooklyn being the second most popular postcode in 2013. Auckland’s Grey Lynn/Kingsland (postcode 1021) is the country’s songwriter hot spot, with the highest number of songwriters for electronic music, dance/ techno, pop/rock, alternative, urban, metal and music for screen. Wellington’s Newtown/Brooklyn leads for jazz, classical, country and blues music. Te Aro/Mt Victoria in Wellington takes the number one spot for folk, new age and children’s music while Auckland’s Mangere/Mangere Bridge tops the gospel music standings.

U Hopefully getting the postcodes right, the 2015 edition of the NZ Music Services Directory was released in January. The annual NZMSD lists a broad range of businesses and services available within the local music sector, from artist management through to live music venues and including legal, professional and promotional service providers. The 2015 NZMSD also includes editorial features on the Screen Composers Guild of NZ, Play It Strange’s Jam Bus and the gloriously rebuilt Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch. The directory website is www.musicnz. co.nz with print copies ($35 including postage within NZ) available directly from the publisher – email nzmsd@musicnz.co.nz for details.

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UÊ ÀiiÊÜii ÞÊ} }Ê}Õ `iÊThe Fold has published its 100th issue, marking three figures of print and almost two years of existence. The Auckland-based weekly is a joint venture between website CheeseOnToast, postering/flyer distribution company Phantom Billstickers and 95bFM. UÊ* Ì }À>« iÀÊ> `ÊiÛi ÌÃÊ > >}iÀÊIan Jorgensen, aka Blink of A Low Hum fame, has set up his very own book club ahead of the planned publishing of 10 full colour, A5 art books featuring 1000 of his music photos taken from 2000-2015. Alongside that comes ‘Movement’ is a visual essay (film) comprised of Jorgensen’s own archive video and photography with screenings planned in all main centres. www.alowhum.com

Changing The Field UÊ >ÃÃ V> Ê ÕÃ VÊ > >}iÀÊ Peter Walls has been announced as the new Chief Executive at Chamber Music NZ. Formerly CEO of the NZSO, Walls has recently held the post of Pro Chancellor of Victoria University. He replaces Euan Murdoch who headed the organisation for almost 10 years and is leaving to be Director at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music.

U Changes from the top at Auckland student radio station 95bFM with a new station manager being sought after a freshened up board oversaw the departure of Manu Taylor who had lingered for six years in the role. Former station manager and current director Suze McNicol (previously Suzanne Wilson) has been sitting in since mid-January until a new GM is appointed.

U Creative New Zealand has selected PromPt Incorporated (trading as PANNZ) to provide national touring services over the next three years. PromPt will receive $760,000 to provide touring services from 2015 to June 2017, and will be able to apply to an associated touring fund of up to $1.16 million for some of the costs of tours it manages.

The new initiative follows CNZ’s reviews of the music and dance sectors, which both identified risks and logistical barriers associated with touring as ongoing issues. The new agency will work alongside existing touring organisations such as Arts on Tour and Chamber Music NZ. U BBC’s loss will most certainly be Apple Corp.’s gain with the announcement that Zane Lowe is leaving the ’Beeb for a role with Apple’s new iTunes radio service. NZ’s most famous international radio star, Lowe has been a leading BBC DJ ever since joining the network back in 2003, locking down the 7-9pm slot on BBC1 with a focus on new music and exclusive interviews.

UÊÓä£{Êi `i`Ê Ê>Ê } Ê ÌiÊv ÀÊ <Ê Õà VÊ ÊÀ>` Ê according to a recent NZ On Air newsletter. The last airplay chart for the year posted 19.8% NZ music – the best end-of-year figure for four years. No mention of commercial radio’s stats, but Alt Radio was evidently playing 43% local music.

Batting Power Play UÊ ÌÀ iÃÊv ÀÊÌ iÊAPRA Best Country Music Song 2015 close on Wednesday 4 March. Presented as part of the week-long NZ Gold Guitar Awards held annually in Gore, finalists will be announced in April and the winner declared near the end of May. Entries are also open for the Recorded Music NZ Best Country Music Album 2015 (Tui award) which will be made at the same event, and close off on the same day. For more information www. apraamcos.co.nz and recordedmusic.co.nz respectively.

UÊ/ iÊL > Õ> ÊÌÜ `>ÞÊPro Audio Showcase tradeshow returns to Auckland later this year. The event, which will again be held at the Ellerslie Racecourse, takes place on Wednesday and Thursday July 22/23, the week following the SMPTE event in Sydney. For info about exhibiting email info@musicexpo.co.nz UÊ/ iÊNational party are still feeling the heat from the legal breath of Eminem’s big dogs, being taken to task in the High Court by the rapper’s Detroit-based publisher.

Less than a week before the last General Election Eminem Publishers said they were suing National for alleged copyright infringement, arguing its original rowing-themed TVC had a riff similar to Lose Yourself, the theme song for 8 Mile, in which Eminem played a struggling rapper.

National insists it had correctly obtained the rights to the music, purchasing it from production music supplier Beatbox. Should legal action proceed a hearing of claims is unlikely to happen before the middle of this year.

UÊ *>ÞÊ >ÌÌi Ì ]Ê 6 VÌ À >Ê 1 ÛiÀÃ ÌÞÊ * Ê ÃÌÕ`i ÌÊ Yuanindita Ingardya has discovered that music fans want to feel a personal connection with musicians on social networking sites, rather than communicate with other fans. For her thesis she set out to find out whether musicians’ social networking sites influence fans’ brand loyalty towards these musicians. She was surprised to find that fans were single-minded about wanting an authentic, interactive experience with the musicians. “Fans aren’t so interested in interacting with other fans or with the musician’s management – they want to feel they have a personal two-way relationship with the musicians themselves, through posts that seem authentic and sincere.”

Her research shows that fans become more attached to musicians they are able to actively socialise with, which suggests that fans regard these musicians more as a friend than as another product, service or brand.

festival also fell foul of authorities – this time for excessive (and apparently unconsented) noise. The Waikato Times reported that the festival, on a private property in Tapu, Coromandel, was facing fines of up to $10,000 after failing to comply with a noise abatement notice.

Organisers also didn’t bother to get resource consent for the event. It was the fourth year for the ‘not-for-profit doit-together festival of music and art’ and Chronophonium this year attracted 750 punters along with 250 band members, artists and volunteers. Police reported no major problems from the festival, bar the noise control issues, but the Thames Coromandel District Council was looking to prosecute under the Resource Management Act (RMA), with a $10,000 maximum fine.

UÊ ÕÃ V > Ê > `Ê `iÌiÀ i`Ê āori arts promoter Tama Tūranga Huata died at his home in Meeanee on 11 February, aged 64. Born in 1950, Tama was an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit. He was internationally recognised as an expert in indigenous arts and in recent years

founded the Waiata Māori Music Awards, an annual event that celebrates leadership and achievement of Māori musicians. He was founder of the Kahurangi Māori Dance Theatre, at the forefront of the renaissance of Māori performing arts in the early 1980s, and established the Takitimu Trust in 1984, followed by the formation of Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu, the first institution to offer a degree course in the traditional Māori performing arts in 1991.

Batting Out The Full 50 Overs UÊ7 >ÌÊv> ÃÊ` ½ÌÊÜ> ÌÊ ÃÊÌ i ÀÊv>ÛiÊ iÛiÀ Ã>Þ ` itÊL> `ÃÊ splitting up. With five decent albums to their credit, stalwart international noise pop/punk revival act Die! Die! Die! surprised with the casual Facebook announcement that their performance at February’s Off The Radar festival would be their last show “for the foreseeable future” – longhand for the seemingly inevitable. Disappointed punters later reported on Twitter that in their final outing the three-piece band were down a member, with disaffected latest addition (former Mint Chick) Michael Logie absent, and reluctantly performed only three songs.

UÊ*iÀ >«ÃÊÌ iÊviÃÌ Û> Ê i>ÌÊ >ÃÊLii Ê ÕÃÌÊÌ Ê Ìi ÃiÊÌ ÃÊ summer, certainly it has been an odd one starting as it did with rioting and 63 arrests at the BW Festival in Gisborne.

Just 10 days later the sold-out three-day Chronophonium

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Aiming For The Sweet Spot

Anthonie Tonnon

Among our mid-level pop artists Anthonie Tonnon qualifies as an admirable journeyman. As Tono, his first EP titled ‘Love & Economics’ was released in 2008. Two years later came the ‘Fragile Thing’ EP, this time by Tono & The Finance Company, and followed under the same guise in 2013 with a debut album called ‘Up Here For Dancing’. Two years after that he is back as Anthonie Tonnon, with a sophomore album titled ‘Successor’. Between records, he has toured extensively, including the States and Australia, spent time writing news at Auckland’s 95bFM, writing for The Wireless and The Pantograph Punch, and being a freelance reporter for Radio NZ – among other roles. Anthonie Tonnon talked to Silke Hartung about the influence of touring on the production of an album and the hoped-for longevity of his still-building musical career.

T

he change from Tono & The Finance Company to his actual full name, Anthonie Tonnon, didn’t happen on a whim.

“Band names are things that should lose their original meaning.We made that name up in our flat in Dunedin when on TV there were 10 ads for finance companies… ‘Good credit, bad credit – we want you!’

“It was kind of like the housing market in Auckland that’s just so overblown, and it’s just so obvious something bad is going to happen. We didn’t realise it at first because it crashed so much bigger than anyone expected. The name never had the chance to settle into its own meaning, and people still had questions about it long after we wanted them to.”

“I want to be a songwriter that’s still working in his 50s and 60s and I just don’t see Tono & The Finance Company as something that makes sense with that. I’m really into writers like Lou Reed, PJ Harvey, people we know under their own names who have a bit of a more writer-ly process.

“I was touring overseas at the time, and I knew as soon as there is a plane involved you really can’t take a band. I wanted to develop a show in which I wouldn’t feel like I was giving half the package, so I needed to get the semantics right, and the expectations.”

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One effect of the name change is that he has now reclaimed his preferred nickname.

“My friends call me Tono still, it has now just become my private persona again. It makes much more sense to me to have ‘Anthonie Tonnon’ as that professional persona.”

‘Successor’ was co-produced between himself and Jonathan Pearce, ex-Artisan Guns, Cool Rainbows, sometimes Clap Clap Riot, who also recorded Tiny Ruins’ ‘Haunts’ EP. Tono remembers that the two set limitations for themselves not to reach too high, for something too professional and hi fi sounding, that they might then not get right.

“It’s much better to choose a sound that you can control. In our case that was by using Jono’s collection of tape machines. Right from the start we wanted to get a focus on performance.

People always say NZ bands are so different from the rest of the world, but not as tight, and I kind of saw where that comes from. In the States I saw bands who were working out their material while touring.”

“In NZ we record our album in our bedroom and then we learn how to play it. I didn’t want to make another record playing the songs 10 times better than I felt I recorded them while on tour, so I booked a hell of a lot of shows. Jonathan and I worked on producing the album around touring. This is the first time I haven’t done a record in a short space of time.

I was always afraid of a long album project because I had always done it in an intense one or two week period. The last album was done in 11 days, and it’s great having that brief time because you’re forced to make decisions.”

From mid-2013 the pair spent a year on and off working on the album. In that time Tonnon played numerous shows locally and overseas, trying to give the songs more time to tighten up, or to find out through feedback from the audience what needed to be done to the material.

“You can just feel it somehow. If you play to

a different audience you can then look at the songs at the end of the tour and go, ‘Ah, that’s not working, or that is working.’”

Finally they recorded the album in various locations around Auckland, partly in Pearce’s garage, partly at The Lab in Mt Eden.

“Taking a year instead won’t make your album twice as good, it maybe won’t even make it 50% better. It might just make it 10% better – but maybe that’s worth a year!?

Low-hanging fruit…”

His band hasn’t changed much since Finance Company days, including Stu Harwood (Proton Beast) on drums, Eddie Castelow (Dictaphone Blues) on bass and Jonathan Pearce playing guitar. Time aside, the major change between ‘Up Here For Dancing’ and ‘Successor' lies in the lyrics. Tonnon’s approach to song narrative has evolved. Combining catchy melodies and sing-along hooks with his trademark wit, clever wording and quirky subjects, the new album is mostly written in the second person.

“That was a deliberate change in approach. I really like to get into character. That’s a trick that Randy Newman does, or Don McGlashan, but it’s also one that’s widely misunderstood – people don’t get that you’re singing in character! It’s really difficult to get that across. I take a character and a situation and I force the listener to inhabit that character and follow them around, even if they don’t like the character.”

Not surprisingly, some of the songs are inspired by true stories.

“The big thing about this record is my infatuation for long-form journalism. My idea very early on was to make something that sounded like that. I wanted to transpose that art form.

“I just love the reporter-at-large. I love these journalistic stories that have taken six months to write and that follow people around. They don’t have to be totally true!” he laughs. “They can bend the truth and they can play with it, but they’re gripping stories. A Friend From Argentina is based on an article in Metro magazine called Blow Time: Inside the Cocaine World of Auckland’s Smart Set, by Donna Chisholm.”

Ultimately, the lyrics along with the live performance, are all about engaging the audience, Tonnon explaining that he approaches a performance like a theatrical show, and some shows need interventions.

“Some gigs are really boring, unfortunately.

We set ourselves some really bad traditions, this lack of trust between the audience and the performer. Everybody is lying about starting times, or when they’ll turn up. There’s a tendency at rock shows of paying attention for the first song, form a large semi circle in front of the stage well away from the band, and then after the second song to start talking. It’s terrible.

“I want to create something that breaks up the traditions. I’m not bothered about people talking – you’re fighting against something you can’t control. But I can perform. I know if I can do something strange, make people move their hands, and tell them to move forward like they’re a boat on the water, I create a sense of shock. People forget how to act, they stop what they’re doing and start taking in the show in a different way.”

Those little interventions are, he says,

improvised on the spot when he feels the gig needs it, his intention to keep people on their toes and trick the audience into having a good time.

Between albums, he undertook two extensive tours in the USA, three smaller Australian ones, two local tours with band and uncountable shows around NZ as a solo artist.

His journalistic bent means he instinctively observes, even while performing.

“I think a lot of people in NZ want their music to do well overseas but they have no idea – and I had no idea! The internet doesn’t tell you! What I had seen in the States was that if you want to release it, you’d finish the record, then you’d find a label and it would be six months from signing to the record coming out.

I knew it was going to take a long time. So I just waited for probably eight or nine months.”

“If you’ve released it in NZ, put it on your Bandcamp, it’s not going to be released anywhere else. I made that mistake myself with ‘Up Here For Dancing’. They don’t want a second hand product. That’s really unfair, really unfortunate because you can do it the other way round, but you can’t release here first.”

It was a friend who sent his tape to a record label in Pennsylvania who liked the music.

“I found Wild Kindness in Pittsburgh and they’ve been so great. They’re in love with the same music I’m in love with, which is ’90s cassette tape music; the kind of scene that Bill Callahan came from. They’re a small label, but they’ve got the resources to do the things I could never afford to do, or would never have the people on the ground to do. I can release it myself over here but I could never do that in the States.”

To release the album at home, he hesitantly bit the bullet and started Canapé King Records.

“Starting the record label is just cementing what I’ve always done. I’ve always been pretty good about running those things myself but I was almost reluctant to start a label because I never wanted to be good at those things. I always wanted to be a songwriter and focus on songwriting – that’s the job I’d rather do – but in NZ you’ve got to be a bit of a generalist.

Everybody can do two jobs. I can do the business side. I thought about it, and a lot of my friends who are musicians are their own sound engineer, while I need someone to do that. I’m a producer, but I don’t have all that time to spend in front of a computer, either. My curse is to be my own manager at the moment.”

Tonnon reckons that he may not be in his prime yet.

“I don’t think I will hit my stride with this kind of music until I’m at least in my mid-30s!

Leonard Cohen couldn’t have come up with Suzanne when he was 23 – no one would have paid attention. I’m getting close to the music I want to make, with a very heavily narrative-based music, and rightly or wrongly I think this takes a long time to write, which requires experience. People take you a bit more seriously when you’re older. Look at people like Mark Kozelek – he’s 48. I think that age might be a sweet spot for me! I’m still figuring it all out.” lllY"PgGSPJ9gSPPSPY3SO

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GJOEJOH ZPVS WPJDF with Caitlin Smith

Pre-Production: Maximise Your Time in the Studio with Constructive Foreplay

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sn’t human psychology fascinating? Isn’t it strange for instance, to come for vocal coaching AFTER recording vocals in the studio? I’ve seen this happen several times and I’d like to save y’all some serious time and money and talk pre-production.

Here’s a checklist so the studio doesn’t become a rude awakening as to how little control we have of our voices or how little prep, understanding, rehearsal or rewriting we’ve done on our beloved masterpieces.

As producer/sound engineer/ musician Keegan Meiring explains, a producer is theoretically responsible for executing numerous tasks on behalf of the artist and their songs. However, many of us are self-produced. This makes us solely responsible for assuring our songs and voice are studio ready, and as good as they can possibly be. He recommends the ‘three P’s’: Preparation; Practice; Professionalism.

I find it useful to get a scrapbook (‘cause I’m old school, ow!) that contains the lyrics and chord charts for each song, plus all necessary information needed to realise your songs (and the album/EP as a whole).

This overall sound/vision gives musicians, engineers, (producers) and you a clear picture of what you wish to evoke and achieve so that the studio can be set up, and proceedings unfurl accordingly.

For each song you’ll need to have sorted: Exact metronome speed: Recording to a click track helps immeasurably with comping later.

(Even if you’re a screaming hippie who feels this ‘rigidity’ could ‘harsh your mellow’.) Experiment with tempos to find exactly the right one. Nerves make us speed up.

It’s amazing how slowing a song down just a bit, if appropriate, can give it real power and space.

The feel and feel changes… Latin, jazz-swing 6/8, behind the beat, driving push/momentum?

Dynamic map so that everyone in the band has consensus as to the contours, peaks and troughs of volume, intensity and emotion.

Plot the trajectory of the song within a grid. Put sections (intro, verse, pre-chorus, bridge etc) on the horizontal axis and dynamics (pp-very quiet to ff-very loud) on the vertical. Ascertain the high point of the song. What is the master phrase that everything is leading to? According to the action in the narrative, where does it need to build and where does it need to empty out?

Practice, practice, practice: Know your voice’s limitations, strengths, difficulties and idiosyncrasies. Don’t presume that everything can be fixed up in post-production. It can’t.

‘Woodshed’ and loop difficult parts to iron out any challenging notes or sectional-changes.

Rehearse within an inch of your lives as a band! Especially nail

amount of work needs to be done to stress the important words and tell the story as expressively as possible. (Phrasing deserves its own column... stay tuned!)

A-B’ing: Provide listening examples of your sonic ideal (e.g.

Danny Thompson’s bass on John Martyn’s Solid Air). This narrows down the best recording approach and guides musicians into the approximate sound/mood you’re after.

The right key: You don’t have to break your balls to hit high notes because you refuse to transpose to a lower key as the chord shapes will need revoicing.

Conversely, you don’t need to sacrifice the urgency and intensity of singing up high because you’re fearful your voice might break.

Even transposing a semitone can make all the difference.

Well defined message: What is the song about? What does the song require of you

Nerves make us speed up. It’s amazing how slowing a song down just a bit, if appropriate, can give it real power and space.

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intros, outtros or tempo changes.

Play the songs live as much as you can to tighten up. There is no substitute for this, and it saves so much time.

Demo your songs as much as you can and get comfortable with your voice. Listen to and hear what needs development and what works.

Experiment: Really ask yourself soul-searching questions about what makes the point of view, perspective, structure and nature of each song truly unique. What is its essence? What are the points of difference? Amplify these.

Phrasing: Most importantly you must memorise your songs with the right inflection, delivery and speech-sympathetic phrasing. Recite each line aloud and replicate the accent and phrase-shape with the melody.

Phrasing is everything and a great

to communicate it so it’s fully accessible, understood and felt?

If you don’t know what the song’s about, rewrite it to flesh out its fullest metaphoric potential and impact.

Structure/form: Use your imagination. You don’t need to conform to the tired old song structures. Listen to a song like Imogen Heap’s You Know Where To Find Me to hear how she mashes up song form. Be clear on what each section’s function is and realise this.

Story: Know the shape and destination of the journey you’re taking the listener on.

Vibe/mood: What context, setting, time of day would it suit?

What words describe the way you want a listener to respond/feel? (e.g. unsettling, remote, soothing, harsh, edgy, intimate) What colour?

Taste? Smell? Posture?

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Purpose: Who are you singing to and why? Let this guide you into how you would best sing and mic-up a song. Chest beating and frothing at the mouth isn’t necessary for intimate seduction.

Energy: Practice what’s appropriate. Train yourself into letting go and giving it your all, or holding back, in the parts of the song that require you to give more, or less. Be present rather than overblown or cagey.

Rewrite so you’re not stressed out trying to nail changes that are suggested on the day of recording.

The studio isn’t the place to alter songs. However, if change is necessary, be humble enough to make positive change on the spot and don’t resist constructive feedback when it’s given.

Emotional honesty: Like a conversation, we don’t experience a consistent emotion from start to finish. Ride it –allow yourself to feeeeel as you sing. Clearly state the emotional intention (e.g. tenderness to comfort someone with a broken heart).

Instrumentation: When are instruments entering and dropping out? Are there solos or tonal colours you wish to compliment your song? Perhaps flute, found sounds, bowed vibraphone, samples? Where do you want them to sit threedimensionally?

Professionalism means: being objective and open-minded; not taking criticism too personally; looking after yourself and being realistic (e.g. don’t make any major life changes like quitting smoking just before recording!); stand up for your songs if you believe they’re getting the wrong treatment; explain what you’re after… ‘use words’.

Anticipate getting sick and having a crisis of confidence and prepare for this. You’ve got a job to do – take your time, do it right.

www.facebook.com/ caitlinsmithmusic Twitter @BraveCaitlin Caitlin@caitlinsmith.com

Glass Boat

With origins in a project based around the recording of one member’s EP two years ago, Glass Boat are a trio whose ethos is to bring out the beauty of their songs. Their success is evident in that they regularly manage to mesmerise audiences and keep them spellbound. Karin Vincent caught up with two of Glass Boat’s crew, Missie Moffat and Matt Harrett, on a Sunday afternoon to hear more about their project – a harmonyinfused, melody-driven guitar and voice trio that has quickly drawn admiring comparisons to the legacy of Crosby, Stills & Nash.

T

he core members, songwriters Matt Herrett, Missie Moffat and fellow Irishman Diarmuid Cahill, each already have a strong presence in the singer/songwriter circles of New Plymouth, but Glass Boat headlined their first show at 4th Wall Theatre only in August last year.

“It was quite an undertaking,” remembers Matt Herrett. “We played our rehearsed songs to a packed out audience and the night finished with a standing ovation of genuine applause.”

“I thought they were just being nice,” smiles singer Missie Moffat, “but after a while I realised it was genuine.”

The theatre’s engineer, Brett Carter, recorded the two hour performance through the live desk, for Herrett to work on in his home studio.

“I wrote down a list of songs I thought were the best, but I didn’t tell the others. Missie and Diarmuid came up with the same conclusion.”

The three reworked the raw material, pulled out some parts and produced a raw edited version, which Dave Carnahan of King Street Studio mixed and added final touches to.

“I didn’t know we were going to record on that night,” Moffat admits. “All three of us were so fussy with the arrangements and we kept on reworking it to what we felt was the beauty of the song.”

In December last year Glass Boat released their debut EP, ‘Glass Boat – Live at 4th Wall Theatre’, to a packed-to-the-rafters house concert audience. As one attendee commented, “It was spiritually awakening”.

The year has brought delirious performance highs for this newly formed band of experienced songwriters. Glass Boat played at New Plymouth’s prestigious Festival of Lights

Tip of the Iceberg at Pukekura Park in early 2015, and again silenced onlookers with their performance.

Explaining the choice of name, Moffat leans forward and starts to laugh.

“I always loved the name ‘boat’. It can mean a smooth ride or a rough ride. A transparent boat, that is what we were looking for.

Beautiful imagery with the promise of a journey.” She laughs again and cheekily grins.

“Obscure, but beautiful.”

On and off over a five year period, the three have worked alongside and together. Two years ago, Diarmuid Cahill started serious work on his EP and the others jumped in to lend a hand.

“It helped solidify what they were creating together for all those years and strengthened our abilities,” remembers Moffat. “I felt like the fifth wheel for the most of it.”

Herrett disagrees.

“Missie had heaps of vocal suggestions and that is what attracted me to the Glass Boat project. The voice is an instrument in itself and her input should not be underestimated.”

“We had no intention of being a band when we worked together on Diarmuid’s album,” Moffat takes up again.“Are we writing together?

Is this a new project? Let’s keep on turning up to rehearse and see what happens!

“If you hang around each other long enough you start writing together, and the songs that we did end up writing together became our strongest songs. Matt is the musician and Diarmuid and I are the songwriters. I am as much a musician as I am a mathematician. I know nothing about maths and I know nothing about music. There are formulas you can use to help you out, but I am an intuitive musician and I can work it out as I go along. Glass Boat does not stop us from being solo, but knowing that it is a band now, we feel stronger in what we can do.”

“The fact we had three songwriters and we were all keen on harmonies, that is what the big thing was for us. That is what we really, really wanted,” says Herrett.

A folk guitarist from the UK, Herrett grew up in a musical family whose upbringing was based around a folk club his mum started.

Listening to their live debut it’s clear that his

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intricate fingerstyle technique is the backbone of the project.

“Mark Hollis [Talk Talk] said that before you play two notes learn how to play one note – and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it. That’s sage advice. Missie Moffat is a free spirited and fearless musician.

She will try things I will not on stage and in the studio and that adds a fresh dynamic.”

“We have a simple set up, it’s only three of us. I feel the music is intellectual, we work until it’s beautiful enough and that in itself is highly satisfying,” Moffat adds.

The Song In You is the group’s ‘oldest’ song and the stand out track on the EP. “Some of the other songs are quite new.

We are always reworking our songs, discussing what we can add or what we can take away.

Sometimes it takes four hours to work out the arrangement between bridge and verse. It is really important to make sure you have got something to give people for 45 minutes and not make it too intense.”

Glass Boat are taking their EP and live show on the road as summer fades. They supported The Eastern over Waitangi Weekend in the Taranaki Cathedral Church. Harrett sees Adam McGrath as a mentor to his work as a musician.

“Folk is about playing music to other people, and few demonstrate it so well as Adam does.”

He recalls a gig where McGrath stepped off stage and stood right in the middle of the audience and sang his heart out.

“So many musicians in NZ are playing music without a label, independently, and are willing to support each other… you can go a long way if you are nice to people.”

He says the idea is to have a plan, but not to rely too much on anyone else.

“I’ve learnt this year to basically brush off criticism and come up with those ideas that keeps it fresh.”

“I know I am in this for a long time, finishes Missie Moffat. “We’re still in the beginning of the relationship, but I also know we are not a band to just sit around… we are at the start of something.” lllYBM"``,S"gY3SYPp

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QPTUDBSET

Simon and Benjamin Hughes, along with Rene Corbett, are Pause Applause, a Berlin-based indie pop outfit who not long ago completed their first headlining German tour. Originating from Christchurch, the brothers released a debut EP under the Hughes Brothers name in their first year in Germany. Now as Pause Applause are getting ready to release the second of a two EP collection. Lead singer Simon furnished NZM with this run down of their Berlin life.

C

onvincing my younger brother three years ago that quitting his job, moving to Berlin and writing music together was a good idea, I admittedly never truly grasped just how much change was about to come our way. Apart from the fact that I had a German girlfriend, it’s hard to know exactly why I chose Berlin. I’d visited Berlin before and loved the relaxed vibes of the place, but I recall waking up one morning feeling inspired by the idea of living in a city like Berlin. So the journey began!

What we all shared at the time was a dissatisfaction with our current lifestyles in Auckland, where our ambitions had taken the back seat

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and comfort and security ruled. We were uncomfortable with being comfortable. We had an itch and were longing to walk new streets, see fresh faces and experience a new adventure.

I’ve come to love the German specimen. So honest, so direct and to the point, so efficient and sooo in love with NZ! But as a Kiwi, I’ll admit this new culture has taken some getting used to. Learning the language was of course the quickest way we knew to understand and integrate into this new culture.

We were forced into this experience from the very beginning when applying for visas at the dimly lit ex-Soviet buildings of the Immigration Office – Ausländerbehörde. The first word I ever had to mutter was the name of my Visa Application type which is ‘Familienzusammensführungsvisum’… yep… Germans get a thrill out of combining words together so that by the time you reach the end you forget what you’re saying. You get the idea.

Being such an international city it’s relatively easy to get by in Berlin just speaking English and waving your hands. People I know have lived here for many years, built businesses and settled down without a word of the language under their belt. It’s possible, but we all decided as a band that we’d really like to give this language learning a go and began immersing ourselves as much as we could in places where we could have a go at speaking German. Starting with bars of course, beer, ordering bread, or kebabs (as popular as fish ’n' chips in these parts) and then moving towards more broken conversations with strangers.

Being in a band didn’t help because anyone at a show would just automatically speak in English when they knew where we were from. But we threw ourselves at the challenge and have really enjoyed what we’ve uncovered beyond just the colours of the German flag.

The first six months were full of incredible ups and downs. This extreme wave of emotions and the experience of learning a new language full time left me personally overwhelmed during my first European winter in 2013. It was definitely the most testing period of my life and a challenge for all of us. We were all forced to find our feet quickly in this new jungle or face the prospect of returning home. But the six months that followed really shaped our relationship not only as a band, but as brothers and heck, with everything! When all you’ve got is each other for support, you naturally grow closer together. Of course as it goes, on the other side of the difficult times you find new life.

We slowly began reaching out to venues, looking for opportunities and connecting with bands over here. It was a humbling and sometimes frustrating experience being a complete unknown in a brand new city full of thousands of other similar bands. Not to mention the language barrier in the beginning. But we have steadily been connecting with more people who are on our team and we’re seeing progress.

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Interestingly, we seemed to actually begin seeing more results as a band after letting go of our initial preconceived idea of success – making it big in Europe. We were forced to go inwards and our ambitions became more about using music as a compass of sorts, to help navigate our way through all of the pains and the joys this experience had brought. As it should. What followed was a creative period which sparked the material for our upcoming Double EP release ‘Alive // Revive’.

Having played in bands for a lot of our lives, we were also no strangers to the question, ‘How do we make money doing what we love in the music industry?’ In fact it was the biggest question we wanted to fulfil here in Berlin. I worked at a cafe for the first year, which was a great way to socialize and learn how to make good coffee! During this period I also built a home studio and now I also enjoy writing music for film and TV. My brother Benjamin creates custom-made analogue gear and has connected with some pretty incredible DJs in Europe to create custom effects units. Rene, who occasionally drums for us, does sound design and mixing for other projects and is also part of a DJ duo doing really well in Europe, so we all keep busy outside of the band with our side projects.

The cost of living in Berlin is so cheap though, it's easy enough to have a part time income and still have a more sustainable life than I would have back home in NZ. Obviously that’s another attraction for Berlin, the lower cost of living has afforded us all the time

to build a career, which the cost of living in Auckland (outside of your parents) could not comparably.

We’ve worked really hard independently as a band, focusing more on building relationships with many people who have supported us on our journey. The friendships formed over here in both the ex-pat and home community have been incredible and the abundance of creative talent keeps things constantly fresh and inspiring. There’s such a great community of artists and creatives we’ve connected with who share the same philosophy of exchanging your particular talents and collaborating.

Partnership and teamwork is a strong currency over here.

This teamwork approach has led to us now receiving more opportunities organically and the last year in particular has been busy for us since getting a booking agency on board. We played with Canada’s The Arkells on their recent European tour, which really opened up a new audience, and have been receiving radio airplay on a number of national stations. Although still fresh and young here in Germany, we recently completed our first nationwide headlining tour which we were super proud of.

I could continue to blow the high trumpets and try to concoct a long list of all of our successes, but honestly we’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg in Germany and that’s what is exciting for us. What we have found is a new love and passion for a place bursting with diversity, creativity and… kebabs (everywhere mate!) We do have a pretty exciting year ahead

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and we’re feeling optimistic, our personal gauge for success.

Of course we haven’t forgotten our roots, it’s always a great conversation starter to say you’re from NZ. Our country seems to have a lot of street cred in Europe so it’s easy to be proud of where you’re from. We miss the homeland NZ a lot and really look forward to returning soon for some shows!

By the way go get a free copy of the first of our double EP Release 'Alive' at…

lllYU"j`9"UUM"j`9Y3SOe e Crazy Planet Records is an independent touring company based in Berlin, who work primarily with NZ artists. www. crazyplanetrecords. com

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Every month Tsunami Sound (formally TMV) gives away two consecutive days and two single free days! 3 winners drawn each month. Engineer/producer with 30 years experience, free accommodation & awesome gear.

Check out www.tmv.co.nz for the deal and details!

Standard NZM Classified Ads (max 40 words) cost just $30 inc. gst. Optional sizes and features available on request. To place a Classified advert by remote send your ad copy, with cheque (payable to NZ Musician) to: NZ Musician magazine, PO Box 99-315, Newmarket, Auckland 1149. See the Contents page for phone and email contact details.

NZ Musician readers’ Special Offer: Get $10 off your copy of the 2015 NZ MUSIC SERVICES DIRECTORY

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NZ MUSIC S E RV I C E S DIRECTORY 2015

Edition

23

TRINITY ROOTS