Following up his 2017 musical thesis in the shape of the bluesy rock album ‘Beginner’s Mind’, Tauranga music lecturer and doctor of songwriting Davey Beige is back in 2022 with something quite different. Ever-evolving as a creative artist, he may still be best known to some as guitarist in the much-loved ’90s outfit Peter Stuyvesant Hitlist. With his utterly delightful new EP, ‘Rise Above’, he has turned his focus towards poppy indie rock. We asked Beige (aka Dave Bishop) to put his own music into the context of some Kiwi songs he loves in the shape of a mixtape. He kindly obliged…
I’ve always loved this song and the cool video, which documented (if I’m not mistaken) the group’s time in New York. There are loads of local bands that just gel musically and Bailter Space (originally The Gordons) are one of those. I saw them play live quite a few times in NZ. Then early in the 1990’s I was staying in New York for a week and on a Monday night visited the legendary CBGB’s club. Guess who was playing that night?
Mahinarangi’s music always moves me and I was lucky enough to discover her very early on. Then in 1990, in my final university year, I was co-ordinating lunchtime music concerts at Lincoln College in Canterbury. Mahinarangi came and played our café with just her acoustic guitar and vocal PA. She was such a lovely person to meet and work with. I’ve never forgotten hearing her sing that day for just myself and maybe 15 other lunchtime punters.
I think the lyrics and production combine so well on this song. Together they create a ‘lost in the nightclub’ vibe which, considering the song title, works really really well. Listening to this track I always get caught in a happy landscape of Fender guitar riff’s, mono synth filter burns and disembodied reverbed vocals shouting “Hey!” What more could you ask of a song?
David Kilgour is my favourite NZ guitarist. There, I’ve said it! I used to own the same Gunn guitar amp that he used on this seminal recording. Basically, you can get those huge swirly tones and effects by turning the reverb on this amp up to 10, plus probably everything else as well. But aside from the sound, I believe David also spearheaded a (unique) style of playing where he’d use droning open notes whilst also playing the same note higher up on another string. That style of playing is a big part of what became called the ‘Dunedin Sound’.
New EP out now etc
