For now there’s only the one song showing on Play For Keeps’ Spotify page, but that won’t remain the case for long. The five-piece Christchurch indie pop act have a volley of singles planned, leading into a debut EP arriving later in 2026. With a dance floor nod to The Beths, their effervescent and slightly snippy Handsome Boy caught the attention of NZ On Air Music enough for it to be included on the March NewTracks compilation.
Kia ora, koutou! PFK is Simon Hart (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tim Cederman (bass and bvs), Nic Hart (keys and bvs), Rob Grover (lead guitar) and Andy Gibbs (drums). We’re all from Ōtautahi and all mid-thirties now, but we met at Ara Jazz School. Bar Rob, we were all in a band together in our late teens onward, gigging religiously around Christchurch… but that came to an end for various reasons.
Naaaaa, not really. We did start out as a seven-piece band in 2023 under the name Ellie Oak, but nothing significant before this band.
Simon: Tim and I met for a coffee in 2022 and found we both had the same longing to get back into music. After having it on hold for a number of years we both felt we couldn’t ignore or suppress the feeling any longer. There wasn’t really any other option but to start songwriting again, and expressing ourselves. For us it is the most authentic version of ourselves and way to live.
Slowly over the coming year I pulled the gang back together, with the eventual new addition of Rob, and we started making tunes again. I had spent my twenties part of a super conservative church that guilt-ed the musical ambition out of me, so had a lot of pent-up music energy that needed to come out.
Haha…well we had a lot of people tell us Ellie Oak was a terrible name! But in all honestly 2023 and 2024 were exploratory years for us. We refined who we were and the sound we wanted to create over that time. For us, we didn’t know straight away the music we wanted to create.
Once we were clear on why we were doing music (and making major changes to our lives, like cutting back on work), our sound followed. We felt that we needed a new name to capture the heartbeat of who we now were. We discovered our purpose and main aim was/is to spread joy. Simple as that.
We firmly believe in writing all the time and rehearsing regularly. We’ve found this enables more space for creativity and the ability to stumble upon the ‘gold’. I guess that output is the same, we’re always writing but we now we have a higher benchmark for what will make it to the recording studio. The band’s based in Riccarton and we have a permanent rehearsal space set up. Makes all the difference!
Playing at Nostalgia Festival this year was amazing! There were so many awesome bands and musicians. We were stoked to be in the line-up.
We love Space Academy in central Ōtautahi! Such a great venue and awesome staff. Aroha nui to them! We normally only put on about three shows per year in our hometown – can’t gig too often as we’re still building our audience. To get more gig time we hustle to open for other acts and are starting to hit the festival circuit. The last single from this EP we’re releasing this year typically goes off. Watch out for Hey Love – coming in June!!
We’re working with NicNak Media and decided together that Handsome Boy would help us punch onto the scene. It’s been quite strategic to be honest. We’ve carefully considered each single from this EP and where it best sits in the release line up. We’re releasing another single in April, then again in May and the final one in June.
I don’t want to get too political and hopefully this doesn’t turn any people off… but we do want to be honest… Handsome Boy is a piss-take of the sycophants who surround toxic leaders. Ultimately, it’s about abusive leaders.
Satire is a way to claim the power back and speak to the absurdity we currently see in global politics, as well as religious and corporate institutions. There is a rise in political leadership of the ‘strong-man’ style that lacks integrity and breeds fear and group think. Facts don’t seem to matter anymore. It’s hard to do anything about this here in Aotearoa, in the corner of the world, so we thought we’d communicate our frustration through music.
The ending, when there’s a short build into a held vocal line, with Andy’s drum fill underneath. Gets me and the band every time! Interesting anecdote: that long drum fill of Andy’s at the end of the song was actually a mistake she made in pre-production, but it sounded so cool that it made it into the final recording!
We co-write as a band. There’s an initial songwriter, but the final product and arrangement is very much a band thing. The initial song often ends up being very different once it’s gone through that process. Tom Healy produced the song and our EP. He was so good to work with! Such an expert in his craft and guiding hand. We love Tom! We recorded at Orange Studios in Christchurch. Interesting stories…mmm…well that long drum fill of Andy’s at the end of the song was actually a mistake she made in pre-production but it sounded so cool that it made it into the final recording!
Well that’s up to the listener really. It’s for them to connect with and associate with their life and to build memories with. Some people have told us they reckon it’s a great road trip song – so maybe start there?!
Love this question. It’s very much a team thing. Getting our music out there doesn’t just happen. We have Joel Wallen helping us with our single art and music videos, as well as Nick Kowalski, and Tito helping us with gig photography – and they all do for free/heavily discounted rates. NicNak are helping us with our overall band strategy and PR to get us from where we are now to having a career in this. So grateful for their support!
And we’ve had super helpful advice along the way from the likes of Cary Caldwell and other bands further along the journey. We’re being quite intentional about building a community around us. Takes a village to raise a child… same for a band!
The key learning from this was production quality is everything. If you’re going to give the music thing a crack then you must have incredibly high standards for what music you release, and record with the best people and quality equipment. It was Lorraine Barry who gave us this advice and we’re so grateful for it. I wish I could tell her how much that coaching session she had with me in 2024 changed our trajectory.
Having a growth mindset is everything, and being okay with failure. It’s in those moments when you learn the most and are actually empowered to get better, because you have new knowledge of what didn’t work. We’re all about improving and getting that little bit better week by week.
Well, local to NZ… we all love The Beths, so…
The Beths: Expert in a Dying Field
The Beths: Future Me Hates Me
The Beths: Knees Deep
(Bit cheeky but we’re super inspired by them.)
Nope. Just at the beginning of our journey. More to come – gotta manifest right?!
Yip, our debut EP (as Play For Keeps) is being released this year in June, and then we’ve fundraised enough money to record another EP this year – which we’ll release in 2027! Then building toward an album in 2028 (if we get funding/somehow we’ll make it happen). Quitting isn’t an option. The hustle never stops.
Simon: Well as a recovering traumatised ex-church goer – Alex O’Connor’s Within Reason podcast. That count? In all seriousness though, the band all love watching live concerts on YouTube – there’s so much to learn about performing from established and legacy bands. I’m currently going through Pink Pop’s channel – so many epic bands have played that festival over the years. I watch this every night – for enjoyment and tips.
Nick Kowalski made the video – he’s such a great guy. And yip, that’s our rehearsal space that we vibed up for the shoot. We have clips for socials from that same shoot for the next two singles and a completely different music video for our final single. Can’t wait to share with you all soon!
Super stoked to be featured here, thanks for the support NZM! Ngā mihi nui to our old and new followers too. We can’t do this without you ♥️
