December/January 2014
COVER STORY
Interviews
Connan Mockasin: Quietly Famous
Wellington-born singer Connan Mockasin (Connan Hosford) has achieved a remarkable level of success in the UK and Europe, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it given the paucity of media coverage back ...
FEATURES
Moments Like These
Moments Like These: Barry Saunders
Barry Saunders has had a charmed and distinguished career that began when he formed his first band, Orange, to play the Christchurch club circuit in early 1970. Barry played in a number of other bands ...
Interviews
Supermodel: Rimu & Roses
When Supermodel featured in NZM’s August/Sept 2011 issue songwriter/singer/frontman Mark Hanify candidly explained the covers act genesis and epic sound of his Wellington band, finishing rather more ...
Interviews
Totems: Carving An Electronic Niche
There are moments in life when what you are feeling transcends description, when you struggle to find words to adequately express the intimacy, depth and profoundness of the moment. Wellington-based bedroom ...
Interviews
Clap Clap Riot: Cue Manic Applause
Early 2014 will see the release of a second album from Auckland’s Clap Clap Riot, the indie-pop/rock outfit who in a former life hailed from Christchurch, answered to the name Band Theft Auto and were ...
Book Reviews
Book Review: 1001 Guitars To Dream Of Playing Before You Die
1001 Guitars To Dream Of Playing Before You Die Edited by Terry Burrows Published by New Holland Publishers, rrp $40 Sure that’s one heck of a lot of guitars, but still, I thought that reviewing ...
Gear Reviews
Gear Review: Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster
At certain key points in a successful guitarist's career there will be indications, some subtle, some not so, that things are on the right track, that all the hard work is finally starting ...
Interviews
The Means: From The Beginning To An End
Individually, Abe Kunin, Tom Broome and Marika Hodgson are all outstanding Auckland musicians, recognisable from a number of different acts they perform with. During 2013 they have been establishing a ...
Interviews
Trick Mammoth: Leaving a Vinyl Footprint
Trick Mammoth formed early in 2013 and have been gaining a sizeable furry foothold in their local Dunedin live scene since. The trio of songwriter and vocalist Adrian Ng, vocalist and guitarist Millie ...
Interviews
T54: Playing The Long Game
Riding somewhere between shoegaze and punk, T54’s debut album ‘In Brush Park’ sounds warm and summery, tap-along, sing-along even, full of melodies and well-suited to association with the Flying ...
Interviews
Janine and the Mixtape: Mixing It Up In New York City
Janine Foster is a well-polished new gem in a local music scene that is already almost groaning with a luxurious richness of more-than-capable female singer/songwriters. She describes her music as a combination ...
Postcards From Berlin
Postcards from Berlin: Richie Setford
Highly regarded from his time with One Million Dollars, Richie Setford has subsequently proven to be pretty much a bona fide musical genius – based on the evidence of the three superlative albums he ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Ash Graham
When just four years old Ash Graham knew that he wanted to be a musician. At age six his family chipped in to buy him his first guitar. He took to it like a duck to water, and ever since Ash has been ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Sweet Leaf
Sweet Leaf are Christchurch's latest offering to the smorgasbord of top-quality NZ reggae fusion acts, active since (and despite of) the devastating Canterbury earthquakes. Formed in 2009 against the ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Mice On Stilts
Mice on Stilts are a band blessed in many ways. Since their first gig in August 2012, the seven-piece band have become a close-knit unit. The seed was planted when guitarist and singer Ben Morley posted ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Glass Vaults
The last time I saw Glass Vaults, they were performing four or five songs at the City Gallery Wellington after a screening of Gregory Crewdson's documentary on growing up in New York. This was a particularly ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Megan Sidwell
"I'd love to play Wembley," says Megan Sidwell, a smile creeping across her lips as she muses on her dream performance. "I just need to be the next Lorde!" Serious she may not be but Megan is ...
LESSONS
Deep Thinking
Deep Thinking: Getting Funky Fun With Flea
Some funky fun this time from a bass player much admired in rock and funk circles – Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Moving forward in time from NZM's 25th anniversary focus, I have taken a few bars ...
Building Blocks
Building Blocks: Naming Your Band – Part One
A band name is like a calling card – it's the audience's first introduction to you and your music. It's also a way of telling yourselves who you are. Even just the simple act of being able to say, ...
Guitar Cool
Guitar Cool: Rhythm with Fills
In the last NZM issue I discussed that playing quality rhythm guitar is a must if you want to make a name for yourself as a guitar player. We spend around 95% of our time playing back up guitar with only ...
Jazz Guitar Shed
Jazz Guitar Shed: ‘Tis The Season After All
It's that time of year again, so I thought I'd arrange a Christmas song for solo jazz guitar. I've put the arrangement together based on the melody and the chord changes above the conventional notation. ...
Tutors' Tutorial
Tutors’ Tutorials: Basic Studio Acoustics
One of the single biggest improvements you can make to your home recordings is to increase the acoustic performance of your listening room. Good speakers will not sound their best in ...
Legal Advice
The Lawful Truth: Management Agreements – Part One
With ongoing changes in the music industry managers are playing a greater role than ever before in directing the careers of the artists they represent. Against this backdrop it's also never been more ...