February/March 2013
FEATURES
Ex-Pat Files
Ex-Pat Files: Tim Wenzlick
For Howick College old boy Tim Wenzlick, living the rock'n'roll dream currently means touring across Europe and beyond as backline technician for a Swedish rock band. His speciality is as a drum tech, ...
Interviews
Jack Landy – Anagrammatically Defined
With Tiny Ruins showing the way, we are perhaps in for a wave of new young Kiwi folk music exponents to come forward and enjoy some widespread popularity and genuine success. Self-described as a writer ...
Interviews
Paul Ubana-Jones – Forty Years On The Road
2013 brings with it significant anniversaries for some major players in our music industry (the likes of NZ On Air, Rockquest and NZ Musician itself). By coincidence it also heralds 40 years as a professional ...
Interviews
Julian Temple Band: Looking Forwards
Dunedin musician Julian Temple may not be as self-effacing as his band’s two most recent album titles, ‘Nowhere Fast’ and ‘Upsidedownbackwards’ would suggest, but seems to do little ‘by the ...
On Foreign Soil
On Foreign Soil: Splashh
According to the Chinese calendar we've just entered into the year of the snake. According to most music critics we've also entered into the year of the guitar. So it's no wonder that Splashh's jangly ...
Interviews
The Bads – Alive & Kicking
The world of popular music can at times resemble an old-fashioned battleground, littered with the dead, damaged and the traumatised, the disaffected running off to seek a quieter life and only the very ...
Moments Like These
Moments Like These: Dr Graeme Downes
Dr Graeme Downes is a rock musician well-versed in classical overtures. He did his PhD on the symphonies of Mahler. He is the principal songwriter in The Verlaines, who first appeared in 1982 on the groundbreaking ...
Interviews
Tyree – Revival Of The Fittest
Papatoetoe-born and raised (and proud Niuean descendant) rapper-turned singer Tyree achieved fame as a member of the super-successful hip hop trio Smashproof after their first single Brother became the ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Killing Bear
Pukerua Bay band Killing Bear features Tia Beaufort on the drums, samples and vocals with Cormac Ferris on the guitar, effects and lead vocals. Shortly after the demise of grunge rock band Alpha Noise ...
Interviews
Mara & The Bushkas: Home, Land & Sea
With a smokey voice reminiscent of the ’60s and ’70s, Mara Simpson has been making a name for herself these last few years within the Wellington music scene and well beyond. In February she returned ...
Interviews
The Transistors – There Ain’t Nothin’ On The Radio
All the way from Rangiora, The Transistors have been making waves across the Tasman and in the States over the last couple of years, and are now gearing up for the release of their second album ‘Is This ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Husk
Formed only in August of 2012, Auckland psych/rock trio Husk have already toured extensively around the North Island and released two singles, My Love and Sick Seagull Blues. Featuring Ukiah Brown on vocals ...
Interviews
Popstrangers – Diametrically Opposed
Over three years since the release of their first, self-titled EP, indie rockers Popstrangers are set to release their debut album which has international bloggers, publications and music fans alike licking ...
Gear Reviews
Gear Review: Ibanez RG8 8-string
An 8-string guitar – just those words themselves arouse curiosity. For most guitarists that's a guitar with two strings too many. But to a fair few, it sounds like a guitar offering more room to experiment ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Nick Raven
Nick Raven may be a fairly fresh face on the Kiwi music scene, but that hasn't slowed him down from releasing a debut album, ‘Love and Lomography'. His music evokes the introspection of a desert traveller; ...
Industry
Industry: Dunedin’s Hocken Collections – collecting the gift of sound & vision
As a music writer, reviewer, and collector, I am always fascinated by places that value music, and acquire collections of it. Not only public libraries, who provide access to material that may not be always ...
Interviews
@Peace: Collective Delivery
June 2012, Auckland: It’s around 11pm on a Friday night and Tom Scott, front man to Homebrew and a member of @Peace, is working the turntables at Rakinos Cafe and Bar on High St. Classic ’90s rap music ...
Industry
Industry: Student Radio (Part 1)
New Zealand, and the Auckland region in particular, is renowned for being over-supplied with radio stations. It’s also known for having some highly reputable student-focused radio broadcasters – whose ...
Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Jesse Will
Summer has been kind to Jesse Will. The Auckland singer/songwriter was named Roundhead Studios Songwriter of the Year last year and he just finished recording his debut EP, ‘Hold Your Cards'. The 23-year-old ...
Interviews
The Ruby Suns – Looking For Christopher
Even Ryan McPhun may by now have lost count of just how many Ruby Suns he has shared a stage with, he has after all been touring his music around the northern hemisphere for six years and four albums now. ...
LESSONS
Deep Thinking
Deep Thinking: Mr. Faun’s Afternoon
A very happy and successful New Year to you. Following on from the last issues cross-handed tapping piece, I have written another piece combining some harmonics with fretted root notes and some cross-handed ...
Jazz Guitar Shed
Jazz Guitar Shed: Come on, Surprise me
One of the wonderful things about improvising is that you don't know what or when you are going to play next, and neither does your audience – this element of 'surprise' is crucial. In this article, ...
Guitar Cool
Guitar Cool: Blues Rock Soloing
An important part of being a guitar player is to have some great solos ideas that you can pull out at any time you need to. It is a common occurrence that unexpectedly someone in the band will turn to ...
Building Blocks
Building Blocks: The Gentle Art of B.S. Detection in the Music Business
There are some facts of life in this business, and one of the most annoying is that people lie. They lie to each other, they lie to you, and they even lie to themselves. Sometimes it's a little white lie, ...
X-Factory
X-Factory: Fur Patrol – Lydia
It's trite but true that music brings people together. I'm currently on an enjoyable summer tour with Fat Freddys Drop, Anika, Boh and Hollie and the star-studded The Adults. I get to hang out and talk ...
Finding Your Voice
Finding Your Voice: Totally Wired! Energy and Voice
Let’s hit the ground running and discuss the ‘energy’ required when singing – which kind and how much. There are so many different flavours, colours and amounts of energy that each song, setting ...