Citizen Cadre - Citizen Cadre Newsletter Interview
29 Aug 2009 // An interview by Shade
Thanks to Mike and Frank for answering these questions:
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
F: The Earth Hour awareness concert we organised in Wellington's Civic Square this year was it for me. If it had rained and we had to cancel, it would have personally cost us $750. It was a clear and calm night and over 500 people turned out for the bands and the acoustic sing along. We’d coordinated 3 bands, members of The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, various guest speakers, a stage, lighting, sound gear, food vendors and an outstanding MC, Jonny Eagle. Jonny played the whiskey swilling penguin who probably could have entertained the crowd for the three hours on his own.
What is your favourite NZ Venue?
M: The Town Hall in Wellington is really good. I’ve seen Shihad play there a couple of times and it’s always a great show. Hopefully we’ll get to play there at some stage.
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
F: There are some good bands out there at the moment. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Knives at Noon and the Thomas Oliver Band. Afternoon Raj and The Tin Soldiers are both up and coming Wellington bands with stacks of potential and I think we’ll all be seeing more of these bands soon.
M: Josh Rumble because he's Dane Rumble's little brother and he's just a good c*nt really. He should come and join our band if he's reading this. Also Harry Champion from the Exiles because he's a good bugger too and I've literally delivered newspapers all over Auckland with him. He's that good of a guy. And of course it would be nice to hear a bit more of Grand Prix, Knives at Noon, Anything But Federal and The Mercenaries because they're all great bands.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
F: When I was fourteen Mike and I competed in different bands in Palmerston North’s The Square. Half way through my band’s set some drunk crazy started screaming covers requests at us. This guy just really started grating my cheese so I kind of lost it at him. Getting into an argument with a drunk crazy is never a good idea, especially when you’ve got the microphone. Kind of a The Who moment.
How did you come up with the name Citizen Cadre?
F: I think we wanted something that wasn’t arrogant or up its own arse but that still had meant something to us and implied some strength.
M: Basically we decided that we were awesome, but we weren’t Kings like the Kings of Leon or anything. Just ordinary Citizens. And then the Cadre part means a group of people who form the backbone of an organisation and train other Cadres. At the time there were two of us, and we were looking to expand to a full band so it seemed like a fitting name.
How do you describe your music?
F: I would say rock music. I don’t think we’re smart enough to call it anything else. Ultimately I suppose it’s not really up to us to decide what it is, if people want to do that they can. I’d be interested to hear what people would call it. Check out www.myspace.com/citizencadre and let us know what you think it is. We’ll send the best response a t-shirt or some BS.
What can we expect to see from Citizen Cadre over the next year?
F: We've got a tour coming up which starts on September 30th in Auckland and finishes in Wellington on the 3rd of October. We've just recorded a single, but we'll be recording another single before we hit the road for this tour. That's the short-term plan anyway.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
F: I don’t really feel like we’re in a position to be dishing out advice like we’re experts or something, but something we’re very quickly learning is if you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself. Every little detail of every little gig or recording. No one else will do this for you because no one cares as much about your success as you do.
M: I agree, I think you’ve got to do it yourself and try to leave as little to chance as possible.
About Citizen Cadre
Citizen Cadre welcomes you.
Over the next two months Citizen Cadre will be in the studio again recording a new single called "Silvia"
Citizen Cadre will also be going on tour with The Feathered Friends from Melbourne. This will bring you some funk-rock pleasure. Check out which cities Citizen Cadre are touring and make sure you get to one of their shows.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Citizen Cadre
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