It seems as though Counting Spins has been a long time in the making. What made you decide to start releasing tracks as singles and on EPs so far ahead of the album release? 

It definitely has, we're itching to get it out. We wanted to release material ahead of the album to help build to it as opposed to dropping the full record out of the blue. It just turned out that a couple of the singles ended up hanging round on radio longer than we'd anticipated (which was great) so the gaps between releases tended to stretch out.

Having been together for a while there must have been a number of songs to choose from. How did you go about selecting the songs that appear on the album? 

Yeah there definitely was. we wanted to choose songs that reflected the band as a whole and gave a wider spread than what the EP had.. We worked on ensuring the album had the same energy as the EP however. We ended up heading in to the studio with some extras and then decided on working with the tunes that we were most excited about at the time.  

Were many of the songs written specifically for the album? 

All of them were, we decided that we didn't want to drag up old material and re-hash it for the album.

What's your typical songwriting process? 

As most songwriters say, it changes all the time. All of us write, so occasionally a song will spur from a simple riff or melodic idea. Other times someone will bring a song to the table that is almost entirely complete.

How would you sum up the album in one sentence? 

Dirty pop n roll? 

What are your plans now that the album is out?

We will be aiming to tour round the country soon after the release and then will work on releasing the record over in Australia where we'll aim to tour also. We'll be heading in to work on album number two some time around the end of the year by the looks of things as well.

How do you find touring/playing around New Zealand? 

It's really great, it's so cool to be able to play places like Wellington and Christchurch and have such responsive crowds even though you're only there every once in a while. It's often the crowds in small towns as well that surprise you.

What's the one thing you can't do without when touring? 

Champagne ham, bread rolls, Clean socks and Stolen Rum - I know that's four things but it's too hard to pick one.

What's been your best/most memorable show to date? 

Playing 'Band Together' in Christchurch was a great day. Was great to head back home and help out in some tiny way and be able to spend some time with our families so soon after the September quake. You also never expect that you'll have the opportunity to play in front of 120,000 people so that in itself was special.

What have been some of your favourite recent NZ albums? 

James Duncan's 'Vanishing', Opossum's 'Electric Hawaii' and The Checks' 'Deadly Summer Sway' was a goodie.

If you could play alongside any NZ artist or band, past or present, who would you choose, and why?

I would have loved to play alongside Split Enz back in the day - that band had/has so much personality

What are your thoughts on the state of the NZ music scene at the moment? What one thing would you do to make it better for musicians and music fans?

I think the scene is good but there's always some area for improvement. If I could do one thing to improve the scene I would work on bringing a radio station back that offered a little more diversity between indie and rock or rock and pop. At the moment everything is too clear-cut and one-sided that most stations will stick clearly to their genres. Something like Triple J is a good example of how this set up works.

Counting Spins is released in New Zealand on June 15, 2012.

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  The Boondocks
• 8
  Late to Chelsea
• 9
  Springloader
• 10
  Baconfoot

• 
  Crowded House @ TSB Arena, Wellilngton - 09/11/2024
• 
  Mel Parsons @ TSB Arena, Wellington - 09/11/2024
• 
  Jan Hellriegel @ Nivara Lounge, Hamilton - 08/11/2024
• 
  Matthew Bannister @ Nivara Lounge, Hamilton - 8/11/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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