April Fish, the avant-garde duo, is made up of Katie Morton, spritian keyboard virtuoso and lyricist extraordinaire, and Wellington Warr guitarist John Costa. They answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:
Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?
Katie: My favourite songs on our album are Fido and A Darker Shade of Dream. It can be challenging to make music that matches the sounds in my head, and these two recordings come pretty close.
John: The as yet unreleased Carrot & Stick. There's something dark and lateral about it and I am so amazed I am in a band that plays this song.
How would you describe April Fish’s music in one sentence?
Katie: Alternative jazzy chamber-pop-rock proggy stuff that's often challenging, sometimes pretty pretty, and usually unusually convoluted.
John: Chamber Rock.
Katie: Ask again next week and get different answers from both of us.
What has been your most memorable show to date?
John: Amanda Palmer.
Katie: We opened for her three months after meeting and starting the band. It was surreal and amazing.
What sets you apart from other bands?
John: What doesn't?
Katie: We make an impressive amount of sound for just two people.
What can we expect to see from April Fish over the next year?
John: Stuff!!!
Katie: New music, another album, a music video, miscellaneous secret side projects. Basically, what John said. Stuff!
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Katie: Learn the "rules" then decide which ones are for you. Not all advice has to be acted on. Whatever you do, do it mindfully.
John: Get a real job.
Tell us about April Fish’s next release.
John: Mind-melting lateral music from a composer and a lousy builder living with a clinically insane dog.
Katie: In the words of 4 Non Blondes: Bigger, Better, Faster, More.
April Fish is Katie Morton (vocals, piano) and John Costa (guitar, vocals).
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A name born from the literal translation of the French term for "April Fools (day)", April Fish is pianist/singer-songwriter Katie Morton ably backed by John Costa. The music is a concoction of soundscapes with an artistic freedom that is so left of the middle, it's as if Tim Burton and Kate Bush are in command of the Starship Enterprise as it boldly accompanies Alice down the rabbit hole. Or put simply, to borrow the words of Katie's niece: "It sounds like an alien invading a circus."
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Part sci-fi jazz melodrama, part cabaret-rock fever dream, Blurred gleefully milks all the musical sacred cows Kiwi artists have traditionally been afraid to, while spawning a unique New Zealand Gothicism. Blurred is at some points space opera, at others an unapologetic insight into New Zealand subculture attitudes towards status quo art; its poignant introspection and need to defy convention.