Determined to faithfully translate their expansive albums from tape to stage, The Response have crafted a live show that utilizes every one of their limbs and will leave you wondering how two people can make so much noise. Thanks to Andy and Vic for answering the following questions:
What has been your most memorable show to date?
We played at a place in Christchurch called the Milk Bar. It turned out to be a Milk Bar. When you go into this place you are greeted by about a thousand old school arcade machines and a couple of pool tables, but no sign of a stage or anything. So we asked one of the 'bar' staff if we had the right place and they escorted us through the kitchen to a secret black out back room. It wasn't our usual crowd. We were playing with an experimental electronic act and a hardcore band. We got a sweet rider of hot chips and milkshakes as we witnessed a horse playing a chicken at pool.
What local albums have you been enjoying recently?
We tend to do record swaps with bands we play with around the country so we get to know a bit of local stuff that way. Still loving The Map Room album and the Tom Lark EP. Also, liking the new Doprah EP out recently.
What sets you apart from other bands?
I guess the most obvious thing is even though we are a duo, we still play as a duo live. My (Andy) duties as vocals and guitar are pretty standard but Vic has her work cut out for her playing bass with her feet, drums and samples as well as glockenspiel. We like to think we produce a pretty full sound and it makes splitting our enormous royalty cheques easier.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
Ok, so for our last album Familiar Ache we were cutting it fine getting our physical copies back from the printing place but we got them all the day before the gig (Yay!). We played our show and sold some albums, gave each other a high five and went home. The next day we got a text from a friend who was at the show commenting on our 'experimental' third track (which should have been our most accessible poppy tune). Somehow, the duplicators had replaced our 'single' with a 10 minute instrumental Indian Sitar and Water drum spectacular. We managed to recover and replace hopefully all the records we sold that night.
Tell us about The Response’s next release.
The new album North of Nowhere was quite a different process for us. Usually we like to write music in bursts and it comes together as an album but this time we just went nuts writing songs and pooled them together to choose what made the album. We culled it down from 60-70 tracks and picked the 10 we felt we most wanted to share. The result is pretty varied but that's a big part of our sound so it fits pretty well. It's taken a while to get out but we are finally releasing it on the 4th of July 2014.
New Zealand Alternative Pop duo The Response blend electronic minimalism, pop sensibilities and the eclectic influences of vocalist/guitarist Andy Knopp and multi-instrumentalist Victoria Knopp to create what NZ Musician Magazine describes as "indie pop at its carefully crafted best." Their dynamic live show has allowed them to share the stage with such international acts as Baio (of Vampire Weekend fame), Deep Sea Diver (Seattle), Big Scary (Australia) and Kate Boy (Sweden), as well as play local festivals including Electric Avenue.
After two years based in Vancouver, Canada where apartment living and public transit inspired a more minimalistic and increasingly electronic shift in their sound and live set up, The Response made their way back to New Zealand where they have since released singles Holding Out For Something, Only In The Night and Practical, as well as EP's What Are You Waiting For? and Little Worlds. Described as “indie-proper”, the duo write, produce, record, mix and master all their own music, as well as design and artwork.
The Response are set to release their next album late in 2019, with feel-good alt pop gem 'Tallest Walls' out now.