Editorial

Welcome to September, and to one of the biggest muzic.net.nz newsletters ever!

Spring is here, which means there are only three more months left in the year, and with that only three more Muzic.net.nz newsletters. Get in touch with Lisa if you would like to secure a feature spot in one of these issues.

You may notice our newsletter looks a bit different this month. That's because we had to do some re-working to fit in the massive amount of interviews, photos, reviews and features undertaken by us here at muzic.net.nz in the past month. With summer on its way there is sure to be more coming in as bands come out of hibernation and announce their summer tours, and summer festivals announce their line-ups. Have you chosen your New Year festival yet? Keep your eye on our news section for announcements of line ups as they come to hand.

- Peter

New Artists

The following musicians have been added to the muzic.net.nz website during July:

Add yourself or your band to muzic.net.nz!
Add Artist Form
Info about filling out the add artist form

New Reviews

Kerretta - Pirohia Album Review
Written by Joel

Tunes of I - T.O.I EP Review
Written by Joel

Little Bark - USB Album Review
Written by Ria

Phil Judd - Play It Strange Album Review
Written by Andrew

These Automatic Changers - Have Mercy Album Review
Written by Peter

Malevolence - Relentless Entropy Album Review
Written by Terry

Voe - The Khate EP Review
Written by Peter

Mi-Sex & Eddie Rayner Project @ The Studio, Auckland 28/8/14
Written by Andrew

This Flight Tonight - Never After Video/Single Review
Written by Kerry

The Roulettes Self Titled Album Review
Written by Andrew

Into Orbit - Caverns Album Review
Written by Alistar

Kimbra - The Golden Echo Album Review
Written by Andrew

Parents - Low Life Album Review
Written by Kerry

Jason McIver - Look To The Stars Single Review
Written by Andrew

Shihad - FVEY Album Review
Written by Matt

Tahuna Breaks - Hold You Single Review
Written by Andrew

Devilskin @ The Powerstation, Auckland - 16/08/14
Written by Carl

Die! Die! Die! @ Willy's Place, Tauranga - 17/08/14
Written by Joel

National Country Music Awards Review
Written by Joel

Shayna King - Calling You Single Review
Written by Jason

Amos/Anon - Beneath the Pound of Flesh EP Review
Written by Joel

Amos/Anon - Gothique Doesn't Exist EP Review
Written by Joel

Cairo Knife Fight - Rezlord Single Review
Written by Peter

Jeremy Redmore - Clouds Are Alive Album Review
Written by Andrew

Team Dynamite - Coconut Lime Single and Video Review
Written by James

Devilskin - We Rise Album Review
Written by Kerry

Golden Curtain - Dream City Album Review
Written by Andrew

Stefan Wolf - Brand New Life Album Review
Written by Peter

Phil Rudd - Head Job Album Review
Written by Joel

All of our reviews can be read here.

New Interviews

Twobarshort Interview
Questions by James

SKC Dose 'N' Deps Interview
Questions by James

Interview with Andrew from Die! Die! Die!
Questions by Terry

All of our interviews can be read here.

New Photos

Devilskin
Maisey Rika
Herbs
Die! Die! Die!
Caroles
Miss June
Mermaidens
Photos by Bradley

Rhythm Interactive at TEDx Auckland
Photos by Lou

Kimbra
Aroha with Tali
Black River Drive
Ekko Park
Broods
Ladi6
Team Dynamite
Photos by Calden

National Country Music Awards 2014
Photos by James Faulkner and Joel

Die! Die! Die!
Photos by Joel

Mi-Sex
Eddie Rayner Project
Photos by Stella

All of our photo galleries can all be viewed here.

Tour Features

All muzic.net.nz features can be viewed here

About muzic.net.nz Newsletters

The next muzic.net.nz newsletter is going out on Sunday 5 October 2014
and will be featuring Whistlejacket and JCK.

Any NZ bands and musicians can feature in our newsletters
You can choose the date which suits you

We can also feature record labels, venues, music stores, music websites
and anything else that has something to do with NZ music

If you would like to feature in a muzic.net.nz newsletter, contact Lisa for further details

Muzic.net.nz newsletters are currently sent out to over 8410 members
With this number growing every day, featuring in our newsletter is an excellent promotional tool

Our newsletter archives are one of the most accessed areas on the site

- The muzic.net.nz team

Jason McIver is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland. He has been performing and recording for the past 15 years in various bands and outfits all over NZ and has even popped over to Australia for a few gigs. Thanks to Jason for answering the following questions:

Who are your role models in the NZ music industry?

I would say John Toogood, I haven't always liked all of Shihad's music but he has never been afraid of trying new things and going out on a limb, I admire that in a musician.

Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?

I'm currently most proud of how Look To The Stars has turned out, it's freshly recorded so I'm enjoying it but otherwise my song Ocea is also very close to my heart and has done the best out of all the songs I've written.

Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?

In the Jason McIver Collective I have musician friends jump in to add their flavour, Matt Hill from a Wellington band called Broke often plays lead guitar for me, his style and flavour really adds to my music.

Where is your favourite place to relax in NZ?

Motueka, my home town is beautiful and then so is Tauranga, I have recently met some amazing musicians in Tauranga that I love working with.

What has been your most memorable show to date?

Playing at The Powerstation this year with Heathen Eyes, it was amazing to finally play on that stage where I had seen The Pixies and The Wailers, just a great feeling!

What is your long term goal?

To keep making music for a living and to finish and release The Big Blue EP, followed by touring to promote it.

What can we expect to see from you over the next year?

Well, I've just been fundraising via Indiegogo to help finish my EP, once it's done I will be dotting around NZ to play as much as possible either by myself or with the Jason McIver Collective (J.M.C).

Tell us about your next release.

I started recording it this year, the title came from a dream I had as a 14 year old, it was so vivid that afterwards I drew the album cover perfectly along with its name. The Cystal Pool was mixed and mastered by Zorran Mendonsa, the next track I release Look To The Stars was mixed by Scott Seabright at Roundhead Studios and mastered again by Zorran. It's very pretty but still somewhat dark, I've tried not to use traditional drum kits on the tracks opting for percussion rather..... it's acoustic based but there is plenty of electric guitar in it too. 
It's keeping me interested, I just want to put out moody, pretty, dark and thought provoking songs.

What inspired you to become a musician?

Music did, I've always sung, I would imitate Elvis and Michael Jackson as a kid lots. Music just kinda happened, I would tinkle away on mum and dad's old piano as a kid but I guess what inspired me to play guitar and get serious was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins, that album was life changing for me and I still love it.

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Soundcloud Page
Facebook Page
Youtube Page
Reverbnation Page

Look To The Stars Single Review
The Crystal Pool Single Review

In Time Single Download
The Crystal Pool Single Download

Voe is a Wellington based Producer/Artist who makes psychedelic Kiwi hits. Thanks to Voe for answering the following questions:

Who are your role models in the NZ music industry?

I'm a big fan of Snapper, the Verlaines, The Chills, Salad Boys, Shacklock Meth Party, I was a So So Modern fan when I was younger, I'm interested in Kody Nielson's work as a producer/recording engineer. I enjoy a lot of the Flying Nun stuff as you can see, but what I really like is that despite all that contentious 'dunedin sound' branding they did at least have a sense of community by working around and with each other.

Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?

Always collaborating with friends such as Lilah and Pam. I also record artists; I've done some recording with Rhys Baker and Mermaidens. I've always been interested in playing in a Neil Young cover's band and I'll probably start a lame folk band when I'm in my forties.

What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?

I always like seeing my friends creating music because its encourages and promotes your own musical drive. Love seeing/hearing: Lilah, Pam, Seth Frigthening, Athuzela Brown, Secret Knives, Oligocene Drowning, Ghost Wave, Red Sky Blues, sorry if I forgot someone...

What is the one thing you want NZ to know about yourself?

That my music is self-produced and recorded, and the difference is that I don't want to compete with studio levels of production/sound quality I'd rather create my own aesthetic. I think that's important because it can be unrealistic when you're young and broke like me to try compete with ridiculous production values, do it yourself!

What local albums have you been enjoying recently?

I've been enjoying the Snapper EP, Verlaines' Bird Dog album, interesting production on Unknown Mortal Orchestra's II.

What is Voe’s long term goal?

Stay productive, be prolific and record other artists music. Keep a live presence in music and hopefully one day get enough interest to expand the operation. I'd love to set up a recording/jam space with some homies. I'd love to see other artists joining a collective of sorts that is actively interested in promoting music as a community. I see too often that labels or bands are restrictive and very aesthetically concious. While that's important in establishing a brand and you need to have a filter in order to maintain a standard of quality, I feel that to foster creativity you need to get everybody interested in creating music with a sense of community conciousness. I understand the irony of bedroom musicians like me wanting to engage socially but it is possible, especially as social media can be such a powerful tool. My long term goal is promote music and encourage other artists to be productive so that we can produce some quality material. I'm more interested in being friendly with other artists/bands then trying to be ruthless and solely driven for success. It's just difficult because being an artist in this country is often not taken seriously and is not treated as a financially realistic endeavour.

Where do you get your inspiration to create music from?

I'm just a working class man, I get my fuel to work from getting paid poorly as a cook and trying to sustain a balance in life with work, relationships and making music. I feel that artistic expression is a fairly intrinsic quality though.

What can we expect to see from Voe over the next year?

At least two more EP's and possibly a full length by the end of the year, currently working on a few concepts, a 'classic kiwi hits EP' and an EP that's specifically to listen to while skateboarding, so up-tempo rage-tunes...

Tell us about Voe’s next release.

My next release was mostly recorded around May/June in my bedroom. There was a lot of heavy things going down at the time but also I was extremely happy to be with my partner so the record is evocative of those two main factors. Also job stress is a big factor because working as a cook can be the pits in New Zealand, but also highly rewarding don't get me wrong!

I feel like it's a bit more accessible than some of my earlier material and my recording skills have slowly been getting better over the years due to upgrades in technology and the DAW that I use. When I first started out I used an mp3 that could only record for 15 seconds, you had to plug it into the computer and load the file onto the computer after every track and then play it back.  It was a real nightmare and none of the songs ever really made any structural sense...

How did you come up with the name Voe?

Vengeance of Excalibur.

Voe is Voe Thomas.

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Bandcamp Page
Facebook Page

The Khate EP Review

For the rest of the year, we plan to play as many shows as possible to promote our album. We've been booked for some cool gigs in Melbourne, including some mini festivals. During this time, we also plan to write new material and enhance our live show. We've sent our new album Telescapes to a multitude of blogs and magazines for review and hopefully a few more are written before the album is old news. Earlier in the year we paid for some consultancy, and we're looking at getting some more to assist us post-album release. This will focus on; our online presence, electronic press-kit, service to radio and press, and applications to play at suitable festivals. In the new year, touring is definitely an aspiration of ours. We'd like to get out of Victoria and play in other parts of Australia, and we'd love to come back to New Zealand. Obviously money will play a big part in making this a reality - we're still paying off our album! Funding applications will also be made. Other aspirations of ours include expanding our range of merchandise, upgrading our equipment and live show, and more recording.

Full Code Giveaways

- In exchange for a Facebook like, Full Code's single is available for free download via their SoundCloud page → bit.ly/bttm2

- Full Code will give away a digital download of their album to anyone who proves they've shared their Facebook, SoundCloud, or website etc. All one needs to do is email a screenshot of their share to [email protected] or direct message Full Code on Facebook and they'll reply with a digital download of Telescapes. 

Full Code are Steve Berry (vocals), Isaac Paurini (bass), Gene Carroll (drums) and Greg Geeves (guitar).

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Official Website
Amplifier Page
Facebook Page
Twitter Page
Youtube Page
Bandcamp Page
Soundcloud Page

Photo Gallery

Born in Auckland, in 2010, Ekko Park is a 4 piece rock band best described as “a ship captained by an Irishman and crewed by 3 kiwis” – singer Joe, a born and bred Belfast boy, travelled the globe playing music before settling in NZ, where he teamed up with 3 kiwi fellas. A collaboration of diverse backgrounds forming a unique and explosive offering in the NZ music landscape. Thanks to Nick for answering the following questions:

Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?

I love them all for different reasons, at the moment I've got a big buzz around the new songs we have written, but if I had to pick one song from the album it would be My Crime, that song introduced Ekko Park to a lot of people thanks to rock radio in NZ and stations in the UK, Europe and online, and is a highlight of the live set. 

Where is your favourite place to relax in NZ?

Without a doubt my parent's old farm near Te Awamutu, there's a mountain on the land called Te Kawa, from the top you can see as far as Mt Ruapehu, some serious serenity goes on up there, but for a day trip around Auckland I can't think of anywhere better than Karekare. 

What has been your most memorable show to date?

It really is too hard to say, we have been lucky to play some wicked shows in the past 24 months, the recent tour with I Am Giant is one we will remember, and our album release show last November was packed to the rafters, a very special night. 

What local albums have you been enjoying recently?

The new Shihad record is killer! also part III in the Delaney Davidson & Marlon Williams album series. 

What is Ekko Park’s long term goal?

We have been steadily progressing in New Zealand and are now working our way into the Ireland/UK market. Our biggest passion is playing live and we want to take our music to as many parts of the world that we can. 

Where do you get your inspiration to create music from?

As individuals we all get inspiration from different places, especially when it comes to the music we listen to, we all listen to different music and when we come together the music we create is very natural, its just what comes out when the 4 of us are in a room together.

What can we expect to see from Ekko Park over the next year?

Lots of shows and new music! There's some exciting things in the pipeline for the rest of 2014 and 2015, watch this space. 

Tell us about Ekko Park’s next release.

We have been writing ever since the 1st album came out in November and have begun recording album number 2. The songs still have that Ekko Park sound but naturally we have matured a lot and there is something new and exiting about what we have coming out next. 

What can you never leave home without?

A charged phone with an updated music playlist.

Ekko Park is Joe Walsh (vocals, guitar), Joel Halstead (guitar, backing Vocals), Callum Tong (bass) and Nick Douch (drums).

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Reverbnation Page
Amplifier Page
Facebook Page
Twitter Page
Youtube Page

Tomorrow Tomorrow Today Album Review
Becoming The Enemy Single Review

NZ Band Ekko Park Reaches An International Audience (press release)

Ekko Park live at The Powerstation on 2 August (image gallery)

Purchase Tickets for Ekko Park's Ireland/UK Shows:

http://www.thegrandsocial.ie/event/ekko-park/
http://www.voodoobelfast.com/events.php?&actID=118
http://www.seetickets.com/event/ekko-park/barfly-camden/793491

On 2 September 2014, Joel C Blood had the privilege of talking with one of New Zealand's most sonically stylistic and genuine men of New Zealand music, Marty Greentree. Marty is the founder and frontman for long term kiwi funk fusion favorite, {Tahuna Breaks}. Tahuna have been smashing stages, album sales and most likely a few bedposts around the country for the last ten years. A decade in and the boys are celebrating by hosting a blow out show at the Powerstation later this month. I got the inside skinny from Tahuna Breaks Bossman, Marty Greentree.

Ten years is a long time to be around, congratulations!

Thanks, yeah feeling happy about hitting that milestone and feel satisfied and quite proud really and in the mood to celebrate for sure. The anniversary show we are putting on at the Powerstation in Auckland on Sept 27 is going to be something special and it is the most excited Ive ever been about a show. We are recording a live album and filming the night, Im not thinking past this one, it could be the last.

You have had many career highlights as a group over the last decade, but has there been a moment or event that the band has changed you as a person?

The first time people clapped after playing an original song changed me, the first time I got told me how shit we were changed me, the moment we made our first record changed me, the first time we sold out a venue changed me, the next time we returned to that venue and didn’t sell it out changed me, the moment someone told me how much one of our songs meant to them changed me, the first time we got a negative review changed me. For me being in this band you are either winning or losing with no middle ground, it brings the best and worst out of me, in terms of personal change from the experience the jurys still out, Im just hoping to a bit wiser when I call time on it

You are a talented singer songwriter with great gat skills in your own right. Have you ever thought of releasing a solo record? If so in what style would it be?

Thanks! Yes I do think about it and its been bugging me more and more the last couple of years, Stylistically it changes but if I was to do it tomorrow it would be quite raw heavier guitar record-funk -blues-rhythmic rock n soul- think jimi hendrix-dolly dagger with sly and the family stones ‘Thank you’, James Browns sex machine, wilson pickets engine number 9, a touch of the doobie brothers china grove with the staple singers(mavis) style backing vocals.

For a "big band" you have a relatively small number of musicians (6) in the band. What's the secret to getting such a huge sound on record?

….6 people fighting amongst themselves to make sure their instruments get turned up to 11!

What was it like working with Crazy P? How did that relationship get established?

In 2009 Crazy P remixed one of our tracks called We Funk The Party we really liked what they did with that so they were the only people we wanted to work with on our Shadowlight album, we asked them, sent some demos and they were keen. They were top guys and easy to work with, the only frustration was being on different sides of the world with the timezones.

Do you have any words of wisdom for up and coming electronic fusion artists?

Yeah nah yeah nah-not really the coolest rock n roll answer but just have a crack and back yourself play as many gigs as you can, don’t wait for the stars to align or for some tastemaker to champion you, or government funding to make a record or video, take a risk, do things on the fly and make mistakes as you go. NZ's a small place, the advantage of that is that it's easy to get around, so get a job and spend your own money on living the dream, things happen faster that way and at the very least you'll have a bloody good time and some cool photos on your phone to upoad to your social media of choice, which you will talk about at summer bbqs over a few drinks for years to come when you are fat and old.

Any chance you guys will be doing anymore awesome animated videos? If so what would the theme be this time?

Ha ha who knows, we've probably ruined enough childhood memories!

Where do you see Tahuna Breaks in another Ten years?

If we are lucky and still around- doing the summer winery tours!

Tahuna Breaks is Marty Greentree (vocals, guitar), Tim Gemmell (drums, vocals), Tim 'Gator' Gillon (bass), Tom Charleson (guitar), Tim Baker (trumpet, synth, percussion), Adam 'Young Blood' Fuhr (keyboards, synth) and Jonny Maclean (saxophone, percussion).

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Official Website
Amplifier Page
Facebook Page
Youtube Page

Tahuna Breaks 10 Year Anniversay Show Details 
Tahuna Breaks - 10 Year Anniversary Show (press release)

Hold You Single Review
Shadow Light Album Review
Live @ San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington - 13/04/2013 Review

Live at San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington 13/04/13 (image gallery)

The Datsuns Interview with Phil Somervell
Interviewed by Terry on 3 September.

Album number 6 Deep Sleep is about to be released in October. What are you most excited about?

Everything about it being at this end of the process. We love that it’s finished and that it's out and we get a chance to play some shows. We're happy with it and there’s a lot of time and energy that goes into the process. So it’s just exciting that it’s at this stage.

I understand the writing and recording process was a bit different this time. This was written and recorded at the start of the year, is that right?

We did it in January. We had all the ideas floating around on the internet but the gut of it was done in the 10 days that we had together. We finished off a lot of the old ideas and wrote new ideas, so it was done over 10 days though.

Is the writing and recording process done as a combined effort or is it something where the Dolf or Christian for example has a few ideas and it goes from there or is it something where they bring the ideas and it gets jammed out?

It’s always different. A lot of the time Christian has a lot of music quite often Dolf has an instant idea and he will put lyrics to the music and put melody after the music or the structure is sorted. Sometimes Dolf will have something where he has written the vocals and melodies at the same time and another way is all together just having a jam working on some riffs. So there’s not some certain structure. We start with a drum beat or a vocal melody or it could start with any of us having a musical part that we have written by ourselves. Whoever it starts with it always runs through the four of us in terms of structure and rhythm and how long certain parts go for and all of that. So we all have a hand in it.

When you go into record, is it something where you record each instrument separately or is it recorded all together almost live so to speak?

No we try to record the drums and bass together and normally we record a guide guitar and either Christian or I will play and we always have one of us that just listen and we have an engineer our live sound guy Scott around. So one of us just listens to make sure the objective perspective is up to what we wanted and then we will replace guitars and add lead guitars and vocals. But the rhythm section being drums and bass is done at the same time.

With this album it has a 70's vibe some have described as a 70's metal thing going on?

Yeah we're super into 70's metal and that’s part of any record that we have done but this was more of a considered effort to do a whole record in the same vein. We were also lucky enough to do the same with the artwork and that has the same 70's vein.

It must have been a fun era to look back and make an effort to replicate in your own way.

Yeah the Sabbathy stuff and the other obscure heavy metal jam bands that were around at that time that’s what gets us excited and even makes us laugh. We even chucked in middle eight’s and stuff that 70's metal jam bands and accents and drum fills and solos you know that stuff we just really got into.

As you said earlier you’re all living in different cities now it must almost be like a long distance relationship.

Absolutely but because of that it lets us work more efficiently we know that we have only got a little bit of time together and we know what were good at and we know how we work in the studio now so we're a lot more focused now when we are together. It works pretty well actually because we have a hard 2 weeks and then everybody goes home so its quality time.

Now that you’re back in New Zealand yourself is The Datsuns your full time job or do you now have a normal job so to speak out of the band?

For 8 or 9 years we were doing the band fulltime all of us we were living in England then we moved to Germany. We did it from 2001 through till about 2009 just doing fulltime band. Just touring all the time and recording all the time and now days we kind of tour less but we do 2 to 4 weeks twice a year so the 2 that live in Europe come over to New Zealand and Australia and we record and tour or the 2 of us that live here go over to Europe because Dolf’s got a studio in Sweden so a recording session there or a tour but the European tours are obviously a lot longer because of the amount of places to play. It great to have the family but it’s still we have to have that creative outlet because we have been with the band for 16-17 years now so we're constantly writing songs and thinking about the next project. So when the guys come over in December we are planning out the next record so there’s always a constant flow of ideas and songs being worked on. It’s good to have the family because everybody’s got their own separate things that they go and do. The Datsuns is one thing but it’s good to have your own thing Christians off making his pedals Dolf’s playing in other bands and recording other bands in Sweden Bens got other projects going on down in wellington and works in the record store down there in slow boat records I think it helps with the balance. I teach people how to play squash and I do competitions as well.

Do you have any other projects yourself?

Yes I have a band, Ben the Datsun's drummer and Scott our sound guy which we are looking to release as an album at some stage but I’m always recording new ideas and stuff like that. I have always like playing with other instruments I was a drummer in a band up here for a while at one stage but it’s always difficult to find the time between The Datsuns and family. I’ve always liked playing other instruments such as drums or bass and other instruments than what I play in the Datsuns.

What are some of your musical influences as a guitarist?

My main influences were from local live bands. When I was younger my brother taught me the basic on the guitar and from there I was into local scene. There was a band called {Nothing At All} that used to play around and the way that they played guitar and put on a show was super influential to me as a 16 and 17 year old. We grew up in Cambridge so we used to go to the wailing bongo and see bands like {Head Like A Hole}, Tom Watson was always amazing to watch on guitar loved that I love his style of playing. Then in the classic rock stuff I love Malcolm Young, Pete Townsend and Jimi Hendrix obviously you can’t go past that. I’m really influence the people that I could see live and relate to people that we had never really heard of but would come and just rip it out live you would never see them on TV or radio unless it was a local but that was just the full live experience. Also for my drumming was a big influence I’m more of a guitar player but when I play guitar I feel like I’m playing the drums. A lot of the time when I was watching bands I was obsessed with watching the drummer.

One last question please. Advice for young musicians?

Have fun. For us if we’re not having fun then what’s the point? For the Datsuns we wrote music because it’s a massive creative outlet. We can only write something that we like we're not the type of band that can write something that will hopefully get on the radio or something like that. We do what we like. Listen to lots of music get influenced by lots of music it’s a never ending journey of finding and listening to new music. There is so much good music out there to discover so the best advice is have fun and listen to lots of music.

The Datsuns are Dolf de Borst (vocals, bass), Christian Livingstone (guitar), Phil Somervell (guitar) and Ben Cole (drums).

Website Links

Muzic.net.nz Page
Official Website
Amplifier Page
Facebook Page
Twitter Page

The Datsuns revel in cult film super villains for new album (press release)

Death Rattle Boogie Album Review

Villainy interview with Neill Fraser
Interviewed by Terry on 4 September.

Villainy is about to head out on the Ammunition tour is that right?

Yeah we're about to head out to 6 cities I think around the country just a little blast to get back out there we haven’t really toured since the end of last year. Now that the record's done we thought we could think about other things and head out on the road and play to some people again it’s been too long.

I noticed that not only are you playing the main centres but you are playing a few out of the way spots this time too that don’t make it so often on tour schedules.

Yeah we're playing Palmy and New Plymouth and also playing Masterton which we have never been to which will be good. We have played Palmerston and New Plymouth before and it’s always been great, so it will be cool to get back there as well.

You have been lucky and got to tour NZ and Australia now how has that been for you?

We went to Oz in September last year. We have a done a few bigger shows over their we did the Big Sound Festival in Brisbane which is a big music conference which was 3 days of endless music and bands and music people everywhere so that was really cool and then we drove from Brisbane down to Byron Bay and then Sydney then across to Melbourne kind of if anything gives you an appreciation of how small New Zealand is. You drive 12 hours to get from Melbourne to Sydney as opposed to a 4 hour jaunt to get from say Palmerston North to New Plymouth or something like that kind of puts everything into perspective. It’s a hell of a lot of fun though the 4 of us packed into a van with a couple of crew and it’s just like a road trip its awesome. We definitely live in each other’s shoes when we are on tour.

Have you guys got to the point where you can quit working yet or do you still have to hold fulltime jobs outside of the band?

We all hold down day jobs. Just to keep the money coming in when we are not doing the music stuff. To be able to get to that point we need to be able to look at getting overseas a bit more and building those fan bases over there. So that’s our next big step as well.

You were able to work with Tom Larkin for your first album what was it like having Tom onboard?

I guess at that point we still hadn’t worked out what kind of band we really were at that point so there was a lot of exploratory type of stuff going on doing lots of pre-production working through songs and just figuring outI guess what sort of sound we were looking for. He helped a lot with that. He has an insanely good ear. I think with the first record we walked in with about 30 or so songs and he was able to pick out what he thought was the best on first listen it’s just having that fifth member type person in the room who can listen to stuff and be a bit more detached from it and sometimes a bit cold or even excited because they hear something they really like and want to pursue. It’s really good in that respect. He really knows his way around the studio and has also worked with a lot different producers so has a wealth of experience. He’s learnt a lot of the tricks along the way and developed his own style from there.

You have new material on the way how do you guys go through the writing and recording process?

This time around 90% of the songs were written out of jams we just rehearsed weeks on end and just recorded everything that we did and then we would all go away after the rehearsal and listen and pick out the things that we liked and somewhere in there were things that we thought was a song and just kind of work backwards from there. It worked really well for us and I think we wrote like 30 or 40 tracks for the record and we just took those back to Tom and he just did his thing and went through them and put in his votes for what we should do and then we started tracking.

So how far away are we from getting some new material?

I think at this point it’s probably going to be early next year it’s still got to be mixed and mastered and that sort of stuff so there is still a fair bit of work to be done but we're feeling pretty good and have been able to sit back and listen to the fruits of our labour just this past week actually as I have just finished all the vocals. It’s nice knowing we now have a second record and we just have to finish it off.

With the tour will we hear a few of the new tracks?

Yeah for sure part of the reason for the tour is to go out and road test some of the new songs and get inside them we have really only played them in the studio for ourselves and in some situations we even only wrote them tracked them and moved straight on. So we're sort of learning them now and learning how to perform them so it’s a lot of fun.

One last question Words of advice for young musicians.

I’ve been making music now for about 10 plus years now in bands I’ve been playing music most of my life. I think what made the difference for us was hooking up with people who had a lot of experience people like Tom who can steer your sound and just give you an opinion, It helps you find out what works and what doesn’t work. That was insanely invaluable for us. Even more so you just have to be committed. When I first started off in bands I really wanted it to do well but it wasn’t really front of mind but if you want people to hear you and some degree of success you really have to believe in it and believe in yourself and that doesn’t mean you have to go out there and make crap sell out music but you just have to back yourself and put everything into it.

Villainy is Neill Fraser (vocals, guitar, piano), Dave Johnston (drums, percussion), James Dylan (bass) and Thom Watts (guitar).

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Villainy live at The Powerstation on 2 August (image gallery)

Villainy Firing The Ammunition Tour Straight At NZ In 2014 (press release)

Rhythm and Alps day schedule released and new artists added

The day schedule for this year's Rhythm and Alps festival in Wanaka is ready to be unveiled.

Known for trail-blazing the best and newest international and local artists, R&A festival features over 40 acts who will play 30 to 31 December 2014.

Festival organisers are excited to release further additions to the line up which include the following Kiwi artists: Eastern Bloc, Bailey Wiley x Raiza Biza, Arma Del Amor, Civilian Sol, That Ruse Kid, Rydr, Wilton and Thanks.

Last year the 10,000 capacity festival sold out in early December. This year seems set to follow with the first price tier of two day tickets having sold out already.

Full Article

Icons Confirmed For Ruakaka Summer Music Festival

Summer music returns to Ruakaka, Northland with Kiwi music icons The Narcs and Sharon O’Neill headlining the line-up. The one-day music event is now confirmed for Saturday January 10, 2015 at the stunning Marsden Cove Marina following on from the inaugural event, earlier this year.

Hard edged rock band The Narcs has been a part of Kiwi culture since the early 1980s and will bring their familiar dynamic vibe and chemistry to Headline the show. Vocalist guitarist Andy Dickson says “we are genuinely excited, playing again has been a blast, something quiet special happens when The Narcs get together”.

Another Kiwi legend from the same era, Sharon O'Neill, will bring a new look all Star Band to her Ruakaka gig, including Alan Mansfield, formerly of the Robert Palmer Band and Dragon, Liam Ryan (The Narcs) and Dean Hetherington (Coalrangers), Aly Cook (award winning female country artist) as well as Jim Lawrie (Rockinghorse/Midge Marsden Country Flyers) and Jim Wallace (Richie Pickett/The Outlaws), who bring their own weight of talent to the act.

Full Article

Northern Bass - Round Two. And It's A Knockout!

Fuzen Entertainment is proud to announce the second phase of artists that will take to the Northern Bass stages in Mangawhai this summer, and with a strong and diverse selection of performers already on the line-up, this New Years Eve event will change the game.

Yep, come the 30^th and 31^st of December, Northern Bass will up the ante and deliver New Zealanders a truly world class ‘bass’ festival in one of our best summer holiday hotspots.

As well as music, expect more of what is fast making Northern Bass a must see event: more bass, a re-designed site layout, more facilities for campers, more food and bar options and a festival site that has to be seen to be believed.

Full Article

Aeroplane Music launches Song Broker to “hook you up with music”

Aeroplane Music MD Jan Hellriegel is excited about Songbroker - a new resource to help New Zealand music users find New Zealand music.

“Songbroker really does do what it says on the tin”, she says. “It hooks you up with the music you need.”

Songbroker enables production companies and content makers to tap into an extensive network of local songwriters, bands and musicians to source original music - existing tracks or songs made to order.

“We are not a production library as such nor are we a traditional production music company. Rather, Songbroker combines the best elements of both. Give us the brief and we will get you the right music for your production, whatever the budget.”

Full Article

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