29 February 2024 - 0 Comments
This April Te Whanganui-a-Tara's Luke Buda (he/him) - with hot new single imminent - is finally taking his band on tour. Featuring some of the hardest working musicians in Aotearoa: Olivia Campion (she/her, Yumi Zouma, Mystery Waitress, Grayson Gilmour), Jacqui Nyman (she/her, Bret McKenzie Band, Grayson Gilmour) and Anita Clark, (she/her, Motte, Don McGlashan and The Phoenix Foundation) they’ll play most of his 2021 solo album Buda and if the mood is right might even throw in a Cher cover and a couple of Phoenix Foundation favourites.
It’s a tour of two halves: First Buda and band play two intimate headline shows at Ōtepoti Dunedin’s Yours and Space Academy in Christchurch. The second half sees an exciting musical exchange programme between Te-Ika-a-Māui's two epicenters. As Tāmaki Makaurau's Phoebe Rings - fresh from recording their debut album - join Buda to play shows at Meow in Te Whanagnui-a-Tara Wellington and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland's Whammy Bar, in an exhibition of mutual admiration you will not want to miss. Luke Buda Ōtepoti - Yours - Friday 12th April Ōtautahi - Space Academy - Saturday - 13th April Luke Buda and Phoebe Rings Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Meow - Friday 19th April Tāmaki Makaurau - Whammy - Saturday 20th April Luke Buda is a founding member of the The Phoenix Foundation, who formed in 1997 and have since released 7 albums and 4 EPs. They've been nominated for over 30 Aotearoa Music Awards and they've won a few too! The Phoenix Foundation have been shortlisted three times for the IMNZ's Taite Prize, and three times finalists in APRA's Silver Scrolls. In 2009 Buda won a Silver Scroll, for his co-writing credit on Lawrence Arabia’s Apple Pie Bed. His 2021 solo album Buda was shortlisted for the 2022 Taite Music Prize. Since 2007 he has composed music for television and film as Moniker. Their work can be found in seminal Aotearoa films such as Eagle vs. Shark, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, and Boy, the latter winning them Best Original Score at the NZ Film and TV Awards. In 2018 the group took home the APRA Best Original Music in a Series for Cleverman. Moniker recently composed the score to the upcoming SpongeBob Squarepants film Saving Bikini Bottom as well as the hit NZ TV show Far North. In 2016 Buda co-wrote and produced Sir Dave Dobbyn's Harmony House, and in 2017 he released an album as one quarter of the band Teeth (an outfit featuring David Long of The Mutton Birds). In between all of this Buda has released three solo albums, Special Surprise (2005, Arch HIll), Vesuvius (2008, Arch Hill) and Buda (2021). Buda is one of only a handful of New Zealand musicians to have made an appearance on BBC's Later... with Jools Holland, and once made Morrissey quite angry when he contributed guitar to Everyone Is Horrid Except Me (And Possibly You) by Quilloughby feat. Lisa Simpson from the episode of The Simpson's "Panic on the Streets of Springfield."
After their debut show at Outsider Sounds Festival, Phoebe Rings has played extensively around Tamaki, including supporting The Beths at their sold-out Powerstation show, Mermgrown, Elemental Nights, 2022’s Nest Fest and 2024's Festival of Lights. In 2020, they released their dreamy single Cheshire which was one of bFM’s 10 most played tracks of 2020, as well as number 1 in various SRN and alternative charts.
This celestial band orbits around songwriter Crystal Choi (she/her), the rings as it were, consisting of the talented Benjamin Locke (he/him, Sea Views), Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent (he/him, Lucky Boy), and Alex Freer (he/him, A.C. Freazy). They released their debut EP August 2021, and it was nominated for the Favourite EP / Mixtape Award at the Student Radio Network Awards in November.
There are currently no comments for this article. Please log in to add new comments.