Meemees' Scream

Rip It Up, Issue 45, 1 April 1981, Page 10

Meemees' Scream

Mark Phillips

Last year, on Auckland's, North Shore, it seemed as though every available garage housed a budding pop group. Of the bands that emerged that year, one stands head and shoulders above the rest. With tracks on two compilation albums, and a single shared with the Newmatics, the Screaming Meemees are well on their way to success. In the absence of lead singer, Tony Drumm, we talked to the band about their Ripper Records’ single. Guitarist Mike O'Neil explains the choice of song.

“We did 'Can’t Take It' because we wanted to save other material for a single we are doing with Propeller. We had the melody for the song, but the lyrics and piano parts were written in the studio prior to recording. You have to give credit to Steve Kennedy, the engineer, for doing such a fine job. “When we did 'See Me Go’ the first time, we thought it was great. But after we heard it a week later, we changed our minds. It didn’t appear to have any relevance to the song live. That’s why we have recorded it again for Pro-

peller. This time it’s on twenty-four track and produced by Andrew Snoid.” Drummer Joh interjects. “Doug Rogers (of Harlequin) likes the song so much that he let us record it again the following day for nothing: the idea being to do an edited radio version,” All the Meemees write. “It usually starts with one person’s idea," says Mike. “We work around each others’ thoughts, so consequently we write a heap of songs. Sometimes we work on a song for two or three practices, then throw it away." Joh defends the band against accusations of stealing hooks from old songs. “It’s so hard to be totally original. Let’s face it everyone borrows, it's just a case of how good your sources are. Ours tend to be a mixture of several songs rather than one. Most of the time we don't worry about it.” Like most young bands, the Meemees face a constant struggle for gigs. There was a time when they played only at parties and North Shore dances. Recently, though, they seem to have been breaking away from their fellow northerners. “Most of the other bands are at varsity or tech. We channelled our time into music,” says Joh. Mike continues. “We are proud of where we come from, even though we are starting to leave it behind. What we are trying to do is to get those other bands our support gigs. We still

play North Shore dances when we can.” Another Meemees’ recording project is an eight song cassette. “We’ve got heaps of songs that people like, but we’ve got sick of playing them. Rather than just throw them away, we decided it would be good to put them on a tape. It works out cheaper than two singles. By the time it is released, we will have ceased to play most of the songs.” “One side of it might be live,” adds Joh. “We haven't decided yet. It might also include some covers. ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Louie Louie’ are possibilities. We see it as the closest we can get to an album for the time being.” The Screaming Meemees will be touring quite extensively in the next two months, including two weeks in Christchurch. Watch out!