DANCE MACABRE

Rip It Up, Issue 64, 1 November 1982, Page 24

DANCE MACABRE

Madeleine Sheehan

The forthcoming album from Danse Macabre is rather appropriately titled Last Request. It marks the termination of a band that has hovered near the top rung of the New Zealand rock ladder. According to lead guitarist Wes Prince, Last Request is a statement of what the band achieved. He believes it is a truer representation than their first recording effort, the EP Between The Lines. It's guitar orientated with the vocals further back. The outstanding track is an instrumental, 'Web', already on video for Radio With Pictures and the obvious choice for a single if there is to be one. On Last Request, the band has achieved a more complex yet spontaneous sound, probably due to the fact that much of it came together in [ the studio. "Most of the songs were basically worked out when we went in but there was a lot of improvisation," says Wes. "It was a matter of putting the best things down on top of the framework." Good as it may be, the band's decision in early September to go their separate ways has left the record company in the unenviable position of trying to sell the album without the help of live performances to promote it. Lead singer Nigel Russell maintains, a trifle 'optimistically perhaps, that this shouldn't present a major problem. . "People buy records by overseas bands without having the chance to see them," he says. 'They buy them for the music alone I don't see why it shouldn't work that way in New Zealand." All four members say they are pleased with Last Request and consider it the band's best work to date. So why the split? According to Wes, the band had achieved as much as it could with the old format. "We were all becoming frustrated and a fresh start was definitely in order." He, drummer Roddy Carlson and bass guitarist Ralph Crump are still working together but are aiming for a completely new sound. "We want to do something totally original," says Wes. "We're going to move away from the guitars and get down to basics with the emphasis on drums." Meanwhile, Nigel, who is "tired of guitars" is poised to lead New Zealand's first true synthesiser band. He's fairly tight-lipped about the format but hints that there will be three or four keyboards augmented by percussion. When one considers the virtually opposite directions the band members are now heading in, it seems little short of a miracle that they managed to stay together as long as they did.JMB^H^H "We were trying to cover too many bases," says Wes. "We were heading towards our own style but couldn't get the guitar and synthesiser to work together as well as we would have liked." While they baulk at the suggestion of serious conflicts, it seems differing interests caused more than a few problems. It was clearly frustrating for Wes, Ralph and Roddy who were instigating the music to have Nigel in the limelight.

Spotlighted up front, Nigel appeared to many audiences as the mainstay of the band yet he wrote virtually none of the material. • "We never wanted a frontman," says Roddy. "We wanted to be four musicians playing as individuals on an equal basis." Nor did they want to cultivate a definite image but with Nigel and his synthesiser centre stage it was unavoidable. And it was his moody vocals that led to the tiresome comparisons with Joy Division. "People have to have their reference points," says Wes. 'They can't accept the fact that a New Zealand group can come up with something new. As it happens, 'Conditioner' was written well before we heard anything by Joy Division apart from 'Transmission'." Also uninvited was the link-up with, new romanticism which resulted from the band playing at the Ballroom Blitz at Mainstreet earlier this year, a gig they would prefer to forget "We should never have done it," says Wes. "We weren't into that scene." . He, Roddy and Ralph are now striving for a sound that can't be compared to anything anyone else is doing "however hard that may be." '"They are still in the market for a vocalist but would rather not actually go out and look for someone. "It would be nice if someone approached us," says Roddy. "Someone who heard us play and felt they had something to offer." They are in no hurry to start playing live and when they do will keep it low-key. Nigel plans to get his venture underway in a quiet way too. Nationwide tours are definitely not on the agenda. The band is still paying the bills from their last major stint on the road. Danse Macabre .never went professional because it was simply not practical. "Most bands that consider themselves professional are on the dole anyway," says Ralph. All four say the local scene is pretty dead at the moment but predict great things for 1983. • "It's probably an incubation period right now," says Nigel. "Lots of . bands have been practicing for months but won't start playing 'til next year." As far as recording goes, they see the strength of the industry in the independents. "As long as they keep going things can only improve," says Nigel. "The major companies are still not receptive to local music they prefer to play safe. •; . "They come out of the woodwork when a major overseas band is in town and they've all got their complementary tickets but Tow often do you see their representatives at a local gig?" , Hitting the big time is no longer of prime importance anyway. According to Wes, the greatest enjoyment comes from struggling tojmakeiit]]HoH^|Hotap4!n , "Once you get there, the challenge has gone. .I'm looking forward to having that challenge again."