POP-ular GURLZ

Rip It Up, Issue 65, 1 December 1982, Page 4

POP-ular GURLZ

Madeleine Sheahan

The story of the Gurlz so far does not read like your usual Auckland band file. They have barely touched the local pub circuit have hardly played in their home town at ail in fact yet less than a year after their first gig, they have two highly successful North Island tours behind them and a mini-album poised to streak on to the charts. The bandmembers, Carol Varney, Kim Willoughby, Debbie Chin, Shelley Pratt and Greig Blanchett, are the first to admit they've had a few lucky breaks. But they've also had their share of bad luck. In May this year, in the middle of a tour with Blam Blam Blam, drummer Carol's leg was broken in a road accident and the Gurlz' career came to a standstill for five months. Up until then, the tour had been

rolling along very nicely. "We'd just finished paying it off and were getting into the profit," says Carol. That's another thing that makes the Gurlz different from most New Zealand bands, they manage to tour without losing money. "That's not luck though," Carol maintains. "It's good organisation. Other bands don't think enough about what they can afford. They think they need this system and those lights and can pay a soundman S3OO a week.

'We do it frugally cheap PA, cheap vehicles, we don't splash out much and we play lots." Drawing full houses in many parts of the country helps too. The Gurlz' best gigs have been on the road and they definitely prefer touring to playing round town. "You're pissing in the wind playing in pubs around Auckland," says Greig. "You barely get enough to cover expenses and we don't want to have to pay to play any more.

"And apart from pubs, the only other thing to do is special venues." S 3 Like the Mainstreet New Year's Eve party where the Gurlz made their debut (and went | down a treat), and the Shazam concert at ; the YMCA which got them on TV. ''Most people who go to the pub" in Auckland to see a band are either in bands or know people who are but in other places we always get a cross-section. Like in Wellington, we had 30-year-old married couples watching with young punks and long-haired muslim types." By appealing to a fairly diverse audience, the Gurlz hope to avoid classification under any particular brand of music. The songs on the mini album were chosen with the same aim in mind. Most of it is new material

written while Carol was recuperating and, according to the band, no one song is indicative of everything they do. It was recorded in Spetember, as soon as Carol's bass-drum leg was in working condition after the break. "There was some time available just when Carol was coming right so we decided to go for it," says Greig. 'We were actually supposed ’ to do it as soon as we got back , from the Blams' tour. We would have had it released in time for a tour we were going to do with the Meemees (Dance Exponents took their place) things would have happened really fast if that had gone ahead." "Recording was really tiring for me," says Carol. "But we were determined. We've had to be, the accident put a total stop to things but we got it together again." The album was recorded at Harlequin where, as a prize for winning Auckland's Battle of the Bands, they had six hours free studio time up their sleeves. The time amounted to virtually nothing when it came to getting six songs on vinyl, but the win probably had a lot to do with Harlequin

boss Doug Rogers signing up the I band to his own label, Ze Disc. The three-year contract does not specify number or timing of future records but the band hopes . to have something in the shops in March when they embark on their third major tour. They are not too . optimistic about the New Zealand scene picking up. "I don see how it can until the radio stations pitch in," says Carol. "All those records are being made : : but nothing is getting played. How can the public start to groove to New Zealand music when they never hear it?" Television is not much better. Take the recent Radio with JPictures Auckland special for example. According to the Gurlz, i that'portrayed the Auckland scene very inaccurately. "They only showed the bands that are making lots of money," says Greig. "There's a whole subB group of.bands playing regularly This Sporting Life, Dabs* Prime Movers, us none of them were on." BH9H

While they’re still around, the Gurlz are happy to "take things as they come." They have a few preChristmas gigs lined up and during the summer plan to play at Whangarei and Doubtless Bay before Sweetwaters. , And if they need more work than that? "Something will turn up," says Carol. 'We're lucky, something always falls into our laps."