COMING TO THE PUNCH

Rip It Up, Issue 70, 1 May 1983, Page 8

COMING TO THE PUNCH

When the Spines' John McLeary first wrote .the band's latest single, 'Punch', the other members refused to play it. Eventually, after a change of personnel, it was played and then wormed its way. on to the A-side of the single by default. Now people are calling it the best New Zealand single so far this year. When McLeary wrote the song he couldn't play it himself there were too many rhythm changes. It took some time to master that but he was pleased with the result. "I think it's the best thing we've ever written. It's good because it's not compromised at all but it's slick at the same time. It sounds like you could hear it on the radio and people wouldn't go 'Arrrgh!'. "It cuts a fine line because if you listen to it the lyrics are really heavy and the story is harsh. But it s no harsher than a kid's Punch and Judy- show." • The Spines began about two years ; ago with McLeary, Rob Mahon and Caroline Easter. That lineup recorded the band's first single, 'Fishing'. Then Easter left to be replaced by Tim Robinson (now with the Neighbours). Mahon departed to be replaced by Wendy Calder on bass. When Robinson left Ross Burge came in on drums to complete the existing lineup. - . - All this seems to give credence: to the idea that the Spines are John McLeary. /Yes.and no. We play all • my songs and I suppose I'm sort of the boss. But musically it's always been very democratic. We'll always write the songs together, I'll just write the shell of a song.'' All - of those to play with McLeary have been accomplished musicians, a fact he puts down to being Wellington-based. "There's a lot of that sort of

musician here young ones, not just the old restaurant types. "When I got the Spines together I had no real credibility as a musician at all. I couldn't have gotten musicians that good in a place like Auckland. In some ways I still have no credibility I can't read or write music, I don't know my scales or any of that sort of stuff. I'm just a songwriter and I can get songs across." Being Wellington-based must have helped from the point of view of being allowed to develop without hype or pressure? "Yeah, if we'd been picked up at the start we'd have been horrible. But as it is we haven't been picked up at all, so I don't know which is better. But now we're at a stage where we can cope with it musically.

"Comparing Wellington audiences to those around the country, they're quite hard to play to. So we became quite good at coping with audiences. Not by saying things to them or anything, but just being able to put the music out. "The band as it is, is,basically a dance band. We're playing dance music, but it works on both levels, people can just sit and listen." McLeary feels quirky dance rhythms are becoming an increasing part of his writing?pHHH 'These days we're moving away from the standard 4/4 type rock thing. We're getting strange time signatures not flexible time signatures,' but • five beats to: the bar instead of. four, that sort of thing. And trying to make those things accessible." Accessibility's important? "Yeah, it's important that people don't say I don't like the sound of that' and bugger off. That people can get past the overall sound and listen to what's going on. I don't want to be too insipid either there'd be no excitement in it for anyone." Some people would say deliberate inaccessibility was. a trait of Wellington bands. "A lot of that probably stems from the fact that there are a tew bands around Wellington who aren't very good. But a lot of the more avant-garde bands are quite good and they just play what they want which' is - the thing for Wellington, I think." """ Are his lyrics an important part of the songs? "In a way, less and less. Before the Spines L was in" Negative Theatre,, which was drama and music, the lyrics were all story type things. The original - Spines were the same of thing'just taken. a step further. But these days the lyrics tend to .be more nebulous in meaning. They don't have a fixed meaning, they're quite flexible. But they're still quite important the actual sound of I' them, rather than the. meaning. Words aren't very good for expressing feelings unless you're actually singing or pronouncing in a certain way, accentuating certain things." t The band members each have other interests, McLeary paints, Calder is studying music at university and Burge is a respected session player. With two singles out and critics saying good things can he see the point where a decision will have to be made between outside interests and putting everything into the band? "Yeah, it's coming to that . very soon. What we're trying to do at the moment -is just clear up our debts, which we're doing through working day jobs. We can't do that through the band because we can't afford to play too much as no one would come. Over the last couple of years we've - probably played more than any band in Wellington. .' "Ross and I are keen to get back on the road." V ; McLeary can't see the .band being able to stay in Wellington past the end of this year, but he's dubious about how long the rest of the country would hold any IPiVHBMNPvI "What can you do? Go to Auckland and play there for a few months? 1 What we want to do is go to Japan, that's our big idea" The Japanese idea is Still in its infancy, but at least it's different. Enquiries about record distribution have already been made. On the domestic front some more substantial recording is planned a mini-album or perhaps even an -album. Of course there's the money to be found for that. Several days after this interview the Spines played a weekend at Wellington's Cricketers Arms. Crowds weren't bigHJHBB It would. be ironic if Wellington's very nature which has moulded the Spines into something unique was >to be. that which destroyed them. Russell Brown