Children of the Revolution

Rip It Up, Issue 74, 1 September 1983, Page 18

Children of the Revol ution

Russell Brown

There's a spectrum in musical performance 1 that runs f a gamut of shades from whoredom to masturbation. At one end lie those for whom 1 music is merely a job and at the other, the serious artist who refuses to compromise his integrity by ever leaving his bedroom. They all have their place.

In between, but definitely at the introspective end of the scale, like Children's Hour. They enjoy playing before an interested audience that gives feedback but aren't exactly interested in going out of their way to win over a dead crowd. Likewise, when an audience is listening, Children's Hour can be very exciting if not, performance may be uninspired.

It's for reasons like these that Aucklanders aren't likely to see Children's Hour again for several months. They're keen to play other centres but want to avoid playing in their home city for a while. Recent gigs at Deßretts and, more especially, the Windsor Castle prompted the decision. "Where before people came to the pub to get drunk and see the band now they seem to just come and get drunk. If the band's there, that's fine, but they don't take much notice," explains singer Chris.

"Judging by the Windsor (a Saturday afternoon) there are not that many people around who are that] interested lin music. Even at Deßretts, which was quite a bit better, there were people who'd spent an hour getting their hair ready before they, went out? It sort of makes the whole thing pointless if they come there to be looked at rather than to enjoy a band. "We'd rather people yelled abuse than just sat there." Their stand may seem negative but how many bands do you hear moaning about pubs as venues? And how many actually have the nerve to call fal halt to it?^9H9

But obviously there's a danger of growing introspection if there are few public appearances. "Yeah, but I suppose our music has been more introspective than that of most bands. There is that

danger of totally losing, contact with an audiencenHHflH^^l

"A good live gig is probably one of the best experiences you can have. You can be totally straight and come off the stage feeling like you've taken all the drugs in the world. great, it's religious*) it's better than anything else I've experienced." Enough opinion for now. Some facts: Chris and what was then the band (Bevan, drums; Grant, guitar; Johnny, bass) discovered each other one night at the Windsor and set to practising at Progressive Studios. They were a discovered'* by, Chris Knox and Doug Hood I ( don't stop reading here) and asked to support the Stones. Chris came to the group with:

"A vision of the way things should be. The way I'd like them to be.''

There's a certain arrogance in that of course? "Of course. Bands I admire, like the Fall and the Birthday Party, are very arrogant. But it's an arrogance ... founded on talent. They know they've got something. And I think we've got something

Children's Hour have sounded at times not dissimilar to the Birthday Party and others and it's a debt Chris acknowledges. He himself has a kind of Nick Cave intensity, if not that man's overwhelming confidence.

"In the last three or four months we've become a band. It was sort of like wearing somebody else's coat up until then. But Children's Hour has actually now taken on a personality and I'd like to develop that." After a tour, preferably with a new, promising band in tow, the band will settle down and write

new songs. The disciplining of the five songs on their new EP Flesh ("We had to properly work them out for, the first time") has spoiled the songs for them and they want to write different, fresher ones.

They're pleased with the EP and extend much of the credit for capturing much of the essence of their best live performances to the production help of Doug Hood.

At least three of the tracks have choruses strong enough to disgrace most "pop" singles but the new material is less traditional in structure. His lyrics, however, remain important. There's a lyric sheet with the EP and it's meant to be read. In the near future, Children's Hour will be playing periodically and trying to make each gig special.

"I'd like to make each one something that means a lot to people. If they want to wait a few months before we play again they're probably going to enjoy it a lot more than if we played every two weeks."

In between they'll be writing new songs.

"Ideally, I'd like to play a completely new set of songs each time but that's probably not possible."

Band members will probably be involved in independent ventures in music and other fields.

"If somebody's got more sides to their character I think it can only add interest to what the band's doing. There's so many bands around that just play music and that's it. They have no character, they're not interesting people. The only reason they're well known is because they play in a band. And people who play in bands are not special. The only thing about them is they can play a musical instrument. People tend to idolise them and that's really sick.” In their talk Children's Hour seem to relate more to South Island music than Auckland's industry-dominated scene. They're signed with that most unindustry of labels, Flying Nun. But that doesn't mean they lack ambition. They will be depending on the promise of recording an album by the end of this year to give them purpose and cohesion and, eventually, they would like to head out into the big, wide world.

Children's Hour are serious and not humourless. Self belief, tempered with self criticism and constant development and variation of their music approach will be keys to their.goals.

If Children's Hour want to be startling with every performance thgn that's a very good thing. It's also very difficult.