WASTRELS Setting sail

Rip It Up, Issue 80, 1 March 1984, Page 6

WASTRELS Setting sail

hasn't been a t good T, • week for the Wastrels. Their an broke down on the way from. Christchurch to Auckland and ' they were forced to ;spend,a night on the beach at Kaikoura, making extra food money bv busking for American tourists. When they got to the inter-island ferry someone had messed up and they were one ticket short. When they got to Auckland their van caught) fire and had to be hurriedly put out with jugs of water. Later that night, one of the band was; picked up for drunken driving and, after being processed, was arrested again for vagrancy while walking home. He didn't have any money in his pockets ... ;

But singer Anton's still cheerful

"We have a major crisis every day, but we; get through them." Where Dance Exponents have made the run to success almost without faltering, the Wastrels -

who won the Christchurch Battle of . the Bands in 1982 have punctuated their way with pitstops, sliding back and then starting again.

■ Last year's fenner Affair, became the biggest selling local EP of that time. A legacy of their attention to the South Island tour circuit? "Yeah, they were almost all South Island sales. It wasn't rigged in any way either. At the time I thought, 'we must be doing something, I'd better have a talk to Lee (Hubber, the band's manager) about it. But we weren't, it was all very natural. It's quite shocking, meeting people you don't know who own the record." The new Wastrels' record is the melodic Out to Sea', available in two versions, a 7" with 'Time for

A Ride' on the flip side and a 12" with the infamous Slutty Mole . Anton's happy with the songs, apart from his rather pinched singing on the last. Out to Sea' features un-Wastrel instruments like a synthesiser and maracas. Why?

"In the name of music, I suppose. You've got a song to record, why limit it to what you can do on stage? Although we're not really into synthesisers it made a. nice touch in the background. "Live, we are looking for a second guitarist, though. But; it's going to be hard to find the right person to complement' Peter's guitar sound." Is 5 the music changing? "Yeah - when we first started off it was just as an interest, a hobby. We weren't going to do any heavy, depressing things and just do happy pub rock, play advertisements and that sort of thing. But after a while when a few people thought we could do something more we thought why not give it a try? So the last few songs we've written have been a lot better. I've been able to ; express myself better the limitations of happiness and pub rock are pretty tight."

The Wastrels have built up a strong following in a number of South Island centres and Anton

confesses even he was surprised and a little unnerved - at the packed houses for their last Gladstone gig. Why has it taken so long to make the move north? "I think it's been laziness and a certain amount of apathy up till now. But we've got the ball rolling now and everyone's info it. Every time we have a break we just fragment and go our own way. Then we play for a while and build up an impetus then always seem to have another break and lose it." But no more. The Wastrels have been criticised for onstage sloppiness, something Anton acknowledges, but says their last ‘ trip to Auckland • engendered "a whole new attitude" to playing live. 'There's more incentive up here, I think. We .might . have been inclined to be a bit sloppy down south because we've played those places so many times. But we're getting our act together." Still enjoying touring?

"Yeah, but sometimes I wonder what the story is. Like the night we slept on the beach at Kaikoura ... you're driving through all these rural areas in a disgusting old van that keeps breaking down and you can't help thinking that it's all so far removed from the urban rock 'n' roll thing, the sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. It's more like Easy Rider ..."

A few drinks and things and the others arrive to pick Anton up for their gig at the Windsor. But there's a bit of bad news. They've had a ... scrape with a car on the motorway. It was a BMW. Russell Brown