Rumours

Rip It Up, Issue 213, 1 May 1995, Page 34

Rumours

TONY PARKER

AUCKLAND

King Loser’s second album is set for an August release ... ‘Can’t Get Away’, Upper Hutt Posse’s second single off their forthcoming album Movement In Demand, should be out in June ... Intravene magazine are on the look out for. bands to play at their Pod launch parties. If you’re keen,, phone Mark on (09) 623-3323 ... and issue five of Shunt is out now ... Cosa Nostra appear on a German ambient dub compilation entitled Serenity Dub ... Andrew Thorne has formed a new,band called Splitter with Martin Nightingale bf,Jan Hellreigel’s band ... the Able Tasmans are ’ currently . mixing their forthcoming record Store In A Cool Place ... Semi Lemon Kola are recording a three-track single, ‘Otherwise’, at York Street with Malcom Welsford ... Sudersuk’s selfreleased cassette is in the shops or available for $8 from 39 Webber Street, Grey Lynn ... Big Mike is now managing ; Future Stupid .who are currently recording their debut CD EP at bFM (and York Street ... Thorazine Shuffle are heading into York Street soon to record their debut single entitled ‘An Affair’ ... Pivotal’s new bass player is Blair Peachy. The new line-up will be gigging around town this month ... ex-Christchdch vocalist Bic-Runga will release her debut album Love Soup on Pagan in June. A single is due in May ... Superette’s debut EP Rosepig will be out on Flying Nun in early June. -•- ;

JOHN RUSSELL

HAMILTON

BWA Da Riddim have split, with two members leaving for overseas. The band recently recorded 16 songs in one night at Greg Locke’s Orange Studio ... Contact 89FM’s recording studio, the Fridge, is near completion of a new Hamilton compilation CD which, along with 16 bands, will feature a 4 1/2 song EP by the now defunct Dribbly Cat Attraction ... Blackjack’s new single ‘Don’t Have A Gun’ will be released on Hark Records on May 8 and King Biscuit’s debut CD will be released on May 21 ... a Hark compilation album will follow in June featuring Tetnus, Tim Armstrong, Knightshade, Blackjack, King Biscuit and others ... Inchworm recently turned down a five year contract with Hark and instead plan to release recordings independantly. They are playing throughout the North Island in May (see Gig Guide for details) ... the Romantic Andes have changed drummers ... Lovefish have been recording at the Fridge for a debut cassette EP due out soon ... Toyah was recently appointed general manager at the Zoo Studios ... Love and Violence are back again, presently recording late into the night at the Zoo ... Mike Clarkin is busy organising the Herringbone Shed, a series of band nights at the Hillcrest Tavern. The first one takes place May 4, with Aquarium, Inchworm and the Romantic Andes. Then, on May 11, Love and Violence, Control and possibly REAL take the stage. The final night, on May 18 features Captain Higaz, the Nerve and Nemesis ... if you have any information to include in

this coloumn, drop into the Contact 89FM office at the University of Waikato.

JUSTIN HARRIS

HAWKES BAY Beat Not Fish have been touring central North Island. With their CD at the mixing stage, they’re preparing for its release shortly ... ex Hawkes Bay country singer Glen Moffat returned to Napier recently, playing a gig at Mossy’s backed by the Pickups to promote his upcoming release ... Mossy’s is interested in any touring solos or duos contemplating putting Napier on their itinerary. Contact Tony of town gigs and will be concerntrating on the Wellington scene. They have also been booked to play in the Rescue Rock series of concerts in support of AIDS awareness. They have also been recording at the Stomach in Palmerston North, and hope to release a demo CD in November ... Dusty Rhodes Bluesmobile are now down to a trio with the departure of keyboard player Badger. The band have been playing in semi unplugged situations ... the original songwriter contest is on again this year, with a changed format. Once again, it is organised by Hype Productions and sponsored by the Music Machine. More details to follow ... support slots gained by local bands recently include Static Black for the Nixons and Woody Alien’s Daughter for the Muttonbirds ... Hannay has just completed his studio and is planning an opening celebration shortly. Main priorities include a new Hanging Tree recording along with various other local acts ... Mike Hallett and the Glow Babies have released a five track tape of older orignal material.

PALMERSTON NORTH The Shoeshine CD is on its way. Now, a split album between Shoeshine and the Ashvins, this should be out towards the end of May. The CD will feature a mixture of studio and live recordings, plus a track from Christchurch's Whitey Hiss ... Next Big Thing have recorded in Wanganui ... Claire's UnNatural Twin recently played Christchurch and Dunedin to support their self-titled 7”, the first release to be cut in Foxton. Hopefully within about six months or so the record pressing plant should be fully operational ... E-Haw plan some recording and a release for May/June ... State Of Hate support Sick Of It All in Wellington ... Dog Tooth Violet and the Ashvins play the Mushroom Ball ... the New Royal is under new management, with things not looking too good for noisy original bands. We are trying to find a new venue at the moment. Watch out for developments ... bands recording at the Stomach lately have been Meat Market, Paranymph, State of Hate, Nacho Mama, Livids, Ashvins, Shoeshine, Prozac and Anodyne.

ROB WILLIAMS

WELLINGTON The Roots Foundation are again making plenty of good nosies of late at the Edward Street venue. The dance hall beats and the odd free tequila is giving a

balmy reggae feel to chilly Welly ... along the same lines, DJ Koa has been in town. His good mate Roast Chicken must be congratulated for being the man (or chicken) behind the successful Aftrican Headcharge tour ... Short are recording demos at Marmalade (this is the studio that have recorded that most Number One hits in New Zealand). Expect an EP or album out soon ... Pete from Bilge Festival has disappeared up North for a while, to perform some theatrics. Mark from aforementioned Bilge has a new band in the wings ... Wayne Mason is nearing completion point on his solo album, and will begin mixing with producer Nigel Stone this month ... new bands in town include Jawload, Cow Catcher and the electronic Oblique ... Sump have been working on their debut album. If Active’s Uncharted doesn’t win the Mobil radio awards, Sump have threatened to set fire to a service station using the master tapes as an accelerant... Bailterspace release the single ’Splat’ this month, and the album Wammo will follow in June

... the Truckstop practice rooms have been receiving numerous noise complaints of late. The band are thinking of becoming a gang, as the Wellington City Council don’t bother serving gang headquarters with noise control notices ... Plankton have finished their demo ... former Robber Dog Rob Joass has a new band called the Rain Lovers. The band contains members of the Brainchilds and Bilge Festival ... Head Like A Hole took the big step to the the old lands recently — armed with plenty of guitar strings and spraypaint ... Bar Bodega might have to give in to the bastards and move because of the new planned motorway. Several sites are being considered, but wherever it is, all great live bands will be welcome (Fraser assures us) ... other new venues are the Planet (old Ecstasy Plus), and downstairs at Tatou — catering to the alternative element? Well, maybe.

DONALD REID

CHRISTCHURCH Ape Management are releasing two recently recorded tracks, ‘Big Hair’ and ‘Defenesatrate Me’, on 7” vinyl on Home Bacon records ... Squirm have recorded 12 tracks at the Stomach in Palmerston North and are looking for ways to release and distribute in New Zealand and overseas ... Cinematic are reording with Bart at Redd Acoustics, with new drummer Thomas ... Dark Tower’s CD release is finally getting closer... Loves Ugly Children recorded 22 tracks for their forthcoming Flying Nun album at Fish Street in Dunedin, as well as an ABBA cover for Flying Nun’s ABBA tribute compilation ... Burn have split... a new label from Xpressway’s Bruce Russell, called Corpus Heomition, is to be in Lyttelton ... Trawler have finished a video for ‘Drive’ which should be appearing on Cry TV soon ... Hampster are touring Europe in June, which will include 32 dates in Norway, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and dates in England, Holland and Switzerland ... Dave Yetton (ex JPSE) is new production engineer at RDU ... rumours say a new label is starting in Christchurch called Bent Records ... Mike Hex is leaving Ape Mangagement to concentrate on Squirm ... Wadd are set to release a six track, self released CD recorded at Nightshift

... Geek have recorded four demo tracks at Nightshift studios ... listen out for the Sullivans (apparently) ... Leonard Nimoy are planning new recordings to be produced by Tim, the Dr Lovegland Sound System producer ... new demos on RDU from Dark Tower, Sifter and the Mothgo ... recording at the moment are Atomic Blossom and Holocene ... listen out for overseas tour news from Salmonella Dub with an international act-... RIP 96FM are looking at a regular demo slot for local music ... Snort are heading North in the next couple of months ... congrats to Pumpkinhead's Brent Milligan on ’Most Promising Male Vocalist’ award at the New Zealand Music Awards — good publicity for their, new album ... congrats also to Rainy Taxi, Geek, Daggar Soup, Flower, Debris, Chicane, Snort, Disgraceland, Holocene, Teen Angel, Sifter, Tempest, the Tardigrades, Trawler, Atomic Blossom and Human for reaching the semi-finals of Operation Music Storm ... any rumours, phone 379-6320. -■ . . HAT

DUNEDIN Biggest news locally has been the death of Eddie Chin, who has been involved in many venues over the decades — his family still own Sammy's and the Crown Hotel ... it is rumoured that the upcoming Sebadoh gig in June will see the end of Sammy's as a live venue. It may be turning into a pool hall!!! ... the Sex and Drugs in New Zealand Literature Symposium run by Super 8 was a wild success, seeing many strange and esoteric events taking place all over the city ... Brendan Hoffman of Volt Studios has just returned from two weeks of schmooozing with Sub Pop, including sliding down the slopes of Aspen on a plastic bag ... Operation Music Storm (the South Island based band battle) is about to hit town, with the final to be held in Sammy's on May 19 ... Sean O’Reilley is in town and may be doing some recording with some old friends ... IMD is set to

release a compilation of local artists later this year ... new band Cicada, heavily influenced by Can is set to debut around town ... Nimrod have changed their name to Suka, due to two other bands having similar names overseas. Their debut CD entitled Nimrod Diabolique, on IMD, is due out in June, as is Forever Bled Hollow by Swarm (Atomic Action is still to release a vinyl version), who are set to make a video for new song ’Migration’ ... Radio One have a new recording engineer Robin Murphy... The recent Radio One gig saw a rare appearance by The April Fools, David Kilgour, Martin Phillipps and Alan Haig, who performed all new material with the exception of a glorious version of ‘Pink Frost’ ... the Dunedin Pacific Islands Festival was held recently and drew large crowds to the Octagon and Town Hall. Highlights included hand made vhelele's, great food and performances by the local Pacific Island Community.

DAVID MUIR

NEW PLYMOUTH What is wrong with New Plymouth? Heaps! That’s what. Sick Of It All played in New Plymouth as part of their first New Zealand tour. It was the most negative, unfriendly place they played. Their drummer, Armand, called it a new low in the life of Sick Of It AIL As to why this became their view of New Plymouth, here are some reasons: some not-so-smart person spraying beer all over the guitarist in the first 30 seconds of the first song; the majority of the audience displaying a cooler and tougher than thou attitude; and the apparently true story of two members of Nefarious shooting up backstage just before their set. How come this redneck waster attitude appears to be so prevalent amongst New Plymouth’s music culture? Maybe it is a follow on from the time when the only place any sort of punk, metal or whatever gig could happen was at the White Hart. Because of the

prevailing mentality of a lot of the regulars there, the people going to gigs there learnt to develop a meat-head, tough boy, bullshit attitude, to be able to feel comfortable being there. Whatever the reason, the staunch, supposedly cool, harder than thou crap is slowly but surely killing live music in New Plymouth. Over a number of years, fhe number of people checking out visiting bands (kiwi and international) is going down. The main reason for this appears to be that the rest of the population in New Plymouth with an interest in live music --- and the pop/rock culture don’t want to be, or can’t be bothered, going to gigs where a small group of people act out tough boy fantasies. They aren’t scared or anything, they are just not interested in being in the same room as tough boy wankers. Craig from Sticky Filth told me he noticed that negative feel in New Plymouth, compared to other places, on their recent tour. Rock ’n’ roll gigs should be a celebration of energy and inspiration, not a place for seen-it-all-before staunchness. The same crappy feel was there at the DOA/No Means No and Pungent Stench gigs in New Plymouth. In the rest of the country their gigs were great fun, but once hitting New Plymouth,'the negative bullshit factor took over. How can it change? Should bands play in an alcohol free environment which would result in all age shows the staunch dudes would not be interested in ‘cause there would be no piss drinking? That might result in the people with a real interest in live music returning to live shows. It’s pretty damned obvious the spoilers I’m talking about here only have this effect at not so high profile gigs (the big, mass appeal bands do okay). Joe Public out numbers the idiots at these shows. But with the newer touring bands and the harder edge bands, this attitude is resulting in

smaller audiences, and therefore making life even more difficult for these bands to keep themselves afloat. This, in turn, makes it less appealing to come and do shows in New Plymouth, and eventually kills the local live music scene. I’m sure some of you local New Plymouth people reading this will be saying the bands charge too much to get in and that people in New Plymouth are too broke, or all on the dole. This is bullshit. People in New Plymouth are no richer or poorer than anywhere else, and rock ’n’ roll gigs are not the exclusive domain of the unemployed. When the Mushroom Ball happens on May 12 and 13, this negative feeling won't be present as there will be a large number of people from outside New Plymouth, and they will mainly be there to celebrate and enjoy the buzz of a full on rock ’n’ roll gig, not to celebrate the staunchness and coolness. Whatever, New Plymouth hardcore sucks. The music can be inspirational, but the tough boy attitude is a total downer. On to better things, the Sticky Filth single ‘Def Thru Misadventure’ is now out. Expect to see them playing down South in June ... Hideously Disfigured are going to be playing a few North Island towns in the next few months ... a request: New Plymouth does need a decent music orientated radio station all year round (not an advertising selling machine with classic rock) — hot new music as listener bait. All unemployed or disillusioned radio people should move to New Plymouth and set one up ... if you want to play in New Plymouth or comment on any of the above, write to: Ima Hitt Records, PO Box 407, New Plymouth, or phone/fax (06) 758-9988.

BRIAN WAFER