"Judged by appearances, Bitter Defeat are a bunch of happily scrappy part-timers who just get a kick out of making music together". We've reviewed Bitter Defeat's debut EP, 'Minor Victory'. Have they "cocked it up"? Read our review -> HERE <-
 'True Colours' was released in 1980, and represented Split Enz’s first major commercial success, charting in NZ, Australia, Canada and the USA. 41 years down the track, a new tribute album, 'True Colours - New Colours', has been released featuring reinterpretations of songs by a variety of New Zealand artists. Does it work? We review the album -> HERE <- !
In just a couple of weeks time, HUP will turn six years old. Our metaphorical milk teeth will be dropping out of our musical mouths and we are planning to grow upwards and outwards and we need your help.
When we started out in 2015, our aim was to help nurture a local indie music 'scene' in/around Hamilton, by writing about locally produced music/bands and putting on events. That will be the case going forward and HUP will always have a mild bias towards searching out and supporting great indie music from Kirikiriroa and its people. The thing is... We want to do that for the whole of Aotearoa too, and so, duhnuuuuh with the lowest key 'revamp' possible, HUP, (while keeping its name and url), is going to start to have a country-wide focus, not just shining a light on lil old Kirikiriroa. Now, without being elitist or twatty about it, we are into indie music, and that means different things to different people. To us, it's the weird stuff, the cool stuff, the confusing stuff, the not-mainstream stuff, the 'I wanna be in that band' stuff, the 'oh my gaaaawd I'm alive' stuff, the really really reeeeeally good songs that give you goosebumps and were probably written in a spare room at silly times of day. We're not too cool for school (have you ever met us ffs?) but we know what we like. We don't want HUP to be like the other NZ music sites who publish every press release they receive - there's definitely a place for that and those sites do a fantastic job, but it's not us. We want to get a printed mag going again like the old HUPZINE from a few years back, but on a larger scale. To do this, (if you're still reading this by the way, very well done), we need more people all around the country with a love of indie/alternative music - regular contributors to create content (bleurgh!) worth reading/seeing - interviews/Q&A, music/gig reviews, photographs, record or guest on podcasts etc - and write with a degree of personality about good music. You can choose what you do and suggest ideas, and sometimes we'll mail out with possibilities and see if you are keen. It doesn't even have to be under your own name - pseudonyms all good if you're not into coming out to the masses about your hobby gig. HUP is not for profit and always will be so you'll want to do it for the love of it and hopefully the occasional freebee if anything comes our way, free entry to shows we put on/get offered, that sort of thing. Reckon you'd be into contributing something at least once a month? Chuck us an electronic mail at hamiltonundergroundpress@gmail.com  I hope you as excited as 'Paddles' here about our first show of 2021! As unlikely as it may seem, Matthew Bannister (Sneaky Feelings, The Changing Same), Julian White (The Scones, Bitter Defeat), Ian Duggan (Bitter Defeat), Sam Kimber-Bell (Dick Dynamite and the Doppelgangers), and Rob Shirlow (Bitter Defeat, Ancient Tapes) all play twilight cricket for the same team, the tremendously named 'Lumee Spuds CC' and they have conspired to make a gig happen this coming Friday, Feb 5th at Nivara Lounge. It also happens to be the release day of Bitter Defeat's 'Minor Victory EP' so if you like a bit of indie rock/janglepop head on down to Nivara Lounge from 8pm this Friday, just $10 on the door.  Locals Bitter Defeat released their third single, ‘Better’, on Tuesday, along with the band’s second video. We take a look at the new video and song by the local indie-popsters... Read about it -> HERE <-
Also featuring people playing songs by Pavement, a bit like this...
 Princess Chelsea – on her first tour of Aotearoa in two years - plays Nivara Lounge this Saturday, with Stef Animal and Bitter Defeat! HUP caught up with Chelsea and talked with her about her song ‘The Cigarette Duet’ amassing over 54 million views on YouTube, the influence on her life of the Yamaha Keytar, an early memory of a Hamilton right-of-passage, and more!
Read the full Q&A -> HERE <-  Prolific psychedelic music producer Kraus (a.k.a. Pat Kraus) is playing at Never Project Space this Friday, 20 November, and has a new track on local compilation 'In Thrust We Trust'! We spoke with Pat about the equipment he uses to produce his 'golden age' electronic sounds, what songs from his last 18 albums we might expect to hear on Friday, his inclusion on ‘In Thrust We Trust’, and more! Red the interview -> HERE <-
 Die! Die! Die! are (L to R) Andrew Wilson, Lachie Anderson, and Mikie Prain Max Johns talks with Die! Die! Die! frontman Andrew Wilson about their new double-A side (I Seek Misery/450), their umpteenth national tour (starting in Hamilton on Friday night), the Dunedin scene that Wilson and drummer Mikie Prain emerged from, the bassists they have collected over the last 18 years, feral crowds in Raglan, and marathon running. But not in that order. Read the full interview -> HERE <-
 Local indie-rock/jangle-pop band Bitter Defeat released their second single, ‘Long Lash’, complete with video late last week. The band's frontperson Rob Shirlow gives us some background on the song, and tells us about the video, filmed in various locations around the city, including Mesoverse and Never Project Space. See the article -> HERE <-
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