The third album from Aotearoa's foremost socialist party punks, Dick Move, is out on Friday. On Saturday, get to The Yard in Raglan for the Dream Believe Achieve launch tour (with Soft Bait and the Vile Maxim), or head out to the other side of the country on Sunday for a gig Under The Bridge in Tauranga (+ Two Skinner and Punktuation). Or hell, why not do both? And, in the meantime, enjoy this quick Q & A with vocalist Lucy Suttor.
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Cowboy Dan formed in 2015, released EPs in 2017 and 2021, pressed those EPs onto a vinyl release in 2023 and now, finally, have a debut album. Dreams That Feel Like Falling is filled with the jangly, poppy rock that the band has been making for years. It leans a little quicker and harder than either EP, and thematically finds its songwriters closer to middle age than their teenage years.  

Max Johns hears the sound of someone alone in their bedroom, surrounded by ideas and deep feelings, reassembling them into beautiful and thoughtful things.

On September 5, Pickle Darling (Ōtautahi’s Lukas Mayo) has a new album coming out. It will be their fourth in six years and, judging by the three tracks already released, it’s going to be another lo-fi joy from one of the country’s most inventive artists. 

Lukas says that Bots—more on the title soon—”was assembled from fragments”. As with all their music, it’s a home-recorded affair.

“I have the Logic Pro project file in front of me and just attack it in lots of different directions at once, as opposed to trying to capture a song. So a song could be made up of fragments recorded years apart. Though I’d imagine in 2025 that’s probably how every single bedroom producer makes music. I definitely don’t like to hide the production behind any cleverness though, I’m more excited about showing the seams, letting the hiss in, letting the clicks in, things like that. I only have one mic and don’t have a soundproof room so a lot of my life kind of leaks into the recording.”

​Many of us who witnessed the reassembled Watershed in Hamilton recently, fronted by Marcus MacRury, saw them as a highlight performance at the Contact 50th birthday party. In recent years, however, Marcus has been living in Tauranga, performing with (amongst others) The False Waltons, who on the 30th of August will be making the trip across the Kaimai Ranges to play Last Place with Bitter Defeat and Cowboy Dan. Little can be found about the enigmatic False Waltons online, so we attempted to mend the breach by questioning them about their relationship with the 1970s American TV drama ‘The Waltons’, the roles of the respective members, their forthcoming album, and more!

HUP: Many of my generation and older will remember ‘The Waltons’ as a wholesome 1970s American TV drama, which focussed on a large rural family navigating the Great Depression and World War II. In what ways do you consider yourselves to be False Waltons?
 
Marcus:  We’ve been advised not to comment on this matter.
 
Ben:  We’ve been advised not to comment on this matter.
 
Pete:  We’ve been advised not to comment on this matter.
 
HUP: ...okay... who’s in the band, how and when did you all get together, and what are your respective roles?
 
Marcus:  Pete and Ben continue to play in a covers band called Splinta.  I had an ad running on Jam Space for two years - before Pete sent me a message telling me he liked the songs. He said the lyrics were cool, but weird and that he wanted to meet me in person to make sure I wasn’t a nut-job. His exact words. At that point, I was literally on the verge of giving up - thinking my songs were obviously garbage, or that I had somehow wronged some kind of powerful, omnipotent, spiteful entity that refused to let me be in a band. But they showed up ready to play.  And then they continued to show up ready to play - which, as you know, is the difficult part.  Personally I want to be in a band with other people contributing. Pete might choose some harmonic content that I would never come up with.  And that’s where it’s at for me. I like being musically caught off-guard, or surprised. Calling the shots is a drag and I’m just not good at it regardless. Peter [bass] is very strong with his composition/arrangement skills, which is a huge benefit for the band in general. Ben [drums] is also very good and comes up with broader ideas. So, if we are composing, they’ll both take the reins and tell me what to play. This gives us room for no-one in particular to be responsible for the outcome/results. Pete is a big melody man - while Ben is more at the grunt-end - favouring the harder songs as opposed to the softer songs - which he calls our 'nana-songs’. Which is nice.
 
Pete: We were all born in the '60s. Falsely speaking, when sex, drugs and rock ’n roll were born. When I saw the ad on Jam Space, Marcus had a song on there called Yamaduta and I thought ‘fuck this is cool'. It was so not standard shit that I thought 'that's a bit of me'. The rest is all too painful to talk about because we have to put up with Marcus. Don’t listen to Marcus. It’s all lies. He’s a dick.
 
Ben: I’m the drummer in this band.  I’m also the creative genius in The False Waltons.  Question.  Do we get any free beer at The Last Place?  Marcus thinks he’s cool.  He isn’t.  I like his Gibson SG guitar, tho.  He also has a Jazzmaster - which is just pretentious.  He keeps wanking on about bands I’ve never heard of.  Frybrain?  Scooter?  Bitter Defeat?  Hand of Glory?  Mud People?  Give me AC/DC and a box of beer any day.  I use 5a drum-sticks.  Chicks like drummers.  I like chicks and beer ’n stuff.  It’s the only reason I’m in The False Waltons.

HUP: Many of us who have been stuck in the swamplands for an extended period remember Marcus from his time in Watershed. Are there similarities in the sounds and songs of that band and what you do in False Waltons?
 
Marcus: That’s odd territory to broach, or even consider - so apologies if the answer is long-winded, or slightly off.  Back in Watershed days, I could’ve been [and was] charged with being ignorant of many things and so I think musicians I played with had to deal with my personal volume being cranked a bit higher than most - in later years someone told me I was like a blank compact disc cranked up to ten - which was a big chunk to choke on at the time.  But, with Watershed, being perceived as the primary song-writer theoretically afforded me much more headroom.  It wasn’t like that, though. Most of our songs were jammed out in the rehearsal room - so that concept is not entirely apt. I was just the main singer/frontman.  Watershed achieved quite a lot - given the fact we were 20 year olds either on the dole, or ostensibly at university. But none of that could’ve been achieved without the influences of everyone involved - be it other musicians, Contact FM, the scene in general, the drama scene, the McGillicuddy’s, etc. With The False Waltons, no song makes it out alive without being put through The Waltoniser - basically jamming it live, seeing what we can do with any idea/riff, etc. It’s still a learning curve. But what is apparent is that any band that’s out there - as you would know from being in Bitter Defeat - is that what you get is a melting pot of everyone involved. Band members have to negotiate the psychology of everyone involved - and that goes all ways. At times it becomes much more than simply being in a band. So The False Waltons are way less directionally focused. Anything could pop out. Take Carry Fire for example.  No-one is going to sit there by themselves and be able to write that.  Ben recently asked ‘how did we write that’?  And the answer is that we jammed it and it chonked through The Waltoniser very quickly. We are not fans of any song sounding like any other song in our set - which has its own issues.  So, I like to change up the vocal approach as much as possible. I can still belt but I also like frailty and ‘getting into character’ for any particular song we are writing at the time. The songs we have are a good indication of a band enjoying the process. But we really look forward to the next phase and seeing what we can come up with. We’re looking forward to ‘ditching our rudder’ as it were.
 
Pete: I served my time in the '80s in a band called Blue Network with Mark Peterson who took over from Andrew Brough playing for Straitjacket Fits. I think this opened the door to being more creative and bringing something to add to The False Waltons. I have never heard of Watershed. Marcus said he was in a band while he was at university, in Hamilton. Hamilton.  30 August.  30 August.  At the Last Place. Hamilton. Hamilton. With Bitter Defeat.  30 August. Hamilton. Ja, natrulich. Das ist gut.
 
Ben: Beer. Any free beer in Hamilton? I’m the drummer. I can sing and play drums at the same time. We have a song called Sideways Is King.  But it’s super-not.  Beer is king.
 
HUP: Tauranga seems to have a healthy music scene, with at least a couple of great venues. Have all of you been in active in bands over there previously?
 
Marcus:  There is a very healthy scene in Tauranga.  It’s not the exception to the rule to be in a band in Tauranga. Austin Cunningham, who plays in a band called Threat Meet Protocol is a major focus point - having been a player and general ‘make gigs happen’ guy.  He wears shorts year-round and is a great frontman [funny and great to watch]. He organises a 12 hour event called Loserpalooza with a different band every half hour - two stages - it’s big-time worth checking out. The bands are all really something - stretching from Fun-Velvets Groove [Club Meds], '70s cocaine-rock influenced bands [Somacaine], Industrial-Disturbo [Threat Meet Protocol], Punk-Skill [Stunt Clown], Skeleton-Metal [Carrion Bride], Synth-Art [We Will Ride Fast], Earth-Rock [Eddie and the Dreamers], Two Piece Mayhem Trick-Rock [Grown Downz], Wall of Noise Macho-Drone [This is How We Die] and stuff you might not be able to attribute to any particular genre [Skonk]. There are too many bands to name - but the level of talent is frightening. Austin seems to give any band a crack at playing - which I believe is part of his whole ‘get up there and do your shit’ ethos.  It’s super impressive - given that most people struggle to organise doing the dishes - only to give up, not bother, and watch crap on Netflix.  Or is that just me? Ben drinks beer.
 
Pete: Ben and I do the covers band thing for beer-money. But it’s getting tough with city urbanisation. Original music is where it’s at.  
 
Ben: I’m the drummer in both bands and the glue that holds them together. No me equals no bands. I am the creative genius in The False Waltons. You’re welcome. Beer anyone? I’m not offering. I’m asking if anyone has any beer.

HUP: Over the last few months there have been various hints of a forthcoming album. How close is that to coming to fruition?
 
Marcus: Yes. Eight songs. It’s all engineered, tracked, and mixed.  We’re all from the generation where vinyl albums were a thing - so it ended up being a case of waking up at 4am to mix until the day started. It’ll be up on Spotify very soon. From this point, as we write them, we’ll record them maybe two songs at a time. These days, it’s a good idea to know how to engineer your own music. I play in a studio band called Window - with a compadre called Damian who has been into recording music since he was a kid - making his own mixing desk, using reel-to-reel tape recorders [in a Greg Locke stylee] and then transitioning all that knowledge to the digital realm using Pro Tools, etc. He has been very generous with his expertise - urging me to get a particular set of microphones, a particular compressor, or whatever. I play drums for that band - because we had no drummer and wanted to track real drums - which is a dark-art in itself.
 
Pete: We’re pretty happy with the sound of the album.  it’s not bad for having been recorded in a lounge - in the sticks - where we rehearse. I get scared when I go there. There’s chickens walking around wanting to be picked up and it’s up a long, skinny, country road - with corners that hit pretty hard. But we know the road pretty good now. We like to get sideways around the corners on the way home - while we slag off Marcus for being a shit guitarist and a crap singer.  Is Ben banging on about beer in his replies to these questions? I bet he is.
 
Ben: There’d better be free beer at this gig in Hamilton. I’m the drummer. Humble yourselves and bring offerings of the amber liquid, or I’ll get shitty. If I get up from my drums to get a beer - BOOM!! - Marcus is on the kit, thinking he can play. He can’t. He’s a horrible drummer. Sitting there with his face and hair and socks and wanking on about paradiddles and some wrong concept called ‘constant release’ on the kick pedal. What’s that all about? He’s lucky we even play music with him. Pete and I are the engine of the band and then there’s Marcus - thinking he’s the shit - on my drums?  Wanker. My name is Ben.  I have a beard.

​- with Ian Duggan

Look, I don’t know how well you know the team here at Hamilton Underground Press, but let me tell you one thing. If a kiwi indy rock band happened to release a jangly EP, and that jangly EP happened to include a track called ‘Cricket Enthusiast’, we basically have no more boxes to tick. We are collectively hooked, lined, and sunk. A review is required, as fast as possible.
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Welcome therefore to Purple Dog, a band I algorithmically stumbled across about three hours ago, and their five-track debut, Dog Years.

Cowboy Dan, those fine jangly happy-sad rockers who have been on our favourites list for so long, have all sorts of great news today. A new single, 'Change'! A new album, their first! Plus a gig at Last Place next month! With Bitter Defeat! And the False Waltons! And another trip to Hamilton in October!

So we got Leighton (guitar/vocals/looking exactly like Jared the drummer) to talk us through it all.

​A couple of weeks ago, Failsafe Records re-released the magnificent 1995 ‘Rememory’ album by Christchurch indie dreampop band Throw. I’m not going to review the album here – it’s brilliant, and you either know it already, or you are on your way to listen to it right now. Anyway, Failsafe bands used to get a lot of airplay on Contact 89FM back in the day, and we still love every new release Failsafe’s Rob Mayes sends HUP’s way. But Hamilton has a special connection with the Rememory release, in particular, with the video for their exquisite single ‘All Different Things’ having been shot here – largely on location at our once much-loved Metropolis Caffe. So, to give a tangential Hamilton spin to mark the album’s 30 year anniversary re-release, we spoke with three former Hamiltonians about their memories of the making of the video; the video-maker Greg Page, and the central characters in the video, mad-scientist Justin Harris and love-interest Kirstin Marcon. 

HUP: Greg, how did you develop the concept for the ‘All Different Things’ video?

​Greg: The ‘All Different Things’ concept was me trying to combine the Frankenstein idea with my own style, which was slowly forming. It's fun to look at it now and marvel at how much stuff we got in the clip. All the props and stuff. All the help and people acting. In hindsight, it's amazing. I went all in to get all the elements. Metropolis Caffe as a location, lots of paper mache and bespoke robots made with trash…

Justin did a great job and has the best cartoon eyes. Marky Mark was the drummer. I painted his kit as a thank you. It's cheesy and Hammy and like most narrative clips drags in the middle, but I still get a giggle at the awkward presentation of the flowers that leads to the Kirstin ‘dream girl’ getting hit by Andy Newth’s Mercedes. I wouldn't try to make a clip with that narrative and that huge amount of visual treatment now. I'm older and lazier and understand how much $5000 actually is. But back then, I had a million bucks worth of drive and energy. 

HUP: I know so many of your videos, but in the mists of time I can no longer place them all in context. Where were you at in your career at this point, and how did you come to the attention of Rob Mayes at Failsafe, or the band, to make this video?

Greg: This clip was pretty early in my clip making career. I was at Waikato Polytech in Hamiltron at the time. I think we hired in a 16 mm film camera and used lights from the Polytech. I also had access to the edit suite there, so I would have cut it myself at nighttime... I ended up failing my degree in the third year because I missed too many core classes. On the other hand, I made between five and ten clips outside of class and essentially worked my way into the film industry that way. I made a couple of ‘Throw’ clips. And did a bunch with Failsafe. Rob Mayes was the first record company person to give me a shot and trust me.

[A little while later…]: I made this massive list of all the clips I've made, funded and unfunded.  The total is 96!!  The first actual NZ on Air clip was Inchworm’s 'Come Out, Come Out', and Throw would have been the year after that, so definitely one the first twelve clips I ever made. It makes me think I had better lift my game if I wanna hit a century of clips!
 
Fun fact: I made a claymation clip from the Throw song 'Honey Blonde’: I built a miniature drum kit for a claymation drummer to play. Then I re-used that kit with the mighty Rob Talsma playing it in the Inchworm ‘Shine' clip. Hehe.
 
HUP: The NZ on Air logos were ubiquitous in New Zealand videos at this point, but you added a twist here, with the logo found spinning immersed in a liquid in some kind of scientific glassware. Is this the one that got you into a little bit of trouble?

​Greg: Back then I always tried to make the NZ on Air logo fit the clip. I've never read the actual fine print of the NZ on Air grants. I knew the required size and placement of the logo on any NZ on Air clip and always met that rule. I've always believed the logo stood out more and was better received if it had a point of difference.

HUP: Justin, you were pretty much the main character. Was there any prior acting experience needed?
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Justin: No, I don't think so. My only acting experience was playing a guest at a dinner party in one of Kirstin's student films and a drama course at university. It probably helped that it was a music video so I didn't have to say any lines - that would be a bigger giveaway of no talent for acting. I was very excited to be involved in the music video for one of my favourite New Zealand songs. I know you didn't ask, but I was a massive Throw fan, and I remember in the very early ‘90s trying to get a CD copy of their EP, and not being able to find it. Finally I managed to track it down on a trip to Auckland, I think. Then to be in the video was a wonderful opportunity. I have no idea why Greg asked me, but presumably he was blinded by the hair.

HUP: Kirstin, you played the love-interest to Justin’s mad scientist. How did you come to be involved in the video?

Kirstin: I was at film school with Greg, at Waikato Polytech. I was the year ahead of him, but he was–by far–the most prolific and hard-working student, making the most amazing stuff, and working on external projects like music videos, way outside the set projects. He fully embodied the idea of film school being about access to gear and made the most of being able to work around the clock. Our tutor Paul Swadel had been frustrated by his experience at Ilam, where there was one project brief a year and limited access to equipment. So, he ensured that we had 24-hour access to everything, the first AVID at a film school in New Zealand, and a lot of great projects. But Greg took it way further than anyone else. He was an inspiration. I hope no one reads this and feels offended, but I think it’s true! To an extent that was demoralising almost... I’m pretty sure I must have offered to crew on his work in order to be doing more myself! And partly because I wanted to make music videos too, but was far too shy to broach it to anyone. 

I helped him out with a few projects as a crew member, but it was both exciting and slightly scary to be asked to be onscreen in this one. The other reason is that I loved Throw, loved the album, and loved ‘All Different Things’ in particular.
 
HUP: I knew you then, and I have seen you a bit recently, but in this video you are absolutely unrecognisable. What did they do to you?!

​Kirstin: Haha! Greg gave me a red curly wig, and I think his lovely girlfriend at the time, Rebekah (I hope I’m spelling that correctly) gave me a silent film makeup job. Then I just did my best to do what I was told and not smile constantly (my default expression). I also bought a nun-like black dress which I wore for years afterwards.

HUP: Do you remember what direction you got on the night, and how the story was explained to you?

Justin: I like how you expect anyone to remember things from that long ago. Umm, no idea. Probably just the usual direction of "Do it again, but good this time."
 
Kirstin: I distinctly remember how much fun it was. We were in Metropolis Caffe after hours and, as always, Greg’s exploding creativity turned it into a mad scientist setting for a reanimated band, all designed to express feels to a lady. 

My job was to stay still, and try to be a mysterious silent era ingénue. Greg is a fabulous director. I was nervous but he definitely put me at my ease, gave me reassuring direction, and made it fun. His energy and enthusiasm carried everyone through, but we were all into it anyway. I loved this time at film school–and in my twenties–when working all night on creative projects was just part of every week. And perfectly for me I was a small part of the video, and not the main performance it rested on as Justin was.
​
Greg’s vision for the whole thing is so fabulous and well realised. He made or helped others make all the props from scratch, did or oversaw all the production design, storyboarded, directed, edited, produced, probably did a tonne of other stuff too. I put together a selection of music videos from Hamilton bands recently from the Contact 89FM era; about two-thirds of them directed by Greg, and all really, really good and madly creative. It’s hard to imagine the music scene of that time without his contributions. It was amazing to see just how many videos he made, and some that at first glance weren’t even obviously his, as he tried out different styles and genres. ‘All Different Things’ didn’t make the cut as Throw were from Christchurch, but it’s one of my favourites of Greg’s. Even down to the lovely touch of the NZ ON AIR logo in the specimen jar. 

This being the ‘90s and me being a tall girl who’d grown up on solid home cooked meals in the country, I was of course anxious I was going to be too heavy to carry. Justin staggers very convincingly. I’m not sure to what extent it’s acting!
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I think Justin is fantastic in the video, as are the band. He really projects believable emotion, and luckily he carries the story, because to be honest I think it’s definitive proof I belong behind the camera and not in front of it! But it was an incredibly fun experience, and I loved being involved, and I can say I’ve been directed by Greg Page in a video for one of my favourite songs in which I died and was on the verge of being cut open and reanimated–which is ridiculously cool. 
 
HUP: Justin, do you have any other particular memories of the experience?

​Justin: Again, memory problems. I only really remember the order of filming. We filmed the ending early on. The lab stuff was done somewhere in the Polytech, I think. Actually, we spent a fair bit of time at the Polytech in those days. That's where Greg was often editing stuff, and we filmed at least part of two Inchworm videos there too. The cafe stuff in Metropolis was done late at night after they closed, I think. Then we went back to the Polytech to film the carrying Kirstin bit. I don't know if there was a fog machine involved or if we were waiting for some authentic Hamilton fog and that's why it was the last thing filmed. Then again, this could all be wrong. I'd suggest listening to what the others say and go with that as fact.

HUP: Kirstin, you are a screenwriter and film director, famous enough to have your very own proper Wikipedia page! Do you see this a stepping stone on your way to that?

​Kirstin: Well, you know the truth about the Wikipedia page. And Paul Swadel’s password is lost to time. I’ve considered writing to Wikipedia and explaining he made it to help me promote my film at the time, but I’m worried explaining would be a road to nowhere. [HUP: should we tell Kirstin that any page on Wikipedia is editable by anyone?]

I think being at film school with someone as hardworking and prolific as Greg was genuinely a stepping-stone - in terms of seeing evidence of what was possible if you genuinely went for it. I am more of a slow burn person, who’s made an order of magnitude less work than Greg, but I figured out my own path and somehow have just kept going. I’ve been working on scripts for a new project for years now but nothing has been right to go ahead with, although it’s starting to come together now... I am just grateful to Greg for the inspiration and showing me what was possible. It was also incredible to get to come through film school in the nineties. We didn’t realise sexism would be a thing we had to deal with. We had never heard the phrase 'self-care', and no one thought that sleep was something to prioritise. We all thought that the only thing that mattered was the work. I’m super glad that was my era, even as I’m glad some things have since changed for the better. The Hamilton music/film school/Contact 89FM scene was an incredible thing to be a small part of. 

Find Rememory on Bandcamp, or in the meantime, listen to the wonderful 'Wishes From Her Heart', below:

- Ian Duggan

I still remember seeing so many good bands but even more, so many specific performances that just broke my brain. I remember seeing Dribbly Cat Attraction play at their school and being floored. I remember Wendyhouse playing live to air at The Fridge, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Frybrain in their practice rooms doing their thing. I remember specific lines from songs that have stayed in my head for decades--"Eva Braun's holiday was a mistake", "Morrinsville has no sphinx". That stuff never left.

And then there was Mobile Stud Unit. Just so funny, but also amazing songs. By any arithmetic, MSU just don't make any sense and they shouldn't have worked —but they did. And then the whole PLOP IT UP scene which most folks, even in Hamilton, didn't know existed, but the PLOP IT UP people didn't care. Bands like The Smooth Canadians and Armice Pumpit, switching members, creating endlessly, putting out zines. I still have copies of each issue. It wasn't just music.

​There was visual art too—Stefan Neville, Fiona Jack, Greg Page, Bryce Galloway—all doing world-class work, making covers, posters, comics, and playing music too. It was all mixed together.

Many might remember Sean Lister under the name of DJ Arc from the ‘Liquid Radio’ and ‘Biosphere’ shows on Contact in the 1990s. The now Wellington-based Sean has also long produced his own music under the ‘Arcology’ name, and at the Contact 50th he will be playing -- replete with drum machine, synthesizer and effects -- a live acid techno set. We talked to Sean ahead of the event about musical inspirations, synths, the importance of Contact, and more!

​HUP: Specialist shows were really important for Contact. In the mid-1990s, as DJ Arc, you were one of the hosts of the electronic dance show Biosphere, and you were the creator of the electronic chill out/ambient show Liquid Radio. How did you become part of Contact, and how important was the station for you?
 
Sean: Contact was hugely important to me in my six years living in Hamilton.  It came about due to my meeting of Greg and Jeff Wood (of Unit 23), we became friends due to a shared love of electronic music, Vespa scooters and art house films.  Greg and Jeff were doing a show on Tuesdays called Cybertronix. I sat in with them a number of times to see what the radio thing was all about.  They were busy one Tuesday and asked if I could fill in for them and seeing as we had a lot of similar type music, I was happy to.  So that made me catch the bug, and when an hour slot came up on a Tuesday evening, I created the ‘Liquid Radio’ show, focussing on ambient music styles. This also reflected what was happening in chill out zones at dance parties at the time.  Then I was also asked to co-host the ‘Biosphere’ dance music show, where I got to play a lot of what I was DJing at dance parties etc.
 
HUP: Tell us a little bit about DJ Arc versus Arcology.
 
Sean: Arcology is my own music, so when I needed a DJ name I just took the first part of my project name. I pretty much stopped regular DJing once I arrived in Wellington at the end of the ‘90s. It seemed like every guy I met here said they were a DJ, and it was a hard scene to break into, so I decided then just to concentrate on creating my own music and to hopefully do some live gigs.  Probably about 15 years ago I managed to get a live acid techno set sorted (similar to what I will be playing at the Contact party), and I played a number of gigs at various venues around Wellington. This led to a set at one of the Camp a Low Hum events, which though daunting, was a great experience. I still try to play a live set of some description once a year here in Wellington. [continued, below]

HUP: How did you first become interested in electronic music?
 
Sean: Wow, where to start. Probably my first electronic music memories were hearing Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre in around 1976-77 (yes, I am getting on in years). Something about the sound of the synthesizers just hooked me. Then in the late ‘70s I discovered Devo, Ultravox, Human League, Gary Numan and OMD, to name a few. And, well, I've never looked back, and my crazy music collection is evidence of that.

HUP: What gear do you use? Have changes in technology altered how you have done things over the years?
 
Sean: I bought my first synthesizer in early 1985, a brand new Roland Alpha Juno 1. Over the rest of the ‘80s I bought a couple of other second hand synths and a drum machine. These days I have a rather large studio collection of gear; lots of synths and drum machines and other toys. The difference with me these days, is that I am all hardware based, meaning I don't use computers (other than [for the] final mastering and posting of tracks).  In the ‘90s I used an old Mac SE computer for multi-track sequencing of notes, including at a couple of the legendary Corso dance parties in Hamilton.  I upgraded my Mac in the late ‘90s and continued using that just for sequencing until the hard drive died and I lost most of a year's work. So that was a catalyst in deciding to get a hardware sequencer and take the computer out of my song creation process.  The main thing about technology now is the incredibly huge number of things available to electronic musicians, and the prices are generally incredible value for money, especially compared to when I started.
 
HUP: On your 2019 album ‘Emanator’, all of the track titles are taken from Blade Runner 2049, while on your 2021 ‘Fried EP’ you had a track titled ‘Nanu Nanu’, which is almost certainly a Mork and Mindy reference. Are all of your tracks inspired by sci-fi? And, when you are producing new songs, do you start with this as a point of inspiration?
 
Sean: Not all are sci-fi influenced, but a lot are. The two Blade Runner films are huge influences for me, but also many, many other sci-fi films.  Generally, in addition to the futuristic and space themes, they have cool electronic music soundtracks that just go hand in hand.  Generally, when I'm starting odd tracks, I may have a theme idea, but not always. But when I did my album project I had just seen Blade Runner 2049 (a number of times) and decided to use references from the film as my song titles and create a bit of a sci-fi story of my own. Mainly to try and give the project some kind of cohesive feel, rather than just a bunch of random tracks created over a year, then thrown together as an album.

​HUP: In your Bandcamp bio you describe yourself as a “synthesiser nut”. Stealing a question from one of my favourite podcasts over the last couple of years, Martyn Ware’s ‘Electronically Yours’, what’s your favourite synth?
 
Sean: Always a hard question. Just looking at what I own, probably my favourite for fun and jamming is my old Ensoniq ESQ1 from the mid-‘80s. It has a great built in 8-track sequencer, which is what I used to create my songs prior to my first Mac computer.  But I think from a sound creation perspective, my favourite would be my Dave Smith (Sequential) Pro 2. I can just get lost in that synth for hours.

- Ian Duggan