Arpie caught up with brilliant Hamilton-based indie-folk duo Lhasa ahead of their show with Manchester's Good Habits at Nivara Lounge next Wednesday, January 22nd.

Who is Lhasa and how long have you been a band?
We are an indie folk duo from Hamilton and we sometimes sing a little too loudly. We are Micaela and Samuel Fistonich and we first met around 4 years ago while studying music. About a year after that we started to write songs together and that’s really where it all started. We released our debut EP in September 2019. We love writing music and playing shows together, and we’re just trying to create the kind of music that we’ve always loved listening to.

​What are your main influences? In music, and in life?
Our biggest influences on our music in terms of artists are probably Led Zeppelin and The Civil Wars. We both listen to quite a lot of different music though and that shows in our songs. Our families and the places we grew up in really shaped us into who we are today. Sam spent the first 18 years of his life in China and Micaela grew up in Australia and then Tauranga. Both of our families are really supportive of our music and have encouraged us a lot on this journey.

Who writes the songs and how do they come to be?
It’s definitely always collaborative. We each come with ideas and both build on them together. Most of the time it flows pretty easily when we write which is good. Sam then does all our recording, mixing, and mastering for our releases.

How do you find being in a band based in Hamilton?
It’s been a pretty good experience so far. We’ve got quite a few musician friends who are always keen to gig and it’s quite a supportive community. 

What has been the highlight of being in Lhasa so far?
Finally releasing our first EP last year was pretty awesome. It took a little longer to complete than expected so it was a great feeling when it came out. We’re really proud of it and stoked with the positive feedback we’ve got from it.
​

​​What plans do you have for 2020 and beyond?
To continue on the road we’re on, really. We’re on our first North Island tour right now and we keen to book some tours overseas as well. We’re also going to start recording some new songs in February, so keep an eye out for new music!

What was the last album you bought?
The Road Home by Paper Cranes. We’ve been fans for a while but we finally bought a physical copy at their gig last year in Hamilton. 

What has been your favourite show in recent times, by another band?
That’s a tough one. Would have to be a toss up between George After James’ single release show in December and a gig we went to that featured our friends Lasair, Artinian, and Isabella Velvet. 

Get along to catch Lhasa live at Nivara Lounge with Good Habits next Wednesday Jan 22nd...here they are with their neat track 'Small Person'...

​Die! Die! Die! make a welcome return to Kirikiriroa this coming Friday (Dec 13th) with a show at Nivara Lounge with Coolies, OKSUN OX and Sora Shima. Hayden Pyke caught up with band's guitarist and vocalist Andrew Wilson ahead of the show. 

Nostalgia is a bastard of a thing. It serves up all this expectation. It colours things often in ways that aren’t as exacting on a revisit. Finding out I was going to have a chat to Die! Die! Die! guitarist and vocalist, Andrew Wilson about (among other things) the reissue of their acclaimed album Promises, Promises, I’ll admit I was a little nervous.

​Promises, Promises was the soundtrack to a particular time in my version of Hamilton, my little Nissan Pulsar and several raucous nights on Vic Street back in 2007-08ish. A CD long since lost or given to an ex-girlfriend but remembered with great fondness. Had my memories changed the facts or vice versa? I needn’t have worried. The album and its vocalist are just as endearing after all this time, which is probably an insult to a punk band, but never meant that way. 
​

​Andrew tells me that he still considers Die! Die! Die! just that, a punk band, though they’ve been called all kinds of other things. Labels like noise pop, post punk are always thrust upon the group never created from the inside and aren’t generally that helpful. I wondered about raising a previous interview where the band recounted playing The China Hardcore Music Festival and felt they were being booed for not being ‘Hardcore’ enough. In fairness, that’s not entirely a labelling issue, and our conversation had moved on. What had occurred in China at that time was that Lachlan Anderson left the group leaving Andrew and drummer Mike(y) Prain once again without a bassist.

Times have turned however as Andrew tells me that Lachie is back, and this change seems like Die! Die! Die! to a T. The band has often had a rotating cast of bassists, several much-needed hiatuses and there are times when Die! Die! Die! just weren’t doing music. Hell, they were meant to be playing their last show in the summer of ‘03-04. Andrew explained that there have been many times the band had stopped being fun, wasn’t sustainable or just in a “bullshit holding pattern,” and so these breaks and personal changes were always on the cards. But the band wasn’t over. 

Andrew and Mikey’s friendship is such that not only has the band continued, it produced some of the best music of their careers. The spikey and aggressive EP, O (pronounced ‘Oh’, and not ‘Zero’ as I did in one of my many gaffes’ during the interview) saw Die! Die! Die! with Lachie back in the fold. It became popular in part due to the band’s ability to play it live with stark replication of the record. 
​

​​Previous outing, Charm.Offensive, was heavily produced with plenty of over dubbing and while that produced a noisy sonic aesthetic all of its own, it became hard to duplicate live. Andrew seems spurred on by the relative success of O, and is hoping the re-issue of Promises, Promises, will get enough money together that the band can record again without, “owing anyone”. Andrew did qualify that by saying, “When we release music, we don’t expect it to sell!”

​The recent success may also be in part due to the use of bandcamp (and subsequent interview with Nick Fulton there) and streaming sites. Not that Andrew could tell me much about that, having only signed up to Spotify in the last few months. He recalled the early days of the band when record labels would foot the bill for studio time, including their famous trip to Chicago to record with Steve Albini who produced records for the likes of Nirvana and The Stooges. Things are being done a lot differently now with the band calling their own shots.

Andrew explained that every time personalities or professionals in the music industry told them to do something a certain way, it wouldn’t work. So, when the band head back to Chicago next year to once again record with Steve Albini, it will be under their own steam. First however, they’ve got to get to Hamilton. Yes, they’ve had coveted spots at SXSW and toured Europe, Asia, Russia, but they (unlike many others) have always had time for Hamilton. They’ve even skipped the capital in the past to make  sure The Tron gets its dose of Die! Die! Die!, and for that and on behalf of our little town, I said a heartfelt thank you.

I’ve seen Die! Die! Die! play in venues like Soul (RIP), Void (RIP) and Ward Lane (RIP) over the years and recall a time Andrew swung from a light fitting which we agreed may well have actually been The Mint Chicks’ Kody Neilson. Nevertheless, their high energy live show will be a timely reminder of the legacy of Die! Die! Die! - grab your presale tix HERE !

​I N T E R V I E W
Sonic Archaeology: A Q&A with Malchicks about ‘Everything’
With Ian Duggan
​
Failsafe Records’ Rob Mayes has been on a mission to “tie up the loose ends”, releasing remastered versions of material from the label that “hasn’t yet had that treatment”. The latest cab off the rank is Auckland band Malchicks, who are releasing the 23-track ‘Everything’. The album features previously released songs from the bands 1992 ‘Lotus’ EP, 1995s ‘Mercury’ album, and the song ‘Vanilla’ from the 1991 ‘Freak the Sheep’ compilation. Further, it includes seven unreleased early recordings, representing 93 and a half minutes of music! We talked to Malchicks guitarist/vocalist Matt Dalzell about the release; does it really, really contain “everything”? Have the songs stood the test of time? And if Malchicks weren’t shoegaze, what were they?

​HUP: On the new release, it might have been tempting to present the album and the EP separately, prior to the bonus tracks. However, you have mixed up tracks from the EP and album; who was responsible for this reordering, and how do you think the new order works relative to the original releases?
 
Matt: There were a lot of possibilities and permutations; the simplest was to remaster the CDs and add Vanilla from the Freak the Sheep compilation. We then discovered a treasure trove of old mix-downs on cassette, DAT, and reel masters which we restored - call it sonic archaeology or something.  We even found some live stuff on DATs. So the question then was if we put previously unreleased material in - if it could be scrubbed up and polished - then what order to put it in? Rob [Mayes] put most of the thinking into it, we threw in some ideas, and to me it really works and feels new. I think of it more like curating an exhibition. Doing it linear style might have been simpler and more obvious, but that's not really our thing.
 
HUP: Looking back at all the songs, how do you feel your music has stood the test of time? Do you still look back at the songs with pride, or are there tracks you might have done differently if you recorded them today?  
 
Matt: There are definitely some tracks I listen to and think yes, we really nailed what we were trying to do with the combination of guitar power and harmonics, vocals, and some inventive beats and bass to drive the songs. And some happy accidents or surprises that appear. Others - well, I probably had the same opinion during final mix-down in The Lab - you're always going to have some "if only" moments, but you have to lay down the best tracks and takes you can and work towards a mix that everyone's comfortable with, before the grim reality of time and budget draws things to a close. Some parts still make me laugh; they're kind of in-jokes. There's a guitar line in Eros that appears out of nowhere because Chris couldn't find which channel it had been tracked to and couldn't mute it.  There's another where a guitar goes waay out of tune halfway through the song, but we didn't notice until final mix, and there was no alternate take, so we kept it anyway. I think it works, like a dash of vinegar on chips.
 
HUP: You have been described as ‘shoegazer sonic dream-pop’, and compared with the likes of Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and Ride; comparisons I understand you are uneasy with. If you weren’t inspired by these bands, are there bands you feel might have influenced your sound instead?
 
Matt: On the whole labelling thing, it doesn't sit that well and a lot of our writing and style was coalescing prior to the term shoegaze emerging from the UK, but there's not much you can do about it. It's a bit like punk - not easy to draw a neat boundary around bands like Television, the Buzzcocks, Wire, or Siouxie - but they all came out of their local punk scenes. On inspiration, the band that got me into buying a guitar was the Jesus and Mary Chain; literally Psychocandy came out and I started saving for a guitar - and the bands that made me think “wow, you're doing what with a guitar”?! - especially live - were Sonic Youth, Bailter Space, and Dinosaur. Then there's the inspiration that comes from wondering how a band puts a song together, structures it - takes a great jam and turns it into a form.  Harder to pick as I grew up with Fleetwood Mac and ‘70s folk-rock, but the Psychedelic Furs were a big early teenage influence, so was the Cure. It still mystifies me that in all the talk of shoegaze two brilliant bands of the era hardly get a mention - Swervedriver, and Curve. They should!

​HUP: The photos of you playing in the liner notes are cut off at the shins. Did you, in shoegazer-style, use an array of pedals?
 
Matt: I would have failed Shoegaze 101 as I only had a Crybaby Wah, a Boss DF2 Superfeedbacker, and a phaser - brand unknown. There actually weren't that many pedals available in New Zealand at the time, and they weren't cheap. I did buy a Boss VB2 Vibrato, but it didn't quite do what I wanted, so got put back in the box. Still got it. Typically I found "that sound" in a Lovetone Doppelganger a couple of years later, great combination phaser/vibrato. My amp had reverb. And a chorus which I hated - all fine if you want to sound like the Cocteau Twins, but that wasn't us. The rest of the tone was alternate tunings, extended chords and whammy bar. More a case of physically wringing the sound from the instrument than tapdancing on pedals. I can't recall if Simon had a pedal at all, or just plugged his Jaguar into the Mesa and went for it.
 
What you hear on the album is pretty much what we played with live, with one exception... we discovered an aging Marshall JTM45 head in the studio, cranked it up, and it turned out to be better than the pedal chain for my guitar. There's no reverb at all, so we multitracked the guitar lines, painstakingly in some cases putting down identical takes, but that gave us options to centre or hard pan the guitars, mess with the stereo balance and so on. All the stuff you can do in Ableton on your laptop these days... on a couch, with a cup of tea.
 
HUP: In an interview with us last year, Failsafe’s Rob Mayes said he had “dug up some early recordings that no-one’s heard”, which comprise the seven bonus tracks on this release. Why hadn’t these songs already seen the light of day?
 
Matt: I guess some were done as demos, looking for a purpose and not quite finding it. Some were experiments at SAE and learning how to do a recording session in a structured environment - nothing quite like knowing you have from 7pm ‘til 7am to lay down all tracks for a song and rough mix. And pack down and load the van so that school can start. Some recordings were put away and forgotten, partly in long-term storage with our various international moves. I think also we started really getting our writing and sound together in 1990 by the time we got the Arts Council grant to do Lotus EP, so it was more of a case of “let's work up the new material rather than look back or re-do it”. Unfortunately, that meant ‘Fly By Night’ got left behind, which was a pity as it was on high-rotate on bFM and is still one of my favourites.
 
HUP: What has Rob’s role been in getting ‘Everything’ released?
 
Matt: Pivotal, instrumental, indispensable. Any other adjectives we can try out?

​HUP: The album is called ‘Everything’, but there is a track called ‘Cry To Me’ attributed to ‘The Malchicks’ – not on this release – that appears on ‘But I Can Write Songs Okay’. Also, the song ‘Lost Times’ appears on ‘Solid Pyrite Hits’. Firstly, are these songs by you, or was there a second Malchicks?

Matt: ‘Cry to Me’ is a weird one; it's not us. I discovered it a couple of years ago and asked around but couldn't figure it out. ‘Lost Times ‘on Solid Pyrite Hits is definitely us - it was a shorthand name for ‘Stranded in Lost Time’, which ended up also on our album. The Pyrite Hits compilation was the brainchild of Fraser McInnes who ran Bar Bodega in Wellington. It wasn't open that long when we played there - still in Willis St - the Old Bodge as it was later named. The track-list is many of the bands who played there, and maybe helped establish its reputation, through that first year or so. It was tiny, I guess between the stage and the wall it was about 10 people deep, and from stage to bar not much more so it always looked full and rockin. The bigger "quiet" area down the back with tables was only 10 metres away, so it wasn't exactly quiet, but that's where the back door was in case you wanted to pop out for a smoke. But put a band like us, or Bailter Space, or anyone more used to playing the Gluepot or larger venue and there was really no escape from the noise. It broadcast straight onto the side-street too - some years later I lived around the corner and was too slack to get tickets to a Dimmer concert, which duly sold out, but I heard pretty much the whole thing through the corrugated iron.
 
HUP: There is an image of Malchicks on AudioCulture playing in Hamilton in 1991, at Gurus at the University of Waikato. Did you play Hamilton a few times, and do you have any memories of the gigs you played here?
 
Matt: Hamilton was great for us. Always a good turn-out. Played the university and elsewhere, usually on tour; acceptable level of stagediving, cool people. We got on with local band Thundermonkey, who agreed to come on a mini-tour. From memory they were close to half the audience at a spectacularly ill-fated gig in Palmerston North which we'd managed to book smack bang in the middle of varsity holidays, on a Thursday. Nice. With Hamilton we also got a system going to leave Auckland after Friday rush-hour, soundcheck, play, pack down, relax a bit, then drive home and arrive in the small hours but not crazily late. It was kind of a breakthrough because the Auckland live music scene was starting to get a bit tribal about its styles and preferences. Auckland was big enough to sustain a really big alternative / indie audience base, but that audience was also big enough to split into ever-smaller fanbases by genre.  And subgenre. Sub-sub... It's a paradox.

Find 'Everything' on Bandcamp HERE, or visit the Failsafe store HERE!

I N T E R V I E W
‘The Ind[i]efatigables’: An Interview with DateMonthYear’s Trevor Faville
With Ian Duggan
 
Hamilton perennials DateMonthYear have released an EP and three albums, though the last, ‘Pot/Kettle/Black’, was way back in 2008. With an upcoming single, album and video, we chatted with DateMonthYear’s central figure Trevor Faville about July, March and August, what happened to the planned DateMonthYear movie, and what excites him most with the new album. ​

​HUP: What are you most excited about with this album?

Faville: I am excited to have it done! The material is strong, and it’s a really honest statement about our sound. We have compromised nothing to musical vision. The entire thing is self-funded and controlled; so no ‘New Zealand on Air’ nonsense.

The bit that I am especially proud of is the indie route that we have taken here. By and large we have completely ignored many of the expected norms of the so-called ‘New Zealand music industry’. We have paid for every part of this process ourselves and do it our own way. Already we have found an audience overseas. ‘March’, for example, got played on about 130 radio stations through Europe last year. The indie approach is lonely... but extremely rewarding!
 
HUP: Is the new video for July?

Faville: The new video will be for ’Exodus’, and we are still working on a release date for that.
 
HUP: Looking back to when we last interviewed you, in December 2015, you had some big plans for DateMonthYear, including a movie/musical in 2017. Did that ever eventuate?

Faville: The movie is still a script and demos! It’s a very good idea, but I had to shelve it while we got this album finished. We had some changes; there was a bit of downtime in 2008, and some personnel issues in 2015, when we were originally scheduled to record this album. So we reconfigured, and have released a song per year since then.
 
HUP: So who features on this album?

Faville: Personnel on this album are Emma Koretz, vocals; Brooke Baker, keys, vocals, guitar; Tyler Leet, guitar; and Hayley Schwass, bass. And me. Engineering and mixing was by Scott Newth, and produced by me.
 
HUP: Do you have plans for a Hamilton release of the album?
​
Faville: Yes, Hamilton is first; a local release date for physical copies of the album, plus those dedicated fans on the email list [on December 1st]. This is only the first stage of the release. The physical copies of this album have full versions of many of the songs. The only place people can hear to full versions is on the ‘real’ copy. Full international release, including streaming, happens in January next year. The streaming versions of many of the songs will be shorter edits. The bottom line is that the ‘local’ release is for local supporters to get first chance at the ’full versions’ of our stuff.

Q: To get people to hear music online, it often requires us to tag and label what we do. What labels do you attach to ROPE's music to get people to listen? Do available genres adequately describe your music or the aims of ROPE as a band?

A: I describe ROPE as a shoegaze influenced post-postrock band.

I've been a member of the Austin, Texas, based band, My Education for the past 18 years, which is a large instrumental ensemble. When I moved to New Zealand with my family in 2016 I wanted to start a project that had shorter songs with more traditional structures. I didn't want to be in another instrumental band but that's how it's turned out. We are still looking for additional members to collaborate with.  If you know of anyone let me know!

We are slowly finishing up an album. Our plans are to release it and do some shows around New Zealand and the USA. Hopefully a few people find it worth listening to.
 
Q: While the tones you produce and impressive arsenal of pedals immediately say post-rock, ROPE's songs don't sound like they are necessarily written with effects on. Is that correct? The songs have solid patterns, riffs and structures that mean a pedal disaster or technical mishap wouldn't render them unplayable. That is they are not over-dependant on effects. Is that a fair comment?

A: Yeah, most of the songs were written on my acoustic guitar and then brought to the band with a general structure. We then hammer the ideas out together and turn them into songs. I'll add the effects in at this point and see what works.
Nich, our bassist, has written a couple songs as well. He brings them to us completely demoed with guitar and drums parts. Ant and I give our input, but for the most part they are what he presents to us with some delay and drum fills added.
 
Q: Interesting. I had a similar approach with my ambient shoegaze solo project sink \ sink ; all songs were conceived on acoustic, but then the original idea would often get replaced, buried or removed once additional layers got added in recording. Can you tell me a little bit about the pedal board you use? What are your main go-to pedals? Most used effects? I noted a lot of EQD pedals (similar to me); what draws you to them over other pedal makers?

A: I actually have 3 pedal boards I currently use.

For ROPE I run a stereo board and my main pedals are the EQD Avalanche Run for delay and Palisades for Overdrive. I use a DBA Fuzz War for fuzz, Fairfield Shallow Water, Dunlap Cry Baby, EQD Pyramids and Moog MF-103 for modulation. I also use a couple pedals from the Christchurch company, Flux, the Slipstream Delay and Liquid Tremolo.

I also play in the New Zealand based post-punk band Swallow the Rat, who I use a EQD Disaster Transport Sr for delay with. For distortion I use a Tube Screamer, JSH modded Soul Food, Peppers Pedals’ Dirty Tree, DBA Echodream and Ronsound Hair Pie for Fuzz. I also have a Dexter modded MXR Phase 90 and Boss GE-7.

Back in Austin the pedal board I use with My Education has a ‘90s Memory Man, EQD Plumes, Soldano Supercharger GTO, and Way Huge Conspiracy Theory.
Overall I use modulation very sparingly.  I don't like to colour the tone of the guitar through the amp too much. 

My main guitars are a Harvester Goldthwait 'Gold On Gold' with TV Jones Super'trons and Copeland Jazzmaster with McNelly  46/58's.
For amps, I have a Korg era Vox AC30 and a Sovtek Mig100.
 
Q: Where and how are you recording an album? Are you doing it yourselves? Or are you recording with anyone?

A: Our bassist, Nich Cunningham, is a producer and has a studio.  It's where we practice and where we are recording the record.
 
Q: Where are you up to with the album? Do you have it all written? When should we expect it?
​
A: It's almost finished. We have all the songs tracked. Ant just wants to re-record a couple drums parts and then Nich will finish mixing it.

​Q: Do you constantly switch in and out pedals or do you settle on a range of effects for a band and stick with them? I find fuzzes hard to settle on as there is always something out there that I think will work better. Currently, I am keen to replace Russian Muff (which I am not that fond of) with EQD Spires. Is it an obsession for you? Finding the right sound or do you just love to experiment and play with new things?

A: I don't really swap out stuff too often. I guess playing in a number of projects lets me test out different pedals on different boards... or at least that's what I tell myself to justify buying new ones.
 
Q: What general impressions do you have of the live/underground music scene here in New Zealand having been here for a few years? Is it healthy? Is there sufficient audience for guitar music, appetite for discovering new bands or taking in new material? How does it compare?
 
A: The scene here isn't that much different than other places, it's just smaller.  I think it's important for kiwi bands to play overseas as you end up playing for the same crowd over and over again here.
 
Q: Fair enough. You have had a bit of support for Swallow the Rat down in Hamilton, as have Repairs from local radio station HUM. Are you aware of the Hamilton scene/bands and any faves?

A: Sora Shima, Landlords, Bitter Defeat and Cartoon Villain.
 
Q: What do ROPE members have in common music wise? Are there a bunch of references that you have in common, that you use as a reference for what you want to sound like?

A: Nich comes from a punk rock background, Ant from electronic/metal and myself from post-rock, but I think we meet at Sonic Youth, Fugazi and My Bloody Valentine.
 
Q: Where do you want to take the band? Any ideas on how you want the project to progress/build?

A: We are still a pretty new band.  I just hope we make the most of any opportunity presented to us.  At this point it's hard to say what those may be.
 
Q: Any support slots you would wish to land with a band coming to New Zealand? Who would you most like to share the stage with?

A: I would have loved to open for Ride and we're looking forward to playing with Sora Shima again at the end of November.

​I’ve still got my CD’s and my dad’s records but losing the Wizz Kids EP made me ask questions about the legitimacy of ownership of art, particularly music in the modern age. There was a time when publication was final, but no more. Is that fair? And I am aghast partly because this isn’t the first time this has happened. I’m looking at you Nadia Reid. And I’m out for answers PNC!

Nadia Reid has shot to stardom recently, but what hooked me on her soulful folk music and striking voice was a track called 'Good Things'. She put up a live recording on bandcamp and there is a brief intro where she explains that a friend of hers told her that all her songs in a minor key were depressing, so she wrote this one in a major key and it was really sad. Someone close to me had just committed suicide and I sat at the top of the hill between Raglan and Hamilton having just heard the news of his passing and listened to that song on repeat. I think I listened to it approximately one katrillion times over the following months. Now, gone.

​A lighter example is the Who Betta Then This Remix that PNC put out with NZ’s best MC’s spitting verses over a 41 instrumental. Louie Knuxx, Scribe and Sid Diamond might give the verse of their careers on that number, but can I get it on Spotify? Nope. PNC (most underrated rapper in NZ anyone?) has some stuff on bandcamp, but not much and I can get it on Youtube so not all is lost, but hardly ideal. I bought his album 'Under the Influence' on CD, which was dumb as he was giving it away for free online, but it meant that I could throw it on when I wanted. I actually was in control of recorded music.

​Perhaps I am looking at this all wrong. I can’t get back those gigs I saw as a younger person. I hold in my head the time the lead singer of Diediedie swung from the light fitting at Soul or the stage dive at a Sommerset concert that ended in concussion, but I can’t replay the music. Those memories are some of my favorites. Perhaps my desire to hold onto something tangible is born out of consumerism, addiction, a need to have control of the environment in order to what? Feel something?

I guess what I am missing is the ability of the Wizz Kids, Nadia Reid and PNC to make me feel something and because they did it so well in the past, I’ve become reliant. I should really thank them for sharing their artistry with me in the first place, but the selfish part of me is like, HEY, WHERE IS MY MUSIC?

Thanks/Chur

A R T I C L E
'Ruined Redbirds for Fugitives': What would Inchworm's next album have sounded like if they hadn't gone their separate ways?

Inchworm held the torch for indie-pop in Hamilton in the mid- to late-nineties. Their debut EP, ‘Looper’, was released in 1994, and they followed this up with the albums ‘Shiny’ (1996) and ‘You Are Only Here’ (1997). By the time the latter was released, the sound of the band had evolved to an extent where it was felt that they might be on the edge of something bigger, and that they might gain some well-deserved national respect. In 2000, however, Scott Brodie (bass, vocals) and Rob Talsma (drums, vocals) left for the UK, in the expectation that Justin Harris (guitar, vocals) was to join them and that the band was to continue. Harris, instead, went to Japan, and the band effectively ended.  

But what if it hadn’t ended there? What if Harris had moved to the UK, or if all the members had stayed in New Zealand? What album might have they created next?
​
It has not been uncommon for this question to be posed for other bands, such as… The Beatles. Which tracks from the solo outings or other projects would have been suitable for inclusion on a future album that never happened? So, ignoring the fact that Inchworm spent time at The Porch Studio in 2016 recording new songs for a potential future release that hasn’t happened yet, we peruse the post Inchworm releases of the three members to create an album the band might have released in the 2000s; 'Ruined Redbirds for Fugitives'.
 
Ruined Redbirds for Fugitives
Track 1: 127 Seats (Inchworm; 2007, 2016)
Okay… so this was recorded by Inchworm, probably in 1999, but it didn’t get an actual release until post-2000, firstly on ‘Tapeworm’ (an obscure release by the band on cassette in 2007 on an Italian label) and eventually digitally via the 2016 Hamilton Underground Press (HUP) compilation ‘Life Beneath a Gravel Streak’.  
​

​Track 2: Lift (Elider; 2017)
From Harris’ 2017 solo album ‘Redbird’, this song makes another appropriate bridge between Inchworm-past and future. This, perhaps more than any other song from later projects, harks back to the final Inchworm sound; it was a previously unrecorded Inchworm song, and besides Harris fronting, it features Scott Brodie on bass.
​

​Track 3: Pink Shirt (Grok [UK]; 2008)
Perhaps Grok’s poppiest number, this track was released on their 2008 ‘Ruined Music for Everyone’. This version of Grok – the UK based Grok - features both Brodie and Talsma.
​

​Track 4: Hand Model (Five Second Burn; 2015)
The mid-point of past Inchworm albums were commonly dominated by Talsma-fronted songs. ‘Five Second Burn’ was another London-based project of Rob Talsma, along with English guitarist Chris Ayles (who also featured with Talsma and Brodie in Girlinky and the UK based-Grok).
​

​Track 5: It’s Times Like This (Elider; 2017)
Moving away from the more overtly poppy openers, this was the first track from Harris’ 2017 solo album Redbird; this is another strong track from what was a pretty solid album (go and listen to the whole thing, if you haven’t already).
​ 

​Track 6: The Thrill of the Caucasus (Grok [UK]; 2016)
Recorded with Brodie, Talsma and Ayles in the UK in 2013, this is an as-yet non-album track, to date released only on HUP’s ‘Life Beneath A Gravel Streak’ compilation. This song is an ode to Mikhail Lermontov, the Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes referred to as "the poet of the Caucasus". 
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​Track 7: Difference (Elider; 2017)
The start of side B, perhaps, this is a return here to some more straight-out pop. Coming in at only 47 seconds, another great track from Harris’ Elider.
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​Track 8: It’s the Sugar Rush (Girlinky; 2005)
This was the last of Girlinky’s four singles, released on 7”. Girlinky existed between 2001-2006, and featured Talsma, Brodie, Chris Ayles and Sarah Ferguson (who was a guitarist and vocalist in Hamilton’s Tobermorie and Inspector Moog, before also leaving for the UK).
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​Track 9: Transmission from a Dying Civilisation (Grok [UK]; 2008)
Inchworm had some fantastic closing songs on their albums; Wish on ‘Shiny’, and You Get to Me on ‘You are Only Here’. The same applies to the albums the members went on to, and so this Inchworm fantasy album closes with a couple of those. Again, from Grok’s ‘Ruined Music for Everyone’ album, ‘Transmission from a Dying Civilisation’ was the fantastic closing track from that album.
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​Track 10: Your Silent Face (Elider; 2017)
Finally, the closer from Elider’s ‘Redbird’ album. Again, magnificent, and an appropriate closer to this fantasy ‘what-if” album. 
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Back in 1965, the world was, well, a bit mad. Not like the sane, accepting, gentle society we have today. Arf! The Vietnam War was in full swing, Mary Quant was helping the decade swing, and Martin Luther King was victorious in winning the right for African Americans to vote in the United States. Here in New Zealand, Waikato University opened, Mt. Eden prisoners rioted, TEAL became Air New Zealand and Ray Columbus and the Invaders won the Loxene Golden Disc Award for 'Til we kissed'. A shitload of classic albums were also released that year - The Who 'My Generation', The Byrds 'Mr Tambourine Man' and The Beatles second album of that year, 'Rubber Soul', were all set free into the world.

Now, over half a century later, Matthew Bannister, of Sneaky Feelings and The Changing Same, is on the verge of releasing his cover of The Beatles classic, entitled 'Rubber Solo'. Julian White (The Scones, Bitter Defeat) caught up with Matthew to find out more about the making of the album and the plans for its release. 

JW: You have been a prolific songwriter for many years, and have an extensive back catalogue of original songs. But your upcoming release is a covers album. What is your general approach to covering other artists’ songs?

MB: With the Evolver and Rubber Solo albums it’s basically about using my knowledge as a Beatles fan to rearrange the songs in a style the Beatles might have done them. I try to leave the lyrics and melodies alone, but change the rest. Sometimes I take a lick from one Beatles song and apply it to another, like the Travis picking John uses on “Dear Prudence” and apply it to “Here There and Everywhere” on Evolver. On Rubber Solo, I borrowed the intro of Strawberry Fields for my cover of Girl. It helps that Logic Pro 10 now has mellotron sounds.

JW: What is it about Rubber Soul which attracted you to covering those particular Beatles songs?

MB: I dunno, I’d already done Revolver, and Rubber Soul kind of sits beside it. Sgt Pepper would have been too complex, plus it’s as much about the sequencing and sound effects as about the songs. White Album would’ve been too daunting. I guess I should’ve done Abbey Road, it would have been the most sensible move commercially. The early Beatles albums aren’t as well-known, although for my money, Hard Day’s Night is as good as they ever did. Rubber Soul has a few more naff songs than Revolver, like Run for your Life, but we turned into a sleazy glam-rock thing, which kind of suits it.

JW: You have called the album Rubber Solo. Do any other musicians perform on the album?

MB: Like Evolver, I did it all at home on my computer alone, it was kind of a stress relaxation project. The only difference is that this time I had Logic Pro 10 which has better sounds than what I had for Evolver. At the same time, I’m worried that better sounds give you too many easy options. But live, I have a full band, with Albert (my son) on bass, Bruce Dennis on drums, Nick Braae on keys and Mef Storm on guitar and vocals.

JW: Have you employed any special musical instruments?

MB: Nope, bit of mandolin here and there. Overall, it’s a bit mellower than Evolver. More of a 70s feel.

JW: Is there a track you feel particularly proud of, and if so, why?

MB: I borrowed the intro of Strawberry Fields for my cover of Girl. That works well and it’s pretty funny. I’m also pleased with If I Needed Someone, which I converted into 7/4 meter. I’d been singing in World Voices choir with Kristoff Maubach and we did a lot of Eastern European folk, which is often in weird time signatures. So I was pleased to be able to apply it to the Beatles.
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Arpie was fortunate enough to catch up with two of Aotearoa's finest underground bands - Swallow The Rat and Threat.Meet.Protocol - ahead of their show at Nivara Lounge this coming Friday, Sept 27th 2019. The key participants in what follows are...in the red corner, representing Taurangans T.M.P, none other than THE Austin Cunningham, and in the blue corner, all the way from Austin, TX via Auckland, is Brian Purington of Swallow The Rat. If you didn't read that in a wrestling announcer's voice, please re-read appropriately.

Just before we proceed, reader, I feel I should share with you that as I typed the above it occurred to me that someone in this godforsaken world of ours needs to pen a song entitled 'Two Taurangans don't make a right' pretty jolly quickly please and thank you. Enough mindless digression. On with the show...
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Gidday fulluhs! You are hitting Hamilton this Friday as part of an interesting tour...tell us more about it…where/when/with whom?
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AC: Oh it could barely be called a tour but think of it more as a family holiday for a few bands: Swallow the Rat/Threat.Meet.Protocol and Hemordroid who need to get away from our jobs/families/daily stresses and to play and hang out with our good friends at our favourite venues Nivara Lounge and the Vault in Auckand. With guest appearances from extended family members like the awesome Silver Surfer and Fritchley juniors The Pope. 

What are your favourite things about each of the bands playing?

AC: With the exception of Brian who’s an outsider that we all secretly resent for taking gigs off hard-working New Zealand musicians [build a wall], these are bands whose members have been around in various guises for the last decade or more. In their current formations both Hemordroid and Swallow the Rat have finally found not only the success they all deserve but the musicians and friends to do it alongside they should have always had. It’s nice to see.
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BP: I like that we all play loud Rock n roll musics.

Both your bands have had some fairly exciting overseas tours in the last year or so, STR to SXSW in the US, and T.M.P over in Japan. How was that as an experience?

AC: SXSW was great thanks! Oh wait….. Japan had long been an ambition of ours to tour so to finally do so was an achievement in itself. And to do so without entering financial ruin was an added bonus.

BP: SXSW was pretty decent thanks! We ended up playing 8 shows over 7 days and sharing the stage with some amazing bands. Also we met the label, (Shifting Sounds), that will be releasing our record, so I would count that as a win.

What was different about those shows compared to playing here in NZ? Would you recommend it to other bands?

AC: Every band should play Japan, such a different experience from the New Zealand one. Audiences are bizarrely respectful to the point that you aren’t sure if they even like you as they aren’t responsive like western crowds. Less drunken ‘whooing’, awful dancing and mass venue exodus come mid set so they can smoke/talk outside. A lot more respectful hand clapping though.

BP: Being in a band in NZ is a bit like Groundhog Day. You end up seeing the same bands in the same venues over and over again. It’s life affirming to go abroad and meet/play with other musicians/fans.
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Would you go back? Or do you have plans to go further afield?

AC: We would love to but due to Evan's addiction to buying snare drums we will struggle to pay for the gas to Hamilton let alone Japan again. However we plan to send him to rehab for his dirty vice so if he comes out clean we will aim to head stateside next year for a run of shows.

BP: We will be doing some shows in The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave sometime next year. How we will pay for this remains to be seen. All four us could probably spare a kidney or lung. We just need to find some buyers.

Austin, you recently organised a(nother) ginormo Fest over in Tauranga…how did Loserpalooza go and did it achieve what you had hoped to? Would you do it again?

AC: - It did mate, we raised 4.5k for Lifeline and brought a lot of joy to attendees and participants. I will do Loserpalooza again for sure, annually even and hopefully for ever growing proceeds to Lifeline.

What does the rest of the year/2020 hold in store for your band?

AC: We are in the process of recording a 7” for release early next year and between you and I hopefully replacing our bass player as he is abysmal and kind of an asshole.

BP: hmmm, we will be supporting Gang of Four 12th November at the Tuning Fork and releasing our debut LP in early-ish 2020.

Shit that is pretty cool! Finally, encourage the good gig going public of Hamilton to get along to Friday’s gig in ten words or less…

Brian's gonna get out his weiner…. & expel sweet smelling spores 
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​Heavens above! Will if that doesn't entice you out on Friday night, Hamilton, I don't know what will. In all seriousness these are two fantastic live bands, and the fact that they will be joined by two more bands in Hemordroid and Silver Surfer ought to be enough to convince any potential fence-sitters to get along to the show and cut loose. TTFN.