Future City Festival: A Q and A with Loudhailer

Loudhailer by Ngamihi Photography

We’ve been quizzing the bands playing at this year's FUTURE CITY FESTIVAL. This time around we have a chat over the proverbial teacups to Loudhailer!
 
HUP: Tell us about your Loudhailer!
Loudhailer: We are James Jobe (Songwriter, Singer, Guitarist), Hugh Potter (Bass, Backing Vocals), and Nick Pouwels-Strang (Drums, Backing Vocals). We all actually met in the halls at university in Wellington, where James and Hugh jammed on and off disturbing the book worms above. James moved home to Matamata and Hugh was back in Hamilton, so they jammed again. Nick was brought in to fill the drumming position and the band was formed roughly a year ago. The main reason we started out as a band was as a creative outlet for three guys who just work all day, so it’s fun to play live and rehearse music.
 
HUP: How would you describe your band to someone that hasn’t heard you before?
Loudhailer: We’ve been told we sound a bit like Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys all having a spa bath with Robert Smith way up in the Southern Alps with a glass of deep Merlot in hand and it’s just tickling the tastebuds while not overpowering the lamb roast Anthony Bourdain and Josh Homme have prepared earlier.  And that was just from a dude on an acid trip at our second gig who kept shouting “LOUDSPEAKER!” at us all night. If you can’t trust him who can you trust?
 
HUP: What is our favourite song to play live?
Loudhailer: At the moment that would be a toss-up between “Japan” and “Asleep on the Tracks”, but “Deranged” seems to really get us up at the moment so probably that one.

HUP: Tell us about the best gig you’ve ever been to… (playing or not playing)
Loudhailer: As a band bonding experience we all went to see Wolfmother live at the Powerstation, which included us rather pushing our physical capabilities in the mosh-pit, but it was worth it.
 
HUP: Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Future City 2018?
Loudhailer: Really want to see all the great bands we haven’t yet had a chance to see live yet, but you can’t pass up seeing The Datsuns, can you?!
 
HUP: Give us your best Hamilton fact or story!
Loudhailer: In 2016, Hamilton received a record-setting 16 Tony nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical, and was also the recipient of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. You did mean the musical, right?!

​Hear more of Loudhailer on Soundcloud.