Back in 1965, the world was, well, a bit mad. Not like the sane 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. 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. ​Click HERE to read more!

We all like living in towns where arts and culture is appreciated don’t we. We do. If you’re reading this, the chances are that for you a big part of that is having a thriving local live music scene. Thriving as in a good amount of good bands, and people who go to shows by those bands. What follows is a little insight into what being in a DIY band in Hamilton in 2019 is like. The term DIY is meant to mean that everything is done ourselves and the people in the bands almost certainly have a day job. I’m in a couple of bands at the moment, not that I want a medal or anything. It’s fun, and I like the creativity of it. It is however, a bit of a grind from time to time, and I thought it would be mildy interesting to share some of that with people who might not have been in a band. Click HERE to read more and HERE to get involved on a discussion on our FB page.