Newsletter Issue #225: 29 Mar 2009
The Volunteers
Thanks to Marliesje for answering these questions:
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
We were at The Valve Bar. It was the first gig for us 3 girls and during the set two completely random ladies jumped on stage and started pole dancing on our mic stands. It was pretty funny as we moved with the stands to sing.....
We just let them be as they were really good at it.
What is your favourite NZ venue?
The Sound Shell at The Botanical gardens!!
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
More back up singers. More big bands with backup singers, horns and full scale jazzed up sound.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
We played in Auckland at Galatos downstairs. And no one came... It was highly depressing.
How did you come up with the name The Volunteers?
Because thats what we started as...
How do you describe your music?
Sweet Sexy Loud Jazzy and Soulful...
What can we expect to see from The Volunteers over the next year?
Tour tour tour. Another couple of singles. Another couple of music videos. And another album. Stay in New Zealand and spread the sound until everyone knows who we are.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Just do it. And keep doing it. Because thats all you want to do.
And dont wait for funding. xx
The Volunteers are Elan Mills (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Joe Simmonds (bass), Malcolm Taylor (drums), Daniel Neeve (guitar, tamborine), Marliesje Van den Assum (backing vocals, keyboards, percussion), Maxine Macaulay (backing vocals) and Felicity Wait (backing vocals).
Website Links
Muzic.net.nz Profile
Official Website
MySpace Profile
The Volunteers debut album 'Friends, Family and Fools' has been available since March 9 and you can read the review here.
Restoration
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
FUSE - National Youth Talent Quest Event, held at Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.
http://www.fusenz.org/
And the reason why, because first time we had a standing ovation, the crowd and wanting more, you can check out vid at our myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/restoresto
It really encouraged us, especially as we are from the hood of A-Town (Aranui), Christchurch; and for most of us, we have never experienced anything like it, especially from our neighbourhood, as it’s always been classed as a place where nothing good comes out of there, but it just really gave us hope for the first time, that maybe we can break this stigma/ stereo-types that has been put on A-Town for far too long.
What is your favourite NZ venue?
Denton Park, Hornby, Christchurch for the annual West Side Party in The Park; every year the crowd are faithful and stick around, regardless of the weather to hear us (especially last year, it was freezing, but the crowd stuck it out, it was awesome!)
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
Artists like Bic and Boh Runga, Brooke Fraser, Crowded House for example; dueting with Hip-Hop/ RnB artists like - Scribe, Savage, Young Sid and Chong Nee (like what Dave Dobbyn did a while back with UPR).
Restoration! Because we feel we bring a new real atmosphere of truth and its time to push and even challenge the Music artists, especially in the Hip-Hop/ RnB arena out there already, to reach for a higher standard, not just singing music, but meaning what they are singing and also making music that’s not just ‘club banging’ but music that actually gives hope, especially to youth of today.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
We performed at a gig in Christchurch for Hornby Presbyterian in one of their Youth Services, and we were getting ready, then we found out our guitars battery was flat! We asked the crowd, does anyone have a spare battery?
It was a bit awkward, but a big lesson learnt, no more flat batteries and we always ensure that we spares at all times.
How did you come up with the name Restoration?
In the heart of Aranui (A-Town) our melodic urban/hip hop sound emerged from our living room in Hampshire while jamming a song written by Maphiu (Matthew). It was from then on that John thought the guys had potential and decided to form Restoration.
The name Restoration derived from The Restoration House, a place where we all live together.
A House; where an individual can learn to love God with all of their heart, soul and strength. The House is a base for young people, people from the street who have given their hearts to the lord, and for many others to hangout, find love and be serious bout knowing Jesus.
The Restoration House is fully supported by us and we believe in ‘sowing into the kingdom of God’. There have been hard times, but the Lord has never failed us; because of this, our Faith in the Lord Jesus has continued to spur us on, to live for others.
How do you describe your music?
RnB/ Hip-Hop/ Urban Music - from troubled backgrounds, broken homes and life struggles, the boys express their heart and soul through singing, rhyme and music. We are here to produce music that you can feel and coast to.
What can we expect to see from Restoration over the next year?
Reaching out to more schools, churches, communities throughout New Zealand and if the opportunity arises overseas too.
Also, get more airplay too.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Josh – Don’t let your talent go to your head.
Matt – Stay true to what you started out with.
John – If you sing, make sure you mean it, live it, otherwise people don’t want to hear it.
Restoration is Maphiu (Matthew) Brown (lead vocals), John Chin (vocals), Josh Koia (emcee), Paul Brown (guitar) and Albert Peseta (vocals).
Website Links
Muzic.net.nz Profile
MySpace Profile
Restoration's debut LP 'Take Me Back' was released in 2008 and is available now.
Darklight Corporation
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
Probably our last gig at Bodega in Wellington. It was our first real hometown gig and we had loads of support and had a great night.
What is your favourite NZ venue?
Brewers Bar in Mt Manganui is pretty great, they really support local music, and provide a great PA and soundman and give you free beer brewed in-house, what more would you want?
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
I would really like to see NZ ON AIR start supporting local rock/metal bands as there is such a great scene here at the moment with freeken wicked bands like Saving Grace from Gisborne, I just discovered them the other day and that shit is world class, also Tainted, New Way Home and Cobra Khan, man to many great bands to list here, but they all would benefit from more support and airtime.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
The worst time was our first gig, we had a few teething problems. We use samples triggered from a drum pad and the vibrations were just setting off the samples at all the wrong time, that was the worst. Hahahaha glad to say we have sorted all that out now and not a false trigger in sight, touch wood
How did you come up with the name Darklight Corporation?
The concept was to start a corporation to fight the corporations. All to often big corps get away with treading on the average hard working people of the world and there seems to be no repercussions, until the credit crisis that is. People have been lured into a lifestyle we cant really afford and now everybody pays the consequences. So as my one man revolution Darklight Corporation is my/our vehicle to fight back and anyone can join hahahahaha
How do you describe your music?
We like to be heavy and pounding but we also really like to concentrate on songwriting. Sometimes with this sort of music the songwriting gets lost in the brutality of it all. So we like to make music that people will hopefully remember with hooks and rhythms. Also we add a bit of an electro element to the music which works really well, you have this really heavy intro then it drops into this trance synth verse with Fabio roaring over it and people go “what the f****” hahahahaha
What can we expect to see from the Darklight Corporation over the next year?
Well this year has started off pretty busy with our debut album hitting the stores and we have just been on tour around the Nth Island and will continue to play dates throughout the year. Also we are doing a new video at the moment with an awesome new animator called Eli Tucker. And we are in the process of securing a deal with a company in Brazil to get the album released there and in Europe and will probably have to go over there at some stage to play. So very busy and very exciting.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
It takes so much time and dedication, you really have to live your music and not get bogged down with following trends. You have to follow your own instincts and get as much enjoyment from what you do as possible cause when you really write something from your soul that’s when the magic happens and there is no greater feeling. If you follow your own path that’s when the good stuff will happen.
Darklight Corporation is Chris Prenter, Fabio Santos, Rhys Fuller and Elliot Chao.
Website Links
Muzic.net.nz Profile
Official Website
MySpace Profile
Amplifier Profile
The debut self titled album from Darklight Corporation is out now!
NZ Music News
Smokefreerockquest Call for Entrants
New Zealand Music Month gets a grassroots boost with 20 of this year's fifty Smokefreerockquest events scheduled during May, starting in Auckland with the North Shore heats on May 9.
The nationwide school music contest enters its third decade as the country¹s premier youth music participation event. Director Pete Rainey says other events come and go but Smokefreerockquest continues with only minor changes to the formula.
"Kids playing music to their peers is a simple enough idea, but after 21 years we know that it never loses its appeal," he said. "We stage the event in 22 regional towns, making it a real life rock star experience, then there's the prize package that kick-starts the winners' future success in the music industry."
Right now the call for entries is on, with around 700 registrations expected in the next few weeks. This is one area where Smokefreerockquest has made changes for the first time registration is paperless with bands and solo acts all entering via the Smokefreerockquest website.
Music therapy five years old in NZ
The Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in Auckland provides music therapy for special needs children of school age and younger. It’s the country’s sole music therapy centre and sees up to 100 clients a week, compared to only 36 children in total in its first year of operation.
The inspiration for the Centre came when well-known singer-songwriter Hinewehi Mohi, her husband George, and daughter Hineraukatauri, who has severe cerebral palsy, spent time at the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Centre in London in 1999.
Reviewing progress over five years, Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust Chairman Campbell Smith says 2008 proved a tough year for the not-for-profit sector.
“We have had great community and music industry support over the years but there’s no doubt challenging times are ahead. The total budget to run the centre is around $500,000 a year, but through falling interest rates trusts and foundations have been hard hit - and that’s a big source of income for us.
First Wgtn Hip Hop dance champs huge success
Six hip hop dance crews from Wellington are on the road to glory, winning places to compete in the New Zealand hip hop dance championships.
The inaugural Wellington Regional Hip Hop Dance Championships were held March 14, at Lower Hutt's Little Theatre, with six crews wining entry to the SDNZ New Zealand championships to be held April 3-4 in Manukau City.
Winners at that level have the opportunity to take on the best from 30 nations, competing in the neon paradise of Las Vegas for the World Hip Hop Dance Championships to be held in October this year.
Veterans of the World Championships, Legacy Dance Crew confirmed their status as Wellington's premier crew by taking out the Adult division (aged 18+), while the winners for Varsity division (age 12-17) were Explicit.
Varsity Division:
1st Place: Explicit (Wellington Champions)
2nd Place: Emerge
3rd Place: Authentic
Adults Division
1st Place: Legacy (Wellington Champions)
2nd Place: Infinite
3rd Place: Habit
Other Recent News Articles
- Playing the fool on April Bowls Day
- Kiwi blues icon promises a few surprises for his audience
- Exciting times ahead for historic Christchurch theatre
- Emma Pask - From school stage to world stage
- Taste Jazz: The flavour of fun
- NZ Music Month Songwriting Seminars
Band News
These Four Walls Album Announcement
The dates have been confirmed for the long-awaited debut album from These Four Walls. Tracking for the as-yet-untitled album will begin in early May at York St Studios with production duties being shared between two of New Zealands finest in the Rock genre, Andrew Buckton (The D4, Steriogram, Midnight Youth) and Chris Van De Geer (Stellar*, Solstate, Revolver.)
These Four Walls haved released two EPs in the past, most notably the 2007 These Four Walls EP which included their debut single Walk Away. The new LP will see the band exploring some new areas, while retaining the core hard-rock sound which has become their trademark. The album will feautre all three of the band's singles to date - Walk Away, Under The Shadows and Fly Home, along with some exciting new material.
The band are working towards an August 09 release, with distribution being handled by Isaac Promotions. To follow the progress of the album, check online at www.thesefourwallsband.com and read the regularly updated blog section.
Midnight Youth to release debut album
Midnight Youth are pleased to announce their debut album 'The Brave Don't Run' will be released in New Zealand on April 27, 2009.
Midnight Youth have truly hit the ground running on the back of the success of first single, ‘The Letter’. Now, the second single, ‘All On Our Own’, looks set to do the same – leading into the release of one of this year’s most-anticipated debut albums.
‘The Letter’ has been the #1 most played New Zealand song on radio and the music video simultaneously hit #1 on two major music television networks. The track also held a Top 10 position for more than 15 weeks in the Radioscope Top 100; while the new single, ‘All On Our Own’, was the second Most Added song at radio in it’s first week.
'The Brave Don't Run' was recorded in studios in New York (whose previous inhabitants include music luminaries Ryan Adams and Sufjan Stevens) and Auckland (The D4). The album was produced by Brooklyn’s Terence Dover and Auckland’s Andrew Buckton.
Leading up to the album release, the band have spent a busy six months touring New Zealand and the United States - including shows across New Zealand with The Veronicas, Metro Station and P-Money. The North American dates included the acclaimed SXSW music festival in Austin (Texas), and shows in New York and at Los Angele’s famed Viper Room.
'The Brave Don't Run' will be released in New Zealand on April 27, 2009 through Warner Music
The Bads to release new album
The Bads are pleased to announce that their second album 'So Alive' will be released on 27 April following on from their 2005 critically acclaimed debut ‘Earth from Space’.
Dianne Swann and Brett Adams have worked together since 1992. Swann you will remember from When The Cat’s Away and Adams has recently been playing guitar for Tim Finn and back when he was 19 he played with The Mockers. From The Julie Dolphin, as the pair first called themselves in London, to Boom Boom Mancini and now to The Bads.
The new album is filled with gorgeous melodies and pop songs that shimmer with a country vibe, with indie intentions, with straight-ahead rock; clean guitar lines mixing with quirky ideas. Pitch-perfect harmonies sitting inside precise rhythms – each song feels like a mini-masterpiece that has been worked at, honed, cradled, loved, learned and forgotten then learned again.
Debut Album for An Emerald City
Fresh from recording in the isolated and windswept west coast cave of Whatipu, An Emerald City have emerged with an adventurous and sonically eclectic debut album. Entitled Circa Scaria, their debut long player is finished and ready for release on April 6th out through Banished From The Universe/ Border. Co -produced and engineered by David Holmes (Jakob,Gramsci) Circa Scaria has been a huge step forward from the Auckland six-piece's highly acclaimed debut EP released in 2008.
The album will be available on CD, digital and also there will be a limited run of 200 double vinyls including a 12 page booklet and original artwork by Will Handley. Preorders are available by emailing [email protected] or can be purchased online exclusively at www.undertheradar.co.nz
To celebrate the release of their album the band will play a show at the legendary Ambassador Theatre on April 18th with Paul Williams and special guests.
This will be the band's last Auckland show before heading to base themselves in Germany for the coming months.
Other Band News
- Clap Clap Riot to perform on MTV Australia’s ‘The Lair’
- You decide the next Decortica video
- Minuit in Veitnam
- Coco Solid new video and international tour
- Freddy's Live At The Roundhouse: a two-part radio special
Site of the moment: Smokefree Rockquest 2009
This is the one and the only official website for the 2009 Smokefree Rockquest. Entries for this year's Smokefree Rockquest are due by Wednesday 5 May.
Smokefree Rockquest 2009 Website
Muzic.net.nz News
New Artists
The following musicians were added to the muzic.net.nz website recently. Check them out:
| Upraw | The Glory Sea |
| The Alpha State | Set On End |
| Faster She Said | Smashproof |
| The Bads | On Lucid Ground |
| Kommikal | Deny |
Competitions
Congratulations to the following winners:
- D. Geirnaert (Auckland), S. Goodall (Wellington), S. Reed (Whangarei) and S. McInnarney (Manly), who have won their very own copy of Clap Clap Riot's new EP 'TV Knows Best',
- S. Kelland (Rotorua) will recieve their copy of the People In Your Neighbourhood compilation this week, and
- K. Brennan (Auckland) and R. Taylor (Hamilton) are the lucky winners of the new Miscreant album 'Complicated Characters'.
Don't miss out on your chance to win the following prizes:
Please note - you must be logged in to enter competitions.
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'The Seahorse Emporium' is the second album from kiwi folk duo Anita & Brooke aka Ragamuffin Children. Featuring the single 'Better Than Some' which is currently ranking on the KiwiFM Top 10 charts. |
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The brand new album from Evermore, featuring their current hit single 'Hey Boys & Girls'. |
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With the “hellectric” energy still in the air from the 07 sell out show @ the kings arms Ultimate Tribute Promotions are proud to announce: THE ULTIMATE METAL TRIBUTE 4! And this line up is even more “brewtal” than EVER! |
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Presented by Bassdrop.co.nz and Empathy Recording, 'Rumble in the Jungle 09' is a mix by 2008 Runble in the Jungle battle winner, Christchruch based DJ Import. The compilation features his mix of the finest selection of Drum and Bass tracks from top local and international producers. |
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The follow up to 2005's Moves On was recorded over the last three and a half years at Red Bull Studios and The Lab, with mixing duties performed at bandleader Andrew Spraggon's home studio in Pt. Chevalier, Auckland. |
Reviews
Check out all our latest reviews here:
- Vodafone Homegrown (2 reviews)
- Miscreant
- Clap Clap Riot
- DateMonthYear
- The Volunteers
Tour Features
Every feature we have ever had on the site can be viewed here.
The next muzic.net.nz newsletter is going out on
12 April and will feature Rare Shot Blue and Mel Parsons.
We have space available in our newsletters from 26 April onwards. You can request a date in advance that suits you, or feature in the next available newsletter. There is currently a lot of interest in newsletter features, so if you would to have a newsletter feature within the next 2 months you should contact Lisa as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you want some extra promotion by featuring in one of our New Zealand Music Month newsletters you need to get in touch today! These newsletters will be going out on 10 and 24 May.
With our newsletters being sent out to over 7560 members and this number growing every day, featuring in our newsletter provides great exposure for you or your band.
We can feature you/your band even if you have already been featured in a newsletter from a previous year.
If you would like to advertise your next album release or tour in our newsletter and/or gig mail out email Lisa. It is 100% FREE to feature or advertise in our newsletter and gig mail outs! We also offer advertising on the muzic.net.nz website for very competitive rates.
We can also feature record labels, venues, music websites and anything else that has something to do with NZ music.
Our next gig mail out is going out on 5 April.
- The muzic.net.nz team
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