Bio

After eight years fronting New Zealand’s acclaimed “trouble gum art punks” The Mint Chicks, Kody Nielson unveils a new project Opossom with the captivating album “Electric Hawaii”.

The Mint Chicks chapter in Kody’s career closed with the band splitting time between their American base in Portland Oregon and hometown Auckland. Brother Ruban formed a new band, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Kody began producing a diverse range of projects including Bic Runga’s recent album and Auckland punk up-and-comers, The DHDFD’s.

Electric Hawaii presented a new challenge, an album written and performed with just a little help from others – Bic Runga lending a vocal while father Chris Nielson (a regular Mint Chicks collaborator) plays trumpet. The rest comes directly from the brain, hands and heart of Kody. Home-written, recorded and mixed by himself with just the final mastering courtesy of Howie Weinberg, “Electric Hawaii” is a unique window into a lively, engaging world of carefully layered sonic layers of light and dark.

It’s an album about love, DIY, drugs and freedom made from mixing a hint of the sound of Kody's Polynesian heritage into a stew of groove-laden garage psychedelia. A project that became titled Opossom as it matched its creator's own nocturnal instinctive animal; feisty, vicious and enigmatically cute.

With the album complete, Kody’s now joined by Bic Runga in the role of chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist and former fellow Mint Chick Michael Logie on bass guitar duties bringing Opossom songs to life. A performance at Auckland’s leg of the St Jerome’s Laneway festival in January drew great reviews and the band made their UK debut live just ahead of their Australian dates announced for May and New Zealand shows announced for June.

Opossom’s “Electric Hawaii” is out on June 1, 2012 on Dark Summer Records. Take the trip.DEBUT LP 'ELECTRIC HAWAII' AVAILABLE ON JUNE 1 2012

Band Members:
Kody Nielson

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