Newsletter Issue #221: 15 Feb 2009
Ragamuffin Children
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
One of our favourite shows we ever played was our first album release show at the Harbour Light Theatre in Lyttelton, Christchurch.
We did a mad overnight drive in the snow and ice from Dunedin, slept for two hours, played a show at mid-day and then that night played our album release... Perhaps we were delerious with tiredness, but we just remember it being one of those great shows, where everything seemed to go really splendidly!
What is your favourite NZ venue?
We have a couple of favourites... The Mussel Inn is amazing, but also love the Wunderbar in Lyttelton as it's rather iconic, and the Wine Cellar in Auckland is nice, dimly-lit and cosy.
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
There are so many great bands from here who we don't see play nearly enough!
Demarnia Lloyd from Cloudboy has been working on a solo project with loop pedals and solo voice that we would love to hear some more of... Rosy Tin Teacaddy are always fun to play a show with, always want to hear more from them...
Spartacus R aredoing somenewand interesting things..
Would be great to see TrinityRoots reform, they are probably an all time favourite, and it was so sad when they stopped playing... and we want Jody Lloyd to come back to New Zealand.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
Oh, there are probably a few embarrassing moments.. One time Brooke hid after a particularly badly performed song at a show at Happy in Wellington.
How did you come up with the name Ragamuffin Children?
We came up with it while walking down a beach on the Kapiti Coast... Brooke called some boys 'a bunch of ragamuffins'.. and then somehow that turned into 'Ragamuffin Children'... it seemed to fit us at the time, and it stuck! (unfortunately)
How would you describe your music?
Our music is made witha combination of mainly acoustic instruments, and vocals. Poetic lyrics and interesting melodic lines. It is ethereal and sometimes quaint, normally a bit melancholic. Anita likes sad music in general, so we have never really achieved an uplifting sort of sound.
What can we expect to see from the Ragamuffin Children over the next year?
We are releasing our second album 'The Seahorse Emporium', so we will be going on our album release tour in February and March.. hopefully that goes well. We've been thinking about doing a little West Coast tour sometime, and we might pop over to Australia for a few shows too. If we can, we might film a music video or two!
What advice would you like to give other aspiring musicians?
Perhaps just..
Be yourself, Write and play music that you are inspired by, try to create something interesting and new, don't fit yourself into a box...
And enjoy it!
The Ragamuffin Children are Anita Clark (vocalist, fiddle, guitar) and Brooke Singer (keyboard, songwriter).
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The Ragamuffin Children's latest release 'The Seahorse Emporium' was released on February 9.
Spartacus R
Thanks to Benjamin for answering these questions:
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
Would have to be Spartacus R's Delusions in 3D. We composed a one night performance for a 2008 Fringe show and also produced a 3D anaglyph movie to go along with the soundtrack. Was so nice to see a full house at the Paramount all wearing there 3D shades...
What is your favorite NZ venue?
Without a Doubt the Mussel Inn in Onekaka - Award winning beer flowing like a waterfall, Owners Andrew & Jane are truly amazing, and locals, tourist and holiday makers always keen to dance there socks off. Breath taking location and atmosphere.
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
I think we would all just like to see acts not following trends of the now. Really enjoy acts that are pushing the limits of commercial boundaries. An act that can still be in the industry but still be the spirit in the fizzy cola which packs the punch.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
Probably the time we played at the Mussel Inn and we had a support act that I won't name and someone from the support ended up waking up in our accommodation in the middle of the night and relieving himself against the wall of their wonderful log house. Whoops!
How did you come up with the name Spartacus R?
We looked at a wall of vinyl at home and randomly picked a vinyl... "In 1969 Africa/London's Osbisa was born. Joining them in the first incarnation was Grenadian Spartacus R on bass". And in 2004 Spartacus R was born on 136 Abel-Smith St, Wellington, New Zealand.
How would you describe your music?
A Genre pool, good friends with common musical tastes.
"Sit back in a comfy chair with a nice drink, turn off the phone and let it envelope you. This album is something special, it won't appeal to everyone, but it is the kind of music that everyone should listen to."
- Lee Prebble, Audio Engineer & operator of The Surgery.
What can we expect to see from you over the next year?
A second album release, possibly on vinyl, the planning's of a 2010 Fringe/NZ arts festival show involving Traditional French Marionette performers with live S.R soundtrack
What advice would you like to give other aspiring musicians?
Forget about fame and being a celebrity, just make music for music sake. Educate yourself with New Zealand music and the Industry and then study the world music and industries. Let it rub off on your music...
Spartacus R is Mataio Daniela (space guitar), Michael Kane (percussion), Shanti Costar (vocals, organ, synth), Benjamin James (horns, rhodes, synth), Ryan Prebble (vocals, rhodes, guitar) and Tim Prebble (melodic bass).
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Spartacus R's debut album 'When The Fever Takes Hold' is out now and comes with a very cool interchangable CD cover. You can read the review here.
NZ Music News
Jim Beam search for band to open Vodafone Homegrown
Jim Beam are giving an up and coming band the chance to play alongside the country’s premier rock acts on the Jim Beam Rock Stage at Vodafone Homegrown.
With only 5 weeks to go until the sold out Kiwi music festival hits Wellington, Jim Beam is on the look out for the band to kick off one of the most comprehensive Kiwi rock lineups ever assembled.
Not only will the winners be playing ahead of the likes of Goodnight Nurse, Streetwise Scarlett, Elemeno-P, Evermore, Opshop, Blindspott and Supergroove, they will also be treated like true rock-stars. Flights to Wellington, accommodation and the full VIP backstage treatment with complimentary beverages courtesy of Jim Beam are all part of the prize.
The Rock Radio station will run the competition during The Nightshift with Jason Mac from February 9th to March 4th 2009. To be eligible Bands must be able to play a full set of their own music. Potential bands are asked to send in a CD of their best work to The Rock, Private Bag 47560, Ponsonby, Auckland.
More acclaim for gospel singers
The headline act at the New Zealand’s International Jazz & Blues Festival will have to make room in their studio for yet more music awards.
The Blind Boys of Alabama have this week been honoured with a lifetime achievement award to celebrate their 65 years of music-making. Last night they also received a best album award at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
Festival director Jodi Wright was in LA at the ceremony to watch the Iron Men of the music industry collect their Grammy for best Traditional Gospel Album.
This year’s Grammy was the fifth for the acclaimed group of gospel singers who have won four times previously, in consecutive years 2001-2004.
The winning album, "Down in New Orleans” was produced in 2008 and members said they wanted their music to lift up the city after Hurricane Katrina.
Full Article
Jazz Festival tickets now on sale
The Liquorland New Zealand Beer Festival 2009
Kiwi summers and good beer go hand in hand. With a cracking summer to date and craft beer appreciation and consumption on the rise, at least one industry has something to celebrate!
With two successful years under it’s belt, The Liquorland New Zealand Beer Festival returns to Auckland and debuts in Wellington in 2009. It is fast becoming an annual must-do feature on the social calendar.
Dubbed “anti-recession” days, the festivals are a great opportunity to dust off the doom and gloom and celebrate. With a great mix of Beer, Food, Music and Summer, the festival is the perfect opportunity to get out and have a good time with great mates!
Samsung launches initiative to bring hope to young New Zealanders
Scribe, Jordan Luck and Nathan King donate songs to support Samsung Hope initiative to generate awareness of New Zealand child and youth charities
Just before Christmas 2008 Samsung Electronics launched Samsung Hope, a philanthropic initiative aimed at improving the lives of disadvantaged children and youth living with serious illness. Samsung Hope will partner with CanTeen, KidsCan and Make-a-Wish Foundation to promote the Samsung Hope campaign website, where New Zealanders can determine the distribution of US$90,000 (NZ$170,000) in funds donated by Samsung. The charities will receive a share of the funds determined by the number of votes they are given on the website.
New Zealand artists Jordan Luck, Scribe and Nathan King have all pledged their support to the initiative. Each have an existing affiliation with the participating charities: Scribe with Make-A-Wish, Jordan Luck with KidsCan and Nathan King with CanTeen. All have donated a special track which can be downloaded from the Samsung Hope website in return for a vote of support for one of the participating charities.
ChartFest 2009
The NZ Music Month spotlight hits Christchurch again with the return of CHARTFEST - Christchurch’s largest annual indoor music festival with over 20 of Christchurch’s premier live acts rocking 4 stages in the Town Hall complex from 4pm til 10pm on Fri 29 May 2009.
Following the success from the inaugural 2008 event, CHARTFEST 2009 kicks off with a career and industry expo, music performance clinics, panel discussions, back stage tours, music gaming zone, giveaways, signing tent, prizes and much more. Everything you ever needed to know about the Christchurch music scene will be on show.
Christchurch’s best live acts are then set to rock 4 stages through a packed programme of multi-genre showcases all around the Town Hall complex. Stadium rock, dance floor-filling electro mashups, drum 'n' bass, indie guitar heroics, folk punk, alt country and ambient acoustic soul are just a few of the music styles that will be showcased at CHARTFEST.
Red Bull Studio LIVE sessions
Across bNet stations, you can catch the Red Bull Live Sessions at a brand-spanking-new time. It’s broadcasting live at 3:30pm every Thursday on 95bFM.
19 February - New Telepathics
26 February - Lawrence Arabia
Latest Releases
Evermore is pleased to announce its highly-anticipated third studio album, ‘Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show’, will be released in New Zealand on 23 March 2009.
In the two-and-a-half years since the release of ‘Real Life’, Evermore has been busy touring, writing and recording. Jon, Peter and Dann Hume (aka Evermore) are pleased to announce their new album is almost ready for public ears.
‘Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show’ signals an exciting new musical direction for the band – an epic new sound and a further progression in songwriting clearly evident in their new single “Hey Boys and Girls”, which hits radio in Australia and New Zealand today.
Two years after the release of their wildly popular debut album “Take Control”, State of Mind are back in force. Their follow up album “Faster than Light” is due for release in March 2009 on their own label SOM Music.
A double CD, it features a full length album on one disc and a limited selection of bonus material on the other. The album is made up of all new studio material, alternate versions of a few select SOM vinyl releases, and a hand-full of the tracks found on the recent “Faster then Light EP’s Part 1 & 2”. It also includes collaborations with the likes of Trei, PNC, Chris.Su and more. Musically it represents a new twist on the State of Mind sound, with more complex beats and music than was found on the previous album.
'Chant Darling' the new album from Lawrence Arabia will be released in NZ, Monday March 9 on Honorary Bedouin Records. 'Chant Darling' was recorded between November 2007 and January 2009, in Stockholm, London, Auckland, Wellington and Port Chalmers. Produced by Arabia it features contributions from James Dansey and Daniel Ward (The Sneaks), Matt Eccles (Betchadupa/Das Pop), Liam Finn, Luke Buda and Sam Scott (The Phoenix Foundation), Tom Watson (Cassette), Andy Watts (Hot Grits), John White (Mestar) and various other friends.
Other releases on the way include the second album from The Mint Chicks 'Screens' (9 March), Rhian Sheehan's latest release 'Standing In Silence' (24 February), Don McGlashan's newest album 'Marvellous Year' (2 March) and album number 4 for Sola Rosa 'Get It Together' (also 2 March).
New Zealand Music Going Overseas
Presented by Niche Productions, the magnificent Fat Freddy's Drop return to Australia in March for a series of heart-stopping shows that could deliver the answer to the question on fans lips worldwide - is the album out yet!?
For the past three years, the New Zealand band has been conquering the globe with a slow burning boil up of hi-tek soul, jazz and reggae, road testing new songs for the follow up to their record breaking debut Based On A True Story and fielding album requests from fans in Europe, UK, USA and Australasia. In 2009 Freddy is getting ready to pull the catch on the sophomore album Big BW and shake that 'shiverman loose'.
Fat Freddy's Drop was last in Australia around New Year for Days Like This! festival in Sydney and they played at Pyramid Festival on Philip Island - until stage crew had to physically remove the musicians mid-set as rain and wind battered the stage.
Full Article
Site of the moment: Under The Radar
Quite possibly the coolest place that sells tickets online, Under The Radar's website contains a decent dose of music news, gig details and even some competitions. Definitely worth checking out today!
Muzic.net.nz News
Competitions
Congratulations to all of the following winners:
- C. Smith (Manukau) and C. Walkinshaw (Invercargill) have won a copy of Lydia Cole's EP 'Love Will Find A Way';
- and T. Pinny (Hamilton) and S. Goodall (Wellington) will be receiving their copy of The Bat's latest release 'The Guilty Office' in the mail soon.
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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Ancient Flight Text is Gianmarco Liguori's second album as group director of an ongoing series of experimental recordings. The album features Murray McNabb (composer for Once Were Warriors) and Kim Paterson. |
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Having recorded two demo EP's to date, a proper record has been overdue for sometime from Hamilton band Sora Shima, and finally 'Destroy Electronica' is here. |
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When the Fever Takes Hold has spent considerable time in incubation since it was conceived in 2007. It is an album that challenges the current musical fixation with iPod-friendly singles, featuring eight tracks - some of which are long psychedelic rock jams to immerse the listener in an aural experience not delivered by any other New Zealand band. |
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Every Man For Himself has been around since 2003 and this the third EP release from the Auckland-based Metal/Hardcore 5-piece. This is disc 1 in a two disc series, the second set to be released mid-2009. |
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Auckland-based three piece who have just released thier 7 track debut EP, 'A Quilt Of Conversation', and you can win it here! |
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Winning Hearts & Minds is the first release in almost five years from Auckland metallers Subtract. If you like kiwi Metal... you simply need to have this! |
Every Man For Himself Review
The Auckland quintet has been around since 2003 (in various forms and under different names) and this is their third EP release. This is disc 1 in a two disc series, the second set to be released mid-2009.
From the moment I placed this album into my player, I loved it. It was grunt at its best and in no time, my head was banging and the volume was full.
Aaron’s vocals are full of power and rage, the solid drum set explodes through the speakers and the riffs are spine tingling. My favourite track would have to be ‘Until the lions learn to record their own history, the tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter’ (what a great name for a song!).
Spartacus R - 'When The Fever Takes Hold' album review
Features
Every feature we have ever had on the site can be viewed here.
The next muzic.net.nz newsletter is going out on
1 March 09 and will feature Rhian Sheehan, State of Mind and Roofdog. The following issue going out on 15 March 09 will feature Sola Rosa.
We have space available in our newsletters from 15 March onwards. You can request a date in advance that suits you, or feature in the next available newsletter. There has already been a lot of interest in our newsletters for this year, so if you would to have a newsletter feature within the next 2 months you should contact Lisa now to avoid disappointment.
With our newsletters being sent out to over 7400 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 regardless of whether you have already been featured in the newsletter before or not.
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.
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Our next gig mail out is going out on 22 February.
- The muzic.net.nz team
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