WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY
My name is Trevor Faville and I hail from Hamilton New Zealand. It is my privilege to be writing this week's guest editorial
OBLIGATORY PROMOTIONAL MOMENT!
I operate DateMonthYear, a musical organization that is a kind of combination record label/promotions/band/production unit. Line-ups remain deliberately flexible and the idea is to be able to adapt to make music in any environment, as long as it is contemporary. So, we do gigs in pubs, release Cds, do music for movies television and theatre, This concept evolved because I am too old and ugly to be a 'pop star', but still very driven to make music.
So what I'd like to do is to give a brief overview of stuff that happens in our fair burg.
RADIO
The" big two" dominate the airwaves in the 'tron as they do country wide, but there is CONTACT FM, which is a return to the days of genuine student radio, that is in terms of a broad based musical content and a lack of ads. COMMUNTIY RADIO still flies the flag for a community based station, and plays plenty of local content. THE GENERATOR is working its way back to an audience after becoming a bit of a 'Rock lite' station. They boasted the mighty noizyland show, and Jan Maree has made a real difference in terms of supporting local music.
THE INTERWEB
CONTACT FM runs a good site. Initially it might seem like a place designed for staff to keep in touch with other but actually is a good source of info. HTOWN is another good 'un. Membership has taken off in the last year, and it remains an excellent source of what is happening in terms of original music in the town.
SOME BANDS
Here is a selection of some of the bands around…certainly not a complete list, but a sampler of groups that maintained a presence through '05.
THIS NIGHT CREEPS
Fantastic on stage, TNC are Working on quite a national profile at the moment, New Cd "hear a body tone" is out right now
THE SHRUGS
A consistent live presence for some years, the Shrugs released "an awkward silence " at the beginning of this year. Definitely worth a look live.
AMY RACECAR
A prolific outfit, who do somewhat offbeat but terrifically engaging stuff. The racecar are touring with the body corporate even as we speak.
ROSE PETAL AND CONFETTI
You have to see this bunch live. The sound and look kind of starts with Glam/Goth, but goes somewhere else entirely. Front person Odee the rose has a terrific live presence.
ST LUCY
Performing as a duo (acoustic guitar and drums), and really now based in Tauranga. Mark Tupuhi is an excellent songwriter and vocalist with a considerable track record and a huge catalogue of songs.
THE NEW CALEDONIA
Probably easy to categorise as prog. But there is more to this band than that. Once again, great live performers.
DEAD PAN RANGERS
With two Cds to their credit, Hamilton's "skewed indie-pop collective" have toured nationally and worldwide.
AETHER
And over to the "dark side". Aether do the big, loud sounds.A really cohesive and powerful live act.
APOLLO
Kind of Jazz/fusion/crossover group who occasionally cover led Zeppelin! Kings of groove and a compelling live experience.
LUNA SPARK
The only outfit on the list who don't perform live that often, Luna Spark are now technically based in Auckland and have just released a new Cd called "countdown to meltdown".
Well, that's not an exhaustive list by a long shot, but it's a place to start. You could google them all or check out the links at www.htown.co.nz or to a lesser extent www.datemonthyear.co.nz.
Time to close, having left off a whole lot of bands (dick dynamite and the doppelgangers, 4second fuse, sunnytokyo, hundreds more) without meaning to, and without covering local press (Nexus take a bow) or venues (ward lane, sohl,). Maybe next time.
Cheers everyone
Trevf
Things keep busy for DMY through the new year. Our motto, "pop melodies, Rock dynamics and movie atmospheres" gets tested to the full, in February with the release of feature movie 'Luella Miller', (with five songs from the 7Ghosts CD) and in March when DMY provides live music for the Kinetic Theatre production of 'La Ronde'.
Somewhere around there too comes the much delayed release of the 'Great DateMonthYear Guitar/Remix Challenge', which is a series of remixes and alternative versions of songs, with some new material thrown in.
DateMonthYear is also involved in promoting 'The Style Explosion', which is a series on free gigs in Hamilton featuring hamilton bands.
And if we survive, July sees the release date of the next DMY CD, tentatively called 'Pot/Kettle/Black'.
For more information, check out the profile for DateMonthYear on muzic.net.nz
Who are your favorite NZ bands and artists?
Shihad/8 Foot Sativa/ Agent/ Demiurge/ HLAH - when they were around
What is your favourite NZ venue?
The Valve - only place with real character!
What is the best thing about being in Nort?
Hanging out with a family of brothers jamming!
What is the best live gig you have ever been to?
Ozzfest 2001 UK. But if its in NZ then Big Day Out because there is a good choice of bands to see, normally.. Like in 1999
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
Hopefully touring somewhere and having people moshing to our music
How do you keep in contact with your fans?
Email, Personal interaction at gigs and on the street. Never turn a fan away or be an ass cause they are the sole reason you get popular!
What rumour would you like to start about yourselves?
That we are actually quite good!!! No really we are!!! Honest!!!
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Keep working hard at it. And don’t try following what other people are doing, write what you want to play!!!
Thanks to Andy from Nort for answering the questions on behalf of the rest of the band. If you're interested in finding out more about Nort, check them out on muzic.net.nz!
Your guide to what's new on muzic.net.nz!
New Artists
The following bands or musicians were added to the website recently, check them out!
Disorientated | Blackbell Blues |
NVS | Alabaster Theatre |
The DH-DF-D's | 10secondelay |
The Cessnas | Dormitabo |
The Dylan Storey Band | Pauper |
Labels & Locations
This week we're updating our artist database to include record label details (for those that have a record label) and locations! The locations addition will make it much easier for bands wanting to tour to get in touch with other local bands in the locations they want to play. Keep an eye of for both of these on the artist pages this week!
Mumsdollar at Parachute 2006. More Photos. Photo Copyright © Split Second Photography.