Music News - Introducing Urban - 'Everything Except Time'
05 March 2016 - 0 Comments
Nelson based 5 piece rock/pop band Urban has announced the release of their debut album Everything Except Time.
Recorded in Nelson over December 2015 (at Bay City Studio) and January 2016 (at Urban’s own StudioBox facility) the ten track album offers an eclectic mix of mature rock/pop songs with influences of blues and 70’s folk rock.
One music industry veteran has made a comparison to late 70’s Fleetwood Mac “with a modern twist”, stating “this is a piece of pure Kiwi magic.” Very high praise indeed.
This comparison owes itself not so much to Urban’s sound, but more the mixture of writing and vocal styles that has resulted in an album with no two songs sounding alike, yet with a cohesion that tells you it is the same band.
“One of the things we are proud of is the “alive” feel we have achieved by recording the album on a Jade Soundtracks analogue desk.” The same desk that OMC’s How Bizarre was recorded on.
The songs have a warmth and feel to them that is often missing from the latest digitally produced music.
“We do feel we have something a little special going on, and now is the time to start making some noise about it, hopefully we can gain some success nationally.”
The album was engineered and mixed by Mark Patterson who has 20+ plus years’ experience in the music industry.
“It was great that we had such a talented sound engineer available locally for us to access, and although we decided to produce the album ourselves, Mark’s guiding hand along the way was very useful in that respect as well.”
Urban was originally formed in late 2013 as a duo by guitarist David Turnhout, from the remnants of his previous band The Collectors, primarily a covers band.
Before this he had been in the band “Money For Jam” which won the Nelson Battle of The Bands in 2010.
“My musical influences are Queen, The Beatles, Stray Cats, Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Split Enz and David Brent”
Urban’s blues influences flow through from David. David has contributed four of the songs on Everything Except Time.
The opening track Sometimes is moody rock, the tracks Apathy & Cynic are punchy rock/pop/funk and Storm Brewing has a prominent blues feel.
Mat Charles joined Urban in February 2014, playing bass and providing part time vocals, at this stage the duo morphed into a four piece band.
He cites his major influences as “The Beatles, The Cars, Split Enz, Sarah McLachlan, Crowded House and more specifically Neil Finn” whom he believes to be one of the most underrated songwriters in NZ.
“People in NZ generally don’t talk about Finn like they do about other kiwi icons, but his influence has been huge and his ability to find a melodic hook is astounding.”
Charles and Turnhout knew each other outside of the music scene, but it took Turnhout 3 months to convince him to join the embryonic Urban.
“I dabbled in music at school for a bit, but never did anything with it, life got in the way.”
“There was no musical influence in my family but I enjoy a range of musical styles and I’d always been fascinated by what made a good melodic hook.”
“I’m pleased David persevered, I was looking for a change but doubted I had what it took to be a positive contributor to a band, we haven’t looked back since.”
Having agreed to join up, Mat picked up a bass guitar and taught himself how to play from scratch.
He has contributed two tracks to the album, the hard out rock song Wrecking Ball (on which he does lead vocals) and the more acoustic & keys based ode to beginnings, New Song.
Anne Rijnink joined Urban in August 2014 after Charles convinced Turnhout that keyboards were needed to fill out their sound.
“We could easily have carried on as a four piece, but I felt adding keys would give us a fuller sound most local bands were lacking, and enable us to add some depth to our original songs.”
Rijnink is the youngster in Urban, discovered not long after coming back from an OE.
She comes at her music from a piano background, but also plays the guitar and writes in a Missy Higgins acoustic type style.
She had played keys in the band Hey August out of Nelson College for Girls which recorded a demo, and participated in Rockquest 2012.
It didn’t take long for Anne to have an influence on Urban’s sound, not just with the keys but vocally as well. Charles states “Anne has a wonderful sweet voice and an ability to find harmonies at will, there are great examples of that all over this album.”
Anne wrote and sings three of the songs on the album, the pop song Circling (a lyric from which forms the album title), the breezy Don’t Mind You (vocals shared with Hill) and the ethereal ballad Floating which closes out the album.
The band spent a year playing cover songs on the local pub scene, as well as several festivals, learning how to play tight together, however it had always been the goal to follow an originals pathway and in mid-2015 Turnhout and Charles decided that time had come.
This lead to some differences of artistic direction and vision with the then drummer, and lead vocalist, both of whom left the band.
Rather than let this be a set-back, the remaining members saw it as an opportunity to find other like-minded people and the word went out they were looking.
Richard Bradley joined as drummer in August 2015 bringing a professionalism to the role that was needed.
Bradley had previously been with Turnhout in Money for Jam until it dissolved.
“I've played instruments from the age of five, but started drumming about ten years ago.”
Bradley also plays the Ukulele on the track Don’t Mind You.
His musical influences are “mainly the 90’s Seattle sound, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden.”
Bradley contributed the punchy rock track Blue to the album and jokes that he “only writes one song every five years, so there may not be one in time for the next album.”
Finding a new lead singer wasn’t the challenge it might have been in provincial NZ, the band had struggled to find and hold onto singers previously.
This time around was different “we had 5 top quality vocalists audition and it was a difficult decision.
We were conscious of finding the right fit for us, vocally and personality wise, and someone unafraid of the originals path” Betsy Hill fitted the bill.
Charles states; “As a band we discussed it for a few days, Betsy was the least experienced of those who auditioned but we saw something a little special in her, so we decided we had to give her a chance, just to see what would happen. I don’t think any of us could have predicted how quickly and how well things would come together.”
Betsy has been singing since she was a little girl and enjoys a wide range of styles, but cites a liking for “music with soul and depth, that touches people's hearts, something with a genuine message, that makes them feel something for a moment whether it be happiness, sadness or a loving memory. One thing that inspired me about music and singing is seeing people express themselves through a song and how powerful one song can be to someone at that moment.”
Charles comments “Betsy’s learning curve has been incredibly steep, to go from joining Urban in late October to recording an original studio album in a three month period is testament to her hard work and tenacity, the rest of us couldn’t be more pleased.”
“Betsy has an amazing voice, that suits our song-writing perfectly. She can go from raw power to vulnerable tenderness in an instant, and back again. Who knows where she could take it with a few years of band experience under her belt.”
Most bands tend to have a front person or key songwriter who is the creative that leads the band through its musical journey, Urban is different in its approach to crafting songs.
Firstly there are 4 song writers, very rare in a 5 piece band, each with their own set of influences bringing a natural diversity.
However more importantly there is a natural predilection towards creative collaboration.
“Each of us brings our songs to the band as a demo with the understanding that everyone will have a say in its evolution and the finished product. We are each credited with the songs we brought to the album, but there are probably only three songs that are fundamentally unchanged from their demo stage and there are several that are dramatically different. Its having that ability to respect what everyone else brings to the table individually and collectively. And to not throw any idea out, no matter how off the wall it is, until it’s been thoroughly explored, that has seen the songs and album evolve quickly.”
“The writer of the song gets the final say because they know their intentions for the song, but there isn’t a song on the album that hasn’t been influenced to some degree by another member of the band.”
“It’s a pretty cool process, we call it Urbanisation. We are all supportive of each other’s ideas and are all pretty laid back. On occasion there are some differences of opinion, all bands experience those, but we seem to work through them pretty quickly.”
“Now that Everything Except Time is on the shelves so to speak, we are committed to getting it heard, we have recently played the Brightwater Wine and Food festival in front of 3000 punters and the reception we received for our original music was really positive.”
“We will be getting out and about as much as we can and are hopeful we will be able to tour the album if the reception nationally is as positive as it has been at home.”
Urban has developed a reputation for a punchy, tight, yet light-hearted, live sound.
“Making the album has been an amazing process, but playing live in front of people who appreciate great original tunes is the ultimate buzz.”
Keep an eye on their website and Facebook page for updates on where you can find Urban playing live, or buy the album now.
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