Music News - HUP presents 'Life Beneath A Gravel Streak' - A Compilation Album
01 December 2016 - 0 Comments
Hamilton Underground Press (HUP) today released its inaugural album, entitled A Life Beneath A Gravel Streak.
The compilation album contains songs by 22 underground bands and artists that have played at a HUP show since the DIY music organisation began its life in March 2015. Almost half of the bands are from Hamilton and its surrounds, while Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane and Sydney are also represented.
Many of the bands are unknown to the masses, but the quality of the music is high, and the likes of local punks Contenders and The Recently Deceived sit well alongside the likes of 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Finalists Street Chant and up-and-coming indie-rock trio Half Eaten Pie, winners of this year’s Waikato Smokefree Rockquest. Other bands from the Hamilton scene include Inchworm, Rumpus Room, Grok, Glass Shards, Louder Louder, The Scones, and Ancient Tapes. Auckland bands feature strongly too with tracks from The Naenae Express, Hospital Sports, How Get, Skux, Hide and Tallow, The Biscuits and Ghosts of Electricity. Brisbane punks Kitchen’s Floor contributed a live track from their recent NZ tour, and the brilliantly named Ted Danson With Wolves from Sydney also feature. Wellington’s Skymning and The Joint Chiefs complete an impressive and somewhat eclectic line-up.
Hamilton Underground Press (HUP) began life in March 2015, in an attempt to help breathe life into the local music scene, by being active in organising shows, and supporting local music by publishing zines, podcasts and online articles. Like-minded souls have joined along the way and HUP has flourished ever since. Arpie Shirlow said,
"It’s been amazing really, we’ve had so many incredible nights with these bands playing, crowds have been getting bigger and more enthusiastic. A real supportive scene is growing again in Hamilton. This album is a recorded memory of some of those nights really, but it really stands up on
its own as an album too, it’s an incredible group of songs. We put on gigs because we love the music that these bands make, and we think they deserve an audience. We support this by creating interest through publishing printed zines, podcasts and online articles."
HUP is run as a not-for-profit organisation, and most of the door takings at shows go towards paying bands, sound engineers and hiring PA gear.
The zine in question – entitled the HUPZINE - is a printed publication that features gig information and interviews with local and touring bands. It is free to pick up, something that Shirlow is passionate about maintaining.
"Making it free just encourages people to pick it up. Once they have read about the bands, they start to come out and watch them play live. Building live audiences is important to us. These bands are brilliant and deserve to be heard."
"All of the bands featured on ‘Life Beneath A Gravel Streak’ were generous enough to contribute a song on the understanding that any funds generated from album sales go towards covering future printing costs and keeping the HUPZINE going."
‘Life Beneath A Gravel Streak’ is available to download on from hamiltonundergroundpress.bandcamp.com from Thursday December 1st. The album - all 22 tracks - will cost just $10 to download. Physical copies should be available at HUP’s Xmas Party, a show they are hosting alongside The Hum 106.7FM, at Nivara Lounge on Saturday December 17, where four of the bands featured on the album will be playing live sets.
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