INTERVIEW: Robin Hinkley

Good Laika have just released their debut album, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. Singer Robin Hinkley talks to Charlette Hannah the day before their album release.

Charlette Hannah: You’re releasing your debut album this week – how does it feel to have reached that milestone?

Robin Hinkley: We’re not quite there yet. It’s Thursday, and we haven’t quite made it to Thursday yet. I’m really excited about it. We were talking about how we felt it was our birthday or wedding or something. We’ve been working towards it for such a long time. It’s been really busy, that’s all I can say about it. It doesn’t seem quite real yet.

CH: Who did you work with on the recording and production?

RH: We recorded it at Nick McGowan’s studio in Island Bay, Island Bay Studio’s. We went into the studio to record a song for a video, because someone offered to make a video for us, but we had no recordings for it. So we set the whole thing up so we could record it, and we tried recording three songs, but we thought we’re going into a studio, might as well record an album. That felt really cool, it felt cool not planning it in-depth before we went into the studio. We spent about two to three days actually recording. We all played together, quite a live kind of feel. So yeah, he did a good job of it, the mixing of it, and we had it mastered by Mike Gibson at Trident Studio’s.

CH: Good Laika have been together for a number of years now, why has it taken this long to put out your first release?

RH: Good question. I think part of the reason is that we’ve all been doing other things. I’m a teacher, Matthew’s a teacher of music, so is Ricky, Ricky’s had his other musical projects like the Boomshack band, Nic Marshall’s just one of the busiest people I’ve ever met, and Jason Fa’afoi is always out of town. So it’s been quite hard for us to find the time to get together. Also, at the beginning, when we first got together, which was probably about 5 years ago, embarrassingly, we kind of lacked a bit of impetus, we didn’t quite gel, I think. The thing that kind of kicked us into action, started something new for us, was when we made a trip to Waitare beach, and we spent a weekend playing and drinking wine by the beach, and it was just a magical time for us.

CH: How did the band come together, how did you all find each other?

RH: It was Ricky, the drummer, who really started things. I didn’t really know him very well, played a bit of indoor soccer with him, and he had seen my other band play a couple of times, and he was keen to do some songs and music with me. So he approached me and said do you want to do some music, I’ve got some other friends who’d be keen to do music with. Jason was the next person he approached, as he’d worked with Jason on What Now in Christchurch. So we played together. I think Jason knew Nic Marshall, and it just kind of grew from there. But yeah, it was Ricky who started it all, and he wanted to get more into songwriting as well, which drummers are not usually inclined to do.

CH: Who writes the songs in the band? Is it a communal effort?

RH: It’s quite a shared thing, yeah. On this album Jason’s written a couple of songs and I’ve worked with Ricky on a couple and written some of my own. So it all kind of evolved. And even if one of us brings a song which is complete, we usually draft it together, which keeps us all interested I guess.

CH: So where does the album name, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose come from?

RH: It’s a phrase that stuck in my mind actually, and it seems to sum up one aspect of the album. It sounds kind of jovial and fairly happy and throwaway, but when you think about the meaning of it it’s got this sinister or melancholic undertone. It was quite hard working out what the album felt like, where it was coming from. ‘Cause parts of it seem warm and friendly and cosy, and other parts seems kind of a bit eerie.

CH: Have you played many gigs?

RH: No, that’s the thing, we’ve played probably about five times now, live. Our first gig was something with Blink, The Low Hum guy, he set up an acoustic, sort of stripped back live show with a few bands, so we played with that first. We recorded with a friend of Ricky’s, but we’ve left those recordings behind a bit. It’s only started happening in terms of live performances in the last few months really.

CH: Any plans for a tour?

RH: Yeah. Because we’re all working, we have to call going away for a few weekends in a row a tour. We’re going up to Auckland early next month and then the following weekend we’re going down to Christchurch and Dunedin.

CH: How has being a Wellington band shaped your sound and career?

RH: That’s a hard one to answer, because I’ve never been in an Auckland band or a Christchurch band or Dunedin band. The different bands that we’ve interacted with, the musicians we’ve bumped into have influenced us. Bands like The Phoenix Foundation have been very supportive of us, and Age Pryor as well. It does feel like there’s a bit of a community that have sort of helped us, and also influenced us musically as well.

CH: What’s in the future for Good Laika?

RH: Well. We’re gonna play a whole lot more I think. We’ve already started talking about what our next recording’s going to be. But we need to not jump too far ahead, we need to give this album it’s dues. We’d really like as many people to hear this as possible, because we think it’s worth hearing.

CH: Do you plan to go international?

RH: We’re trying to keep things organic. The whole intent behind our recordings was to have us all play together, having it all feel right, and anything that happens in terms of who hears our music and where we go as a band hopefully will happen in that same way so that it grows from something real, and we’re not going to try and throw ourselves out there without having grown locally first.

myspace.com/goodlaika

(Photo by Rosie Morgan)

INTERVIEW: Flip Grater

In 2006, Flip Grater released her debut album Cage For A Song, under her own record label, Maiden NZ. As part of her solo release tour, she gathered recipes from friends, venues, and audience members all over the country, and compiled them along with a tour diary. The Cookbook Tour is a charming and interesting book, filled with simple recipes, and Flip is currently touring to promote the release of the book. Playing at The Mighty Mighty in Wellington, she caught up with Charlette Hannah for a chat before the gig.

Charlette Hannah: Did you know you would write the cookbook before you did the Cage For A Song tour?

Flip Grater: Yes, absolutely. I knew about it before I put the album out. The idea for the tour came about I think in June or July last year, 2006, whilst my album was in production. And I knew it was going to be coming out in August, knew I was going to be touring in August for the album, and I just wanted to find an interesting way to do that tour. It wasn’t just another album tour. And that’s what we came up with.

CH: Did it make the tour more enjoyable having to talk to people to acquire recipes, or would you have done that anyway?

FG: It definitely made it more interesting. I purposely went on the tour by myself because that’s when you end up talking to more people. You stick to your comfort zone a bit when you’re traveling with others. And that was the whole point of it, adventures and meeting people. Everyone loves talking about food. I think it’s quite a common thing, people really do want to talk to strangers and meet new people. Especially if they’ve gone to see you at a gig, then they are open enough to want to meet people. But often there’s no reason to, there’s no talking point to start a conversation. Doing something like this gives everybody the perfect excuse to talk to you.

CH: Is there a particular plan for this tour, or will you just talk about the book?

FG: Yeah, it could be endless, people have joked about that! Collecting recipes on the book launch tour, and write another book about that… but I think I’d like to move on to some similar but slightly different idea’s to do with publications.

CH: Have you always been a writer?

FG: I don’t know how to answer that. I could be a total wanker and say everybody’s always everything… I was born a musician, I was born a writer. But the reality is that we are ever changing and our existence is as well, and it’s not really who I am, it’s just something I do. It’s not even really something I do, I just did it once, I wrote a book. I wrote this book and I may do it again sometime. I don’t know, I don’t think an author is who I am, I don’t think a musician is who I am. But maybe that’s a bit deeper than we need to go.

CH: What do you think of yourself as?

FG: I don’t know, I guess that’s ever changing as well. I’m passionate. I guess people describe me as driven, but that just makes me think everyone is lazy. ‘Cause it’s a shame there’s a word to describe that, as if that’s a weird thing. I’m starting to ramble now, but I like to be busy, that’s all.

CH: Are all the recipes vegan?

FG: No, the majority of them are, accidentally, vegan, or possibly vegan if you omit certain ingredients. I’ve tried to list those options for people who can’t figure it out for themselves. They’re all vegetarian.

CH: Would you do a solo tour again? Are you doing a solo tour?

FG: I am yeah. I didn’t mean to. As I say, the first time it was on purpose because I wanted to have adventures. The funny thing is I’m doing the same trip almost. I’m not going to all the same spots, I’m going to a few less places. But I’m traveling alone, I’m traveling in Lada. My boyfriend was going to come on this trip but he decided to go skiing instead, so now I’m solo traveling again. The problem with that is that last time, part of the reason for traveling by myself was not just to meet people, but also to have all sorts of misadventures and have to find ways out of them. And it was pretty uneventful in that way, I had a pretty sweet time. The car went really well and everything sort of worked. But this trip has turned out to be crazy. My PA broke, and my car battery went dead, and my windscreen broke and I got really sick, and it’s just been crazy. I actually really wish I had someone on this trip with me, but that’s how it goes, and sometimes it’s for the best. I do like traveling by myself.

CH: So you still have Lada obviously? A pretty important character…

FG: Oh yeah, a very important character! The book would be nothing without her! As I say she’s needed some work on this tour. I think she’s getting a bit tired.

CH: Are you happy with how many albums you’ve sold so far?

FG: Yeah, it’s sold quite a few for an independent release so I am really happy. If I could sell as many books as I’ve sold CD’s I’d be happy as.

CH: Any plans for a new album soon?

FG: Yeah, as soon as I get back from the tour I’m going to start recording for the next record. I’ve got some new songs, and a couple of really new ones that I wrote last week. I’ve kind of been doing this business-y stuff for ages and the songwriting brain gets switched off. So I’m quite keen to get back into it, and I’m going to get straight back into the recording studio when I get back.

CH: So you’ll put that out next year?

FG: Yeah, next year. I don’t know if I should just keep doing the same sort of thing over and over. What I’d really like to do is an international cookbook tour, I just need the funding for it. That’d be pretty amazing.

CH: So why did you set up your own record label?

FG: I always wanted to do that, and I thought, there’s no good reason not to. As I say, I like to be busy. But putting out my own record, even though it was a good idea at the time for learning a lot, I’m starting to think that doing your own publicity isn’t the best idea. It’s possible to do it, but it’s just really emotionally exhausting, ‘cause you get really invested in your product. Anytime someone says no to doing a story on it, it feels like a personal rejection. That wears you down quite a lot, because even if 50 people say yes, one person says no and it has much more power. And the thing is, you really need to positive about what you put out there and you can’t let those things wear your enthusiasm down. So I’m starting to think that doing your own publicity is not the best idea. I’ll only do other people’s publicity in future I’ve decided. Having a record label is going to be fun and fantastic for doing other people’s records, but I’m not sure about my own anymore.

CH: Have you got other artists on the label already?

FG: Urbantramper. We’ve just put out an Urbantramper CD this month. It’s such a beautiful record, I love it. I love it so much. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to do, help other artists get into shops and things like that.

CH: Do you have a day job or are you a full time musician/record label owner?

FG: Full time music, yeah. Full time music related things. I do a bit of work for Rockquest, I do some judging for Rockquest, I do mentoring for NZMIC and then I do the record label and I do my projects, and I do a bit of production for music videos.

CH: How did you get involved in Rockquest and mentoring?

FG: Just over the years, getting involved in things, one thing leads to another.

CH: What advice would you have for other NZ artists?

FG: Don’t compromise what you’re doing. Just find the right people who are enthusiastic about it.

CH: What do you think has really helped you get where you are now?

FG: Friends, support networks, good relationships with people in general. I really think that’s the most important thing in life. I think if you can get that happening in your life then it automatically helps your career in whatever you’re doing, especially in music.

REVIEW/INTERVIEW: Good Laika

GOOD LAIKA
THE MIGHTY MIGHTY
THURSDAY 30 AUGUST
Words and Photo's by Rosie Morgan

On Thursday night, I was fortunate enough to attend the over-crowded, and inspiring show for Good Laika's debut album release (Heads I Win, Tails You Lose) at the Mighty Mighty. Due to work restraints, I missed Age Pryor who started the show, but arrived just in time for Good Laika's set. The band all looked a little nervous, but were excited about the new stage the Mighty Mighty had put in, and firmly reinforced the fact that there would be no encores as they were all very tired, which is a shame really, because Good Laika are one of those bands you could sit and listen to for hours, and not get sick of.

I was very impressed with the music, the relaxed atmosphere, and the friendliness of the band welcomed you into the set, and invited you to get carried along into the Good Laika sound. One look at these guys, and you just know they deserve to be a success.

After the show, I interviewed Ricky Boyd (drums).

ON NZ Music vs International:

"Nz's definitely pushing boundaries. I mean, we've got the Mint Chicks, the Pheonix Foundation... its all happening. Our resources though are more 60's, 70's. We know {nz music} is there, but we're more like ostriches, keeping our heads underground and see what we like".

RB says they're more into soaking up "old history", that their music is ethics based, and that they play with emotion and feeling. They use it in their approach to each individual instrument. "Our past present and future are elemental", he says.

And it sure shows. Robin Hinkley's vocals are just one example of the way GL do this. He has a voice that carries far above the vocal melody, far above all the other intrumentation, that carries far. You just know he's singing from the heart, and as soppy as that sounds, I think the sure sign of a a good musician is the ability to express heart and soul and effect the audience. In Tooth and Nail, he sings "I know you're tired" repeatedly, and the audience were swaying, captivated. When you combine RH's voice in harmony with the backup vocals of Jason Faafoi, you have this effect maximized.

Jason also has the same gorgeous, soulful quality to his voice that RH does, but with a little more of an Island Twist. During the Mighty Mighty set, he dedicated a song that he wrote (Coming Home) to his "island sister", who was getting teary as he sang it. This song was a gorgeous island/calypso/melodic tune, that fitted so nicely with the rest of the set, and again, there was much swaying along.

On Keeping off the Radar until now:

They've actually been together for around 4 years, but all of the members have been involved with solo projects, or other bands... for example OdESSA, Boomshack, TV Acting... to name the few obvious ones.

Ricky's' also been involved with drum lessons at various schools and jazz groups, so its a wonder how they even find the time to practice, let alone perform.

Its really only been the last year they're all been able to commit 100% - and, more impressively, only the last 2/3 months that they've recorded, promoted, and released thier Debut- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, available in stores from 3rd September, if you weren't lucky enough to snatch up one at the show.

On their Overall Sound:

"I'd say... soulful. Its like the ethics of trying to get the best out of a song without being egotistical. So, ego-free. I suppose its truthful" - RB says, and I agree. Everything they play, everything they sing, they're in a moment, and they're reaching out to you.

Aside from the vocals, which embody the soulful element, you also have the talented Nic Marshall on the keys, carrying away the melody, giving it all a dreamy feel, and Matthew Armitage on bass, adding his own spin on calypso rhythm with unique bass lines that compliment all the other elements of the band.

With a band like this, sometimes its easy to forget drums and leave them out all together, but Ricky's skill as a drummer shows in that he can integrate various types of drumming into the band easily, that elevates the music to a new level.

What's on your iPod at the moment?

"Obviously we listen to a lot of Calypso music, thats a major influence". He also listens to TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear, Air and Beck quite alot at the moment.

If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?

"I suppose I should keep it kiwi, but i'll say Air, Beck, or maybe Belle and Sebastian"

Whats your vision for the bands future?

A World Tour, of course! But a relaxed tour. "To enjoy each others company. I'd like to tour the world and keep that relaxed, friendly aspect.... we're an eclectic, slow band, so a slow tour would be best. We're all friends, so, whatever we do, we're going to have fun." And because of that aspect, he says its also one of those projects that they could leave for a year and return to, with no major issues.

This was shown in the Mighty Mighty show also. There was a lot of joking, a lot of laughing, and a lot of Robin telling the audience off for complimenting Matthew on his shirt, and not complimenting anyone else. "If you're going to compliment him, you have to be nice to the rest of us!!!". I hasten to say the show was "comfortable", but you felt welcomed, you felt at home with the music. Often it felt more like a home gig or (albeit amazingly brilliant) jam session. So it was a friendly relaxed atmosphere, and I think the band should be pleased with that.

Hopes for Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

"We're not trying to push it too far, we're trying to be ourselves", RB says. Promotion and business come 2nd. While of course they do want the album to be a success, he says "its like the first photo of a series yet to be finished".

This is the album of (hopefully!) many more, so its a snapshot of where Good Laika are at now. RB - "We're constantly moving forward and changing, so who knows when the next photo will be."

(Heads I Win, Tails You Lose is available in stores from Monday 3rd Sept. Hit the boys up on their myspace if you've never heard of them- you won't be dissappointed - I'm glad "Midnight" is up there!. myspace.com/goodlaika )

ED's note: Interview with Robin Hinkley posted next week.

INTERVIEW: Anika Moa

Since she first appeared on the music radar at the Smokefree Rockquest in 1998, and following the successful release of her debut album, Thinking Room, in 2001, Anika Moa has become a well respected and loved name in New Zealand. After the quieter release of her sophomore album, Stolen Hill, in 2005, Anika has been touring NZ, Australia and the UK, returning home to record and promote her third album, In Swings The Tide.
Appearing in Wellington for one show only at Sandwiches, Anika caught up with Charlette Hannah for a chat.

Charlette Hannah: There's been a reasonable gap between albums, but you definitely haven't been idle. You seem to be playing with just about everyone in the country. Singing on albums by Rhian Sheehan, touring with Dimmer, Bic Runga, Tim Guy... Is it that you enjoy playing with a wide range of people or can you just not say no?

Anika Moa: When you work with someone, it leads to more work with the other person. Like when I did work with Dimmer, I stole his drummer for my album, and then his drummer now works for Miriam Clancy. And then I did Bic Runga stuff and her drummer now does my flatmates stuff. We're all just basically incestuous musicians, except for we don't sleep with each other, we make beautiful music. Yeah, it's just, you know people, and they go 'I need this' and you say 'of course I can, I can sing harmonies for your album, sweet as bro'.

Charlette: The Tim Guy gig is a really interesting one in that you've branched out into playing bass. Is that taking you out of your comfort zone or do you quite like to do that now and again.

Anika: We've down about 10 or 12 shows so far. When I first started, nervous, like, oh my god, what are people going to think of my bass skills? But as I learnt the songs more and more it's easier. You really up your game and become a better bass player. The only thing I find hard about playing with Tim is that I'm not the main person, and I can't talk to everyone. But we've got this new thing where me and Anna, who's the drummer, we just pretend to fight on stage and hard out talk and Tim's all quiet.

Charlette: At one of the Tim Guy gigs, you wore an extra large hat and seemed to be standing in the shadows. It seems a little different to the extroverted personality you show at your own gigs.

Anika: I know, that's the awkward thing is that I can't be extroverted, 'cause it's not my gig. You know, it's Tim's beautiful music, it's his love. I've just got to play the bass and look hot, really.

Charlette: Both the Dimmer and the Bic Runga gigs involved a gathering of the cream of New Zealand musicians, was it ever intimidating working with that level of talent, or was it more like hanging out with a bunch of mates?

Anika: It was more intimidating because Neil Finn is really good at ping pong, table tennis. His skills were far better than most of ours. That was the competition. We'd always, when we finished recording, we'd go and play table tennis. I'd be like, 'come on, you've got hit songs, hit albums, could you at least let me win a couple of times, like lower your standards'. So he let me win a couple of times. He gracefully bowed out. But I could tell he didn't like it.

Charlette: The last album [Stolen Hill] was a beautiful, mature, contemplative work which seemed miles away from the 'next Jewel' publicists were trying to push you as in America with the first album. Was there any pressure to take a more commercial direction with the third album?

Anika: Not at all, but I know I have written some pop songs for this album. It's pop country. Pop country's good. It's a good mixture and I think I've finally met my match in music, in that I've found my home as a musician. I mean, I'll always be growing and evolving, but at the moment this is probably 100% of the kind of person that I am, the honesty that I portray, it's in this album. There was no pressure. I didn't go, 'ok I want to do a third album, I need some pop songs'. I wrote these songs, and they happened to fall into that category, which is great. Every artist wants to be played on the radio, every artist wants to sell their album, no matter who they are. So that's what I'm hoping to do.

Charlette: What are your hopes for the third album, In Swings The Tide?

Anika: I think, yeah, radio play. 'Cause I didn't get it for the last album. There are a lot of factors, but we won't go into that. I want to travel New Zealand, do a tour, and then hit Australia. There's 22 million people there, so there's a bigger audience. People like Brooke Fraser are paving the way for Maori singer/songwriters, so I'm quite grateful to her for that. I could have tried when I released my first album, but I wasn't ready for it, and now I'm ready for it. It's good because I'm taking the challenge on myself, no one's pushing me, I'm pushing everyone else. So yeah, Australia, the UK and Europe, the world basically.

Charlette: There was a lot of press around the release of Thinking Room, but comparatively little around Stolen Hill and the new one so far, why is that?

Anika: We haven't started doing anything with the new one yet, believe me, as soon as we release the single, then we're going to push it.

Charlette: Bigger than Stolen Hill...

Anika: F#$* yeah!

Charlette: Almost ten years on, if you could go back in time for five minutes, what would say to the Anika Moa who entered the Rockquest?

Anika: Wear shoes! Wear shoes you poor Maori! Probably that.

Charlette: And would she have listened?

Anika: Nah. She would have said f#$* off.

Charlette: You said on your website you don't like watching rugby anymore unless it involves naked players or even better, hot lesbians. Why is that?

Anika: (Laughs loudly) My website is one long joke. Every blog that I do, half of it's true, half of it's false. The only reason I write it is because it's 4:30 in the morning and I have nothing else to do.

Charlette: I was quite enjoying reading it earlier.

Anika: It's funny eh?

Charlette: You also said you're in a relationship with a man and it might be love...

Anika: Totally lying.

Charlette: Your brother recently had a baby. Any plans for children for you?

Anika: Yeah, I was actually talking about this with a friend the other day. I do want children, maybe in two years or three years. Not now. Not right now. But I do want heaps. I want like seven or eight or ten, however many normal people have.

Charlette: Apart from In Swings The Tide, what else is in the future for you?

Anika: There's a Tim Guy and the Two Ties tour in November, as well as an Anika Moa tour. Just music. Just releasing singles and releasing the album. We're releasing the album at the end of September. I've got a new record company, so that's all good. EMI. They're great, great record company. Just, you know, fulfilling my duty as a musician.

www.anikamoa.com

COMING SOON

Coming soon on Wellington Live Music...

Photo's and reviews of: Liam Finn, Ginger Brown, Hannah Curwood, Simon Comber.
Interviews with: Anika Moa, Nine Signals.
Photo's of random buskers...
And more!

INTERVIEW: with Cherry Gemstone

By Charlette Hannah

Hannah Simpson a.k.a Cherry, inimitable leader of Wellington band Cherry's Gemstones, describes herself and her music as 'vibrant, vivacious, friendly, fun, outrageous, also with a dark kind of moody side as well'. She smiles constantly, even while talking in a voice that somehow manages to be husky and cutesy at the same time, and giggles into her soy chai latte when she pauses for breath. I met up with Cherry on a rainy day for a quick chat.

Charlette: So the first thing I wanted to ask you about was the crowd surf photo shoot you recently did. What was that all about?

Cherry: It's still under wraps, but for New Zealand Music Month we're going to be appearing in a publication - I'm not allowed to say - and I just wanted to do something a bit different, a bit crazy and unique for that. Jeremy Blinko, who took the photos, it was actually his idea, and I thought 'yeah that's great'. So we got together a group of people, shouted them some beers, and got to crowd surf on them!

Charlette: So it went well?

Cherry: Yeah, it went really well. We're also doing these 'pretending to be running away with aliens' shots as well, it's quite funny.

Charlette: It says on your myspace site you've got a new drummer. How did you find him?

Cherry: Well, Ben, or B Jammin, or Benjy as I like to call him, I found B Jammin at the music works shop. I was putting up posters looking for a drummer, and he just started talking to me randomly 'cause he likes to talk to his customers and he's just a really nice guy. So I went in there and he said 'I'd like to drum for you, I'd like to jam with you', something along those lines. So we gave him a go, and he's just a really great guy and a great musician and he works real well with me and Heleyni.

Charlette: What happened to your last drummer?

Cherry: Greta, yeah. It was going quite well for a little while there but then she decided it wasn't quite for her. So she left the band, unfortunately, but it's ok, we've got Ben now.
like most about playing live?

Charlette: What do you like best about playing live?

Cherry: Probably getting the feedback from the audience. Just giving something out, whatever you're expressing, your emotions and the frequency of the sound in a live venue. Say at San Francisco Bathhouse with the loud speakers and the PA is really good there. Just the crowd, and knowing people like your stuff, and you're sharing something of yourself, and they're sharing something with you by participating in the music and the event. I enjoy playing with the other bands as well, my fellow musician friends. Supporting each other and having a good time and expressing life!

Charlette: Do you prefer it to recording?

Cherry: No, no, I like them both probably quite equally. I really enjoyed recording our EP, Love in the Dreamscape Matrix Reality. Did it sort of slowly over a period of about ten months, with a guy called Justin Doyle who is the engineer at a studio called the Blue Room Studios here in Wellington on Abel Smith Street. We just really nutted it out, he worked really hard on it with me, we co-produced it. He had a break in the middle 'cause he also does guitar tech-ing for bands like Shihad and Goldenhorse, so during the summer months we had a bit of break. I really love recording. The idea of capturing something, it's a piece of history. You can build up the layers more.

Charlette: Any plans for an album soon?

Cherry: Definitely. We're talking about an album and working on new material, as I speak. So we've been writing some new songs. I want to write one song a week and then just have lots and lots of material so we can weed out the best and record that. So I want to, for the second piece of work, record a full length album and include several guitar driven tracks and several piano driven tracks. The juxtaposition or the difference between the sound is quite extreme. I used to write quite long drawn out songs, but we're writing some more punchy shorter songs, kinda like pop/punk.

Charlette: So what do you do when you're not playing music?

Cherry: I'm a singing teacher, so I've got a few students, I'm just building it up. I'm on the PACE scheme as well. I spend a lot of my time actually promoting music, singing lessons, meeting people, doing an interview, talking about a potential idea. Got a manager now, so that's good, he's got some good ideas. It's good to have a bit of extra help. Thinking about getting a promoter actually. It's just really hard work, keeping your name out there.

Charlette: Let's go back to the songs a little. What inspires you and what do you write them about?

Cherry: Everything ay, from friends, people, experiences, personal pain, pain of friends or others. Not in a bad way. Like I'd never want to comment on someone elses pain that would be offensive. Just life as well. We've got one song which is relatively new, its about six months old, called Diamonds in the Rough. That song is about several photographs in a photo exhibition that I saw last year, and it was the diamond mining. So it had the black people in Nigeria mining the diamonds, then the overlord kind of guy cutting the diamonds up, and then where they ended up in New York. It's just quite grotesque I thought, and sad. It was interesting actually, 'cause just after I wrote that song the movie Blood Diamond came out, which only just saw the other day. Sometimes I find some issues and things too painful to comment on them. It's quite hard to process things like the state of the environment, you just hear these crazy things. I quite like to talk to people and find out what they do. I talked to this one guy the other week and he works for the piping lines I think in Australia, and he said if there's one more summer of draught, people will be literally going down to buy their water. Sometimes I think, how do you comment on these things in a way that's apt.

Charlette: What's in the future for yourself as a musician and as a band?

Cherry: More touring definitely. On the 27th of April we're going to play Auckland at the Schooner Tavern. On the 19th of May at 1pm we'll be at the Auckland City Art Gallery debuting some more demure, stripped back, movie soundtrack-styled Julie Cruise tunes. But also doing some of the more wild and surreal crazy stuff off the EP. Yeah, I get to play a baby grand at the art gallery!

Charlette: Are you playing in Wellington soon?

Cherry: I don't know yet. Probably sometime in New Zealand Music Month, I haven't booked anything yet. Just giving it a bit of a break. It's such a small town that you can't do too many shows otherwise people get bored.

Charlette: Do you consider yourself a professional?

Cherry: Yeah, definitely. I work extremely hard at what I do, there's no doubt about it. It's crazy, how hard I work. And the hours are crazy as well. You have to be promoting yourself 24/7 in a way. The culture of it can be quite tiring. Like I said, I do all the singing teaching as well, I'm gonna be a School of Rock mentor as well. It's gonna be really fun.

Charlette: What advice would you have for other bands who are trying to 'make it'.

Cherry: Well if you're just starting up, get an email list, get a myspace page, get a friend to help you with the promotion side of things. Get a manager whether it's someone from the industry or not, even if its just someone to help you manage your time, managing accounts, things like joining APRA. Just write write write, write lots of songs, play play play, tour tour tour, record demos. Even if that means just recording yourself in your practice room so you can hear what you sound like and you can go away and listen to it. If you can get hold of a four track, start recording a demo and handing it round so people know who you are. Flyers. You can never hand out enough flyers for your shows. Don't annoy people. I've annoyed people in my time. I once went to an acoustic night and played my acoustic through a distortion pedal, which some people might like, but the venue owners didn't and they wouldn't let me play there for a while. Work hard. Treat it like fun, 'cause rock and roll should be fun, but you need to have a standard, set yourself goals. Just muppet at people about your band. Create a bio, work out what your sound is, who you are. Logo's, t'shirts, stickers, anything just to get your name out there, get it into people's consciousness. But really work on your sound. At the end of the day if you don't have a great sound and you do all that work getting your name out there...

Charlette: We'll just finish with a more superficial question – do you have a funny story?

Cherry: Oh yeah, I wanted to say we want to tour the world and go on a cruise ship tour in about two years time, so thats something I'm working on at the moment. A funny story. I just thought of one but that's probably not appropriate. Five metre's more, that's a good story. My old drummer Ollie, we played together in a few different bands since I was about 16, then we formed Cherry's Gemstones when I was about 21, he was with Cherry's Gemstones for 3 or 4 years. One night we had two shows in a row, we had one on a Wednesday night for a girls birthday party at the San Francisco Bathhouse and then the next night we had one at Bodega. We were all tired from the night before and we were pulling up to the venue, and I wanted him to pull up right outside the door 'cause we had all this gear, and he said 'no, this is fine' and we had a bit of a hootenanny over that. We were a two piece for ages, me and Ollie, so we ended up a bit like an old married couple. So after that we just kept joking about, anytime we had to get gear out we'd say 'just five metres more'.

INTERVIEW: with Matt Langley

By Charlette Hannah

For a newly formed group, The Matt Langley Band can do some serious work via the ears of an audience, apparently gently, but the music sinks in and adheres to your sinew and bones. The star of the show, Matt Langley, spared an hour on a wet Tuesday evening to have a chat to me about the journey that's led him to this band and Wellington. A Dunedin-ite from way back, Matt's easy going personality and music talent finds him happiest when playing music, an experience he just can't avoid when he finds himself drifting into “Matt-land”.

Two years ago Matt was in Korea teaching English, a trip which was cut short when he broke his leg in an amusing event he tells later in the interview. He returned to New Zealand to live in Wellington so his family could “babysit” him while he was in a cast. He says most of the songs the band is currently working on were written in that period, as he was getting cabin fever from the immobility caused by his leg cast.

During this time he was in contact with old friend Dylan Galletly, owner of the Hometown Records label. Dylan told Matt to “get on your crutches and come down to the studio for a jam” which set in motion the idea of forming The Matt Langley Band.

For the last year Matt has been in Dunedin studying for his teaching degree extramurally through Victoria University and working on his songs. He recorded a demo of about 30 songs which he sent to other band members – brother Jake Langley on drums, Scott Mead on bass and Dylan on keys - to learn. Saturday 10 March at Bodega was the band's first gig, and promises good things from the boys in the future.

Currently in Wellington recording an EP with Hometown Records, Matt intends to travel between Wellington and Dunedin, playing music whenever possible.

Charlette: How would you describe the music that you play?

Matt: It's an ever changing thing. It's something I'm conscious about having something different happen each time I'm getting a band together or making an album or whatever. This time around - I'd kinda done the two guitar rock thing before, I'd done the acoustic album a couple of years back with the Patsy's - and I thought this bunch of songs would be cool to get the keyboard in on it. So there's that kind of element in it this time around. There's a rock thing there but it's more of an undercurrent this time around. I think it's more of a folky element and almost country, my interpretation of those things. I had someone at the gig the other night point out that there's almost a 50's rock feel to some stuff, and for some of the ballads there's definitely that kind of approach. So it's a bit of a melange. There's a bit going on.

Charlette: As the best bands are.

Matt: Yeah I enjoy that, you know what I mean? I like hearing changes song to song with a band if they can pull it off. Instrumentation can lead you to that. My thing with songwriting is always changing as well dependent on where I'm at, what I'm writing about.

Charlette: So, a brief history of your band...

Matt: Well it is a very brief history. We played our first gig last saturday. We've been practicing – I've been in Wellies for two months – but to be fair between people's jobs and schedules we've probably had sort of a couple of weeks practice. It's also been quite a divided practice. I've been jamming with the rhythm section up the coast, and then I've also been jamming in town with Dylan on keys, and we actually only got the keys and the rhythm section together a couple of weeks ago. I was really happy with that, 'cause that's what I wanted to hear. That all had to click. Other than that, what can I say about the history of the band? Jake comes from El Schlong and he used to play in the George Street Patsy's with me. Scott's with a band called The Learn. And myself and Dylan. It's all still very new so there's not much back history.

Charlette: So it is more of a part time commitment with these guys being based in Wellington and you swapping between Dunedin and here?

Matt: Yeah, I kinda hope not. Once you sort of have people learn up the songs you hope they'll stay with you and do them and do them. We haven't reached the point where we're thinking of rushing out on the road yet, so there's no major commitments being made, oh, there has been a major commitment in that these guys have said right, we like these songs, we want to do this and get some gigs going and get the EP finished, so that's where the commitment lies at the moment.

Charlette: What's in the future for you as a musician yourself, and as a band?

Matt: Mmm, it's hard eh. Well, I know I'll always be making music in one form or another. It's pretty much a part of my daily thing whether I'm writing or performing or thinking about it. Things churn around in the studio in your head. But yes I'll be playing some form or another. I'd really like to get these songs together and get them out, do some touring, do some gigs. I think with this batch of songs I can see really really enjoying playing them for an extended period of time as well. Especially as they've had an incubation of a year where I was playing them solo acoustic, and now they've been fleshed out a bit and that's brought a whole new lease of life to them for me. It's a whole lot of fun, and it's not so lonely on stage now I've got the other boys up there playing.

Charlette: So what are your songs about?

Matt: Ok. The majority of these ones were written off the end of a large relationship, so they're a lot more personal, a lot less cryptic than songs I've written in the past. Some of them are very much a communication between me and that person. Others are a reflection of the relationship and my part in it. At the same time I tend to write from my perspective initially and then I try to see that in a macrocosm, in a larger picture, whether it be in what I believe or my perspectives on things. Songs can very quickly encapsulate and intense personal feeling. And then also be an attempt to explore a larger picture as well, which is kind of interesting, and sometimes I'm not aware of it until the song's been written. I might come back to it a month later and oh yeah ok, that's kind of dabbling in something else there.

Music's also a conversation with myself. It's definitely my kind of diary or journal. It can be intensely personal or I can keep it to myself. But I think these songs are just about really basic human relationship stuff. Anyone can identify with that.

Charlette: What's your opinion on downloading music online?

Matt: Downloading music online... Illegal?

Charlette: Either. Do you think there's much of a potential for the industry or do you think it's just going to be overtaken with illegal downloading?

Matt: I'm hoping that people will be downloading it online, 'cause we're planning to put MP3's up on sites and give people the opportunity to grab real media and buy CD's or do it online. It's just had a huge impact, and it will continue too. I'm funny 'cause I like old stuff, I like old media like vinyl. I'm not a fan of CD's. I think they're bad media. I think they're shockingly packaged. They fall to bits and really piss me off. (Laughs). Better find out how we're packaging our album before I slag them off!

Charlette: So are you going to be releasing a vinyl as well?

Matt: Yeah we've seriously thought about that and been tracking down local vinyl makers. What we've been finding out is that some people are making real vinyl and some aren't and cost is definitely a thing. It's a bit of a vanity thing to be honest, to make your own vinyl. For me the artwork is bigger and nicer. I grew up with vinyl, I've still got heaps of it. I just like them. I'm not a fanatic about things like pristine digital sound, I don't mind hearing a bit of hiss. I like the idea that if I put on LA Woman, I'm almost getting the feeling of what it would have been like back when that got released on vinyl and you were alive at that time and you rushed to a record shop and read the packet and put it on and that hiss is kind of a comforting hiss of the music journey you're about to take. So I like that and at the same time I like the fact that with downloading, people, like what Dylan's doing with Hometown, can control it, make it readily available.The thing from my perspective as an artist is I could get things up on there like a wee acoustic demo or go into the studio and actually record a new song.

Charlette: And burning CD's... As not so much of a CD fan, do you have burnt CD's in your collection?

Matt: I do, I do, I'm a shocker. Mostly because people give them to you. I have to say I encourage people to burn other albums of mine, like if I haven't got a copy to give them. I tend not to have copies of my own albums 'cause I give them away and someone says 'have you got anymore..?' 'nah I haven't, you can have my one'. You know they're rushing off and burning it. To be honest I don't have a lot of CD's. I pretty much put all the music on my laptop and between that and my record player that's what I've got.

Charlette: From the very old fashioned to the very modern.

Matt: Yeah, not much in between. I guess I'm sick of the bloody CD's falling out of their cases, that's a big thing for me, I just hate that.

Charlette: What's your claim to fame?

Matt: There'd be many things I wouldn't be prepared to talk about! I played rugby on an American military base against American G.I.'s. And broke my leg.

Charlette: Was that when you had to come back from Korea?

Matt: Yeah, I was staying at a military base, South Korea. I'm a skinny kid and I thought I was quick enough to get around these big guys, yeah they kind of did the gridiron pile on, and snap went my wee leg. The kicker being it was my birthday.

Charlette: What inspires you to do what you do?

Matt: Music? Yeah I've thought about this 'cause I actually read an article about audio hallucination. I read the symptoms and thought well jeez, I don't hear things during the day other than things that are in my mind, little bits of music. It's like a wee studio – things get played and I listen. I do, I dream it. It's not unusual to have a dream about a new song, and even a dream about going to a concert of a band and hearing their new song.

Charlette: Do you remember these songs?

Matt: That's the hard bit, bringing it back. It's really tough. I guess we've all read the story about Keith Richards and the Satisfaction riff, and he woke up and had a little tape recorder handy. My thing is if it's really good it'll stick, and once it's there it's accessible. So to some extent it's almost compulsive. I can't help it. I quite often drift off into Matt-land in conversations. I'm not the person you want to take to the meeting.

Then there's the drive and the want to do it and to work at it as a craft, as a songwriter or as a singer. And chasing beauty. Something that I think has an emotional quality that has an emotional quality, makes me feel good, or sad, helps me work through, or discover something. Certainly got that element to it as well. I'm just inspired by music. I'm quite in awe of it. One of the things that makes being on this planet worthwhile, gets me out of bed each day.

Charlette: So is music a spiritual thing for you?

Matt: Spiritual element. I'll just go into my full lotus pose. No, I'm taking the piss here, but I'm not, it definitely is. For some people. For some people unfortunately music is a business transaction. But that's not really here nor there, because for whatever amount of people are doing things for what I might think are not great reasons, there's plenty of people making wonderful music. It does get you out of bed in the morning, makes you feel good, gives you a sense of something else. I couldn't put my finger on it. I could be a music guru and say it does this and that, and it can change this and that, and it can, I do believe it. I think that's why music from certain artists endures long after all the dross is swept down the drain, the real good stuff is still there and it's that stuff people keep coming back to. It contains the opportunity for people to address that [spirituality] too, in a comfortable way without feeling silly talking about it as people often do.

Charlette: What advice would you give to fellow bands? Overcoming some of the biggest obstacles and that sort of thing...

Matt: Band life's hard life. All the cliches are true about bands, it's a relationship, it's a big commitment. I've heard the phrase 'herding cats' to describe something that's quite difficult. Being in a band can be like herding cats. It's a tough one. It works differently for different people. I work well in a comfortable creative environment where we're sharing things and people are free to say what they want without ego's running around the room like rampant rhino's destroying everything. I don't work well in that environment. It can work for some people, that tension. You've gotta get on as people for a start. You've gotta have a common vision or reason to be there. And be giving something to it and not particularly expecting to be getting something back. It's a privilege to be playing music. It awes me sometimes that I'm standing in a room with two other people and we're doing different things with our hands and our minds but there's something communally happening that's beyond what we're capable of individually. Other advice for bands... Get decent mikes! And you just gotta have fun. Because you're putting yourself up for public disdain, ridicule, or very worst just total disinterest. You have to have a really strong sense of why you're there. I'd recommend it to anyone. I mean every bugger and his dog's in a band nowadays anyway. You'd be hard pressed to throw a stick and not hit a muso. And that's cool. There's a nice kind of community and sharing of ideas. Anything from open mic nights to jams to gigs like the other night. You just gotta stick at it, enjoy it, and love it.

Charlette: So what do you think about the state of rock music? In a lull, dying, or does hip hop have everybody fooled? No offence of course to hip hop fans.

Matt: No, no, hip hop, great. Rock. I started out playing in blues and rock bands and I thought that was the be all and end all and I love rock bands. For me the vintage stuff from Hendrx to Cream and The Beatles and all those rippers define what I think rock does. I think by every other form of music there's diluted forms of, but I think people still feel the real thing. I always get a kick out of reading a review of a rock conert where a reviewer's been surprised by the visceral response of the audience, the bands actually kicking some ass. I've shuffled out stage left on the rock thing a bit. I wasn't trying to be first rat off the ship or anything, just through my own sensibilities I wanted to try other things. I wanted to sing differently, try other melodic approaches and try different instrumentation. Rock's about risk, I think rock's like elastic, it'll always be able trito do that. I don't think it's dead. A lull? Yeah. There's some good rock bands.

Charlette: Who are your favourites?

Matt: I'd still happily pay my money to see Shihad play, and I've seen them play quite a few times, they're just a fantastic rock band. Favourite band of all time... It would be The Beatles for me. I love them. I grew up with them. My Dad can play every Beatles song ever written and he'll still tell me off if I'm not singing the harmony right. I love bands of that era. They just made magic on a regular basis, I don't think anyone else has ever done that. I still listen to Cream, listen to my Zep, I'm a big fan of Jimi Hendrix. I came from starting out playing and listening to blues. I still get a kick out of listening to Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers – beautiful harmonies. Buddy Holly.

Charlette: What's a funny incident that's happened to you while performing?

Matt: Oh man, there's a couple! By degrees. There's been some beauties, like the drummer's going for the big roll and falling off his drum stool. I needed four stitches after doing the big rock and roll jump off the kick drum one night and the bass player whipped around in a frenzy and accidentally smashed me in the head with his Fender. Foot went through the stage one night from jumping up and down. Probably the funniest one though was we had a break, it'd been a long night and we came back and we were in a bit of a state. My bass player and I picked up what we thought was our leads and plugged them in to our gats, and actually plugged in opposite ends of the same lead into our respective instruments. We were joined together like never before but we weren't making any noise.

Charlette: One more question. You've got teaching, but is music what you'd ideally like to do as a career?

Matt: Sure, yeah absolutely. It's a part of what I do when I'm teaching anyway, I draw heavily on the music thing. Yeah, I'd love to, mate. I've been playing for a long time and I've done my stints with music as the main thing and I've done my stints playing the weekends and nights and doing my day job.

Charlette: Do you think it's very viable for bands these days especially in New Zealand?

Matt: It seems to hit a certain point doesn't it where its time to go, pack camp and get over to Aus and the UK, have a crack at the States or whatever. I guess our friend the internet is gonna make quite an impact there as well in regards to even having performances online. You've still gotta get out and play though, that's the thihng. That doesn't change, you've got to get out and meet people and enjoy the vibe. I love it, I love playing. So I'll be doing it anyway, regardless of how many people turn up and what's going on. But yeah, if I could do that everyday I'd be extremely happy.