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Creators Murray Cammick Alistair Dougal

Publisher Grant Hislop

Editorial Manager Tyler Hislop - tyler@harkentertainment.com

Designer Greta Gotlieb - greta@harkentertainment.com

Sales Director Pauline Townsend - pauline@harkentertainment.com

Distribution Jamie Hislop - jamie@harkentertainment.com

Accounts Gail Hislop - accounts@harkentertainment.com

Interns Pauline Reinhardt, Lea Probst, Olivia Gibbard

Contributors Alexander Bisley, Laura Weaser, Sarah Thomson, Gary Steel, Ren Kirk, Nick Collings, Kermath Davies, Angus Deacon, Tim Gruar.

Rip It Up Magazine is published by Hark Entertainment Ltd

Office 2a Waverly Street, Auckland CBD, New Zealand

Postal PO Box 6032 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, New Zealand

Phone (09) 366 4616

Website ripitup.co.nz

Printers Webstar | Blue Star Group Limited | Shit Hot Printers

Rip It Up is subject to copyright in its entirety. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, either in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved in material accepted for publication, unless initially specified otherwise. All letters and other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless clearly labeled “NOT FOR PUBLICATION”. Opinions express in the magazine are not necessarily those of Hark Entertainment Limited. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material.

ISSN 0114-0876

CREDITS

R18 to enter twentyone. Dress code applies.facebook.com/twentyoneakl skycityauckland.co.nz/twentyone

LEVEL 3, SKYCITY, CNR OF FEDERAL AND VICTORIA STREETS, AUCKLAND

ANTI-VALENTINE’S PARTYJoin us at twentyone where you can take a swing at our heart-shaped pinata.

Plus you might meet someone special – the sweetest revenge of them all!

FEATURING HEADLINE ACTS: DJ KARN HALL & DJ SAMPLE GEE

14 FEBRUARY 2014 FROM 9PM

THE LONG AWAITED NEW ALBUM FROM BREAKS CO-OP IS HERE Featuring the singles ‘SOUNDS FAMILIAR’ and ‘MOMENT IN TIME’

SOUNDS FAMILIAR IS THE ALBUM FOR YOUR PERFECT SUMMER!

BREAKS COOP -FPRIU-30_01_14_BREAKS COOP -FPRIU-30_01_14 31/01/2014 11:45 Page 1

THE LONG AWAITED NEW ALBUM FROM BREAKS CO-OP IS HERE Featuring the singles ‘SOUNDS FAMILIAR’ and ‘MOMENT IN TIME’

SOUNDS FAMILIAR IS THE ALBUM FOR YOUR PERFECT SUMMER!

BREAKS COOP -FPRIU-30_01_14_BREAKS COOP -FPRIU-30_01_14 31/01/2014 11:45 Page 1

WHAT GOES ON

ON THE RIP IT UP STEREO

WARPAINT – WAR-PAINT (2014)

THE HIVES – LEX HIVES (2012)

BECK – ‘MOON PHASE’ (2014)

DE LA SOUL – DE LA SOUL IS DEAD (1991)

DAVID LYNCH – ‘AND LIGHT SHINES’ (2014)

SAVAGES – SILENCE YOURSELF (2013)

THE WINSTONS – ‘COLOR HIM FATHER’ (1969)

OH LAND - OH LAND (2011)

THE CULT - ELECTRIC (1987)

LITERAL FUCK – ‘#GIVEINTOME’ (2014)

LAMAR OUT, ODD FUTURE INKendrick Lamar is no longer able to perform at Eminem’s Auckland concert on Sat 15 Feb due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict. But they have announced his replacement for the event, another trail-blazing hip hop act from Los Angeles - ODD FUTURE - also known as Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All or OFWGKTA. Their Auckland show, supporting Eminem, will feature founding member Tyler, The Creator, who will be joined by fellow rappers Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Left Brain, Mike G and Taco Bennett. Kendrick Lamar explains: “New Zealand!

Sorry I’m missing you this time, but the homies, ODD FUTURE will kill it for you and I’m excited for Australia this month.” CRÜE’S PROMISE Mötley Crüe has announced that at the end of 2015, they will never reunite as they go for one last tour. The Californian band was founded in 1981 by bassist, Nikki Sixx and drummer, Tommy Lee, arriving in the first wave of glam metal/rock, experiencing huge success with catchy songs such as ‘Shout at the Devil’ and ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’. The band however, has decided that “All bad things must come to an end”... that is literally their own words, on their final tour posters and to further the point the members have signed a ‘Cessation of Touring’ agreement. SEBADOH. THAT’S ALLSebadoh return to New Zealand in March for the first time in 19 years. One year after the Dinosaur Jr show at the Powerstation, Lou Barlow is back, this time with his fellow Sebadoh co-consipirators

Jason Lowenstein and Bob D’Amico. Sebadoh fans can look forward to a mix of tracks across their career, from classic albums like Bakesale and Harmacy right through to last year’s acclaimed release Defend Yourself – their first new studio album in some fourteen years. RIP PSHPhilip Seymour Hoffman has been pronounced dead at the age of 46 in his New York City apartment. The Wall Street Journal reports the actor was found on Sun 02 Feb by screenwriter, David Katz. Hoffman was supposed to pick up his children on the Sunday, but when he didn’t show up a friend and David Katz went to check on him. An official cause of death is expected to be announced this week. Philip admitted in a 2006 episode of 60 Minutes that he has had issues in the past with drug abuse. Hoffman has had a diverse and prosperous career in both film and theatre. His accolades include receiving an Academy Award for his performance of Truman

Capote in Capote. Philip’s first screen appearance was in a 1991 episode of Law and Order with many roles up to his big break in the film, Boogie Nights. His career included roles in, The Big Lebowski, Magnolia, and more recently as Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games film franchise. HIGH HORSEBilly Connolly has been wooing NZ audiences with his live stand-up shows since 1978. With every visit, his fanbase has become larger and larger: from under 7,000 people in 1978 to over 60,000 in 2009. This time round will be no exception. He’s funnier than ever and he’ll be on his very high horse as he regales audiences with the humour that’s filled his head since his last visit. “It’s great to have Billy back for a comprehensive 12-city tour,” says promoter Ian Magan. “In the 36 years he has visited New Zealand, Billy has become a true friend to Kiwis who love his irreverent and topical humour.”

8 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

DIGITAL MEDIA AT SIT

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Study in a productive creative learning environment in which you receive expert advice and guidance from our highly skilled and qualified staff.

Invercargill’s location is ideal as students get the opportunity to work with production companies in Queenstown and Dunedin. A very high percentage of our graduates are now employed in the industry, both in New Zealand and overseas.

Bachelor of Digital Media

New Zealand Film Commission Chief Executive Graeme Mason says, “I’m really impressed by the motivation of the course organisers to help get students real life experience while they are studying. We’ve worked with the SIT to provide opportunities for interns on films we’re supporting – it’s a win-win for the students and for the productions.”

‘The Keeper’ Producer Claire Kelly says, “With SIT’s help and contribution we were able to complete the shoot on our short film which we shot in the beautiful Catlins. The students that worked with us had enthusiasm matched with an in-depth understanding of the film making process. I would happily use them on any set, they were a real asset to our production.”

LAST YEAR OUR nation reeled as an Australian robbed us of a trophy while sailing a NZ made boat for a yacht club in San Fran. 2014 has begun differently, not only have our cricketers excelled by beating the West Indies and India, but two of our artists have won what some would consider far more enduring accolades than an auld mug.

How does a song become a Grammy winning number one hit? This level of success is difficult at home let alone in the world’s largest and toughest market. What is so special about a seventeen year-old Devonport girl and her humble writing, production partner and how did they reach these dizzying heights? Was it a fluke, an act of god, radio, music television, advertising or television synch,

social media or all of the above?

As far as the public goes recognition seldom goes past the performer of a song. To those who have travelled around this block a few times – they will ask - “Name one single artist in history who has reached success without someone else on their team.”

Underlying the success of any artist or song is a team of people who have worked hard for many songs and artists over the years with varying outcomes. Lorde’s manager Scott Maclachlan has worked in the business for 20 years and must take a major bow along with Universal Music NZ (his former employer) for running a very smart straight down the guts game. Scott’s understanding of the label

industry allowed him to partner with Universal early on and negotiate non-traditional tactics during the campaign such as giving away 60,000 tracks for free, limiting media access, listening to the artist and not building the project on a desire to make money.

Joel Little’s manager is Ashley Page who like Scott moved to NZ from the UK to continue his music industry career some years ago. Ashley has backed many artists and projects over those years and has been an advocate of Joel’s for a long time. Ashley and Scott seeded team “Ella and Joel” with ‘Royals’ being a direct result.

It is rare these days for labels or established managers to adopt an artist at an early age (12) let alone match them with the right

talent, tactics and timing. It’s not an exact science but timing and how you tease the ball from a juggle to a snowball is critical – lose your balance and you’re done.

We thought it would be fun to jot down some of the people and companies involved in ‘Royals’ to get an idea of the roles at play within this success. Every hit song or artist will have a similar list.

Then there’s the studio, mastering engineer, vocal teacher, touring band, radio & TV pluggers, retailers, publicists, photographers, radio & TV programmers, stylists, graphic designers, bloggers, video production crews……. luck and timing. PHOTOGRAPHY BY

RABIE ALBURAIKY

GRANT HISLOP

10 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

THE ROYALS FAMILY

ELLA YELICH-O’CONNOR – LORDE – WRITER AND

PERFORMER

JOEL LITTLE – WRITER, PRODUCER, ENGINEER

SCOTT MACLACHLAN – LORDE’S MANAGER

ASHLEY PAGE – JOEL LITTLE’S MANAGER

ADAM HOLT – MD OF UNIVERSAL NZ

JASON FLOM - LAVA/REPUBLIC – US LABEL & FIRST US EXEC OFF THE MARK VIA

FACEBOOK.

RON PERRY & MATT PINCUS OF SONGS PUBLISHING (USA)

VIRGIN/EMI – UK LABEL

SEAN PARKER – NAPSTER FOUNDER – PLACED ROYALS ON HIS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST (1

MILLION FOLLOWERS)

GRIMES – INFLUENCER

SPOTIFY – ONE OF THE “TIPPING POINTS” PORTALS FOR THE SONGS VIA SEAN

PARKERS PLAYLIST

ITUNES – MAIN RETAIL OUTLET

JOEL KEFALI – SPECIAL PROBLEMS – VIDEO DIRECTOR

ROYALS

SONJA & VIC – MUM & DAD (YOU CAN’T DO THIS SHIT

WITHOUT THEM – ESPECIALLY AT 12)

IAN MACDONALD – BELMONT PARENT WHO SENT VIDEO OF ELLA TO UNIVERSAL IN 2009

MRS BEZUIDENHOUT – SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER MRS ARMITAGE – FORM TEACHER AT BELMONT

RIPITUP.CO.NZ | 11

17 FEBMON

20 FEBTHU

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BOBBY KEYS& THE SUFFERING BASTARDS04 APR

FRI

SUICIDE SILENCE

BOND STREETBRIDGE

POWERSTATIONCHARLES BRADLEY

“I WAS IN Texas… thousands of people waiting for me, standing in the (heavy) rain. So I said ‘Well, I’m gonna go perform for them.’ I jumped off the stage, in my white suit, into the mud on the ground… people started hugging me, goin’ crazy… I was soaked through. Nothing but mud all over! I got back on stage, grabbed the microphone and I got me an electric shock like I never felt before! It was like Wow! And everybody just ran and grabbed me. That is a moment! It was like a gospel church, in a tent, in a wet field in Texas! I will never forget that!”

Shock and turbulence of various sorts has always been part of his life. Canteen cook, homeless man, handyman, journeyman. Charles Bradley, now known as the “Screaming Eagle Of Soul’, is a 62-year-old gravel-voiced testifier who’s finally found his place. And as the latest recruit to Brooklyn’s Daptone label, home to Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, he has, at last, cut his own groove.

Way back in ‘62, Bradley witnessed a life changing performance by James Brown at Harlem’s Apollo. “I knew then I was gonna sing,” and not just any music but Soul! “It’s the music that really defines you… honest… it’s about love and tragedy. It’s real!” he tells me on the phone from Brooklyn, New York.

And ‘real’ it’s certainly been. Bradley’s hard journey started young. Soon after he was born in Gainesville, 1948, his mother up and left him, leaving him and his siblings to be raised by his grandparents in the slums of Florida. Eight years later, she returned to take them back, relocating to Brooklyn. It all had a deep impact on Bradley and when life turned sour he split. At 14yrs he was living rough on the streets, sleeping on trains and heading into a deep spiral of depression. It was then that salvation came calling, when his older sister took him to James Brown. “It changed me. I remember everything, every lick, every tune. The whole picture

stuck in my mind.”

It did indeed, but a musician’s life did not come easy. He spent almost a decade working in the kitchens of a hospital for the mentally ill, plus a ton of other jobs in menial labour. But on the side he had a secret life as impersonator of the Godfather of Soul. He was so good that audiences were comparing Bradley to Brown! ”Just before you called me I got a phone call ‘We need you to do a show because there’s no one at it that can do it the way you do it.’ I’ve been doing James Brown since I was about 16 years old. But now I’m doin’ Charles Bradley and no one can do him!”

Faith is very important to Bradley. It was tested continuously as he moved around the country searching for work, living in cheap hotels. Poverty led to illness, his older brother was killed in a home invasion. In exhausted desperation he finally moved into his mother’s Brooklyn

basement. It was there he settled his demons with her, “We sat down and talked about it and she told me her reasons, it was a lot harder back then, she had a history of cocaine and abuse so there was that. So she put me with the best care she could. But I can’t go the rest of my life regretting it. I didn’t understand what had happened but I was determined not to let myself get dragged down. So what I did, I left home at age 14 and started my journey and it’s been a hard long walk but I can, at 53 hold my head up now, you know? I can’t hold (a grudge) because of what she did… I’ve forgiven my mother and I now care for her. Soul music is about real life and what you do in it.” Sadly, after a long bout of illness, Bradley’s mother recently passed away.

But it was the back to Brooklyn, at the ripe old age of 51, that Daptones guitarist James Brennack happened across him, at his Black Velvet Tribute show. Impressed with the visceral energy of his live act he took Bradley under his wing, encouraging, mentoring and eventually producing 2011’s mix of gritty messages and raw-nerve hitting ballads ‘No Time For Dreaming’. That literally exploded, hitting top 40 best lists, winning awards, getting attention. Bradley went from basement dives to 10,000 plus festivals. So has the world changed? “Not at all. It got me out of the Projects, I got my mum’s house put in my name. I bought a van. I fixed up the house up. But there’s no riches to corrupt me, you understand, just the satisfaction of performing my soul on the stage.”

SEE HIM LIVE: CHARLES BRADLEY

AS A PART OF THE NZ FESTIVAL

SAT 22 FEB JAMES CABERET,

WELLINGTON

TIM GRUAR

12 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

17 FEBMON

20 FEBTHU

WIRESTIFF LITTLE FINGERS

22 FEBSAT CHET FAKER & HERMITUDE06 MARTHU DOWN14 MARFRI NEKO CASE25 MARTUE BILLY BRAGG26 MARWED JURASSIC 5

30 MARSUN KODALINE10 APRTHU MORCHEEBA15 APRTUE JOHN BUTLER TRIO

26 APRSAT THE DUKES&STEVE EARLE THE MASTERSONS

TRUSTPUNKS

SOLDOUT

17 APRTHU SKID ROW & UGLY KID JOE

FOR ALL SHOW AND TICKETING INFO GO TO WWW.POWERSTATION.NET.NZ

BOBBY KEYS& THE SUFFERING BASTARDS04 APR

FRI

SUICIDE SILENCE

BOND STREETBRIDGE

POWERSTATION

SO WHAT...

JUSTIN BIEBERThousands of non-Beliebers are flocking the White House website to sign a petition to have the Canadian pop star deported from the United States. The petition has been up for a little under a week and has amassed over 122,000 signatures. The petition had until February 22 to reach the 100,000 signature threshold to warrant an official response.“We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture. We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green

card revoked. He is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations youth.”

KEVIN JONASThe former Jonas Brother, Kevin Jonas, and his wife Danielle have welcomed their first child. “We are overjoyed at the birth of Alena Rose Jonas,” the couple said in a statement. Kevin and Danielle Jonas married in December 2009. The pop star and reality TV personality confirmed he was going to be a Dad last July. The musician is also thrilled to be welcoming a girl to the family. He recently told America’s OK! magazine it will be a refreshing change after growing up in a house full of brothers.

LMFAORick Ross is suing LMFAO over some of their ‘Party Rock Anthem’ lyrics. The rapper has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the duo after claiming the pair’s use of phrase “everyday I’m shuffling’” in the 2010 chart-topper is too similar to the phrase “everyday I’m hustlin’”, which was on his 2006 hit ‘Hustlin’. He alleges LMFAO’s lyric is an “obvious attempt to capitalise on the fame and success of Hustlin’” and is “performed in a manner

to sound like” Ross’ own. Rick is seeking an injunction and maximum statutory damages from the uncle and nephew pair - Stefan Kendal Gordy (Redfoo) and Skyler Austen Gordy (SkyBlu) – as he claims the lyric has helped LMFAO sell 7.5 million copies of ‘Party Rock Anthem’, which has been licensed for movies and TV shows.

KATE WINSLETKate Winslet has named her son Bear. The actress and her husband Ned Rocknroll have decided to give their first child together the unusual animal-inspired moniker. A source told The Sun newspaper: “They are all doing so well, they both absolutely adore him - and the name Bear.” Kate - who also has a 10-year-old son, Joe, with her ex-husband, Sam Mendes, and a daughter Mia, 13, with her ex-husband Jim Threapleton - is currently taking a break from the limelight to look after the tot at home in West Sussex, England. It comes as no surprise that the couple, who tied the knot in a secret New York City ceremony in December 2012, have chosen an original name like Bear, since businessman Ned famously changed his own from Abel Smith in 2008.

RIP IT UP TOP 5

ABE FROM COACH’S TOP 5 NZ TRIOS TRINITY ROOTS This group set the bar for so many different aspects of the trio format. A pinnacle of songwriting craft, ensemble musicianship, and artistic integrity. They ushered in entire genres with a sound so natural there seemed to be nothing between their self-expression and the music that carried it. That rare occa-sion of the sum being more than even these legendary parts.

ELECTRIC WIRE HUSTLE EWH were ahead of their time. Before droves of local JayDee disciples began trying to emulate feels and tones on their instruments, these three were already taking their sound to the world, and blowing minds with their take on the hip hop/soul lineages. Headsnap semi-industrial grooves, live synth and guitar lines, and silky soul vocals combined to create something new. Whether or not its indicative of their wider sound, just listen to ‘Tom Boy’ and you’ll get it.

JAKOB These guys are something of an underground phenomenon. Despite inhabiting a musical world predetermined to float below the radar, they regularly glean cudos from likes of Isis and other giants of the broader idiom. Some incredible instrument tones, coupled with a clarity of intention make them a continual inspiration for doing what you love and going all the way with it. Definitely one of the more punishing live sets an instrumental trio has ever put together.

TEAM DYNAMITE In another format entirely, the core element of the trio is as prevalent here as anywhere. Namely- synergy. There is a sense of inner vitality stemming from a shared love of the craft and an appreciation of each other’s contributions. Breaking the common paradigm of MC and Hype Man, this is an actual vocal duo, with shared responsibilities and kinetic interplay. The prodigious beat making and DJing glues the both the tracks and live set together with an unexpected sense of immediacy.

THE MEANS That guitar player is a jerk, but the other two are up with New Zealand’s best on their respective instruments. Combined with a savvy hustle built on a genuine love of what they do, you should keep an eye on these guys, they’re trouble.

NEW EP: SONGS FOR MICHELLE

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14 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

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WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WAYS TO RELEASE MUSIC

BOARDS OF CANADATOMORROW’S HARVEST Warp Records, the label behind Scottish electronic wizards Boards of Canada, went full-Roald Dahl to generate hype for the duo’s new album, Tomorrow’s Harvest. Last year on Record Store Day, six 12” records were mysteriously released to seemingly random stores around the world.

On the record was 20 seconds of audio and a voice reciting six numbers.

As the first person to find one later posted on Reddit, “Clearly I have one of six similar Boards of Canada records released today and distributed “randomly” around the world…I think that if all of the numbers are gathered and arranged in a proper order, we might be able to figure something out, so we just need the other 5 people who found the record (or maybe they haven’t been found yet) to reveal their numbers and where they fit in the sequence, and then of course, have to decipher what the numbers together mean…”

MOGWAI TRACY (MUSIC BOX) In 2004, post-rockers Mogwai released tiny metal music boxes which played through the riff of the song ‘Tracy’, from their debut album Young Team. One of the more unique pieces of band memorabilia which has to be better than listening to Greensleeves on repeat.

BECKSONG READER In the musical version of IKEA, genre-bending artist Beck’s recent release Song Reader was not pressed to vinyl or mp3, but as individual pieces of sheet music. This meant that if musicians wanted to listen to it, they had to read and play through it

themselves. (Don’t give it to Paul McCartney). THE FLAMING LIPS ZAIREEKA Borne of front-man Wayne Coyne’s infamous parking lot experiments, Zaireeka (a combination of Zaire and eureka) was the Lips’ eighth studio album and almost as unique as the band themselves. Meant for “interactive listening”, Zaireeka comprised of eight compositions to be played on up to four different CD players with synchronised start times. (If you had no friends or a poor sense of timing, you were out of luck).

FREETHEMUSIC.CO.NZ

FREE THE MUSIC

SPIKE JONZE

ALEXANDER BISLEY

16 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

Theodore for his relationship with Samantha, arguing he has a reductive view of women.

44-year-old Jonze, who amusingly cameos as a foul-mouthed alien, decided not to render Samantha as an avatar: “I like the idea of her existing more in the ether, more in his heart and psyche.” Olivia Wilde (Drinking Buddies), who plays a woman Twombly goes on a bad blind date with, further explains: “She then becomes your ideal. That it becomes your own experience. Even if people may be familiar with Scarlett’s voice and imagine her as an actress, I think it transforms. She becomes whatever you want her to become. If you [Jonze] had attempted to define her, you would have stopped people from being able to create that for themselves. So that’s one cool effect of it.”

Her initially sparked when Jonze instant messaged an online AI (Artificial Intelligence) a decade ago. “I had a little exchange. I had this buzz of, ‘Wow, I’m talking to this thing. This thing is listening to me.’ And then quickly it devolved. You could tell it was just parroting things it had heard before and it wasn’t intelligent, but rather it was a clever program. Eventually I thought about the idea of a man having a relationship with an entity like that; with a fully formed consciousness. I thought about the idea of what would happen if you had a real relationship and I used that as an idea to write a relationship movie and a love story.”

For all Her’s ideas and qualities (content and form), it is most powerfully a love story. “All of those ideas sort of became background to me, to the bigger, more pressing idea of what is real and what is love, what we bring into relationships, and our need for intimacy and our inabilities in ourselves that prevent us from intimacy. And technology is certainly a part of that, it is one of the things we

FRIENDLY SPIKE JONZE IS EASILY CONNECTING – UNLIKE HIS LEAD CHARACTER IN HER – WALKING ROUND ME AND A GROUP

OF JOURNALISTS.

IT’S THE DAY before Her’s World Premiere at the New York Film Festival, and Jonze is relaxed and earthy talking to us about his intensely personal new movie. Frequently dubbed the hippest middle-aged man in Hollywood, Jonze – unlike Kanye West and Jay-Z who he directed the brilliant ‘Otis’ video for— doesn’t show signs it’s gone to his head.

He’s directed great music videos for Kanye (‘Flashing Lights’), Arcade Fire (‘After Life’), and Weezer (‘Island in the Sun’). Not to mention Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Bjork, The Beastie Boys, R.E.M, Fatboy Slim, and the Notorious B.I.G. He’s created terrific, inventive films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are, and Her. He’s the creative director of Vice snaring fascinating lines (“People think I’m cocky for the things I say. You should hear the things I think,” Kanye). He’s got a sharp cameo in Martin Scorsese’s demented The Wolf of Wall St. He will win the Golden Globe for Best Script, and Her’s going to be nominated for five Oscars: best picture, best screenplay, best original score (by Arcade Fire), best original song, and best production design. But Jonze is happy to be open about how this moving, funny love story reflects his own life: “Spike has a hard time [with intimacy], too,” he says wryly.

In Her Joaquin Phoenix plays a lonely writer, Theodore Twombly, who becomes very isolated after breaking up with his beautiful wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). He falls in love with his computer operating system, voiced by the scorchingly sultry Scarlett Johansson. Amy Adams (Golden Globe for American Hustle), who plays Theodore’s close friend Amy, suggests the film is inspired by Jonze’s break up with Sophia

Coppola. “I feel like Joaquin just really bares his soul in this film. It feels like such a personal story for Spike and I feel like that bled over to all the actors. We all really took to heart how personal a story this was.”

Phoenix gestures dramatically toward his fetching co-stars: “There are these three ladies that are so smart and beautiful and cool and I feel like we should talk to them.” Indeed, all three actresses have insightful comments to make on Jonze.

Adams was blown away by his script. “It was at a time when I was really busy, and I had just had a baby, and I thought, ‘I don’t have it in me to do a film right now.’ But every time I met with Spike I couldn’t say no because his vision was so beautiful. It was in line with the kinds of issues I was dealing with. That’s the great thing about this film; I think everyone finds a piece of their own issues in it. And so I couldn’t say no and I just had to work with Spike.” (Phoenix interjects that she could have said no. Adams responds: “No. He looks really sweet, but you know, he’s very insistent.” Jonze concludes: “No it was more that I’d pretend I was about to cry if you’d said no and you felt too guilty.”)

For her part, Mara had to audition hard. “There’s nobody like Spike. He’s just so fucking talented and magical, he’s fantastic. He thought I was too young to play it. The part is really small but I just loved the script so much. It was one of my favourite scripts that I’ve ever read. It was so beautiful and so powerful. So I had to go and audition for him, and convince him to hire me. He just creates such a fantastic world in all of his movies. I thought the world that he created was such an interesting and realistic take on what the future might be like.” Catherine is the only one who criticises

use to prevent ourselves from feeling certain things.”

Arcade Fire, particularly Win Butler, lived with Jonze for a lot of the year he was filming Her, and wrote an atmospheric score specially, including ‘Supersymmetry’ (“I know you’re living in my mind/It’s not the same as being alive”). These songs were played on set to create mood. Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanours is another inspiration. “That script is so incredibly well written.”

The man who had a 2009 retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art manages to maintain his idiosyncratic creative identity, from music videos to films. “Seeing if something felt inauthentic to me and learning from those mistakes. Trying to stay on the things that feel more true to me as opposed to me trying to be somebody else.”

He wants to explore the idea that people take different interpretations from intimate conversations, like when Wilde’s character tells Theodore he’s a creepy dude. “I think that was inherent in everything we did; is what you’re actually hearing when somebody is speaking to you? Not necessarily hearing what they say, but hearing what you think they mean.”

Working with longtime production designer K.K. Barrett, Jonze crafts a detailed near-future world, fusing Los Angeles and Shanghai. “We were playing off of the fact that our world is getting nicer and nicer to live in. We wanted to show that in L.A., where the weather is so nice, and there’s great food, and you have the mountains and oceans, but even in that setting you can feel very isolated and lonely... I guess to feel lonely in that setting is even worse because it’s a world where you should be getting everything you need, seemingly.”

HER IS IN CINEMAS THU 27 FEB

RIPITUP.CO.NZ | 17

WHO’S NEXT?

DIAZ GRIMM Being into music is one thing, but making the conscious decision to take action and make music is a completely different story. For Diaz Grimm, recognising the importance of “spending your time in a way that’s not only enjoyable for yourself but constructive towards the progression of life in the long run”, spurred him in to action, and at 15 he started writing. By the time he was 18 he had a mix tape ready to go, so headed off to Big Day Out 2008 armed with his tunes. He handed it out to anyone he suspected had a foot in the door, including DJ Sir Vere: “He was cool enough to get back to me with some advice, to get a proper mic and keep working at it. I listen to that same shit now and wonder why he even bothered, that was some very less-than-dope raps.”

After the initial burst of enthusiasm there was a bit of a lull for Diaz Grimm, until attending Coachella in 2012 and listening to A$AP Rocky talking about how it wasn’t long since he’d been just another kid trying to make it. “That really got to me… you think Jay-Z or Yeezy started life as Jay-Z and Yeezy? So I started doing whatever anyone who’s passionate about becoming something does, studied and practiced.”

Not just idle words, Diaz Grimm has been doing the hard yards, as evidenced by the numerous tracks and collabs on his soundcloud page. Completely at home with the electronic sound, Diaz Grimm is currently taking an LA-inspired feel into his flow, “I’m also loving the new single-rhyme-scheme half-bar-filling-flows in hip-hop right now.”

HELEN CORRY Interestingly enough, on first meeting Helen Corry last year I didn’t know she was a musician, much less the vocalist from that track getting heaps of radio play with the reeeally catchy chorus, “This imitation, of conversation/ Is sounding like a lie, a lie.” She was staying at my flat though, so eventually I caught up. We were then able to speculate on Lorde’s rapid rise (as I was wrote a NZ Music Month ‘Watch This Space’ article), discuss Corry’s career, muse on the music industry and share a few great flat dinners. Less than a year later and I’m writing about her – not as part of ‘Like A Lie’s’ Jetski Safari, but as an artist in her own right.

Also rather interesting is that after deciding she didn’t want to take over the family farm, Corry’s next choice was to become an actress… of course, natural switch right?! Via the performance aspects of her study she couldn’t help noticing a real strength in the musical side of things. So, having always written - poetry, stories, etc - she had all the necessary tools for songwriting. This at least, was quite a natural progression.

Staying with all things interesting, Corry’s had actually written and half recorded a folk album when ‘Like A Lie’ started garnering attention: “The first time we [Jestski Safari] performed ‘Like A Lie’ live I had this epiphanic moment; I felt like I’d figured it all out and knew I was sitting in the wrong genre.” So, she purchased Logic Pro and has never looked back. “It [EDM] allows me to be bolshie within my music - the subject matter is quite heavy, too heavy for a quirky little acoustic guitar riff and banjo, you know?” Having found the right vehicle for her stories there was no question about the folk darling

jumping ship to embrace electronica.

This sonic shift has allowed a sound that is ultimately synth-based, pop-infused electronic to emerge, with a strong emphasis on the lyric. Although the vehicle may have done one hell of an Optimus Prime transformer-ation, inspiration still comes from what’s going on around her and making music that affects the listener emotionally, mentally and physically is also a priority. “There’s a great throw back to the ‘80s in lots of stuff I’ve been listening to and it sits really well in my music soul. So we’re making this album that will sort of smack you in the face, and then grab your guts and shake them when you see it live.”

Starting out with a synth line and a kick drum beat, Corry’s admits that it got to a point of, “better lay down these notes so I can get the melody and words, before I’m side tracked by cute puppies on the internet’, with ‘Divide’. Sending the basic package through to “badass producer/bassist/synthplayer/looping/triggering genius” Brendon Kahi, he worked through sounds and allowed the track room to expand and grow. And there’s lots that’s clever about this track; the nimble arrangements, the layering of snappy, syncopated beats that always allow the vocals to shine through, along with two decent build ups that deliver a decently punchy wallop.

There’s an upcoming tour in February where Corry’s hopes to prove she’s got the chops within her own music project. And the stories will continue, as will the learning: “Resilience is key… and no one gives a shit unless you can pull it off live. My career’s trajectory is not going to be like Ella Yellich-O’Connor’s... but you know what, that’s OK.” HELENCORRY.COM

REN KIRK

18 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

WHO’S NEXT?

Placed over emotive, synth-driven, bass-heavyproduction, there’s everything from classic beats through to grime and trap. In saying that, Diaz Grimm isn’t really in to genres, preferring instead to categorise music by how it makes him feel. “My new categories would be, makes me wave fingers at people like Chief Keef, gives me them deep drake feels, makes me want to spit some shit, and that sorta thing.”

Inspiration for this young rapper comes not only from other artists but by paying attention to real people: “It’s the only constant I could find when studying all the dudes who are blowing up right now. So right now I’m just trying to create what’s real to me and that’s where my music, ‘Mise en Scene’ onwards, is coming from.” But there’s also got to be inspiration, at the very least influence, on a collegial level. Working with the likes of PNC, Bulletproof, Beat Mafia, Raiza Biza and Dealt Fairly to name a few, and there are others he’s keen to approach. On the flip side he also wants to get to know himself better and grow as an artist, especially before laying down any blueprints for his next big project.

2014 is sure to be a big year for Diaz Grimm and while there are assurances of, “a lot more official shit; funded videos, radio play, etc” the specifics are a little bit wait and see. Explaining that knowing what goals to aim for is a skill in itself he goes on to add, “I can’t name my goals specifically or it’d be like a chef giving out the secret recipe.” Fair call Colonel!SOUNDCLOUD.COM/DIAZGRIMM

THE MEANS With the November 2013 release of their debut eight song EP The Ends, Auckland trio The Means proved themselves as a musical force to be reckoned with. Dishing out hearty servings of soul-infused melodies, their grooves are at once alluring and intriguing, yet still retaining a certain pop aesthetic. These tracks pack a punch lyrically too, with emotional content that is contemporary and compelling. And sitting just under the surface, gently simmer-ing away, is a big ole pot of ambition. There’s nothing slap-dash about these artists, and one can’t escape the suspicion they’re striving for perfection, constantly questioning and pushing their combined abilities, never satisfied with anything but the best.

The three band members - Abraham Kunin, Tom Broome and Marika Hodgson - have been around for a while, playing together in different permutations and formats for a number of years. Going back about six years Tom and Abe started writing with Esther Stephens as House Of Broken Strings. The first time they all played together, including Esther, was in 2011 just before Esther was leaving for Melbourne, and off the back of that The Means was formed in 2012. “Its pretty safe to say we all got into music as a result of listening to a lot of music and the subsequent effect that had on us, “ explains Abe. “Coupled with a desire for creative expression, or artistic sensitivities, or whatever you want to call it, each of our lives began to revolve more and more around music. Almost everybody makes music in one way or another; it’s how deep you want to go with it that’s the question.”

The Ends sees the trio working with a rotating cast of vocalists including Esther Stephens, Rachel Fraser, Jessie Cassin and spoken word

courtesy of poet Courtney Meredith. There’s contributions from renowned keyboardist Steph Brown, soundscape artist/DJ/producer Christoph El Truento, and production guru Aaron Nevezie (The Bunker Studio, NYC) also lent his talent to the project. This unique approach adds huge variation and versatility to the music, but there is a common thread that binds them together; although the musicality of the each song is obvious straight away, the tracks really are gifts that keep on giving, with subtle complexities that are slowly revealed and unveiled, each rotation.

The EP has been released, “in association with Young Gifted and Broke”, the ethos of which is about creating and fostering a likeminded community of ambitious artists who can share their talents and networks to support each other’s creative endeavours. This association also led to being on the bill for Red Bull Sound Select, which recently took Auckland and Wellington by storm. Curated by YGB, The Means seized the opportunity to get in front of their biggest crowd yet: “Playing to an audience that didn’t know who we were, but still showed us love and reciprocity is a testament to the amazing work that both Red Bull and YGB put into making their shows a success.” There’s no denying both of the aforementioned know how to throw a killer party, but they also recognise talent when they see it – especially Red Bull who are synonymous with supporting up and comers through the Red Bull Music Academy and their sweet on-site studio. “Hopefully a sign of things to come,” Abe reflects after the hugely successful shows... most definitely, without a doubt, hell yes! THEMEANSBEATS.BANDCAMP.COM

RIPITUP.CO.NZ | 19

SEPTEMBER 1949 Slips into the world headfirst, gurgling, screaming and yelling “Borrrrn In The USA!” with the hospital staff providing the big drum beats with their tongues. (We lied about that last bit). His full name is given as Bruce Frederick Springsteen. Seven years later, Elvis Presley inspires in him a passion for music, and at 13 he takes up the guitar. His first band is called The Castiles; others follow, including Earth, Steel Mill, and Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom.

MAY 1972 The young dude’s big audition for Columbia Records, a label he will sign up to a little more than a month later and has stayed with over the years through thick and thin (but mostly thick, whatever that means).

JANUARY 1973 Springsteen’s first album, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ, is released, and he’s hyped up as “the new Dylan”. The low budget album sells a miserable 25,000 copies in the first year of release, but proves influential with other art-ists: David Bowie covers ‘Growin’ Up’, and the Manfred Mann Earth Band score a king-size hit with ‘Blinded By The Light’.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: THIS IS YOUR LIFE

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IS ONE OF VERY FEW ROCK AND ROLL SINGER-SONGWRITERS TO HAVE TAKEN A PICKAXE TO THE MUSICAL LANDSCAPE, AND ACTUALLY CHANGED IT. KNOWN AS ‘THE BOSS’, HIS SWEATY, LENGTHY PERFOR-MANCES ARE THE STUFF OF LEGEND, AND HIS SONGS – WHICH SHOW A RARE HU-MILITY AND RESPECT FOR ORDINARY HARD-TOILING WORKERS – HAVE MADE HIM A MUCH-RESPECTED FIGURE.

NOVEMBER 1973 The sophomore effort, The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, follows his first album just 10 months later, and it, too, sells poorly. As hard as it is to imagine, during this time Springsteen is the pretty much the ignored support act for artists like Chuck Berry, Chica-go and Dr. John.

SEPTEMBER 1975 Born To Run is released, and a legend is un-leashed. Mid-1974, rock writer Jon Landau had announced: “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen”. Landau would become a central part of Springsteen’s oper-ation, help to build the hype, co-produce his albums and eventually become his manager. Born To Run is drooled over by music critics universally, and is now considered one of the key albums of the 1970s, while the title track regularly makes ‘best songs of all time’ lists.

JUNE 1978 The long-awaited follow up to Born To Run is finally released, after a massive bout of touring. Darkness On The Edge Of Town is full of the anthems for the working class man that Springsteen is still known and loved for to this day, and features a road-seasoned E Street Band to make it the album that fans love best.

GARY STEEL

20 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

JULY 2002 The Rising is Springsteen’s reaction to the 11 Sep terrorist attacks, and with its E Street-type sound, his most successful new album in many years. The new century brings another successful acoustic work (Devils & Dust, 2005), a tribute to folk singer Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), Magic (2007) with the full E Street Band, and Working On A Dream (2009), which provided tacit support for incoming President Obama, and was a tribute to E Street keyboardist Danny Federici, who died the year before. (Another E Street member, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, died in 2011). His next album, Wrecking Ball, full of angry protest songs, was released in Jan 2012.

JULY 2012 Springsteen and his band perform his longest ever concert in Helsinki, Finland: four hours and six minutes long, and consisting of 33 songs! His Wrecking Ball tour has the best attendance of any tour in 2012, and Springsteen makes more money than any other artist that year, apart from Madonna - a mere $33 million!

FRI 17 JAN 2014 His newest release ‘High Hopes,’ a collaboration with Tom Morello. Morello and Springsteen on the same album and a duet there is nothing you could want from life now. Springsteen’s performance, it’s exactly as you’d expect, top class. High Hopes doesn’t have songs so much as it has stories and each track is moving and feels as near tangible and not in the least bit contrived. SEE HIM LIVE: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

SAT 01 MAR MT SMART STADIUM, AUCKLAND

SUN 02 MAR MT SMART STADIUM, AUCKLAND

MAY 1985 Marries model Julianne Philips. (Divorce: Mar, 1989).

JULY 1990 First son, Evan James Springsteen, the result of union with his backing singer Patti Scialfa, whom he marries on Jun 1991. A daughter, Jessica Rae, is born on Dec of that year. A third child, Sam Ryan, will be born on Jan 1994.

MARCH 1995 While new material is met with a lukewarm response (Human Touch and Lucky Town are released simultaneously in Mar 1992 to the sound of a collective yawn), his first compilation, Greatest Hits, is a huge success and showcases Springsteen’s vast repertoire and great songs.

OCTOBER 1980 ‘Hungry Heart’ is Springsteen’s first top 10 hit, and it’s from a sprawling monster of an album, The River. His concerts had blown up to epic three and four hour durations, so why not an album marathon?

SEPTEMBER 1982 After the big, brawny sound of The River, Springsteen strips things right back for its follow-up: just himself, his voice, his guitar and a four-track tape recorder. Nebraska is a bunch of raw demos originally intended for re-recording with the E Street Band, but he prefers the atmosphere of the rough cuts, and so do the critics, if not the masses.

JUNE 1984 The album that sends Springsteen orbital is Born In The USA, which sits atop the charts for four weeks, sells more than 15 million copies, and unleashes a volley of massive hits, including the title track, ‘I’m On Fire’ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’. It’s also the album many fans of eighties music feel closest to, with its brash production and big drum sound redolent of the era.

FEBRUARY 1985 Wins Best Male Vocal Grammy for ‘Dancing In The Dark’. He will go on to win a fur-ther three Grammys in 1995 for ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ (from the Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia), and another in Feb, 1997 for The Ghost Of Tom Joad album, and numerous more Grammys and awards, including being induct-ed into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

RIPITUP.CO.NZ | 21

REB_2013_GG_General_97x141_aw.indd 3 2/21/13 1:22 PM

DEAR LORDE,

MY NAME IS Aaron Tokona I’ve been apart of aotearoa’s music whanau longer than you’ve been on planet earth! Myself and most of my friends are so very proud of u we truly are darling x Some of us have attended some of the same party’s and even rubbed shoulders with some of the same people u find yourself around right now! I don’t mean to bother u babes and I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of pressures you face today and probably for at least the next 33 years! But a lot of us here back home in the muso community are making a glorious sound in the face of our dearly beloved prime minister! But because we’ve the kind of scummy lot that people of corporate attire mostly look down upon as a bunch of drug taking, emotionally unstable, don’t live in the real world therefore can’t possibly have anything to say that resembles intellectual contemplation artist types, our big noises mostly get dulled out as social static!

I have no business and I actually don’t care where on the political line u personally float but I find it hilarious to think that my bro gets arrested for saying ‘f*** the police’ and then proceeds to deal with the media storm beautifully, and to think that this little event probably showed up on the political radar but certainly not on someone’s political agenda at a caucus meeting begs at the fact that if you were muttering to yourself via your twitter buzz on anything that even resembled some kind of innocent political rumination I bet keys people would be on the phone to ur people in a flash!

You’ll never see this post which is the very thing I love about being the Facebook hoar that I am, but by chance that u do which is about as presumptuous as thinking someone from NZ could ever win a Grammy let alone 2. - the young people of our country need to know that it’s cool to vote ! Wink wink nudge nudge x

AARON TOKONA

22 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

BREAKS CO-OP

“IT JUST FEELS right to be re-starting this back in New Zealand,” comments singer Andy Lovegrove. He’s discussing the new album from his band Breaks Co-Op almost nine years after the release of 2005’s double platinum The Sound Inside, which spawned the hit single ‘The Other Side’. For all three band members DJ/Producers Zane Lowe and Hamish Clark and vocalist/guitarist Lovegrove it all became a little overwhelming.

After winning awards for Song Of The Year and No.1 selling single for that year continuing the momentum was not necessarily the right move for them. “We were all fairly tired after completing and touring the album. And then I did my solo (2008’s Just A Man). Three years on the road, I think we were a bit burned out. Obviously Zane wasn’t involved at that point (He’d returned to a highflying career as DJ with Radio 1). So, Hamish and I decided we needed to take a bit of time out.”

Like Lovegrove, Clark also went in pursuit of a different

career, surfacing in Berlin as a technology teacher. “He’s really passionate about this and not overly enthused about touring. He loves music making and the whole process, though he steers clear of the touring aspects when he can.”

And Lovegrove? “I got married, had twin girls who are two and a half now (he has four girls in all).” Having focussed for so long on Breaks Co-Op work in his former field, music production had dried up so Lovegrove took a job as a deputy manager for a health unit. “I did something completely different working with adults in Autism. It was kind of a cool thing to do after working in the music industry for so long.”

What got him back into writing was a prompt from his wife Emily. She said “I fell in love with this guy who was really creative. And now you’re not, so you better do something about it!” She called Hamish in Berlin, bought a ticket and said, “you’re going to stay with him and do some work, I’ve had enough of you not playing”. And that’s what he did.

“We wrote the first three songs on the album (‘All this Time’, ‘Running’ and ‘Home’) and it snowballed from there, really.” Lovegrove goes on to explain that in his early days with EMI he was sent to the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, where Emily was assigned his ‘minder’. They hit it off, fell in love, “and the rest is history, as per above. So it’s all her fault”

Now, then what’s the album like? To my ears it sounded similar to the previous but with more real instruments and orchestrations. There’s also plenty of 70’s influences like Michael McDonald and Steely Dan. “It’s funny the McDonald thing has halted me my whole career - “Oh, you sound like him, Bro, you know. There is a lot of 70’s feel, the harmonies, double tracking of my voice is a trademark of the band - at least

born out of here, even if it’s made elsewhere.”

The Sound Inside featured the iconic image of three men walking on a beach. The new album Sounds Familiar continues the theme with an image by Millo Salgado of his own son swimming amongst the waves - perhaps fighting them, perhaps conquering them?

“The first track on the album is about someone drowning,” laughs Lovegrove, “but it’s not related, we just loved the style of the record, it has this relationship with summer and the sea, might be why we have such and affectionate association with New Zealand.” And again the ‘Sound’ concept comes through in the titles and theme of their music. Lovegrove claims it wasn’t a conscious decision. “We never really think about

after this album it definitely will be. On this one I play guitars and sing, but the rest is Hamish and me with DJ equipment and computer. I dunno, we’ve always made it sound that way. Slightly different but the same (as The Sound Inside) but less DJ noodling, more about song writing. All the influence and format of the previous one are there but this time we’re determined to have more than one single on it, produce an album with more to offer.”

Given Hamish is now in Singapore and Lovegrove is in the UK why bring it all back to New Zealand. “Well, given it all started here and our management and main audience are here, New Zealand is the ‘spiritual homeland” for the band, it’s all

these things. We actually had several tiles before deciding on the song title from the album. We nearly called it “Home”, after the second single. Of course ‘Home’ is almost an explanation to why were here. It’s a very important concept to Kiwis and again a reason for us being here.”

NEW ALBUM: SOUNDS FAMILIAR

OUT NOW

It’s a very important concept to Kiwis and again a reason for us being here.”

TIM GRUAR

WIN

RIPITUP.CO.NZ | 23

THIS MONTH IN CLUBLAND

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: STATE OF MINDPRODUCERS/DJS State of Mind is the drum and bass duo of Patrick Hawkins and Stu Maxwell hailing from our very own slice of paradise, New Zealand. With three albums under their belt since 2006, these bass aficionados are set to release their fourth album early this year. Clubland scratches the surface of State Of Mind.

Who was your DJ / Producer heroes? Hmm, there were quite a few. Obviously major electronic artists like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers were and still are, heroes to us. Drum and bass wise, Bad Company was pretty important. Inside the Machine was the album that got me into drum and bass. I heard it at and was like ‘what the fuck is that’. That was basically when I decided drum and bass was the shit.

What projects are you currently working on? We have an album coming up called Eat the Rich on Black Sun Empire’s Blackout label. The first single will be the end of this month, then another in February, then the album in March. It’s shaping up to be really good. Heavy tunes. Certainly not for the faint of hearted. There are quite a few guests in there too. Black Sun Empire, MC Codebreaker, Nymfo, MC Dino, Sacha Vee. It’s exciting.

2013 was the year of “Deep House”. 2014 will be the year of…? Well before deep house everyone was freaking out over dubstep. Then everyone got sick of that and went as far to the other end of the musical spectrum as they could, hence Deep House. So what’s the opposite to deep house? Drum and bass? Maybe. I hope so.

What’s the musical equivalent of the G-Spot? Classic! Probably the perfect bass mix, you know when the kick-bass-mids all work perfectly and it moves your guts and gives you goose bumps when it drops. That’s what we are all after. Interestingly I saw a documentary late at night on tour in a hotel in Australia, claiming that the G-spot was a male invention to reclaim sexual power over feminists. I’ll let you make up your own mind on that one.THE SINGLE ‘MR. COVER UP’ FROM STATE OF MIND IS OUT NOW

FOR THE EXTENDED INTERVIEWS CHECK OUT RIPITUP.CO.NZ/CLUBLAND

IMAGINE THIS Imagine This: A Palestinian Kiwi pioneering musician who effortlessly bridges the boundaries between genres. Imagine a prolific artist who has released on over 15 record labels in two years. A rapper, producer and songwriter who pours his heart and soul into his work and delivers unfor-gettable live performances marked by his talent and raw energy. Clubland thought it was time to envision a world of pure imagination.

What is the ethos behind Imagine This? Imagine This reflects more of who I am and what my values are. I always used to tell my friends: “Don’t limit yourself to thinking: imagine”. So: Imagine This. An obsession with justice, anger and paranoia over corporate and government abuses of human equality and individual freedoms, paired with the equally compelling desire for occasional obliteration and insanity brought on by weed, drugs, bitches, and money. The essence of it all is the drive to make a vision reality. What was your thought process for your album? First, this whole album was salvation, a reinvention, a huge weight off my chest, and a point to prove. It took years of overcoming barriers put in place by people behind the scenes, in the studios, at lawyers’ offices, producers and supposed career advisors. Basically, the dark side of music nearly chewed me up and spat me out the other end. So much happened I could write a book about it, but it was the first step towards understanding how to write and produce my own album, and how essential it is to have complete creative and legal control over my own music. After the transformation from Bling to Imagine This was complete, I had to find a studio I liked, Big Pop Studios, and an engineer I trust, Luke Berryman (aka DJ Orphan). Luke understands what I’m trying to do, and gives me the space and technical support to get it done so that it not only sounds professional, but it sounds the way I hear it in my mind. Third, I found producers like JKJ, Juice and Luke Berryman who provided beats that inspired me to write songs that communicate what I’m thinking and how I feel. I also found vocalists and soloists like Thomas Stowers, Maia Rata, Sas Hart, Che Fu, Nina McSweeney, and Gemma Copas. People who can execute the choruses as I imagine them. Finally, and most importantly, I write and record the raps.

NICK COLLINGS

24 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Zula Warner and Glenn Herweijer, aka Artificial Intelligence, have been drum and bass dons for over a decade with releases rolling one after an-other and collaborations from vocalists including Tiki Taane and Tali.

Discovered by Marcus Intalex, the full A.I. discography extends to all of the industry’s most established record labels: Metalheadz, Full Cycle, Good Looking, C.I.A., Innerground, Exit; numerous heavyweight remix projects from Eric Prydz to Kelis; and of course their own Integral Records. ESSENTIAL LISTENING

‘DESPERADO’ (2005)

‘STAND ALONE’ (2010)

YOU CAN DREAM EP (2013)

SEE THEM DJ: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (UK)

FRI 07 FEB INK, AUCKLAND

SONNY FODERA Born and raised in Australia, Fodera now lives between the UK and Ibiza. This House music dynamo has released on top labels from Defected Records, Cajual Records, Drop Music, Large Music, Guesthouse, 4Kenzo, Nervous Records and many more gained major support from the indus-try’s most respected names such as Mark Farina, Derrick Carter, Mastik-soul and Cajmere. His unique style of quality house music incorporates many original, as well as live, elements with influences taken from jazz, to funk, to hip hop and anything in between.ESSENTIAL LISTENING

SEE THEM DJ: SONNY FODERA (AU)

FRI 22 FEB INK, AUCKLAND

TURNING THE TABLES WITH... SKREAM• Is seen as one of dubstep’s first and most prominent producers.• Is 27 years old.• Is part of Magnetic Man alongside Benga & Artwork.• Has gone by the alias of Mr Keas.• Worked at Big Apple Records in South London as a teenager.• His 2005 track ‘Request Line’ has been described as dubstep’s most

recognizable crossover hit by the Midnight LA Times.• He, alongside Benga, have their own show on the UK’s BBC Radio 1.• Won Best DJ at the 2013 Bass Music Awards.• Is the brother of Jungle DJ Hijak.• Has remixed Chromeo, Duke Dumont, La Roux, DJ Zinc, Jack

Beats & more.SEE HIM DJ: SKREAM (UK)

THU 20 FEB STUDIO, AUCKLAND

What song of yours are you most proud of and why? I can’t pick just one. As a Palestinian Kiwi, the song ‘Freedom’ on my self-titled album Imagine This. It’s the first time I recorded a song that addresses where I’m from and some of the things my family experienced there, in the way I wanted to hear it in a song. This vision was realised with the help of the legendary Che Fu and talented Nina McSweeney. Who are your heroes? I’ve never had a hero, some semi-mythical figure… I guess I see heroic traits in what we call regular people. When somebody decides to become a voice against oppression, represent their culture, pursue their dreams, and not give up. Whether I like them personally or not, I really respect that, and those daily acts of bravery and heroism are what inspire me. Musically speaking, this would include people like Will.I.am, Pharrell Williams, Andre 3000, Diplo, A-Trak, K’Naan and so many more innovators who expanded beyond the genres they originated from. Fuck boundaries, and people telling you what you can and can’t do when it comes to something you create from nothing. It’s all music to me.

How have you seen NZ music change in the last decade? It’s become much more professional. It used to feel quite negative, but it’s becoming more positive and more diverse every day, as if it were undergoing a metamorphosis. The Internet’s really helped with that – more room to fly. I really think it’s improving every day, and I love it. What’s next? More work, more music, more releases, more success and more overseas chart domination. Definitely into more international collaborations and bigger releases. I’ve got so much more to offer, so much more to do that I feel like I haven’t even started. That’s I.T. DOWNLOAD THE IMAGINE THIS ALBUM FOR FREE AT IMAGINETHISMUSIC.NET

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GEEKS

MINECRAFTPS3, XBOX 360, PC, MOBILE The most popular and iconic sandbox game of recent times has finally made it to the PlayStation 3. No matter what platform you prefer, Minecraft is probably available on it; Mac, PC, Xbox, a tonne of mobile devices, and soon PS4, Vita, and Xbox One - even the Raspberry Pi has a version to call its own.

The game may look basic, but it’s far from it. In a nutshell, it’s a bit like virtual LEGO; players explore a massive world, mining simply-textured cubes for various resources which can then be used to construct all manner of objects (also out of simply textured cubes.) There are loads of ways to approach the game (much as there is with LEGO), and player creativity in the five years it’s been on the market still seems to be boundless, with new possibilities seemingly opening up all the time.

Developers 4J Studios have had to downsize the map to fit console requirements; when I saw the Xbox One version at E3 last year, I was promised bigger maps and better multiplayer in this year’s next-gen releases, so if that’s important to you, it might be worth waiting until those versions are available.

If your friends have had little

OLLIOLLIPLAYSTATION VITA In my teenage years I was a ska-tie. Or at least I think I was. I had the clothes, the labels, and I was able to slowly commute around on a skateboard. I couldn’t do any tricks though. I was one of those kids who carried their deck around more often than actually set foot on it. I think I was the worst kind of skatie; the poser variety.

To really rub salt in the wound, I recently discovered I’m equally rubbish at skateboarding videogames. Including this latest PlayStation Vita offering titled OlliOlli, from small UK based studio Roll7.

OlliOlli is a side-scrolling platform game in a very similar vein to the mobile smash-hit Canabalt, where players must race from left to right avoiding obstacles. In fact, the similarities go so far as to even include the visuals, with both games utilising retro pixel-art animations and a simplified colour palette.

The main difference, of course, is the addition of a skateboard, which allows the player to also perform tricks and stunts while traversing the obstacle-littered path. Players can rack up points by ollying, grinding, kick-flipping, and other moves via a series of Street-Fighter-esque twirls of the analogue stick and

experience with Minecraft, you’ll be glad to know that the this version makes it incredibly easy to pick up and play. There is now a tutorial option in the main menu that offers a world of in-depth examples in crafting, farming and mining - not to mention the spectacular palace and Minecraft logo floating in the sky.

Using the crafting boards in the game has also been optimised to let you know exactly what you need to create fundamental items, and get you going in the right direction as fast as possible. Each craftable item now comes with a small description and a list of the items needed to create it. The process is completely turned on it’s head when comparing it to the PC version, where you have an array of empty boxes and crafting is done by throwing items in and guessing the right combination.

I think PlayStation is a great place for Minecraft. As long as you know the basics, you’re set to build whatever you can think up, limited only by your imagination.KERMATH DAVIES

holding down various buttons on the Vita.

There are multiple modes to try out, which add to the replayability of OlliOlli - the more interesting of which is titled the Daily Grind. This online competitive mode gives you 24 hours to challenge players around the world on a leaderboard for points. Players can practice as many times as they like within that 24 hour period, but they only get one chance to set their score.

Just like previous endless-runner games, OlliOlli is addictive and challenging. While face-plants and missed jumps are common, the accessible gameplay and gentle learning curve will keep players coming back for more.

A special mention should go to the game’s soundtrack as well, which is lively and as mesmerising as the action taking place on screen.

It’s a timely entrant for the PS Vita, with titles on the wee handheld console starting to dry up. However I believe it’s here, in indie and small studio releases like OlliOlli, that the Vita can be injected with new (as the name implores) vitality.ANGUS DEACON

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GEEKS

PLAYSTATION CREATOR TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Ken Kutaragi, a former Sony Computer Entertainment CEO who lead the development of the first PlayStation console, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in March. Kutaragi’s early work was with Nintendo, developing the sound chip for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, while his work with Sony eventually saw him become the honorary chairman of the company. The award will be presented by Mark Cerny, lead architect of the PlaySta-tion 4 console, at the GDC Awards on March 19. The event will be hosted by Respawn Entertainment’s Abbie Heppe, and will be streamed online via GameSpot.

NO ENDING IN SIGHT FOR ASSASSIN’S CREED Ubisoft has no specific ending planned for the overarching plotline of the Assassin’s Creed series, writer Darby McDevitt has revealed in an interview. Last year, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag director Ashraf Ismail told Eurogamer that a narrative for the franchise, including the setting of each instalment and an overall conclusion, had been plotted out. According to McDevitt, however, Ismail was only talking about the Edward Kenway storyline that started with Assassin’s Creed IV. “This storyline has an ending,” he said, “but because all of history is open to us we see the universe as a Doctor Who type thing. There are so many pos-sibilities we don’t want to definitively end the universe, but we can have storylines that have endings.” Although he didn’t offer any specifics on the future direction of the series, McDevitt did say that Assassin’s Creed IV includes plenty of hints as “a reward for completionists.”

MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOMLawyer, revolutionary, prisoner, leader – Nelson Mandela’s life and career has the markings of a Hollywood blockbuster, and it was only a matter of time before someone took on the challenge to fit his lifelong struggle into 140 minutes. But instead of entering with an awe-inspiring roar, director Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) enters with a whisper, building to the ultimate fist-in-the-air moment of victory. To tackle complex issues of race relations, as well as a turbulent personal life, in one film is a difficult task, and as we whizz through the decades it does at times feel rushed – particularly across his first marriage to meeting Winnie Madikizela (played by Naomie Harris), through to his time on Robben Island. But care and meticulous exploration is taken during his time on the island, showing the backbreaking labour, the cruel guards’ taunts and the struggle to keep the spirit of freedom alive. While rapid pace made it difficult to connect initially, watching Mandela age in prison as his wife and children are tormented outside the prison walls is nothing short of heartbreaking. Driven apart by different ideals, the two worlds (inside and outside) become further and further disconnected (as does Mandela and his wife) and tensions come to a head once he is released, starting the long walk to freedom. Dividing opinions worldwide, the portrayal of Mandela was always going to be a sensitive issue and expected a glossy depiction, minus his character flaws, but it was refreshing to see the film take no such approach, happily displaying them for all to see. He was no saint – he cheated on his wife, abandoned his family for the cause and carried out terrorist actions – but the “he’s only human approach” serves to put further emphasis on the good he did eventually do. The Wire’s Idris Elba nails the look and sound of the great leader. He also brings his presence and charisma that made him such a success with the people of Africa. It’s a moving performance, every emotion in his eyes without saying a single word. However, co-star Naomie Harris steals the show as Winnie Mandela. Broken, beaten and left to fend for herself during Nelson’s 27-year sentence, she transforms from a healer to a freedom fighter, noticeably changed as Nelson’s actions leave her to pick up the pieces. Trying to fit so much into so little does have its limits beside pace – ending after Mandela’s windfall into power as South African president, there’s an implication that this was the end of his and the country’s struggles. It is a tricky subject, but it is dealt with care and accuracy, thanks to its lead stars’ outstanding performances.

FILM REVIEWS

SAVING MR BANKSAs Mary Poppins says, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” – and director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) has taken this catchphrase to heart, using comedy and music to lighten the mood of what is an emotional biopic.British author PL Travers (Emma Thompson) is on the brink of financial ruin, struggling to make ends meet in her London flat. Reluctantly, she travels to Los Angeles to meet with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) who has been hounding her relentlessly for 20 years to make a movie adaptation of her beloved novel Mary Poppins. Much like a Disney tale, you need to look beneath the fluffiness to find the substance. While at first glance the film appears to be a comedic meeting of the minds, it becomes clear there’s something darker brewing beneath the surface. As she fails to see eye to eye with Disney’s ambitious plans, it’s gradually revelled why Mrs Travers refuses to let go of her iconic character as a troubled childhood with her father (played brilliantly, and unexpectedly, by

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Colin Farrell) mirrors her fictional novel. You’ll never be able to hear ‘Let’s Go Fly A Kite’ without feeling a tinge of sadness. Emma Thompson has been robbed of Oscar glory with no nomination for her brilliant portrayal of the non-nonsense Travers. Initially coming across as a hard-nosed, stiff-upper lip English woman, Disney’s empathy and charisma begin to break down her walls as he promises to do her book justice as, as the title suggests, save Mr Banks by the film’s conclusion. Hanks is his typical charismatic self as the movie mogul, exuding Disney-like confidence, never faulting in the face of Travers’ demands. Co-stars Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak are perfect antidotes to Travers’ sour demeanour as the Sherman brothers, the musical talent behind the hit movie.The music and phrases that many of us have grown up with as a child suddenly take on a new meaning, and the real story at heart here is one that will no doubt bring a tear to your eye. A nostalgic journey into a childhood classic, with a poignant message.

34 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

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ALBUM REVIEWS

****

SKY FERREIRANIGHT TIME, MY TIMECAPITOL

For every Lorde carefully groomed through youth to fruition, there must be a fair few Sky Ferreira type misfires. Under contract from 14 and kept in a folder marked ‘Nu-Britney’, her teen tastes deviated further from the output expected of her with each passing year. After schizophrenic rounds of writer/producer pairings, Ferreira’s label had all but withdrawn when she flung a track made with writer/producer wunderkinds Devonté

Hynes and Ariel Rechtshaid (‘Everything Is Embarrassing’) on the internet. That earworm, wisely included on international releases of this LP, started her work with Rechtshaid who co-produced the entirety of Night Time, My Time. It’s a grand record, with Ferreira encouraged to vent in a controlled collision between her pop training and her love for grunge, Suicide, synthpop and Twin Peaks. It’s also a record that nearly didn’t happen. Play it loud and give thanks that it did.SARAH THOMSON

TIKI TAANEWITH STRINGS ATTACHEDTIKIDUB

A souvenir of Tiki Taane’s performance at Wellington’s Old St Paul’s Church, with a string section adding a layer of arrangemental sophistication to the performances of his band, The Dub Soldiers. It’s a useful snapshot into Taane’s world that reveals his biggest flaw: a tendency towards an almost messianic self-importance. But for all that, the between-song dialogue does reveal a cheeky sense of humour, and it’s an unerringly entertaining show, combining old favourites like ‘Love Your Ways’ (Salmonella Dub) with more recent crowd pleasers like ‘Always On My Mind’, both of which are somehow redolent of the inoffensive goodtime skank of UB40. While his lyrics are dull and clichéd, the grooves have grunt and Taane’s incorporation of te taonga puoro and kapahaka gift it with a spooky power it otherwise may have lacked. GARY STEEL

WARPAINTWARPAINTROUGH TRADE

Warpaint’s weaving beauty is well established: the simmer and spill interplay between Emily Kokal’s wisp-to-wail vocals, Jenny Lee Lindberg’s noir bass thrumming and Theresa Wayman’s chiming guitar, all kept on a deserted West Coast highway by Stella Mozgawa’s steady skitter, since she replaced Lindberg’s sister Shannyn Sossamon on drums in 2009. All these elements remain in force on this, their eponymous third release. For tracks purportedly all written in lengthy jam sessions and at soundchecks, their expanse does necessitate repeat listens to open up passages that initially appear a little slow and indulgent. But, as the band have promised in interviews, newer elements are also being tested here. Kokal’s mentions of hip hop influences prove exciting additions on several tracks, although at times these appear to get a little submerged within Warpaint business as usual. Not that that’s ever an unenjoyable thing.SARAH THOMSON

BEYONCÉBEYONCÉCOLUMBIA

Accepted canon in vault, ‘Queen B’ and her many avatars could have drifted happily into mid-life with full blessing of the Bey-Hive. Sponsorship deals tied up and new material conspicuously absent from tour setlists, it seemed like this may have been the plan. Apparently not. Without promo, without presales and nigh buried in Crimble fluster drops BEYONCÉ, her 5th studio album (with matching 17 music video DVD). Boxfresh producers (Boots) rub shoulders with the Midas usuals (Timbaland, Pharrell, 40, The Dream) on an album that is, just quietly, the greatest and most self-assured of her career. Slabs of pop pared-back to trap beats and a vocal performance unafraid of experimentation cultivate a rare brand of vulnerability throughout, with nary a dud track. Just when she let the world think she was napping, she snapped up and broke the goddamn game.SARAH THOMSON

MAMAKUTWIGS OF GOLDMONKEY

With two unfocussed albums already behind them as Mamaku Project, this West Auckland (by way of France) duo up the ante with Twigs Of Gold, a record containing some spectacularly awful concatenations of poetry and music, but also some genuinely great vocalising from Tui Mamaki, whose presence throughout can be overwhelming, but gives life, character, and sometimes a kind of quaintly hippy humour to these tracks (check out ‘Angel In Gumboots’). The record sounds great, and the steely electronic elocutions of partner in crime, Monsieur S, add a welcome touch of inner city techno-burble. Add contributions by trumpeter Kingsley Melhuish and others, and it’s a sometimes unwieldy, uncomfortable melding of various influences (dub, dub step, world music) that nevertheless has a life force that just can’t be denied. GARY STEEL

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ALBUM REVIEWS

DELANEY DAVIDSON AND MARLON WILLIAMSSAD BUT TRUE VOL 3LYTTELTON RECORDS

One great thing about this latest from the duo of Davidson and Williams is that it sounds like they really enjoyed themselves. Perhaps it’s the relaxed atmosphere of the Lyttelton studio, where, with no clock ticking, they can really relax and find their groove. This occasional duo of two very different but equally distinctive singer-songwriters have squeezed out their best yet, the music tending

towards a good-humoured take on alt country perfectly encapsulated by the memorable ‘Candyman’, with its combo of noir tones and spaghetti western flourishes. The honey-voiced Williams is enough reason on its own to lend an ear to a record that’s subtitled Juke Box B Sides, but there are plenty of other reasons, too. When Fly My Pretties tried to go country, it just sounded like a synthetic vanilla substitute, where Davidson, Williams and friends (including a Tami Nielson cameo) make it sound as natural as breathing. GARY STEEL

ANGEL HAZEDIRTY GOLDISLAND/REPUBLIC

Angel Haze is sadly known more for her indignant behaviour than her spirited vocals and rapidfire flow. Picking Twitter spats and leaking her entire debut with a ‘f*ck you’ tweet as explanation to her label are actions that the cynical among us may read as attempts to drum up publicity. But on Dirty Gold, it appears that Angel Haze really is brimming with righteous indignation – it’s there on every track. Particularly, and most cringe inducingly, in the spoken word snippets that pepper the album, outlining her convictions and answering questions that the listener hasn’t had time enough to care to ask. If crashing earnestness is the veil obscuring Haze’s talents, the blackout curtain is producer Markus Dravs (Mumford & Sons, Coldplay). The grim result of their union, assumedly made to attempt Top 40 breakthrough, turns Haze and her forgivable flaws into a blander Linkin Park. SARAH THOMSON

THE VELVET UNDERGROUNDWHITE LIGHT WHITE HEATUNIVERSAL

This is the 3CD, 45th Anniversary edition of the seminal 1967 album that revisionist perspective tells us was a perfect prequel to the spirit, if not the actual music, of the later punk rock movement. Following the death of group leader Lou Reed last year, it will be viewed as tantamount to treason to award this any less than five glowing stars, but I beg to differ. It’s true that the Flying Nun label and its tribe of black jersey-wearing musical primitivists wouldn’t have known what to do with their guitar feedback had White Light White Heat never existed, but in truth, much of it sounds like weedy garage rock, like something from the Nuggets compilation but without the tunes. What the VU and Lou Reed brought to rock was a cooler-than-thou New York street attitude and an amoral attitude to drug addiction. For the historically inclined, it’s worth a listen, but it’s not what it’s cracked up to be. GARY STEEL

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGSGIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANTDAPTONE

‘Don’t call me retro,’ Sharon Jones warns in a recent post-cancer (!) interview. Fair enough, too. She’s no retread, having performed funk, gospel and soul music since the early 1970s. But ‘retro’ is a term too often slung at Jones & the Dap-Kings’ body of work, a lazy pigeonholing of their powers as some kind of quaint vintage curiosity. Ironically, this label may stick so readily due to their being peerless, as if the dearth of others making vibrant soul music of such a high calibre confirms the group as ‘not-of-this-time’. Sure, they’ll never release a Yeezus or a Kid A, but why would you want them to? Especially when Give the People What They Want proves the power of social critique in soul and R&B still has mighty sharp teeth. FUN GAME: drive through your local financial district blaring the stonk of ‘People Don’t Get What They Deserve’. Righteous. SARAH THOMSON

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDSLIVE FROM KCRWBAD SEED LTD

Those not already longterm fans of the great blood balladeers may have found themselves ostracized by their crashing latter year output. Grand at times, bland at others, the associated Bad Seed catalogue from the mid-naughts onward seemed to lack the reverence and spatial whack of their earlier work. Live at KCRW then serves as proof, if needed, that naught was ever lost. Four cuts from their most recent studio release (2013’s Push The Sky Away) receive an airier veneration, attesting (with perhaps the exception of the always lacking ‘Wide Lovely Eyes’) that Ellis’ atmospheric noodlings and Cave’s lyric timing still carry the capability of straight cold kill. Poured into session with picks well-known and lesser, this is a necessity for fans and a decent pared-down primer for those yet to convert. For the truly devout? Buy the double vinyl for two extra tracks.SARAH THOMSON

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First album? J: Something from Michael Jackson. M: Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morrisette.

Ultimate festival line-up? J: Dead or Alive? Johnny Cash, MJ (Jackson 5 Reunion), Kanye, Paul Simon, New Found Glory, The Postal Service. M: All of the above plus Elton John.

Who would play you in a film? J: Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights and Morgan Freeman would have to narrate. M: Audrey Hepburn (I wish!).

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Which song do you wish you wrote? J: At this exact moment? ‘Keep the customer Satisfied’ - Simon & Garfunkel. M: ‘You & I’ - Ingrid Michaelson.

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AUCKLAND-BASED POP-ROCK ACT CLAP CLAP RIOT PUT THE ENERGY OF A LIVE SHOW INTO THEIR LATEST ALBUM RELEASE.

WHILE THE VALENTINE’S Day release date was a pure coincidence, Clap Clap Riot’s latest labour of love Nobody/Everybody is a culmination of pure heart and soul.

Just six months after their debut album Counting Spins, guitarist Dave Rowlands says the Christchurch boys wanted to show the nation they weren’t ones to just “sit on their hands” (if you’ll pardon the pun) and have come back with a 1960s-inspired indie-rock record.

“We’re a really proactive group,” he says of the short downtime. “There was a big gap between our first EP and our first record, so I think people thought we weren’t doing anything, but we were working constantly from the release. It was just timing wise, things kept not working out, and we had to push it back, so this time we were sick of waiting.”

Although impatient to get their music heard, there’s a lot of patience when it comes to making the tracks. Dave stresses while they were keen to get the album out, these were songs they had mulled over with careful consideration, writing some “before recording, and some two weeks out that we just had to have in the mix”.

“I think we are lucky as we have never released anything that we don’t like,” he

explains. “We have always sat on stuff before we released it, but I think if you rush, that’s when you put out something you are not happy with.

“There was a large period between the EP and the album when we chucked a few tunes together, and some of those are cringe-worthy, but it’s nice to listen back and realise they were not the best.”

Taking a free-spirited approach, they entered the studio with the idea of pushing themselves harder than ever before, while keeping an open mind to the style the tracks may take on. And as it developed, a clear vision came to form: a live, “what you see is what you get” sound to their record.

“We nicked a lot of the recording processes from bands that we liked from back in the day, from the 1960s, where you had to get it right at the time kind of thing, so that was more what our focus was,” says Dave.

“We tracked it all live and avoided as many overdubs as we could to get the record going. That process has given the album its overall idea because that’s the cohesiveness of it – it’s a live band that plays for the entire record. While songs will vary stylistically, it’s all the same four people in a room – drums, bass, two guitars, then maybe one or two guitars added and vocals.”

Stepping behind the mixing desk was a longtime friends and former collaborator Kody Nielson (Opossum), who Dave had toured with

CLAP CLAP RIOT

during The Mint Chick days. Bringing both songwriting and drumming experience (“he’s such a good drummer in his own right”, says Dave) into the mix, he was the perfect man to capture the essence of what Clap Clap Riot is all about.

“One of the things we like to do is ensure we work with another songwriter. You know they will have a good grasp of putting a song together and we think that’s best for getting the right structure.

“He is a really creative person, so he gave us a lot of freedom to try ideas. He’s not the type of guy who is on top of you directing. Sometimes having someone overbearing is what you need – if you come with a bunch of material, you had good ideas but no clue how to put it together, then you need it. But we are lucky now we have worked with a few people, and as you go on the more you know what you want.”

As the embark on a four-date tour in March to demonstrate their prowess as a live band, Dave says they are preparing for a break from recording – packing down at 3am means no time to think about anything but beer and sleep – but travelling around the country brings a challenge of a different kind.

“It’s hard, but it’s great,” he says with a laugh. “Our sound guy, Dave Wernham, who has toured with Shihad, has taught us a few things like the best way to create a bed in the back of the van and rotating drivers, so it means that everyone is getting a chance to catch up on sleep.

“There’s a big group so you all help each other get through it. The rule is to avoid being loud in the morning – no-one likes the guy that’s too energetic and wants to chat about everything. It’s all about quiet time for the first hour or two.”

NEW ALBUM: NOBODY/EVERYBODY

OUT FRI 14 FEB

SEE THEM LIVE: CLAP CLAP RIOT

FRI 07 MAR GALATOS, AUCKLAND

SAT 08 MAR PUPPIES, WELLINGTON

FRI 14 MAR DUX LIVE, CHRISTCHURCH

SAT 15 MAR CHICKS’ HOTEL, DUNEDIN

“I think we are lucky as we have never released anything

that we don’t like.”

LAURA WEASER

40 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

AUCKLAND 99FM. WELLINGTON 93.3FM. CHRISTCHURCH 106.5FM. BLENHEIM 94.5FM. DUNEDIN 106.2FM. GISBORNE 105.3FM. HAWKE’S BAY 99.9FM. MANAWATU 105.8FM. NELSON 90.4FM. NORTHLAND 93.2FM. ROTORUA 94.3FM. SOUTHLAND 93.2FM. TARANAKI 90.8FM. TAUPO 92.8FM. TAURANGA 91FM. WAIKATO 96.2FM.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD

“WELL THAT’S PRETTY fine,” laughs Johnny Van Zant, vocalist of American legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, and brother of founding member Ronnie Van Zant, “that should be you talking to me on the porch by the lake. You get any catfish?” I have to explain that if catfish were to be released into Lake Rotorua the effects on the local ecology would be catastrophic. “So what did you catch? Trout, you say? You smoke it? I don’t think that’ll fix a good meal.” Van Zant had caught me five minutes after the boat had landed. I was about to start to gutting, when the mobile rings. Hunkering down, out of the wind, I explain that I’m on the neighbours porch, actually sitting a rocking chair! “And I’m down here, in the family home in Florida … getting ready to go out again on tour. How far is that lake from the hotel?” Van Zant is referring to the upcoming summer tour with Starship (featuring Mickey Thomas) and iconic UK band 10CC that will play Taupo, Matakana and Queenstown this month. Most folks know the background to Skynard: about how they shot to fame in the early 70’s on the back of classic country anthems ‘Freebird’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ The original

line up started out in the in the summer of 1964, as teenage friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington, not in Alabama, but Jacksonville, Florida. After many name changes they hit upon the name “Leonard Skinner”, after their former High School Coach. “It’s funny, my kids think that teacher was like that woman (coach Sue Sylvester) from Glee. I think back in Ronnie’s day teachers were a lot harder on kids. They were givin’ them grief about their long hair”, Johnny comments. Yes, but were teachers hard on him too? Did a strict upbringing have an effect on the Van Zant kids, inspire rebellion against the establishment, drive them all to music? He laughs, brushing off the suggestion. “Nah, we were just slobs, greasy teenagers. I looked up to my brother because he was in a band... you know he had his (fair share) of girls.” How Johnny came to replace Ronnie in the band and how they literally came back from the dead is a tale of overcoming adversity and endurance. “I still think about Ronnie every day - he’s still my inspiration to go on stage.” He relates that by October 1977 the band was at the height of their powers. They’d racked up four successful albums and

just released their fifth, Street Survivors but then, five shows into their most successful tour to date tragedy struck. The band’s chartered plane ran out of fuel, crashing into a forest in McComb, Mississippi. Ronnie, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, the

“Donnie and I played around town in various bands and did quite well - he was in my band and I helped him out some.”

Then the call came to join Skynard. I asked how it felt to be filling his older sibling’s posthumous shoes. “Well, when I was growing up our living room was always full on guitars and pianos, drums and what have you. So in a way, I was already sort of part of the band, they were rehearsing there and so was I watching and learning. It still took me three years to feel really confident when I started. Big shoes, yes! But I know I wouldn’t be here now if the good lord hadn’t taken him home. So I owe him that.” Van Zant is well and truly part of the band now. Over time their style moved from the ‘traditional style country rock’n’blues to

assistant road manager and the pilots were all killed on impact with the others injured seriously. “Yes I can remember where I was, at home, on the phone. There’d been a search and they were phoning through the news.”

That should’ve effectively ended the band. But three of the surviving members, Rossington, Collins, Wilkeson and Powell chose to carry on, reforming Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987. And that’s where lil’ bro Johnny comes in. “I was already doin’ ok singing with my band (The Austin Nickels Band and The Johnny Van Zant Band). With a family like the Van Zants it was impossible not to be involved in music.” Even the youngest Donnie Van Zant was a musician and had a few minor hits in the early 80’s with. ‘38 Special’.

rock-pop. But when it came to their eighth album, since reformation, Last of a Dyin’ Breed, “we’d wanted to go back to doin’ stuff old school. We worked again with (producer) Bob Marlette (who made previous work God and Guns). During the recording of the last album we lost (long term band members) Billy (Powell) and Ean (Evans). So this time around we were able to laugh and joke a lot… you gotta, when you’ve been doin’ this for over 25 years.”

Here’s hoping they do get a lil’ fishing in. They could use it!

SEE THEM LIVE: LYNYRD SKYNRD

SAT 08 FEB THE AMPHITHEATRE, TAUPO

SUN 09 FEB MATAKANA COUNTRY

PARK, NORTH AUCKLAND

SAT 15 FEB GIBBSTON VALLEY WINERY,

QUEENSTOWN

“I still think about Ronnie every day - he’s still my inspiration to go on stage.”

TIM GRUAR

42 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

http://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/Westfest-tickets/artist/1935440

STYLE FILE ARTIST Q&A

HARRIET SPRATTFASHION DESIGNER What’s the ethos of your store/clothing line? SPRATT is colourful, creepy and weird. Mostly weird, but that’s why I love it.

Which historical figure had some wicked style? Frida Kahlo. All of the colours, patterns and flowers resulted in absolute awesomeness.

What muso/celebrity has style up the wazoo? Dionne Davenport from Clueless. I know she’s just a character, but if she were real, she’d probably rule the world or something.

Society’s biggest fashion faux-pas? Leggings as pants. I don’t care how good your butt is, they’re just awful.

What’s the must-have look this season? Patterns on patterns. Mixing prints is dangerous territory, but when it’s done right, it’s such a wicked triumph.

Colours/patterns big this season? I’m loving yellow this season. Whether it’s just a splash, or an entire outfit, I’m in.

What are the essentials for a man’s wardrobe? You can tell a lot from a man by looking at his shoes. If you’ve got a good leather lace up, you’ve got my vote.

What are the essentials for a lady’s wardrobe? Leather boots, blue jeans, killer sunnies and a stick of mascara. Build any outfit around those and you’re sorted.

Everyone should own at least one good… A book. Reading is such a lovely novelty that you can access whenever you want, and when you’re amidst a good book, everything just seems all right in that moment.

Hyphenate three words to describe your style: 90’s–eclectic–bright.

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CHARLOTTE YATESSINGER SONGWRITER Your house is on fire, what do save? My stepdaughters!

Favourite ‘90s TV show? Seinfeld (especially Elaine’s dancing) closely followed by Fast Forward.

Dream job as a kid? Cowboy – desperately.

First album? I’ll treat this question as the first I bought myself (13y/o) and it was a second hand LP copy of Mental Notes by Split Enz from Nelson’s wonderful record store Everyman Records. I still have the LP and the store is still operating.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be? Top bar hiver. If you know what it is, you know what it is.

Ultimate festival line-up? Stage 1: Nancy Griffiths/Gillian Welch/Trio (Dolly Parton, EmmyLou Harris, Linda Ronstadt) Stage 2: Ry Cooder/Muddy Waters/Long Tall Marcia Ball Stage 3: Paul Kelly/Joni Mitchell/Neil Young Stage 4: Carmel/Cassandra Wilson/Gotan Project Stage 5: Sly and the Family Stone/Prince/Michael Jackson (all unplugged)

Who would play you in a film? Grace Jones… I can dream.

Worst job you’ve had? Canning fish at Sealord’s one school holidays. Lasted two days.

Which song do you wish you wrote? Financially – ‘Happy Birthday.’ Emotionally – ‘I Will Survive.’

Biggest fear? Back surgery, and the curse of cancer.

First gig in attendance? Ironically, Split Enz with Blam Blam Blam as support, in a bleak sports ground in Palmerston North (17y/o).

Any vices? Wine, women and song.

SEE HER LIVE: CHARLOTTE YATES

AS A PART OF AUCKLAND PRIDE FESTIVAL

SAT 08 FEB TABAC, AUCKLAND

Christchurch Symphony Orchestra Presents

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SATURDAY 29TH MARCH, 7.30PM CBS CANTERBURY ARENA

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Singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and voice of rock band System of a Down

CS0717 Serj Full Page.indd 1 4/12/13 9:31 am

44 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

Christchurch Symphony Orchestra Presents

Principal sponsor

SATURDAY 29TH MARCH, 7.30PM CBS CANTERBURY ARENA

BOOK NOW 0800 842 538or visit ticketek.co.nz Service fees apply

SERJ TANKIANOrca & Elect the Dead Symphony Tour

Scan to Book Tickets

ONLY NZ SHOW

Singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and voice of rock band System of a Down

CS0717 Serj Full Page.indd 1 4/12/13 9:31 am

HERMITUDE

SEBASTIAN MACKAY

PIGEONHOLING CREATIVITY IS a lethal move. It separates fans and it leads them to turn against the artists, especially when they try something new and different (Linkin Park, anyone?). But new and different signifies growth and while (some) fans may be happy with the same album in the same way, time and time again, repeating yourself artistically is torturous. Hermitude, the electronic hip hop duo from Australia, face that problem.

One of most common misconceptions of the duo, says Angus ‘Elgusto’ Stuart, is that they play “straight up club music” but as they’ve proved (fighting against their hip hop genre lumping, though Stuart does say “which we love and are very grounded”) they’re more than a club beats duo with the same tricks up their sleeve. “We do something’s that aren’t hip hop at all and are much more electronic.”

There are more tricks on the way. It’s been two years since the release of Hyperparadise and Stuart and co producer Luke Dubber are back in the studio

working on a follow up record. Which, Stuart says, should be finished late this year.

It’ll be the next step in the Hermitude journey that began with the duo mixing old jazz, soul and classic records with sound library standard samples. On the third record that all changed with the introduction of samples they’d recorded themselves and Hyperparadise was a return to the no rules strategy that had powered their earlier work.

It isn’t, however, any signal as to whether the new album will be more electronic than hip hop, more hip hop than electronic or a masterful combination of them both.

What is clear is that they’re toying with the all the flexibility electronic music and production affords them. “We’ve been out recording storm water drains and the sounds of the cracking. And then we’ve gone back to the studio and created a massive reverb and we’ve manipulated it.”

The end result is otherworldly sound that transcends what

Stuart calls rock music’s “tools of the trade” (guitars, bass and drums). “With electronic music you can go anywhere. You have a wide frequency range that can go really low or really high.”

The Hermitude creative process is less restrictive than the music. Stuart says they begin, in the most sensible of places, with an

Hermitude don’t have a lot of lyrics and so what people connect with is completely different to what’s in any other genre (naturally). Stuart believes it’s the technicality of the music and the aforementioned range that draws people to electronic music.

He says their song ‘Speak of the Devil’ comes from a night where some of his friends were feeling the vibe of the club music and others weren’t. It’s all about the connection and what will make someone stand up and dance.

When it comes to their lyrics, despite them being few and far between, their fans construct their own stories for the songs. “We don’t have a lot of lyrics and people take what they imagine them to be from our songs and that becomes their story for the song.”

The duo are bringing their electronic hip hop music to our shores this month. It’s one of the few shows they’re planning to play this year and comes off the back of their showing at

“We’ve been out recording storm water drains and the sounds of the cracking.”

idea. That idea will be anything from a drum beat to a synth and in due course it becomes a sample and is chopped up and messed around with until it sparks and the song ignites.

For Stuart, it’s a creative release. “To me, it’s an outlet of creativity and emotion and it’s also about connecting with people. I don’t do a lot of writing so it’s good as an outlet. People say that music is a universal language and it’s interesting to see how music brings people together and where our music has taken us.”

Rhythm & Vines. The rest of the year is loaded up for writing and recording the new the record. And while no one may have any ideas as to what’s which genre they’ll cross into next, what’s clear is this: they’ll do it with all the gusto and finesse of the other albums.

SEE THEM LIVE: HERMITUDE

W/ CHET FAKER

SAT 22 FEB THE POWERSTATION,

AUCKLAND

46 | RIPITUP.CO.NZ

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