Marlon Williams
By Wal Reid
Marlon Williams' image always conjures up the perfect coiffured look. The Kiwi's Marlon Brando matinee idol looks and dreamy voice has spawned many a great tune, even Rhythms Magazine garnishing the two time New Zealand Music Award winning singer-songwriter as the "Artist To Watch" in 2014.
His latest single Dark Child's music video is an insight into the dark world of the human mind, its subtle guitar lull overtones transports the viewer to a scene akin to a American horror movie with Williams starring as young man hell-bent on being arrested after what looks like a murder scene has taken place, a ghoulish affair yet one that Williams doesn't entirely look out of place of.
"The concept was brought to me by director Damian Golfinopoulos in Auckland and it struck me as an interesting concept" muses Williams.
"It seems to me it's the classic American movie scene of the privileged kid taken out of the home, taken out in handcuffs and obviously he's done something awful, and his parents are crying and there's body bags thrown on the lawn. It gets played over and over again and gets stranger and stranger, different versions of the same scene, I don't know it struck me as an interesting concept"
I can't remember the last time I had seen a good music video that hard hitting, one that had ‘balls' that would sit nicely alongside some niche short film festival showing or maybe on Campbell Live, well, maybe with the exception of Cairo Knife Fight's new Rezlord video. Actually make that two great Kiwi music videos.
Williams sets out on the ‘Dark Child' New Zealand tour this February with support from Wellington groupEb & Sparrow kicking off the tour in Dunedin on Friday 13th Feb with full band The Yarra Benders.
"My band is made up of half Aussies and half Kiwis" he says laughing. "There's myself and Jason who plays bass in Eb & Sparrow who are supporting us, my drummer is my new best friend over here in Melbourne - he works downstairs at the pub I live at where I'm calling you right now, and Dan Parsons who plays pedal steel and guitar they're both been playing in the Melbourne music scene for a while now. I'm excited to bring them over to New Zealand".
With so many Kiwi artists wanting to take the next step and cross the ditch, Australia seems the logical place to springboard any musical career to the rest of the world, it was a phenomenon in the 80s when bands from New Zealand couldn't get out of here fast enough to play the lucrative Aussie pub scene, however it's a cash cow that comes at a price, even if it means being adopted by the locals.
"It's pretty good really, there's press releases coming out saying ‘Melbourne's adopted Son' they're very embracing very quickly" quips Williams.
"I think they're so use to us jumping over the ditch that they've worked out the best ways to snap us up quickly before we know what we're doing. It's certainly a very friendly place for a Kiwi anyway, of all the possible options it's the best one I could have made I reckon."
Marlon Williams And The Yarra Benders
Friday February 13th: Chicks Hotel, Dunedin - Tickets via Under The Radar
Saturday February 14th: St Michaels Church, Christchurch - Tickets via Under The Radar
Friday February 20th: Tuning Fork, Auckland - Tickets via Ticketmaster
Saturday February 21st: San Francisco Bath House, Wellington - Tickets via Under The Radar
Check out our review of Marlon Williams July 2014 show at the Tuning Fork HERE