Cairo Knife Fight
By Wal Reid
Nick Gaffaney possesses all the traits of your typical rock musician, long hair, decked out in the traditional colour black with a sprig of class provided by his glass of vodka lime & bitters.
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.
These Automatic Changers
By Poppy Tohill
Think rock, psychedelic, blues, crank the volume up as loud as it can go and then you have the kiwi four piece known as These Automatic Changes.
Jukebox The Ghost
By Poppy Tohill
On the odd occasion I'll go in search for some new music using the 'browse' feature on Spotify. Now, I don't always come across new artists or music when doing this, but on this one particular day I did, and I was more than pleased with my new discovery.
Fear Factory
By Sebastian Mackay
Fear Factory are legendary. They do stuff with guitars and noise that made people I like want to do the same stuff. That's where my connection to Fear Factory began and up until chatting to Burton C. Bell I thought that was where it ended - it's not though. So like an elephant on a tightrope I proceed to make myself look like a right dick in the following interview but Burton had fun... I think.
Che Fu
By Steven Grant
It's a busy couple of months ahead for Che Fu. This Saturday December 13th, Che and his band The Kratez are ready to perform some good vibes at Raggamuffin on an impressive bill featuring UB40, Cypress Hill and Ice Cube (just to name a few), while in January he heads of on The Winery Tour with his band Supergroove.
Jon Toogood
By Sebastian Mackay
I got 25 minutes with Jon Toogood during a lightning storm in Melbourne. During that 25 minutes Jon covered everything from existential life questions to working as part of a theatre to the food that he'd eat every day until the day he died ("I reckon you'd get sick of it by dinner" he said, only half mockingly) and just how readily available thermals are.
Sammy Johnson
By Ben Doy
Sammy Johnson has today released his self-titled EP. The recording features first single ‘No Sleep' which topped the NZ iTunes Reggae chart as well as cracking the US Billboard Top 40 Reggae Chart, while new single ‘Hey' debuted in the NZ Top 20 single charts.
Interview: Cairo Knife Fight
By Sebastian Mackay
I thought this day would never come... in fact, I'm so shocked by it I'm using it to justify this little preamble to my chit chat with the main man behind Cairo Knife Fight, Nick Gaffaney, (feel free to skip ahead). I'm about to intro this article with an AC/DC quote. Unfortunately, it ain't no clever quip about hitmen, murder, or indeed, knowing you must have let go of the Rudd-er to think you could pull that one off (see what I did there? Yeah...) in good ol' Godzone.
Interview: Agent
By Poppy Tohill
After relocating to London in 2008, Kiwi progressive rock band Agenthave quickly become regulars on the live music scene playing alongside numerous bands including fellow Kiwis, I Am Giant and Jayson Norris.
Cavalera Conspiracy
By Sebastian Mackay
Max Cavalera is a God. His disciples swarm to him like a cult and hang off his every word. Whether Cavalera Conspiracy, the Sepultura days, Soulfly, Nailbomb or the new project Killer Be Killed, The Children Of Cavalera* are obsessive but Max remains grounded. The once strung out drug and alcohol abuser takes it with a nod and keeps doing what he's doing.
Kevin Mark Trail
By Sebastian Mackay
Listening to Kevin Mark Trail speak, in a rapid fire English accent over the roar of a train and excited shouts in the background, my internal monologue was singing Good Charlotte's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous quietly to itself, interjected with a deluge of snide comments. (Mum says I need to work on my people skills and I'm finally beginning to see that).
Hazel Mills - The Paper Cinema's 'Odyssey'
By Poppy Tohill
What happens at the accidental meeting of inkblots, photocopies, cardboard, angle-poise lamps, video technology, a laptop and a banana box? The United Kingdom's ‘Paper Cinema,' theatre company is what happens. Using the language of animation, music, film and theatre to lead viewers through a variety of stories, New Zealanders are lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience their most recent work‘Odyssey' in action this month, as the English theatre company bring this show to our shores for the very first time since its premiere in the spring of 2012.
Hotboxed Treehut
By Poppy Tohill
Step aside Katchafire, there's a new reggae band in town. Forming just over a year ago, Auckland's newest seven piece roots reggae band who go by the name of Hotboxed Treehut, have just released their debut single, Positive Music, and a brand new music video to go with it.
Itch
By Poppy Tohill
Some of you may be familiar with the punk rock band The King Blueswho for ten years challenged the politicians and war-monger's of theUnited Kingdom with their original punk rock, ska, protest music. Well almost three years on from their break up, vocalist Jonny Fox, is back on the airwaves, more commonly known and referred to as ‘Itch' these days which is his stage name for his now, solo musical career.
Shapeshifter
By Poppy Tohill
With the release of Shapeshifter and The UpBeats EP, SSXUB, vocalist P Digsss provided some laughs, and information about the EP to me down the phone line last month just hours prior to it's anticipated release.
Interview: Bernie Griffen
By Poppy Tohill
Bernie Griffen has got a new band. The Thin Men, a new album,'Salvation,' and a bit of a new sound. Launching the release of the new album at Auckland's Tuning Fork late last month, I caught up with Bernie and one third of the thin men, who is in fact not a man at all, but Griffen's long time musical partner Kirsten Warner, at the bands soundcheck ahead of their show later that night.
Nico And Vinz
By Sebastian Mackay
Nico and Vinz have made quite the storm - even still I'd never heard of them but that says more about me than it does them - and if the hype is to be believed they're going to be dominating the charts of every country across the world (literally speaking. They've triumphed over the United States, which let's be honest pretty much is the world, and they've trampled over pop everywhere from Denmark to the UK). But there's one thing about this duo that stands out more than everything else: when he has to Nico can talk a million words a minute, bloody good for me because we were only given 10.