The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Jamie McDell
23 Mar 2015 | 3 min read
Although 22-year old singer-songwriter Jamie McDell from Auckland (or Raglan if there's good weather) is often characterised as a poster girl for healthy living, the outdoor life and eco-consciousness, it's also worth remembering she is an accomplished songwriter whose debut album Six Strings and a Sailboat won her the Tui for the best pop album of 2013 (and she was nominated for breakthrough... > Read more
Fly Honeys
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Emma Davey
13 Mar 2015 | 2 min read
A couple of weeks back Wellington singer-songwriter Emma Davey could happily buy a slightly better quality bottle of supermarket wine because her debut album The Court of Love was sitting on the New Zealand music chart in the top 10. While the jazz-influenced title track might have reflected back on her work with vocalist Dave Feehan and her appearances at the Tauranga Jazz Festival,... > Read more
Damaged Man
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Quail State aka Jono Aidney
3 Mar 2015 | 4 min read
Jono Aidney who performs as Quail State has been through illness and itinerancy, but now back in his hometown of Auckland he has posted his debut album, Volcano Hazards of Auckland, at bandcamp (here) and launches it this Friday, see poster below. Aidney is an articulate guy and that comes through in his focused, gritty and pretty terrific dark take on power pop. And also in what he has to... > Read more
Idle Hands
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Nick Mc Grath of Sparrow Thieves
23 Feb 2015 | 2 min read
Last week Elsewhere was pleased to introduce, Lethargic Caffeine, the debut album by Southland's Sparrow Thieves noting gthat it betrayed a maturity of songwriting and an economy of pop-rock into power-pop style. It seemed natural therefore to flick Nick McGrath the band's main songwriter our specially framed songwriter's questionnaire. And needless to say his comments as as interesting... > Read more
Golden Age of the Gas Station
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Sharon Van Etten
11 Feb 2015 | 2 min read
Although Sharon Van Etten has only made one prior appearance at Elsewhere (the very favourable review of her 2012 album Tramp) the New York singer-songwriter has long been one of our favourites for her highly literate rock which has its roots in folk. Her most recent album Are We There (deliberately without the question mark) has picked up the best reviews of her career, so to see her in... > Read more
Every Time The Sun Comes Up
THE FAMOUS JAZZ ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Andrew Hall of Spiral
2 Feb 2015 | 2 min read
With influences from across the pop and rock spectrum within the context of their jazz, the large ensemble Spiral -- which had its origins on Auckland's West Coast -- present something rather different than the expected. The collective experience of the members includes time with Batucada Sound System, the Rodger Fox Big Band and Hayley Westenra, as well appearances at Montreux, the... > Read more
Pick Me Up
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Jarii Von Gohl of DYSE
26 Jan 2015 | 2 min read
The noisy German duo DYSE -- drummer/singer Jarii Van Gohl and guitarist/singer Andrej Dietrich -- make what one new fan on Facebook described as "maths rock". And that sums it up: disciplined, angular, abrupt stops and starts, rigorously worked out . . . They make sometimes thrilling racket and at other times edge out into what you might call prog-metal. And for just two... > Read more
Reudikamm
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE REGGAE QUESTIONNAIRE: Logan Bell of Katchafire
24 Dec 2014 | 2 min read
Elsewhere has long held the view that Hamilton reggae band Katchafire have been the hardest working band in the country. Three gigs on one Waitangi Day alone tells you how committed they are. But having played around this country -- and recording a series of excellent albums -- they also took flight and have toured in Australia and the US. Oh, and Brazil. It's been more than a decade... > Read more
Seek Ye
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE REGGAE QUESTIONNAIRE: Etana
12 Dec 2014 | 2 min read
By happy chance, we received a reply from Etana to our Famous Elsewhere Reggae Questionnaire . . . and a year ago she had answered our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire. But she's a star and the questions are of course different (and where they are the same it is interesting to compare her answers) so let's give the Jamaican soul-reggae queen another shot at it . . . and anyway she's got a new... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE REGGAE QUESTIONNAIRE: Fiji
4 Dec 2014 | 2 min read
He's called Fiji because he comes from . . . err, Hawaii actually. George Veikoso aka reggae/r'n'b man Fiji -- who is of Fijian heritage -- has been a regular touring artist around the Pacific Rim, has released a swag of albums in the past two decades (see here), and is an advocate for the specifically Pacific sound. "If you’re going to be a Pacific Islander artist,” he... > Read more
Sweet Darlin
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE REGGAE QUESTIONNAIRE: A-Kel of Tomorrow People
3 Dec 2014 | 2 min read
They began life as a studio project . . . but the Wellington collective that is Tomorrow People quickly became a proper band, and one which took their name from the Ziggy Marley song and are unashamedly purveyors of "sunshine reggae". Which might just mean one-drop for barbecues in Aotearoa. They are certainly firmly within a soulful, consciousness tradition as evidenced on... > Read more
Souljah Feeling
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE REGGAE QUESTIONNAIRE: Sammy Johnson
28 Nov 2014 | 3 min read
Sammy Johnson is a genuine New Zealand reggae star. His single No Sleep -- which is on his just released debut EP -- topped the local reggae charts and got into the Billboard Top 40 reggae chart. His new single Hey looks like doing just as weill if not better, it is in the US iTunes top 20 this week. And he's also toured in the US, done dates in Australia and is currently touring New... > Read more
Take Me
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Julian Temple
24 Nov 2014 | 3 min read | 1
Here's a clever compliment: Zeitgeist magazine in the UK said of the Julian Temple Band they were “like the loudest blues band in the world whispering”. And Indie Music in the States said of Temple's songs they were "as dark as the grave and as hopeful as spring, this music is a wonderful and unexpected contradiction of emotions". It's surprising therefore to... > Read more
Upsidedownbackwards
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Mick Flannery
19 Nov 2014 | 1 min read
And from out of Cork he comes: singer-songwriter Mick Flannery whose By The Rule album topped the Irish charts within days of its release, and of course was followed by a sell-out tour of Ireland and the UK, as you do. Flannery is now kicking off a New Zealand tour with compatriot John Spillane, and the pair have previously teamed up for a series of shows taking on the Marquee... > Read more
The Small Fire
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Otis Mace
19 Nov 2014 | 3 min read
You would have to have lived a very sheltered life in Auckland not to have encountered Otis Mace, the post-punk street singer-songwriter who has become something of a folk hero. In his time Mace has recorded for Ode, Ripper and Jayrem, opened for Bily Bragg, Violent Femmes, Dead on Arrival and others, has wriiten for films, theatre and dance productions . . . He's also held down quite a... > Read more
The Revenge of the Five-Hundred Thousand Tonne Baby
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Thom Powers of Naked and Famous
14 Nov 2014 | 3 min read
The annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are more than just a night for winners in the various categories, it has become an opportunity to celebrate the growth and diversity of the local music industry . . . and these days its global reach. It wasn't always like that as I noted in this article recently. The event is once again at Vector Arena in Auckland, on November 20, tickets... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Ladi6
12 Nov 2014 | 4 min read
The annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are more than just a night for winners in the various categories, it has become an opportunity to celebrate the growth and diversity of the local music industry . . . and these days its global reach. It wasn't always like that as I noted in this article recently. The event is once again at Vector Arena in Auckland, on November 20, tickets... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Sam Browne of Black River Drive
10 Nov 2014 | 4 min read
When it comes to hard rock from New Zealand, you are spoiled for choice . . . but making a serious entry into the international stakes are Black River Drive whose second album Quicksand is a real milestone. Recorded over two months and produced in Nashville by Toby Wright (who has twiddled the knobs for Slayer, Alice in Chains and Metallica among others), the album has a genuine sonic punch... > Read more
Grenade
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Adam Usmani of Madam Tsunami
3 Nov 2014 | 4 min read
Adam Usmani – mainman for the band Madam Tsumani – works a day job and has two kids, but perhaps because of that his songwriting touches some very real places beyond the cliches of pop-rock. Influenced by the emotional directness of grunge (without the noise-power) and with nods towards the likes of Ben Harper and reggae, Madam Tsunami's debut album Man in the Middle also... > Read more
Temptation
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: French for Rabbits
31 Oct 2014 | 4 min read
This is what we love to hear. We sent the Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire to Brooke, John and Ben of French for Rabbits and when it came back Brooke had written in the e-mail: "It made made the long trip from Warsaw to Berlin more entertaining!" Yes, New Zealand musicians out there conquering the world one gig at a time . . . although on long boring journeys between. FFR (... > Read more