The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Andrew Gladstone of Golden Curtain
28 Jul 2014 | 3 min read
Elsewhere has a soft spot for the band Golden Curtain because they make unashamed pop-rock music which is big on verses and choruses, and so we have previously said good things about their albums English Tuning (2013) and this year's Dream City. And if you click on those links you will see the pedigree in this three-piece. So we are delighted to see them booked for an Auckland gig at... > Read more
Be Around
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Tony Abbott of the Gary Harvey Band
18 Jul 2014 | 3 min read
The name Tony Abbott might not be that familiar, but his searing and/or sensitive guitar playing has been a hallmark of albums by the long-running Gary Harvey Band, and before that in Gary Harvey and the Night Owls. Abbott is just as capable as sitting back and playing the tasteful measures in slow acosutic numbers as he is turning it up to 11 and unleashing the hard rock-cum-psych beast... > Read more
Nuthin' But the Blues
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Chris Wade
20 Jun 2014 | 3 min read
British one-man band and slightlydelic musician Chris Wade goes about his musical business under the name Dodson and Fogg, which is a lovely English moniker. He first came to Elsewhere's attention via a compilation through The Active Listener, and after we posted a favourable review of that he got in touch and sent on his most recent album After the Fall which ended up in our Favourite... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Melody Pool
16 Jun 2014 | 3 min read
Even back home in Australia the 21-year odl singer Melody Pool has yet to create a wave and in his review of her debut album The Hurting Scene, the writer Iain Shedden for the Australian opened with, "Chances are you won't have heard of Melody Pool". He then hailed her Nashille-recorded album which was crowd-funded and produced by Jace Everett of the True Blood/Bad Things song and... > Read more
Pretty Little End
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Jordan Luck
13 Jun 2014 | 2 min read
In the middle of this month -- June 21st touchdown, June 25th a concert at Auckland's Town Hall -- the Beatles made direct contact with New Zealand. The reception here 50 years ago was much like everywhere in '64, the height of Beatlemania: huge crowds, screaming, shows that people saw but barely heard . . . It was a turning point in New Zealand popular culture and to mark the occasion... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Zane Hawkins
11 Jun 2014 | 2 min read
In the middle of this month -- June 21st touchdown, June 25th a concert at Auckland's Town Hall -- the Beatles made direct contact with New Zealand. The reception here 50 years ago was much like everywhere in '64, the height of Beatlemania: huge crowds, screaming, shows that people saw but barely heard . . . It was a turning point in New Zealand popular culture and to mark the occasion... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Grace Brebner
9 Jun 2014 | 3 min read
In the middle of this month -- June 21st touchdown, June 25th a concert at Auckland's Town Hall -- the Beatles made direct contact with New Zealand. The reception here 50 years ago was much like everywhere in '64, the height of Beatlemania: huge crowds, screaming, shows that people saw but barely heard . . . It was a turning point in New Zealand popular culture and to mark the occasion... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Jed Town
7 Jun 2014 | 2 min read
In the middle of this month -- June 21st touchdown, June 25th a concert at Auckland's Town Hall -- the Beatles made direct contact with New Zealand. The reception here 50 tears ago was much like everywhere in '64, the height of Beatlemania: huge crowds, screaming, shows that people saw but barely heard . . . It was a turning point in New Zealand popular culture and to mark the occasion... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Mike Chunn
6 Jun 2014 | 2 min read
In the middle of this month -- June 21st touchdown, June 25th a concert at Auckland's Town Hall -- the Beatles made direct contact with New Zealand. The reception here 50 years ago was much like everywhere in '64, the height of Beatlemania: huge crowds, screaming, shows that people saw but barely heard . . . It was a turning point in New Zealand popular culture and to mark the occasion... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Martin Phillipps of the Chills
26 May 2014 | 2 min read
Although it is easy to be flippant about the Chills' constantly changing line-ups during their heyday, that denies the great music which poured from Martin Phillipps' feverishly melodic brain. As one of the great hopes of the Flying Nun label, they may have faltered from time to time on the career trajectory we might have wished for them, but that takes nothing away from the music,... > Read more
Molten Gold
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Rachel and Hayden Donnell of Great North
8 May 2014 | 5 min read
New Zealand band Great North impressed Elsewhere back in the day, 2009 to be precise, when we had the time to review EPs. Of their EP Soldiers we felt the angels were watching over them, and later their 2010 debut album Newfoundland was one of our best of the year choices. They were part of rock'n'roll lineage which stretched from electric Dylan and Neil Young through the Waterboys and... > Read more
Up in Smoke
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Bryce Wastney
30 Apr 2014 | 2 min read
Because Elsewhere will never (knowingly) fib to you, we're going to be straight-up and say . . . Bryce Wastney? Never 'eard of 'im, mate. That was until this New Zealand singer-songwriter flicked us an e-mail saying he was touring with Australia's Germein Sisters. And who modestly mentioned some nice comments about himself from New Zealand Musician Magazine and Mike Alexander in... > Read more
Dead Man Walking
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Shayna King
28 Apr 2014 | 2 min read
A few weeks ago Elsewhere scooped up the impressive debut album The Day is Young by the Christchurch-based singer-songwriter Shayna King as part of a package of releases. They had all been part of the avalanche of album releases around the Christmas period. At that time (here) we noted it would seem a real pity if her album was overlooked because there was obviously a keen intelligence and... > Read more
Swept Away
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Chris from Gold Medal Famous
3 Apr 2014 | 3 min read | 1
You have to like and admire Wellington's artrock-cum-satirical pop group Gold Medal Famous. They rock, they roll, they are witty and droll. When Elsewhere reviewed their 2011 album 100 Years of Rock we concluded this was a band where one week you might be in the audience and the next you might be on stage as part of the group. They write songs like They're Drinking My Punch,... > Read more
100 Years of Rock
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Liv McBride of Into the East
24 Mar 2014 | 4 min read
Regular readers of Elsewhere would find it no surprise that the debut album by Into the East, Fight From the Inside, picked up the 2014 Tui for Best NZ Folk Album, Album of The Year and Band of The Year at the Southland Entertainment Awards and more recently, a nomination for the highly regarded Taite Music Prize. Elsewhere picked Fight from the Inside... > Read more
Perfect Storm
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Grayson Gilmour
22 Mar 2014 | 3 min read
Currently touring on the back of his excellent new album Infinite Life! (dates below, album reviewed here), Grayson Gilmour took time out to answer our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire . . . and his answers proved as interesting as you might expect. Gilmour's work over half a dozen albums has stretched to soundtracks and helium-filled pop, (and of course he is part of the band So So Modern).... > Read more
Round Round Silver Bell Tree
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Damien Dempsey
21 Mar 2014 | 2 min read
If we judge people by the company they keep or those who admire them, then Ireland's Damien Dempsey is somewhere in the clouds. His fans include Sinead O'Connor and Brian Eno (who have recorded parts for some of his songs), at their invitation he's opened for U2, Bob Dylan, Hothouse Flowers and Morrissey, and his hard-edged songs have won praise in Rolling Stone, Mojo, The Guardian and so... > Read more
Colony
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Arthur Ahbez
18 Mar 2014 | 2 min read
And still they come . . . Musicians are washing up on New Zealand's shores with more regularity than sea weed and empty water bottles these days. But here too comes local contender Arthur Ahbez once again after previous impressive showings. He's a psych-influenced folk-cum-rock guy who delivers a lovely line in dreamy acid-infused pop and Neil Young acoustic ballardy. At least that's the... > Read more
A Way to Weaken
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Jonas Kullhammar
17 Mar 2014 | 2 min read
Saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar has won and been nominated for more awards in his homeland Sweden than we could begin to count. The 35-year old helmed his own acclaimed quartet from 1998 until very recently when with the release of the album Lat Det Vara -- in a cover which mimicked the Beatles' final album Let It Be -- he announced that would be their last recording. Not that Kullhammar would... > Read more
Lat Det Vara
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Louis Baker
17 Mar 2014 | 2 min read
One-time Wellingtonian Louis Baker has done good, as they say. Hopes are understandably high for his self-titled debut EP because of its soulful sound and the maturity of his songwriting. One of the tracks on the EP -- released on March 21 through record stores, bandcamp and iTunes -- is The Way which was written and recorded while he was at the Red Bull Music Academy in New York, and the... > Read more