The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Callum Lee
27 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Iva Lamkum
20 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
Elsewhere first came across Wellington singer-songwriter Iva Lamkum as far back as 2008 and said then of her self-titled debut EP, "if there is a more assured, musically intelligent and sophisticated debut this year I'd be very surprised". So her soulful debut album Black Eagle out on Friday -- on which her vocal style has been inviting comparisons with Amy Winehouse -- has seemed... > Read more
Blue Moscow
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Kody Nielson
18 Aug 2012 | 1 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Kody Nielson, nominated for his song Getaway Tonight performed by Opossom. The first song which really affected you was . . . The first... > Read more
Getaway Tonight
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Anna MacDonald (Annah Mac)
16 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Anna MacDonald who performs as Annah Mac and had made the shortlist for her song Girl in Stilettos from her album Little Stranger. The first... > Read more
Girl in Stilettos
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Lydia Cole
15 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Lydia Cole, nominated for her song Hibernate from her album Me and Moon. The first song which really affected you was . . . Probably... > Read more
Hibernate
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Adam McGrath
14 Aug 2012 | 6 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. First out of the gate is Adam McGrath of the Eastern (their album Hope and Wire reviewed here) for his song State Houses by the River. He offers a quick... > Read more
State Houses by the River
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Sola Rosa
9 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
As Sola Rosa, Andrew Spraggon has previously brought reggae, Latin, soul and hip-hip into seamless electronica albums which have placed him on the world stage. And on his new album Low and Behold, High and Beyond he collaborates with the likes of Spikey Tee (Roots Manuva, Jah Wobble) and singer Olivier Daysoul, has the album mixed by Yaron Fuchs (Talib Kweli, KIngs of Leon) and mastered by... > Read more
In My Dreams
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kurt Shanks
16 Jul 2012 | 3 min read
Kurt Shanks -- former bass player and sometime songwriter in the award-winning and big selling band Stellar* -- was born into the musical life, as you may see from one of the answers to a question below. But there is more to him than just the Stellar* connection: back in 2007 he produced a live DVD of Steve Kilbey (of the Church) in concert in Auckland (see here) and after Stellar* split he... > Read more
15 Years
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Savage
9 Jul 2012 | 1 min read
Savage -- known to his Samoan parents as Demetrius Savelio -- opens his new album Mayhem and Miracles with the assertion My Time. And if it is, it is his again because has already one major claim, the first New Zealand rapper to sell a million in the US (for his remix single Swing which appeared in the movie Knocked Up). From success with Deceptikonz to a solo career, Savage has walked the... > Read more
Get Paid
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Mark Lockett
18 Jun 2012 | 2 min read
Although drummer/composer Mark Lockett has lived in Melbourne for the past decade, he still feels the draw of his homeland and – with the release of his debut album Sneaking Out After Midnight on the Rattle Jazz imprint – he is coming back to New Zealand with his hot band for a few shows. Recorded in New York with saxophonist Joel Frahm and bassist Orlando Le Fleming, the... > Read more
Good Day for a Dog
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Lenny Henry
5 Jun 2012 | 4 min read
Yes, let's be clear: British comedian Lenny Henry is not a musician, but the first time he ever got on stage he sang Elvis' Jailhouse Rock and in his shows he has parodied numerous musicians. Henry's long career has taken him through stand-up, numerous television show (his own, comedies such as Chef!) and more recently serious critical acclaim for his role in Othello. But music... > Read more
Boiled Beef and Carrots
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ed Castelow of Dictaphone Blues
30 Apr 2012 | 2 min read
Ed Castelow is the mastermind behing the pop-rock implosion that is Dictaphone Blues' new album Beneath the Crystal Palace. Formerly in the Ruby Suns and the Brunettes. he has taken a prolonged and rewarding trip into psychedelic pop without whimsy, rock with stadium-shaped songs and plundered the Manual of Power Pop Riffs And References to create something exciting, familiar yet new, loud... > Read more
Burning Ball in Outer Space
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Tono
23 Apr 2012 | 2 min read
Anthonie Tonnon -- aka Tono -- is behind and out from of the highly regarded, wryly observational band Tono and the Finance Company. Originally from Dunedin and a )possibly temporary) Auckland resident, Tono looks at life with a jaundiced eye and yer his songs offer comfort and hope at the same time. Their debut EP Fragile Things alerted people to a major writing talent (and crafty song... > Read more
Tim
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Matt Joe Gow of the Dead Leaves
16 Apr 2012 | 2 min read
Singer-songwriter Matt Joe Gow grew up in Dunedin listening to the sound of Flying Nun bands, but as a longtime Australian resient he has taken another direction with his band the Dead Leaves. Their first album -- credited to Matt Joe Gow and the Dead Leaves, The Messenger -- received good notices for its smart alt.country feel, but for the new album Cities on the Sea, Gow has pulled his... > Read more
If Anyone Asks
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Graeme Downes of the Verlaines
10 Apr 2012 | 2 min read
Graeme Downes is a singular character in the New Zealand music scene. He has been behind the Verlaines since the early days of Flying Nun at the dawn of the Eighties but along the way also completed his music degree and PhD (in Gustav Mahler, one of the big guns). Latterly, as Dr Graeme Downes, he has overseen the popular music songwriting and performance course at the University of Otago in... > Read more
Born Again Idiot
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Mikee Tucker of Loop Recordings
2 Apr 2012 | 2 min read
The word generalist -- which Bowie applied to himself in the late Seventies -- is perhaps the best term to describe Mikee Tucker of New Zealand's Loop Recordings. Check the credits on the new Fly My Pretties album (reviewed here) and he's there as the group's producer and tour manager, as well as co-conceptualist with Barnaby Weir. And one of the creative directors with Weir, art... > Read more
Apple Heart
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Scalper
26 Mar 2012 | 3 min read
The name might sound menacing and the music can most definitely be, but Scalper -- aka Nadeem Shafi -- is, in Elsewhere's experience, scrupulously poilte and signs off his communications with "Peace". Born in East London to a Pakistani family, he was a member of London's crossover hip-hop/Asian fusion outfit Fund-da-mental and in that capacity came to New Zealand for a Womad in... > Read more
Nothing
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Nathan Haines
19 Mar 2012 | 3 min read
It seems extraordinary to report that even though Nathan Haines is still a young man, he has been playing jazz for 25 years. First with his bassist father Kevin and brother Joel as Second Generation when he was still at school, and then through the clubs of Auckland, New York and London, and graduating onto concert stages. And along the way he has recorded one fine album after another. Even... > Read more
Realisation
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Gianmarco Liguori of Salon Kingsadore
15 Mar 2012 | 2 min read
Guitarist/composer Gianmarco Liguori has cut a sleek but subtle path between tripped-out jazz and spaceflight rock with the band Salon Kingsadore and also on a number of fascinating solo releases (see here). Given the nature of his music, it was no suprise that recently he played at the Auckland planetarium with Salon Kingsadore. Just sit back, watch the stars and constellations above and... > Read more
Translucent Formlessness
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Adam McGrath of the Eastern
12 Mar 2012 | 5 min read
Over two previous albums – their self-titled debut in 2009 and Arrows the next year – the hard-working Eastern out of Lyttelton firmly established themselves as poets of the public bar, a band which had heart-aching melodies to burn, moving lyrics which could give you a catch in the throat and some tough-minded alt.country rock which stood the comparison with Bruce... > Read more