New Zealand Music
Month has its critics. For many it represents little more than an inward-looking
self-indulgent “pat-on-the-back” fest, and I understand that argument without
necessarily buying into it. My own point of view is that NZ Music Month comes
from a good place, has good intent, and if we – as New Zealanders – don’t
celebrate this stuff, then nobody else will. It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t
all that long ago we had to introduce quotas just to ensure New Zealand music was played on local radio. For this May’s
annual celebration of New Zealand Music Month, I’m posting a series of classic
(and some not so classic) local music clips on the blog’s Facebook page. You
can check out the page and perhaps even give it a 'like' or a 'follow' (steady on!)
here …
But it also seems
timely to once again celebrate the ongoing contribution to the rich tapestry of
New Zealand music history currently being made by the AudioCulture site (click here), which documents artists, bands, scenes, venues, and just about every
other conceivable angle on pop culture in this part of the world – archiving
stuff from days gone by right up to the present day. There really is nothing
else like it. The “noisy library of New Zealand music” is an incredible
resource that will only continue to get bigger and better as more boxes are
ticked, as more artists/bands are profiled, and as more scenes and venue
histories are explored.
I feel lucky to
have been a part of it, and to have been paid for being a part of it, with site
content dudes Simon Grigg and Chris Bourke having indulged a few of my own
ramblings about various things near and dear to my own nostalgic heart. With –
gratuitous plug alert – my “scene” contributions about nightclubbing in
Wellington in the 1980s (here), the fabulous Soul Mine record store (here), the
long-running retro Atomic and 24-Hour Party People club nights (here), and my
band profile of early 90s Wellington funk-rockers Emulsifier (here). I appreciate that
I’m not a particularly great writer or wordsmith, but these articles are born
from a passion I can scarcely contain, one driven by a love of all things “us”
and local, and I’ve always felt that unless those of us who were there at the
time (pre-internet, pre-Social Media) make an effort to document the regional grassroots
stuff, much of it will fall between the cracks and be lost forever. It’s also
something I try to achieve on this blog. I take some heart from the fact that as I approach the blogpost number 600, all lack of direct feedback aside, everythingsgonegreen
is fast closing in on some 250,000 unique page hits. Small beer in the wider
context of things, I know, but it may surprise you that local or specifically
New Zealand-based content accounts for three of the four “most read” posts. The
most read being a very niche piece about 1980s um, nightlife, in the sprawling
metropolis that is Palmerston North. Who knew nearly 13,000 readers even cared? So I guess people
love nostalgia, especially smalltown/local nostalgia. Go figure. Finally, just
quickly, I also want to give a shout out for NZ Musician magazine (see here).
Writing various bits and bobs (features and reviews) for that publication
(unpaid) over a five-year period – although I’ve contributed very little of
late – has been a pleasure, and I guess it gave me the confidence to write that
other stuff for AudioCulture. Things don’t get
much more grassroots than NZ Musician. It really does dig deep, and although it
too has come in for some unwarranted criticism over the years, specifically for
being unable to pay its contributors, so many artists and bands have received
an important leg up from the exposure provided by that particular mag for the 30-odd years its been doing its very funky thing. Long may it
continue … online or otherwise. When all is said
and done though, the absolute best way to celebrate New Zealand Music Month is
to find some time this month to go to a local gig. Pay on the door. Support
young up and coming bands. Buy something local from Bandcamp (or elsewhere if
you can find an actual store). Buy something direct from the artist or band
itself … and keep doing it, not just across May, but all year long. And tell
your friends to do the same.
Just published this
week on AudioCulture, my fourth
contribution to a site which documents the who, what, where, and why of all
things New Zealand music. It’s a “scene” story about the popular Atomic club
night in Wellington, which by my reckoning is the longest-running regular club
night in the country - 22 years and counting. It’s also about DJ Bill E’s wider obsession with all
things retro and post-punk, and the various archiving projects he’s involved with. Check out the story at the link below ... https://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes/atomic-club-nights
It’s
been a quiet start to 2014 for everythingsgonegreen. I’m sure my reader will
have noticed (note: Mum, just pick up the phone). From the highs of the festive
period – and one or two extreme lows – right on through to that bastard we know
as the mid January return to work, your blogger was hotly pursing that near
mythical thing called rest and recreation. It’s apparently something people who
live in the real world do at least a couple of times a year. Something normally
reserved for “other people”.
I
found a variation of it somewhere up in the far-flung north, but as much as I’d
like to bore you with tales of wild dolphin trekking offshore in the sun-baked
Bay of Plenty, this is a pop culture blog, dammit. Suffice to say the blog has
been neglected while your blogger attempted to recover from such wanton pursuit
of “rest”.
So
before any of that, there was the small matter of a New Year’s Eve gig to
attend – a party to say farewell to the iconic Wellington venue San Francisco
Bath House, which officially closed its doors in the wee small hours of January
1 2014. I just couldn’t let the passing of the venue go undocumented on
everythingsgonegreen – aside from Bar Bodega (old and new versions thereof), I’ve
probably spent more post-millennium drinking hours at SFBH than I have at any
other establishment. But I try not to think too hard about that, and neither
should you (Mum). So I have to say my piece on its closure if only to sate some
kind of weird need to do so purely for posterity purposes.
I’ve
blogged about SFBH before and it seemed appropriate that the subject of that
blog, DJ Bill E, was on hand to help give it a proper send off by way of his
annual NYE bash ‘Hang The DJ’ – which combines the Eighties aesthetic of
‘Atomic’ with the more (or less) contemporary hue of ‘24 Hour Party People’.
And it was equally fitting that the Phoenix Foundation, another iconic Wellington
staple, opened proceedings … a band with plenty of “previous” at the venue.
I
know New Year is a special night on the party calendar, but the first thing
that struck me was just how crowded the venue was on the night. I’ve been to a
lot of ‘Atomic’ nights up there over the years (less so the past two years), plus
a fair few ‘24 Hour Party People’ nights, and plenty of other gigs as well, but
it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it so busy up there. There’s no doubt the
band brought its own following, and there were a lot of old faces I hadn’t seen
for a while. It all made for a pretty special gig.
The
Phoenix Foundation kicked things off early on, before 10pm. There were a few
songs I couldn’t quite place in my vodka-induced haze, but the core of the set
– the likes of ‘Walking In The Rain’, ‘Buffalo’, and ‘Sideways Glance’ – was well
worth the price of admission alone. The band’s take on ‘Walking In The Rain’ is
one of the most twisted Grace Jones live cover versions going, and the weird
processed vocals give it a sleazier, even more decadent feel than that of the
original … if that’s actually possible.
The
brand new song, ‘Bob Lennon John Dylan’ was another
attention grabber, before the set concluded amid a crescendo of squally guitar
and other psychedelic nonsense, the band building to its all-hands-to-the-pump wig-out
best on the closing couple of “songs”, most notably Fandango’s monster jam, ‘Friendly
Society’.
A
typically loose and infectious Phoenix Foundation set was the perfect way for SFBH
to rock out on its final night, and a great way to see off another calendar
year.
From
there DJ Bill E and his ‘Hang The DJ’ time machine took us all the way into
2014 and beyond. I thought our man called it pretty shrewdly early on in his set,
dropping a couple of Kiwi music classics with The Clean’s ‘Anything Could
Happen’ and Coconut Rough’s irrepressible ‘Sierra Leone’ to help generate a
second wind amongst the strong local muso contingent and older sections of the spillover
crowd still dazed from the band’s onslaught.
The
DJ remained meticulous in his selections well into the wee smalls, and the dancefloor
was packed to overflowing for much of the night … or at the very least until
sometime after 1.30am when your blogger and his dance partner said goodbye to a
special venue one last time. Our cross-town post-gig scout around revealed a
paucity of anything remotely close to the vibe of SFBH, as it so often has in
the past, and Wellington nightlife will be very much poorer for its absence.
One
story I’ve heard is that a refurbished premises will return as a “jazz bar”,
whatever that actually means, but I can’t account for the veracity of
its source. That particular Cuba Street site has a long and
illustrious history (read dubious) … it had links with the capital’s red light scene – various
incarnations and uses – for many years in the Seventies through to the
mid-Eighties. I first encountered the premises as a cave-like club around 1989,
early 1990, as a venue known as The Sub Club, a short-lived yet hugely popular
Thursday - or was it Sunday? - night scene catering to the first waves of Techno and Acid House. From
there it underwent various states of refurbishment, re-emerging as a player on
the live circuit in the Nineties as Indigo, before eventually evolving into SFBH
roughly a decade ago.
In
another development, it turns out that a second iconic Cuba Street venue is set
to close, this coming May, with the owners of Mighty Mighty this week
announcing that the bar has also run its course. The “four month closing party”
commenced in earnest on Friday night (just gone) with a three-pronged gig
featuring “bigger-in-Portland” local darkwave duo Black City Lights. I was
lucky enough to make it down to Mighty Mighty for that – so I’ll do a quick
review of that set for everythingsgonegreen at some point in the next week or
so.
When
I learned recently of the uncertain future faced by popular Wellington venue/club
San Francisco Bath House (safety and compliance issues, followed by a sale), I
was immediately fearful that two of the most loved nights on Wellington’s social
calendar – and indeed, my own social calendar – would be at serious risk of
becoming extinct. I thought it timely then, to have a look at the SFBH’s ‘Atomic’
and ‘24-Hour Party People’ gigs, and the main man behind both bi-monthly
affairs, DJ Bill E.
Atomic
has, for the past decade or so, been the benchmark by which all other Alt-80s
nostalgia nights are measured. And 24-Hour Party People, with its 90s/post-millennium bent, captures a 30s-something market simply
not catered for by Courtenay Place’s trendy "clubs" and venues. The great music
on offer comes with the added bonus that neither night attracts the younger or more
feral hordes often associated with Wellington’s mainstream party strip.
Just
like its offbeat Cuba Street location, the San Francisco Bath House is known
for its sense of community, and there’s no question in my mind that the success
of both nights has been greatly enhanced because of that. I think it’s fair to
say that Atomic has earned the title of being Wellington’s longest ever running
“club gig” (prove me wrong), and that kind of accolade doesn’t come about by
accident.
Atomic
was started off in 1996 at the original Bar Bodega on Willis Street. It was a
pretty irregular gig to begin with, but after Bill E (or Bill Nothingelseon as
he is better known) returned from a three-year sabbatical in England in 2000, it
started becoming a regular fixture, firstly at the (relocated/new) Bar Bodega, before
moving to Indigo, which in turn became the San Fran Bath House. By 2003, 24-Hour
Party People had established itself as a genuine rival to its older sibling,
and the rest, as they say, is a little slice of local history.
If
I learned anything from reading ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ – Brewster
& Broughton’s comprehensive tome on the history of the DJ – recently, it’s
that the fine art of successfully moving the crowd can be loosely whittled down
to three key elements; having exquisite taste, having the vinyl to back it up,
and most importantly, possessing an inherent ability to read the crowd. If you
combine all three, other more peripheral factors become less critical … though
obviously, venue, sound, and technical aspects of the craft are all quite
important too. DJ Bill E brings all three key elements to the stage (literally), in spades. It’s
as simple as that.
I
was lucky enough to catch up with Bill recently – and naturally enough, my offer to
get him deliriously pissed next time I see him was sufficient for him to agree
to fill in a few square box shaped blanks for everythingsgonegreen …
If a time
machine could transport a 21-year-old Bill E to only one of the following
centres of pop culture excellence, where would he choose? … Merseyside in the
60s, New York in the 70s, or Manchester in the 80s?
Tough
choice! I'd probably have to plump for New York in the 70s - the combination of
disco, punk/new wave, no wave and the beginnings of hip-hop seal it, really.
Pretty grim times in all 3 places, none of them would have been much fun to
live through, though musically all were incredibly vibrant times. Much as I
would have loved to see The Smiths, let alone Joy Division, New Order through
to The Stone Roses and a whole bunch of other bands, the variety of what was
happening in New York takes it for me.
There's
an awesome documentary on New York in 1977:
Someone
has to write a song to save your life: Morrissey, Costello, or Weller?
My
heart says Morrissey, but my head would probably go for Costello - he's a
clever bugger.
The
dancefloor’s dying, you dig into the crate and pull out something produced by Martin
Hannett and something produced by Andy Weatherall … which guy do you opt for?
Depends
on the night and the vibe I guess, whichever feels right at the time. There's a
perfect fence sitting answer for you, though there's some interesting
similarities between the two - their use of space, dub elements, a certain
darkness. It could go either way and you probably wouldn't be disappointed.
There's a fabulous interview with Andy Weatherall on the Guardian music blog a
few weeks back which is well worth a listen. He's a totally top bloke.
How many
individual pieces of vinyl/black magic plastic do you own? (roughly is fine!)
3,178
all up as of today. That's 7", 10", 12" & LPs. I spent the
last couple of years on and off cataloguing it all on discogs.com, so you can
check it out here if you're interested:
It
was quite a labour intensive process but I'm glad it's done. It was nice to go
through all my records one by one.
(I
love Bill’s answer for that one. It makes me appear positively sane - Ed).
What are your
most listened to albums so far this year?
1.
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold, 2.
David Bowie - The Next Day, 3.
Dexys - One Day I'm Going to Soar, 4.
No Tag - Live at the Windsor Castle, 5.
My Bloody Valentine - m.b.v., 6.
Husker Du - New Day Rising, 7.
Paul Kelly & The Messengers - Gossip, 8.
Johnny Foreigner - Johnny Foreigner vs Everything, 9.
Palma Violets - 180, 10.
The Wedding Present - Tommy
"not guilty yer honour"
Guilty
pleasure? (can be artist, album, or single track)
I'm
at the stage now where I don't feel too guilty about anything. I'm more than
partial to a bit of yacht rock or 70s singer songwriters, so I guess I've got
to go with Taylor Swift, there's a little guilt attached to that :-)
Top 5 Kiwi
desert island singles?
This
is hard! Can I have a top 100? As of this very moment it's this (in no
particular order):
Screaming
Meemees - See Me Go, Car
Crash Set - Fall From Grace, Danse
Macabre - Between The Lines, Home
Brew - Monday, The
Scavengers - True Love
But
ask me tomorrow and it'd probably be different.
New/current
artist we can’t afford to miss?
Johnny
Foreigner! From Birmingham, UK, they've been around since the mid 2000's. They
tick all the right boxes for me: 3 piece (now 4), make a racket, male/female
vocals, and they have tunes to spare.
Locally,
The Eversons - loved their album from last year, and really looking forward to
the next one.
What is
your funeral song?
The
cliched choice is probably Joy Division's Atmosphere, but it's pretty much
unimpeachable, so, that. For something a little more upbeat, The Undertones'
Teenage Kicks.
With the
future of SFBH currently unresolved, worst case scenario, where does Bill E go
from here?
I
guess the worst case is that I have to find somewhere else to play records.
Every year for about the last 5 years or so I've been saying that 'this year
will be the last', but it's never quite worked out that way, I enjoy it too
much. I have had one bar approach me to see if I'd be interested if things
don't work out at San Fran, and there's a few venues around where it could
work, so there are options. At the moment I have dates pencilled in for the
rest of the year now, I just have to wait and see what happens about the sale and
what the new owners want. I'll let you know :-)
The
next Atomic is this coming Saturday night, 20 April 2013 …
