Hiatus
Experimental music from Nick Hodgson (later known as Nick Harte), High Tension House’s Hamish Noonan and Tim McDonald. Scattered drums and treated guitars form a free-noise vibe that’s not entirely unpleasant
Artists
Ebony Sye
Youthful New wave pop group who put out an album in 1987 on Auckland label Ode Records before disappearing. Frontman Neil de Jong would resurface in another short-lived group (Voodoo Love); however the most well-known group he’s associated with would be Alien Weapony, as brothers Henry and Lewis de Jong are his songs, and he’s assisted as a live sound engineer and manager for the group.
The Clean
The Clean have left a giant stamp on New Zealand Independent Music. The group that came to define ‘The Dunedin Sound’ had a terrific topsy-turvy career that spanned 5 albums and a number of EPs, singles, compilations and live releases over a 31 year time-span.
Mainly Spaniards
Jangly indie-rock 4 piece from early 1980’s Christchurch. During their life they put out a well-received 7″ single on Flying Nun before going their separate ways. Failsafe Records released a retrospective compilation of their recordings in 2021.
Jawload
Mid 1990s rock’n’roll outfit from Andrew Tolley, before he found fame with The Hasselhoff Experiment. Tolley formed the group with This will kill that drummer Andrew Goodchild, before expanding the band to a 4 piece (and both Tolley and Goodchild switching to guitar).
Jawload were based in Wellington and released an album and two singles on Tolley’s own Kato Records label.
Dum Dum Boys
An Iggy Pop and the Stooges obsessed proto-punk outfit from the early 80s. After recording New Zealand’s very first full-length punk LP (1981’s ‘Let there be noise’) the group morphed into The Henchmen.
D-Super
Wellington based garage surf-punk band headed up by Marty Squire (guitar/vocals) wit brothers Dave (drums) and Luke Benge (keyboards), and Jules Desmond (bass). Formed from the ashes of Letterbox Lambs.
Had one catchy single ‘We Ride Tonight’ released as a New Zealand On Air music video
Surface Of The Earth
3 piece featuring Paul Toohey, later of K-Group – freeform Wellington-based experimentation using:
Synth drones, guitars and mutilated electronic debris to create a soundspace where layers of distortion, hum and buzz hang like veils in the air, each disrupting the aural view of the layer beneath, without completely obscuring it from audibility
– Bruce Russell
Lamp of the Universe
Hamilton-based former Datura multi-instrumentalist Craig Williamson has released an ever-growing discography of solo albums since Datura’s demise in the late 1990s, originally under his own name, but now under the bizarre hippy-pseudonym Lamp of the Universe.
Cameron Bain
Between stints in King Loser, Snapper and a million other bands, Cameron Bain released a 7″ release on Stella Corkery and Alan Holt’s excellent Pink Air label.
One-half of the oft-referenced, seldom heard Constant Pain. Bain passed away in 2014.
The Haemogoblins
Christchurch-based art-rock group from the mid 1980’s who put out one EP on Bill Direen’s South Indies label. Several members came from low-key Flying Nun acts Mainly Spaniards and Ballon D’Essai.
Paua Fritters
Auckland-based pop-songwriting outfit based around the trio of Alice Mckenzie, Penny Laybourn and Hilda Mcclutchie.
Julian Dashper
Formerly Auckland-based abstract artist who produced a string of lathe cut releases in the late 1990’s – 2000’s on Circle Records and the Luxus imprint.
The Heptocrats
Auckland duo of Mike Knuckley and Brett Higson. Released a cassette and appeared on a live compilation on Paul Lurkers Industrial Tapes label. Had some songs recorded live by Chris Knox and Doug Hood at the Rumba Bar with ‘One More’ turning up on the famed ‘The Last Rhumba’ live compilation on Flying Nun.
Murdering Monsters
Dunedin-based outfit who released a split EP with Matt ‘Crude’ Middleton’s Aesthetics, along with a couple other Lo-Fi low-rent releases.