thebigcity

Category

Category: Artists

h artists

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.

m artists

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.

t artists

Throw

Christchurch-based shoegazey indie-rock group that started out as a studio project but became a fairly successful touring group with 2 albums and an EP on band member Rob Mayes Failsafe Recordings.

j artists

Jousting Vandals

One of Rob Scott's many one-off bands - this time with R. Dejoux and Sarah Robin. They put out the Ground Level cassette on Scotts' own Every Secret Thing label in 1985. Scott reissued the Ground Level cassette as a CDr in 2022.

v artists

The Vacuum

A formative group for 2 significant groups in New Zealand music - The Terminals song-writing duo of Peter Stapleton and Stephen Cogle, and Bilders duo Bill Direen and Allan Meek. Though a fairly significant group at the time, their recordings were sparse.

s artists

Skank Attack

Wellington 3-piece from the mid 1980's. Skirted the line between underground and pop without ever fitting in to either camp, despite an album produced by Nick Roughan (The Skeptics) and Brent McLachlan (The Gordons).

i artists

Invisible Dead

Short-lived and bizarre Christchurch industrial outfit from around 1992-1993.

m artists

David Mulcahy

Moody but sadly inconsistent solo material from JPSE / Superette front-man released on bandmate's nascent Arch Hill label in 1999.

c artists

Crystal Zoom

General craziness in musical form at the hand of Michael Weston and his troops Bruce Mahalski, Eric Neuman and Nathan McConnell. The Dunedin music compilation But I Can Write Songs OK includes their brilliant stars-on-45 take on Flying Nun bands 'Dunedin sound on 45', and even featured guest appearances from some of the targets - David Kilgour and Martin Phillips.

n artists

Negative Eh

Wellington trio making lo-fi psychedelic and experimental noise. The group released a flurry of lathe cut releases in the late 90's before resurfacing as the Electronic / Abstract / Experimental / Jazz outfit Nova Scotia.

d artists

Bill Direen

One of the longest running mythic underground figures of New Zealand rock who has worked (and commanded) such significant figures in the New Zealand music scene as Chris Knox, Peter Stapleton, Maryrose Crook, Dave Mitchell, Malcolm Grant - the list goes on.

n artists

Naked Spots Dance

Early 80s Wellington post-punk outfit in the style of the Au Pairs, with long-standing members Kate Walker and Stephen Norris, plus a rotating cast of drummers and vocalists, including well-known Actor/Comedian Jennifer Ward-Leland and future Oscar winner Fran Walsh.

p artists

Pit Viper

Wellington-based experimental noise trio featuring Paul Douglas (aka Rosy Parlane), Robert Lundon (RSW London / Imperial Records) and Paul Yates (aka Paul Ling - ex Garbage and the Flowers - now in the Melbourne-based Minit).

b artists

Kim Blackburn

Kim Blackburn is a poet and singer-songwriter who put out the 'Lizards In Love' album on Flying Nun Records, using acoustic guitar and digital effects to give the album an unusual edge. Her voice has a deep, haunting quality - reminiscent of Nico. She had previously been associated with underground labels such as Industrial Tapes, performing alongside Sandra Bell on the cassette only release 'Two Metallic Hearts'.

f artists

Fetus Productions

Bizarre but often highly melodic experimental group, one of the first New Zealand outfits to incorporate multimedia elements into their shows and actually classified themselves as a production, creating art shows and (eventually) computer based presentation that encompassed both visual and audible elements.