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Solo Musician

Richard Neave

Richard Neave was an uncompromising noise artist and extreme audience provoker.

He spent years beating up his guitar either solo or flanked by musicians such as Nick Hodgson/Harte, Lee Noyes, Peter Wright etc.

Taking great pride in pushing the annoying, provocative nature of his playing he drove audiences away where-ever he played. Needless to say he was a legendary figure in the Christchurch underground music scene and those of us who knew Richard were very sad at his passing in 2010.

Perfect Strangers - Bot to be taken

Perfect Strangers

A shambling blues-rock trio of notorious obscurity, driven by the sheer creative talent of Bill Vosburgh – they split a 12″ EP with The And Band – who shared member Mark Thomas.

Ballon D’Essai

Young early Flying Nun 5-piece out of Christchurch. With 2 bass players the group had an ‘edgy post-punk sound’.

So So Modern

Terrific Wellington-based synth and guitar troop – greatly exciting, fun and wacky group. Often costumed and running through sets at breakneck pace, the group had a give it a go and home-production bent, distributing their own self-produced recordings (with art-work from the very talented Neon Sleep), hand-crafted pins, stickers and posters.

The group evolved out of youthful stints in underground hardcore groups – and they took elements of that (breakneck pace, gang vocals, building a community) to the group, but expanded the sound to make it more palatable to a wider audience.

Alec Bathgate

Alec Bathgate’s always kept a couple steps back in his fellow Enemy, Toy Love and Tall Dwarfs shadow, but released a lovely little Byrds-jangle-pop album (with heavy Beatles and Beach Boy flourishes) in 1996.

More technically competent than Knox, and somewhat reserved (in comparison at least), Bathgate is a reflective, precarious song-writer of great talent.

Goblin Mix

Short-lived David Mitchell 3 piece, and the last of his Auckland bands. This is when he truly found his voice, with support from Phil Moore, Andrew Moon and (Flying Nun alumni) Alf Danielson. Their complete recordings would later be compiled (along with The Exploding Budgies complete discography) as a compilation CD in 1991.

Children’s Hour

Whilst Chris Matthews was struggling within the pop-confines of the Prime Movers, Johnny Pierce (Bass), Grant Fell (Guitar) and Bevan Sweeney (Drums) were forming their own sound as Children’s Hour.

Gestalt Switch

(At the time) young and upcoming Dunedin rock act, forming in December 2001. Haven’t heard their 4 song debut ep, but they seem to be pushing a diverse sound – with loudness appearing to be key.

Silent Decree

Really dark and ominous Auckland Goth/Post-Punk 4-piece formed in Howick in 1981. Released an EP on Paul Lurkers Industrial Tapes label before splitting up in 1983. Vocalist Patrick Waller would go on to form The Kiwi Animal, while Andrew Moon was in Goblin Mix.

Die! Die! Die!

Die! Die! Die!

Since forming their first band in High School back in Dunedin, the duo of Michael Prain and Andrew Wilson have been consistently at the forefront of New Zealand independent music. Die! Die! Die! formed in 2003 as an Auckland-based post-punk group with an explosive, propulsive sound and excellent songs.

Casagrante Apparatus

Dunedin mid-90s experimental trio with a handful of impossible to find releases, including a lathe on Crawlspace, and 2 releases on drummer Stefan Neville’s own ‘A Stabbies and the Rocket Recording’ label.

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.

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.

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

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.