The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
Fifteen revealing questions submitted to well-known musicians or newcomers which they can answer as serious or as silly as they please.Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly updates.
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Chelsea Prastiti of Skilaa
27 Jul 2024 | 4 min read
The debut album by Auckland's Skilaa defies easy description: it swings into jazz, lets some R'n'B and soul into the hip-hop influenced sound and breaks out into scat and . . . Singer Chelsea Prastiti who studied at the jazz school of Auckland Uni rests easily with the “psychedelic R'n'B” description. She grew up with flamenco and Greek music, mainstream writers like Paul... > Read more
Solos
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Holly Arrowsmith
22 Jul 2024 | 4 min read
Country singer-songwriter Holly Arrowsmith first appeared at Elsewhere as far back as 2015 with her album For the Weary Traveller, but the last time we caught up with her was 2018 for her album A Dawn I Remember. Her song Desert Dove just picked up best country song at the APRA awards (her second such award) and Rolling Stone picked out Neon Bright and Blue Dreams as singles of the week.... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE: Alan Gregg aka Polite Company
1 Jul 2024 | 4 min read
One of the most pleasurable and wryly amusing albums we have heard this year comes from Alan Gregg, a former member of Dribbling Darts of Love and the Mutton Birds. As Polite Company, his album Please Go Wild (a tongue-in-cheek reference to how MCs sometimes introduce an artist) caught our attention for its acute and very British observations of life in the 21st century. He wrapped his... > Read more
Otis Mace
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE INNOVATORS QUESTIONNAIRE: Luke Scott aka Admiral Drowsy
29 Jun 2024 | 4 min read
Six months ago on the release of his second album Industrial Consistency – which we essayed at a bit of length -- we thought we needed to know more about Luke Scott who goes under the moniker Admiral Drowsy. Well, perhaps it's Drowsy by name and drowsy by nature but we never heard back from him after we sent him a questionnaire. We assumed he'd nodded off and forgotten about it.... > Read more
The Great Repeat
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE: Sam Bambery
17 Jun 2024 | 7 min read
As with most people, Elsewhere never heard the 2022 debut album Songs About Sailors by Sam Bambery so his recent Rubicator caught us by surprise for its depth, maturity and range. We're counting it among the best albums of this year already. Although out of Christchurch and associated with Lyttelton, Bambery has a bigger and broader pop vision that what we are used to out of that region... > Read more
Tricks of the Light
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Andy Neill
10 Jun 2024 | 3 min read
Writer and researcher Andy Neill is a man who knows the Beatles' story inside out, and probably a bit sideways too. With Greg Armstrong he has written the quite extraordinary, detailed, lavishly illustrated When We Was Fab: Inside the Beatles Australasian Tour 1964. At 300 pages and with hundreds of images, it tells not just the story of the Beatles tour but goes back into the details... > Read more
Love Me Do
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Alex Pipes
10 May 2024 | 3 min read
The recent debut album Square One by Auckland jazz guitarist Alex Pipes shone a spotlight on a real talent and former student in the jazz courses at Auckland University. That connection allowed him to have some impressive tutors on-call for his album of which we said “he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve, found the players to help him do it and then pulled it off impressively.... > Read more
Momo
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Kiran Ahluwalia
3 May 2024 | 5 min read
Sometimes Elsewhere gets music sent to it from elsewhere, and in the case of the album Comfort Food by singer/songwriter Kiran Ahluwalia – whose name we had never heard before – it was a message from Canada. That album immediately grabbed our attention for many reasons – musical, political particularly – and we were pleased to write about it very favourably.... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Ted Brown
25 Mar 2024 | 4 min read
As we mentioned when we reviewed his new album Solstice Canyon Loop, Ted Brown has been away from New Zealand for over 20 years, living and working in Los Angeles. That means he's probably slipped off the radar although as longtime guitarist for expat Greg Johnson – also living in Los Angeles – some will certainly remember him. However now is the time to get reacquainted... > Read more
Dark Side of Memory Lane
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE BLUES QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Courtnay Low of The Mons Whaler and The Unholy Reverie
11 Mar 2024 | 4 min read
No doubt many already know of singer/guitarist and keyboard player Courtnay Low but she only came on Elsewhere's radar last week with the Taranaki-based band The Mons Whaler. Their debut album Hold My Gun is like a box of firecrackers and Low's playing was just one excellent element in a band which managed to be tough, soulful, blues and appealing all at the same time. Outside of... > Read more
It Ain't On Me, by The Mons Whaler (ft Courtnay Low)
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Blair Jollands
10 Mar 2024 | 2 min read
Because we've written about Blair Jollands – and interviewed him – in the past, we'd like to think Elsewhere readers would be aware of him. But the fact he hasn't lived here for about 20 years – London his longtime home – we figure you might need a reminder in advance of his forthcoming tour. He also muddies his own waters by having played under different names:... > Read more
My Home Town
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Kevin Welch
26 Feb 2024 | 3 min read
Kevin Welch is the legendary Americana singer-songwriter whose work has spanned decades and been covered by Waylon Jennings, Linda Ronstadt, Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless, Solomon Burke and more recently Chris Stapleton, all legends in their own right who hardly needed to go beyond their own catalogue for material. But Welch's songs, right from his first albums in the early Nineties, have... > Read more
Troublesome Times
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ella McCool-Reay of Wax Eye
9 Feb 2024 | <1 min read
The alt.folk Wax Eye are singer Ella McCool-Reay and her father Steve Reay (of Vor-Stellen) who deliver a very seductive self-titled debut: five songs acoustic-framed songs with bassist Jared Johanson (Subliminals, Vor-Stellen) and writer/trumpeter Marco Scott. Erring towards a melodic take on drone-folk's mesmerising repetition with gentle harmonies and subtle electronics, Wax Eye hit... > Read more
One of Us
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Macey
16 Oct 2023 | 2 min read
Auckland singer and songwriter Macey (Harry Parsons) has delivered a debut album The Lovers which went into out Favourite Five Recent Releases the week after we reviewed it. And we upgraded it also as a Recommended Record because the vinyl is quite special in a cover which appears to be a distressed painting from the Pre-Raphaelite period, all doomed romance and yearning. In many ways that... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Rodney Fisher
2 Oct 2023 | 3 min read
Perhaps best known for his work as a frontman and songwriter for Goodshirt – he penned their hit Fiji Baby among others – Rodney Fisher has been off the radar for most since the band called it quits in 2005 and Fisher headed off to London. There have been occasional Goodshirt reunions but Fisher busied himself in promotion, booking gigs and helping emerging artists. A... > Read more
Locked Up
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Alayna
17 Jul 2023 | 5 min read
One of the great pleasures of music, that which makes it a life-long and rewarding passion, is there's always something new to discover: a new genre emerges, new music appears from a part of the world you hadn't heard from previously, new technology allows for innovation and creativity . . . and, of course, new artists. “Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts,” said... > Read more
Icicles on my Eyelashes
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Jazmine Mary
14 Jul 2023 | 4 min read
When Jazmine Mary and band played a mesmerising show at the Hollywood Avondale in Auckland recently Jazmine – who identifies as they/them – initially came on dressed like an Amish woman off to the celebration after a barn-raising, then later changed into what looked like a 1950s bathing suit. That dichotomy of presentation illustrated the breadth and scope of her work, from... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Nigel Mitchell of Orangefarm
26 Jun 2023 | 4 min read
As we noted in our review of the Orangefarm debut album Inheritance, the band has been around Wellington for about 20 years with a revolving door of a small number of loyal members. At the core however is singer, songwriter and guitarist Nigel Mitchell. His songs are sharp, sometimes sentimental (but not soppy) and melodic. We noted the influence of the Eighties indie rock out of... > Read more
Listen
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Tom Lark
19 Jun 2023 | 2 min read
Previous releases by Tom Lark a few years ago went past us, but he's a hard man to pin down. He also goes by other names: Shannon Matthew Vanya and Shannon Fowler. We leave it over to you to chase them down, but refer you to his excellent Tom Lark debut album Brave Star which is a classy collection of dream pop with a little powered-down power pop. He's also got something to say as... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE HIGHLY PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Tony Richards of The Cosmic Debris
12 Jun 2023 | 3 min read
We will be honest, we had never heard of Auckland's Tony Richards of his musical persona Cosmic Debris until he was in touch offering us his third album which promised soul-funk. That sounded very tempting and when the album arrived – it is out on CD and limited edition vinyl, see below – we did our research. And he's had quite an interesting and long career in and out of... > Read more