The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Simon Comber/Herriot Row
28 Aug 2017 | 4 min read
When we last interviewed singer-songwriter Simon Comber back in 2011 he was Simon Comber, but now he's not Simon Comber so we thought we should offer Simon Comber another crack at a different Elsewhere questionnaire. Now – after two albums and an EP under his own name Simon Comber – he is now not appearing as Simon Comber (okay, we'll stop this now!) but working under the... > Read more
Out of the Ordinary
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kane Strang
12 Jun 2017 | 1 min read
Kane Strang at the time of this writing is touring in the US on the back his alt.pop singles so far, but also in anticipation of his new album Two Hearts and No Brain (due for release on June 30). Recorded in the studio at Chick's Hotel in Dunedin, his hometown, with producer Stephen Marr (from Doprah), Two Hearts and No Brain is a continuation and refinement of his highly enjoyable... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WRITERS QUESTIONNAIRE . . . JEFFREY PAPAROA HOLMAN
12 Jun 2017 | 6 min read
Christchurch-based writer Jeffrey Paparoa Holman was born In London but from the age of 10 was raised on the West Coast, has published a number of books of poetry and prose (he profiled his excellent memoir of his father The Lost Pilot in 2013 for us), is a senior adjunct fellow at the University of Canterbury and has written for Elsewhere about Bowie, birds and the bard of the public... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Ben Ottewell
29 May 2017 | 2 min read
If the name Ben Ottewell doesn't ring any immediate bells then his gravelly and soulful voice certainly does. He is one of the cornerstone singers in the award-winning British band Gomez who have played exciting shows in New Zealand. And now Ottewell returns (dates below) for a couple of shows as a solo artist. He's already released two solo album (Shapes and Shadows, Rattlebag)... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Julia Jacklin
8 May 2017 | 2 min read
When Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin plays Auckland's Tuning Fork on May 27 it will be like a homecoming. Jacklin was a key attraction at Auckland's Laneway Festival earlier in the year and her debut album Don't Let the Kids Win was recorded at the Sitting Room studio in Lyttelton with Ben Edwards who has also produced for Marlon Williams with whom Jacklin has toured. One of... > Read more
Pool Party
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Peter Dickens
8 May 2017 | 3 min read
Last year Elsewhere spoke about the price musicians pay for their career choice: the hours are anti-social and some of the people are too; the rewards can be elusive; the competition is vast; with every success comes self-doubt and the thought that it may never be repeated . . . So why do they do it? The allure of fame is seductive, the thought the sex and drugs might be better,... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Callum Allardice
6 May 2017 | 3 min read
The Jac out of Wellington – an eight piece ensemble which has members drawn from rock, jazz and classical backgrounds – released the excellent album Nerve in 2014 which was a finalist in the jazz album of year category, and followed it up with The Green Hour in 2015 which made it into our best of the year list. The good news then is they are touring (see dates here) and so... > Read more
New York Alex Man (from Nerve)
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE PRODUCER QUESTIONNAIRE: Greg Haver
3 May 2017 | 2 min read
When producer Greg Haver answered the final question here he seemed unduly modest about his “32 years of studio experience”. He might have name-dropped because in the international arena he has produced for artists as diverse as Manic Street Preachers and Mel C, Bullet for My Valentine and Super Furry Animals. And many more. In New Zealand he has been behind... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Mark Kenington
1 May 2017 | 3 min read
Mark Kenington -- who has just released his debut album Going Nowhere (Faster Than You) -- is an Auckland-based singer-songwriter who was born in Colchester, England. By his own admission he grew up listening to Adam and the Ants and ELO. Moving to New Zealand in 2004, he began to study piano and guitar and an encounter with Mike Chunn had the former Split Enz/Citizen Band man getting... > Read more
Blue Sky
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE FILMMAKER'S QUESTIONNAIRE: Harley Williams
1 May 2017 | 2 min read
One of the most distinctive figures in the New Zealand musical landscape is Delaney Davidson. Over a series of albums and compelling live performances he has presented his often jarring yet beautiful songs like some strange spook-outlaw phantom more at home walking through the pines at midnight under a full moon. Or being interviewed at and writing for Elsewhere. Increasingly he... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Jonathan Crayford
29 Apr 2017 | 5 min read
New Zealand pianist/composer is among this country’s most consistently impressive jazz artists – his most recent album East West Moon is a finalist in the album of the year at this year’s jazz awards – but he has just announced a series of concerts which are something rather different. For some shows with drummer Ross Burge (as Spanner) he straps on electric... > Read more
Dark Light, from Dark Light (2014)
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE PRODUCER QUESTIONNAIRE: Levi Patel
7 Apr 2017 | 4 min read
Composer/producer Levi Patel has just released one of New Zealand's most beautiful and sophisticated debut albums with Affinity. After two EPs – Forms three years ago, and Of Sleep And Time in 2015, their titles hinting at their dreamlike ambient qualities – his debut album incorporates acoustic instruments alongside his signature synth and electronica sound. The... > Read more
Something Still
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kornelia Binicewicz
3 Apr 2017 | 2 min read
Kornelia Binicewicz came to our attention as the smart curator behind the excellent Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu collection which brought together out-there Turkish rock and folk from a decade starting in the mid Seventies. It was music the like of which we hadn't heard before. When we did a web search her equally excellent website Ladies on Record; 60s and 70s Female Music came up.... > Read more
Oksuruk, from Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Ant Beard of Caravana Sun
30 Mar 2017 | 3 min read
Australian band Caravana Sun may not be well known on this side of the Tasman, but that will doubtless change with their forthcoming tour (see dates below) and once songs like Whale Song start to stick. Whale Song is from their third album Guerrilla Club (recorded in Freemantle with producer Joey Quartermain of Eskimo Joe fame) and songs like Open Up on the album connects the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Michael League of Snarky Puppy
30 Mar 2017 | 3 min read
Few jazz groups today command the massive audience which Snarky Puppy have. Many of their pieces have multiple million plays on Spotify. The Grammy-grabbing collective – which picked up best r'n'b performance in 2014 and best contemporary instrumental album the following year for Sylva which was a collaboration with the Holland's Metropole Orchestra – can call on a roster... > Read more
Tarova
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Andy Sugg
24 Mar 2017 | 3 min read
Saxophonist Andy Sugg is Melbourne-based and touring regularly across Australia and to Europe and the US. But he hasn't made it to New Zealand . . . yet. In April he brings his band here to promote his new CD Wednesday's at M's (dates and venues below) which was recorded in New York last year with some expats and New Yorkers, including drummer Nate Wood (Snarky Puppy) and pianist Sean... > Read more
Hemispheric Part 2
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Lord Echo
13 Mar 2017 | 2 min read
Some people chose excellent names for themselves, as has this Wellington producer/DJ with Lord Echo . . . because he brings to world of Jamaican and African styles together in a techno/disco-soul mash-up. And when we say he's “big in Japan” it isn't a bad joke. Check the clip for his 2015 tour there and get the groove-vibe. He's got albums and disco singles out there... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Swan Sisters
10 Mar 2017 | 2 min read
The Swan Sisters are Amiria Grenell and Amy Grace, an acoustic folk duo who have each had independent and highly successful careers, much of it offshore from New Zealand. Grenell – who answered a different questionnaire previously and is daughter of respected country singer John – won a Tui folk award for her second album Three Feathers in 2012 and was a finalist in the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Baynk
9 Mar 2017 | 3 min read
A case of mild-mannered engineering student by day, cool musician by night? Two years ago Jock Nowell-Usticke – who performs as Baynk – was studying at Canterbury when he released his first single Sundae, an impressive slice of slinky slow-building electronica. And on the back of that he was picked to play Laneway, had his follow-up Could You on Vice and now –... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Jackie Bristow
8 Mar 2017 | 4 min read
As a singer-songwriter, Jackie Bristow, formerly of the South Island, found her natural home in Austin many years ago. Her excellent Shot of Gold album of last year confirmed her as a writer of depth and stature, and a persuasive singer, and in producer/guitarist Mark Punch she found someone empathetic to her sound. We had in our best of the year list. Bristow and Punch are... > Read more