The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kasey Chambers
14 Sep 2012 | 2 min read
Award-winning Australian singer-songwriter and alt.country star Kasey Chambers has long been an Elsewhere favourite for her astute lyrics and passionate delivery, and her earthy sense of humour in person. With her husband Shane Nicholson -- and often with her singer-songwriter dad Bill on hand (interviewed here) -- she has presented some of the most enduring country music of the past... > Read more
Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll winner 2012 Stephanie Brown
14 Sep 2012 | 7 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is the winner, Brooklyn-based Stephanie Brown for her song Everything to Me which she performs as Lips. The first song which really affected you... > Read more
Everything to Me
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ray Woolf
10 Sep 2012 | 3 min read
Ray Woolf has had a long and diverse career in New Zealand show business, half a century of it in fact from the time he was a young rock'n'roller, a regular on Sixties television shows such as Happen Inn as a sharply dressed pop singer, then filling out the Seventies in cabaret, hosting his own television series, later exercising a few jazz chops with the Rodger Fox Big Band . . . and most... > Read more
Little Things That Happen (1967 previously unreleased)
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Sam Allen
4 Sep 2012 | 2 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Matthew Hope of Artisan Guns
3 Sep 2012 | 4 min read
The Auckland four-piece Artisan Guns certainly distinguished themselves early: their first EP Bird and Bone in 2009 got some glowing notices and their single Autumn in 2010 was a finalist in the Apra Silver Scroll songwriting award. Since then they have toured, written, knocked off university degrees, had side projects and now have delivered their long awaited debut album Coral which, as... > Read more
Swim
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Nick Weaver of Deep Sea Arcade
1 Sep 2012 | 3 min read
The young Australian band Deep Sea Arcade barely make a wrong move on their debut album Outlands when it comes to channeling classic pop from a couple of generations before them. (see review here) Just indie enough to be off the mainframe but also full of hooks and choruses to pull in the casual passerby, Outlands is a polished, mature debut which is, best of, fun, interesting and diverse.... > Read more
Together
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Greg Fleming
31 Aug 2012 | 4 min read
Those who know the saying "a long time between drinks" will see it could be applied to the recording career of Auckland singer-songwriter Greg Fleming. He came to serious critical attention as far back as the early Nineties then disappeared off the radar until his excellent Taken in 2010, the album he'd recorded in '95 as a follow-up to Ghosts Are White ('94) but which was never... > Read more
Edge of the City
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Doug Robertson
30 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Emily Rice
29 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Stevii Hill
28 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: University of Auckland songwriter finalist Callum Lee
27 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
Every year many of the students in Auckland University's popular music course enter a Songwriter of the Year competition in which they perform their original songs backed by a professional band (and often with some fellow students pitching in). This year's final was at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on Thursday Sept 20 and Elsewhere thought we should throw the same questionnaire at the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Iva Lamkum
20 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
Elsewhere first came across Wellington singer-songwriter Iva Lamkum as far back as 2008 and said then of her self-titled debut EP, "if there is a more assured, musically intelligent and sophisticated debut this year I'd be very surprised". So her soulful debut album Black Eagle out on Friday -- on which her vocal style has been inviting comparisons with Amy Winehouse -- has seemed... > Read more
Blue Moscow
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Kody Nielson
18 Aug 2012 | 1 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Kody Nielson, nominated for his song Getaway Tonight performed by Opossom. The first song which really affected you was . . . The first... > Read more
Getaway Tonight
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Anna MacDonald (Annah Mac)
16 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Anna MacDonald who performs as Annah Mac and had made the shortlist for her song Girl in Stilettos from her album Little Stranger. The first... > Read more
Girl in Stilettos
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Lydia Cole
15 Aug 2012 | 2 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. Here is Lydia Cole, nominated for her song Hibernate from her album Me and Moon. The first song which really affected you was . . . Probably... > Read more
Hibernate
THE ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: APRA Silver Scroll nominee 2012 Adam McGrath
14 Aug 2012 | 6 min read
The annual APRA Silver Scroll award acknowledges excellence in songwriting, so at Elsewhere we modified our Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire and tailored it to be specifically about the craft of songwriting for this year's five finalists. First out of the gate is Adam McGrath of the Eastern (their album Hope and Wire reviewed here) for his song State Houses by the River. He offers a quick... > Read more
State Houses by the River
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Sola Rosa
9 Aug 2012 | 3 min read
As Sola Rosa, Andrew Spraggon has previously brought reggae, Latin, soul and hip-hip into seamless electronica albums which have placed him on the world stage. And on his new album Low and Behold, High and Beyond he collaborates with the likes of Spikey Tee (Roots Manuva, Jah Wobble) and singer Olivier Daysoul, has the album mixed by Yaron Fuchs (Talib Kweli, KIngs of Leon) and mastered by... > Read more
In My Dreams
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kurt Shanks
16 Jul 2012 | 3 min read
Kurt Shanks -- former bass player and sometime songwriter in the award-winning and big selling band Stellar* -- was born into the musical life, as you may see from one of the answers to a question below. But there is more to him than just the Stellar* connection: back in 2007 he produced a live DVD of Steve Kilbey (of the Church) in concert in Auckland (see here) and after Stellar* split he... > Read more
15 Years
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Savage
9 Jul 2012 | 1 min read
Savage -- known to his Samoan parents as Demetrius Savelio -- opens his new album Mayhem and Miracles with the assertion My Time. And if it is, it is his again because has already one major claim, the first New Zealand rapper to sell a million in the US (for his remix single Swing which appeared in the movie Knocked Up). From success with Deceptikonz to a solo career, Savage has walked the... > Read more
Get Paid
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Mark Lockett
18 Jun 2012 | 2 min read
Although drummer/composer Mark Lockett has lived in Melbourne for the past decade, he still feels the draw of his homeland and – with the release of his debut album Sneaking Out After Midnight on the Rattle Jazz imprint – he is coming back to New Zealand with his hot band for a few shows. Recorded in New York with saxophonist Joel Frahm and bassist Orlando Le Fleming, the... > Read more