The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire

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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Cato Van Dijck of My Baby

8 Nov 2018  |  6 min read

The Dutch-Kiwi band My Baby has appeared at Elsewhere previously when guitarist Daniel “Dafreez” Johnston answered a Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire in advance of their tour in early 2016, on the back of their 2013 album My Baby Loves Voodoo . Playing a blend of dance-directed roots, blues, funk and with touches of world music (gnawa, raga, desert blues etc) My Baby have hit the... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE TEACHERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Judith Bell of Chisnallwood Intermediate School

5 Nov 2018  |  4 min read

When the organisers of this year's annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards were considering the landscape of local music they wanted the awards to acknowledge the past, the present and the future. The past is taken care of with the induction of people into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, the present is acknowledged on the night and the future is . . . Well, that is largely in the... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Helen Corry

10 Oct 2018  |  4 min read

You may have seen – but maybe didn't if you follow her on Facebook – Helen Corry's arresting video for her song La Femme. Earlier this year the clip which she said showed feminine empowerment in the #metoo age saw her Facebook page suspended. Although ironically it was still on You Tube and was played on The Edge TV. And you can see it below. Although it may have looked... > Read more

Strike

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE TEACHERS' QUESTIONNAIRE: Liz Sneyd of Virtuoso Strings

8 Oct 2018  |  3 min read

When the organisers of this year's annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards were considering the landscape of local music they wanted the awards to acknowledge the past, the present and the future. The past is taken care of with the winner of the Legacy Award , the present is acknowledged on the night and the future is . . . Well, that is largely in the hands of the hundreds of music... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Kim Benzie of Dead Letter Circus

26 Sep 2018  |  1 min read

If'n it ain't broke then don't fix it, right? So when Brisbane rock band Dead Letter Circus went back into the studio to record their fourth album, their first of new material since 2015's massive Aesthesis, they pulled in producers Forrester Savell and Mat Bartlem who had worked with them on Aesthesis. And as before this self-titled album is full of sky-scaling hooks and driving metal... > Read more

We Own the Light

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Don McGlashan

22 Sep 2018  |  4 min read

What can you say about Don McGlashan, official Arts Laureate and Living Legend? That he has written songs which explore the dark underbelly of New Zealand life (White Valiant) but also those of great beauty (Anchor Me, Andy)? That he has explored brittle post-punk (Blam Blam Blam), avant-garde percussion (From Scratch), performance art and film (The Front Lawn with Harry Sinclair),... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Blair Jollands

3 Sep 2018  |  2 min read

Expat Blair Jollands has been based in London (and Spain) for so long that he is perhaps barely known in his home country these days. But over the years he has produced a number of fine albums and drawn praise from Boy George (whose label he was originally on), David Bowie, the Guardian and numerous reviewers (Classic Rock magazine said he had “the sweeping drama of Nick Cave, elegant... > Read more

I'll Remember You

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Elizabeth Stokes of the Beths

27 Aug 2018  |  3 min read

With their fizzy, upbeat power-pop-cum-indie rock debut album Future Me Hates Me, Auckland Beths bounced straight into contention with one of the best albums of the year. It is unashamedly good fun but also gritty, has plenty of pop swagger and millennial slacker cool, and rides a bunch of great guitar-driven melodies. The Beths – back in Auckland after some US dates – play... > Read more

Uptown Girl

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Holly Arrowsmith

14 Aug 2018  |  2 min read

Singer-songwriter Holly Arrowsmith already has an impressive award under her belt: for best New Zealand folk album in 2016 which acknowledged her debut For the Weary Traveller. It was a fine album . . . but her new one A Dawn I Remember is both a step up and a step sideways into a more mature, emotionally rewarding place and we commend it highly. Yes, it is "folk", but only in... > Read more

Slow Train Creek

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Blair Parkes

6 Aug 2018  |  3 min read

Among the many enjoyable local albums which have come out in the past few months, the new one by Blair Parkes out of Christchurch is the one which might struggle for attention against The Big Names. But Elsewhere is going to say Parkes' Always Running – with Ryan Chin and Miss Mercury (see below) helping out – is a real find, a keeper and a repeat-play item. In our review we... > Read more

Sweetest Darkness

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Jed Parsons

17 Jul 2018  |  3 min read

It sometimes seems that Jed Parsons' debut album Midnight Feast – recorded with Lee Prebble at Surgery in Wellington – has been a long time in the telling . . . because he has been touring, played Auckland City Limits earlier this year and has been an increasingly visible presence after three advance singles. Midnight Feast was released last week (we were away, missed the date)... > Read more

Time

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Chris Dent aka Albi (of Albi and the Wolves)

8 Jul 2018  |  7 min read

With their debut album One Eye Open of 2016 – which won praise at Elsewhere and them the award for Folk Artist of the Year in 2018 – the hard working trio of Albi and the Wolves brought raw energy and passion to their chosen idiom, and also pulled in ideas from rock, world music, soul, jazz and more. The trio of singer-guitarist Chris Dent (aka Albi) from Northland, fiddle... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Erin Cole-Baker

2 Jul 2018  |  2 min read

New Zealand singer-songwriter Erin Cole-Baker spent time in the US earlier this year and, given how her work would easily sit with both country and folk audiences it is no surrise that she is heading back up that way. In August and September she is playng dates in California, Oregon and Washington. She wil be touring on the back of her delicate new album Till The Feeling's Right which... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Nicole Andrews

4 May 2018  |  4 min read

Let's not call Wellington-based singer songwriter Nicole Andrews – originally from Portland, Oregon – an over-achiever . . . but she certainly achieves something over and above most of us. She is a self-confessed lover of folklore, languages (she's currently learning Japanese), English literature and horror films, is a self-taught pianist raised by a family of artists and... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE MANAGER QUESTIONNAIRE: Alastair Burns

30 Apr 2018  |  5 min read

With the annual Music Managers Awards just about on us (Wednesday May 9 at Auckland's Tuning Fork) we have been profiling some of those who are helping steer the career of the artists they manage (or self-steer in the case of Nick Atkinson of Hopetoun Brown). One of the big awards on the night is that for NZ Music Commission International Achievement which see Julie Foa'i (Te Vaka, Opetai... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE MANAGER QUESTIONNAIRE: Nicole Thomas and Paula Yeoman of NicNak Media

26 Apr 2018  |  5 min read

NicNak Media was founded in 2015 by Nicole Thomas and in 2016 Paula Yeoman joined her as a co-director. Between them they have considerable media and music experience: Thomas 20 years in the game here and in Australia which included an eight year stint in publicity and promotion at Warner Music NZ and publicity at TVNZ; Yeoman a respected print, radio and TV journalist who has worked in New... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE MANAGER QUESTIONNAIRE: Nick Atkinson

23 Apr 2018  |  4 min read

So how do we know Nick Atkinson, let me count the ways: One-time member of Supergroove, for his radio and television appearances, as a player/songwriter/member of Hopetoun Brown alongside Tim Stewart (now three albums into a lightning fast career), for playing on stage with Aldous Harding . . . Now we turn the spotlight onto him as he wears another hat, that of a manager. Atkinson is... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Tom Cunliffe

23 Apr 2018  |  2 min read

The London-born New Zealand singer-songwriter Tom Cunliffe made a very sound impression with his debut album Howl & Whisper in 2016 which ran the gamut from crowd-pleasing pub-folk to ballads and beyond. His new album Template For Love takes a similar but even larger worldview in its lyrics and music, and really sounds like an artist hitting his stride. We like it very much and so it is... > Read more

This Table is a River

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Kristin Berardi and Rafael Karlen of Berardi/Foran/Karlen

23 Apr 2018  |  4 min read

The Australian trio Berardi/Foran/Karlen – soon to undertake a short New Zealand tour (see dates below) – formed in 2014 in Brisbane. The group is singer Kristin Berardi (winner of the Montreux Jazz Vocal competition), APRA Jazz Award Winner Sean Foran (piano) and Churchill Fellowship recipient, saxophonist Rafael Karlen. Their debut album Hope in My Pocket released in... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Zach Stephenson of Hockey Dad

2 Apr 2018  |  2 min read

Australian surf-rockers Hockey Dad (out of Windang, if you have a map) are childhood friends Zach Stephenson and Billy Fleming who have really made a mark. Their second album Blend Inn was recorded in Seattle with producer John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Death Cab for Cutie, Bikini Kill) and the first dates on their current NZ tour sold out (other dates below). And after New Zealand... > Read more