The Very Good Agency

How open is your soul?

It’s not always easy to be a funk/soul band in New Zealand, if you can’t get your songs onto the filthy commercial stations, you are likely be ignored by the mainstream. Then you either have to slum it playing as a backing band on a kids TV show, or alternatively do the hard yards touring to build up a fan base the old fashioned way. Many artists have to go overseas to be taken seriously at home. Some of the true pioneers and innovators make it through either by sheer luck or through dogged determination, but many others are never fully recognised for their musical talents. Hopefully NZ collective Opensouls is a band that can reach their full musical potential and get the recognition they deserve both domestically and internationally. As the band bio on their website states: “Opensouls have been steadily rising through the ranks of the New Zealand music scene since beginning their musical journey in 2001. Comprised of 2 vocalists, M.C. Bjorn and singer Tyra Hammond, and a live band including Jeremey Toy a.k.a Ota (guitar/MPC), Julien Dyne (drums), Chip Mathews (bass), Stephine Brown (keys), Scott Towers (saxophone), Issac Aesili (trumpet/vocals) and Harlin Davey a.k.a Buttafingers (turntables/mpc), the collective possesses an abundance of musical flair and experience which they have used to great effect on their critically acclaimed debut album.”

Opensouls
Rise Up

With that many members in the crew OpenSouls should once again be in the running for “New Zealand’s Most Populated Band ” award with the only real competition coming from Solaa , but as some of the artists are in both outfits (e.g the mulit-talented Isaac Aesili), special judicial deliberation may be necessary. All jokes aside though these guys are straight up musical bliss, and should appeal to fans of funk, soul and basically groovy as shit! Their song “Turn It Up” has been doing the rounds on NZ student radio for some time now, helping to spread the love and build a following for this original kiwi group. Also well worth checking out, their track “Rise Up”… If you haven’t heard them yet, you best check them out. Then go buy their album “Kaleidoscope”, sweet sounds with lyrics you can relate to.

You can check out more from Opensouls at:

www.opensouls.co.nz

www.myspace.com/opensoulsspace

…Yossarian

Tags: Funk, hip hop, Jazz, New Zealand Artists

Clash Of the Titans

This new documentary released as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival takes a look at the Wellington live hip hop scene, as rappers declare verbal warfare to become champion battle MC. Shot over eight consecutive evenings during December 2006 it follows events as reigning champion Juse1 takes on his competitors who are mostly Wellington based but also include RuggedTek, a Drum n Bass MC from London, and Raysa from Johannesburg.

Clash of the Titans – short introduction

Independently produced and directed by Will Moore, the film had its world premier in New Zealand’s capital on 25 July. Moore, who is described in promotional literature as a long time hip hop supporter, believes that Clash of The Titans was “the first real Wellington hip hop story, driven by inspiration and passion rather than corporate branding. The lens has captured a freedom of expression”. The movie has a mixture of live free-style footage and behind the scenes interviews with some of the battling MCs including Lyrix, Ladysouljah, Rogue, Poetic and Xhale. I haven’t seen the film myself so can’t give any opinion or criticism, but you can check out some preview clips online to judge for yourself.

…Yossarian

Tags: Documentary, hip hop, New Zealand Artists

The Black Seeds 4th album – “Solid Ground”

The Black Seeds are set to release “Solid Ground”, their fourth studio album on August 11in New Zealand and across Europe. Recorded at “The Surgery” in Wellington NZ, ‘Solid Ground’ was again recorded by Dr Lee Pebbles and produced by Black Seeds Guitarist Mike Fabulous. Forming in1998, The Black Seeds first made their way into our heart and headphones with “Keep on Pushing”, introducing a style of tamed energy before unheard of in wee New Zealand. As the years have passed, The Black Seeds have continued to treat us to their modernised reggae, funk, dub mix with ‘On The Sun’ and ‘Pushed’ in 2003, ‘Into The Dojo’ in 2006, and now ‘Solid Ground’ in 2008.

The Black Seeds – Keep on Pushing

Currently playing concerts and festivals throughout Europe in countries including England, Scotland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, with artists including Radiohead, Steven Marley, Jay-Z, & Groove Armada, the group return home to Wellington mid August only to announce their subsequent Australian and American tours.

What a life it must be…

you can check out more of The Black Seeds at:

www.theblackseeds.com

www.myspace.com/theblackseeds

Tags: New Zealand Artists, Reggae, Roots

Flight of the Conchords

New Zealand is known around the world for a few things, Lord of the Rings, Team New Zealand , Sir Edmund Hillary, and now… Flight of the Conchords.

From their humble beginnings in the NZ television and music industries, New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, now have their own American HBO comedy series. Scoring their American contract after doing an HBO comedy special, they are now moving on to a second series making them the first New Zealand comedians to do so.

‘Part time model’ from Flight of the Conchords HBO series

Receiving a string of highly celebrated awards around the world for their performances, television show, and albums, the 2008 Grammy award for ‘best comedy album’ means Jemaine and Bret have now become New Zealands ambassadors to the world. Not many people realise that Bret a.k.a. Video Kid is also a member of New Zealand dub reggae group The Black Seeds

The Black Seeds – So True

It’s really no surprises that Jemaine also has his own side projects, recently releasing Eagle VS Shark, a downbeat comedy portraying the blossoming relationship of two nerds while Jemaine’s character ‘Jarrodd’ returns to his hometown to seek revenge on his old high school bully…

Jemaine Clement in Eagle Vs Shark

You can check out more from Flight of the Conchords at:

www.conchords.co.nz

…bs

Tags: Comedy, New Zealand Artists

Ara Adams Interview

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Hey Ara, It’s nice to get a chance to talk with you so thanks for taking the time man… I’ve seen you in action from afar as well as up close over the years, whether its been performing onstage or organizing things behind the scenes you pretty much do it all from what I gather… So i’m going to start with the usual questions to catch up those who aren’t as familiar with your history, and then maybe we’ll go a little bit deeper… Sweet?

Where did it all start? What did, has, and still does inspire you?

Where did it start aye? I would say it started when I was a kid just being around my dad and uncles when they use to have their (ahem) ‘many’ guitar garage parties which always mysteriously ended up at our house. Haha. Good times when we were kids. Music was kind of ingrained in me from then. I didn’t actually pick up a guitar though until I was at college and that’s when I was doing kapahaka hard out so I was the guitarist for our group. I always wanted to play bass since I heard Ardijah back in the 80’s but I didn’t get one until I was 20 which was in 1995. I was content to just jam away with a few mates until I went to see the EAGLES live at Western Springs 25 November 1996. I was brought up on the Eagles and seeing them live lit the fire inside me to aspire to be a professional musician. From that night forward, thats all I thought about. Not long after I joined Katchafire, and that shot me far beyond what I ever thought I was capable of achieving. Realising that I could reach places that I thought was only held for the lucky, or selected few, I decided to quit Katchafire and continue my quest for learning and growing, and doing it all over again!! Some might think Im crazy – I can confirm that I am. I fully believe that I can do it all over again and Im loving the ‘freshness’ that I am now bringing to my own music. Something that I felt I couldn’t do while staying in Katchafire. So now Im putting in the hard hours learning, growing, jamming and I am so keen and eager to get back out on the scene starting from square 1 again. Yeeah that’s what keeps me amped. Ask my wife – she’s sick of hearing about it hahaha!!

You played bass for Katchafire for 6 years as well as taking a central role in management and organization of the group. Katchafire has built up a massive following in so many places now, and have toured around all corners of the world. Must be a pretty amazing feeling after starting out as a Bob Marley covers band on the New Zealand scene eh? How did that unfold?

Yer it was a massive feeling to go from a straight covers band to playing mostly originals. It unfolded because we could all see that people were still vibin hard on reggae music even though there was really nothing out in the charts or on radio. Once you can see people vibin to the music the boys started writing our music and slowly intergrated it with our covers sets to see what the reaction was. Every now and again we would play at festivals and road test our originals on the public and it was bumpin. We got told by radio directors that reggae music was a waste of time if you wanted radio airplay cause no one listens to it. Fortunately Mai FM believed in us, they jammed the tracks, and the next thing you know we won a NZ Music Award for the highest selling single which proved that people wanted to hear it. After that came our first album REVIVAL, and the rest is history… The management side of things was really a Labour of Love. I worked tirelessly on our bookings, finances, website, etc…. while Mai FM worked on the distribution, radio and tv airplay, and between the two of us we managed to get the profile of Katchafire to decent place. Both parties have now moved on though but it has been rewarding to see the fruits of your labour appear.

I understand that you have recently left Katchafire to pursue your own musical path. Whats your new passion? what led to your decision to choose this new path, and how did it feel leaving?

My new passion is to do it all over again!! Play live at all the cool clubs, at all the cool festivals and bump some new sounds. Yeeyah. Luv that shit!! The reasons behind my decision to leave was a lot of reasons! In a nut shell it came down to ‘it was the right time.’ It was a mixture of spending more time with whanau, needing to move back home to Paraparaumu, personality differences within the band, different priorities for me, and the fact that my musical taste and ambitions were different to where the band wanted to go. Ultimately I knew on 17 June 2006 (Im good with remembering important dates haha) that I knew I had to leave the band to have a shot at fulfilling my potential as a musician. I knew staying in the band wouldn’t allow me the room for me to grow so the decision was quite easy in the end. When I left I felt free again – free to start all over again and free from the world that we had created when I was in Katchafire. Life while in Katchafire was massive, but when you start havin kids, and your kids don’t wanna know you when you return from 6 weeks overseas, that really fkn sux!!! So while it is an awesome lifestyle for most people, I had changed and therefore I needed to change my surroundings which saw me depart from Katchafire.

You’re involved in the business side of music as well as writing & performing right? What exactly do you involve yourself in on the business side (booking, promoting, marketing, labels) and was your involvement by choice or necessity?

Good question. Yer I am involved in the business side of music while I continue to work away on my own material. I am involved as a booking agent and my clients include Katchafire, House of Shem, Opensouls, Cornerstone Roots, Unity Pacific to name a few. I actually don’t mind this suit of work as it keeps me in touch with a lot of venues and festival organizers which I am hoping to use when I am ready to hit the stage again. But YES, the decision to do this is by necessity. I have to somehow pay my mortgage, feed my family and pay the bills so I do this work while I chip away in the studio. I am very very grateful that I could leave Katchafire, and still make a living in this NZ music industry. I work hard and I jam harder so as long as I can keep that balance its all good. If there does come a day when I can give away this music business side of things I will. I wake up excited in the mornings to make music, not to ring up to book gigs, but its still a great job nonetheless!!

In my experiences, some crazy things go on when your touring, some great, some not so great… anything come to mind when I say that?

I remember falling through the roof once at a venue in Napier and being knocked unconscious… Crack up when you think about it now!! Yer there are bad times, but all I choose to remember is all the fun stuff. The jamming on stage, the awesome people you meet, the different cultures you encounter, meeting famous people. I mean, I NEVER EVER thought I could go to the UK or HAWAII without paying a single dollar – in fact they give ME money to jump on a plane to jam in front off them. That’s crazy to think that people thought that highly of you and your music. I’ll remember those euphoric moments on stage – that’s what you live for and that’s what I’m striving for again. Those moments of magic where everything and everyone is connected thru this thing called music. Luv it!!

I’ve spent the good part of my life in Aotearoa (New Zealand) watching such a beautiful array of solo artists and groups spawn. For me, I’m talking about Che Fu & the Krates, Trinity Roots, The Black Seeds, Otautahi Allstars, Fat Freddy’s Drop, project nRt, Salmonella Dub, Cornerstone Roots, Bic Runga, King Kapisi. There are far too many to mention, but if I have missed a few who you wouldn’t have… who would they be? And who are the new kids on the block to look out for?

Definitely Kora, Shapeshifter and Opensouls! The sounds of kinda changing here to with this electronic/jazz/soul/funk vibe thing. Of course NZ music can never be one genre as we like to mash it!!! But there are sooo many good NZ bands out there on MySpace its inspiring! Check out The Constituents, Harbour City Electric, Bluevibes to name a few. Mark de Clive Lowe is a huge inspiration to me too as he is one person who is doing what I want to do. He jams a whole lot of loop based stuff, and layers all the parts in live, then drops different things in and out, and that’s exactly what I want to do. I didn’t even know there was anyone doing it till I started searching and then Blam – there he is!! So check out Mark’s video’s on MySpace if you into live loop based jammings.

With all of your success and I suppose happiness so far, what’s the next dream for Ara? and what are you doing to turn your dream into your reality?

Bro, I’m a big dreamer…. And I’m big on making them come true too. I’ve already said it above but I want to taste the success again of people vibin your music live again. From the smallest coolest club in NZ to Japan, UK and Europe!! I also want to get to a point where I can live off my music and get that free hold beach house. Not a day goes by that I am not doing something to further my music. I am into learning and researching magazines and websites for tips, I jam a lot in the studio and with other people, and I listen to a shit load of other peoples music that inspires me. I love to think ‘outside’ the square a little and experiment and try other shit. I’m really getting into this whole new electronic/jazz/soul vibes right now.

Are you a musician or an artist? Back it up brother.

I suppose I would say I am both. A musician is someone who can play music, an artist is someone that can create pieces of art (music, paintings, sculptures, ete…). I suppose you would therefore say I am a Music Artist. Sounds pretty anal aye…”Hi Im Ara and Im a Music Artist.” I don’t know bro, Im just a Maori brutha with visions of big dreams in Music. Call me what you want haha!!

We know you play bass… what’s your approach to the new album. One man band, collaborations… how will it play out?

Definate collaborations. I don’t really find too much joy with it just being all about me. I love to feed off other peoples energy and vibes. As long as we are on the same wave length its massive seeing where things can go and how things change when working with other like minded people. I play bass, keys, guitars, sampler and I get my bro to jam drums over the programmed drums…. Its makes the beats sound even fatter when combing those two elements. I really want to work with singers and lyricists that feel have a Soul and a Vibe about their voice which has emotion in it. If you can infuse that voice into the music that’s the shit right thurrr!!!! Man I wish I could sing…..haha. I also want to work with other like minded musos – anyone who feels they get into a huge sound of a melting pot filled with reggae/jazz/soul/funk/electronic give me a call!! So if you jam or you sing holla at me on myspace.com/bastionafro .

I really want to make my name is a Live Artist first and foremost. If albums and all that comes then that’s all good but I really want to be a Live Artist first. You cant beat that energy and vibe when its happening live.

Cool cool, all of the crew at Very Good are looking forward to hearing your new sounds. What we’ve heard seems to be very diverse with a mixture of influences and styles and it’s going to be a welcome break from the norm. Cheers for taking the time and the best of luck with everything.

Cheers for the interview and sorry for my long ass winded replies. Now its off to my studio to jam…..

www.myspace.com/bastionafro

Tags: hip hop, Interviews, Jazz, New Zealand Artists