Drax Project (the word drax being made by combining the words drums and sax) is the latest up-and-coming band from Wellington. They formed when some students from the School of Music began busking and playing covers in town on busy nights to earn a bit of coin. After gaining some attention they started playing the pub circuit and writing their own material. In 2014 they dropped their debut EP, and armed with some new original material, started making more waves.
This rise from a busking covers act to bonafide band has culminated with them signing to Universal to release second EP, T/W/OO. They have a hybrid sound drawing from many other genres to create smooth soulful pop tunes.
This gig at San Fran was indicative of their seemingly sudden rise in fame. In some ways it was fairly professional – this was the only time I’d ever seen a curtain used to cover the stage between sets at this venue, and they had images projected on the back of stage throughout the night – but fell short telling in other ways – namely the sound levels. This is not a reflection on the band, but rather people manning the sound desk.
Volume and sound mixing is hard to get right. I am not advocating for having it excessively loud (like at the Mogwai gig last year), and I always wear special earplugs at shows. But the band needs to be loud enough to hear clearly. And I can understand that it isn’t always easy to perfect. I’ve seen Rise Against – one of my favourite bands – play four times at different venues, and their mix has been fairly bad every time.
The first set was surprisingly different. It’s not often that I’ll see a band that uses either cajon (a percussive box that the drummer sits on and slaps) or upright bass, let alone both. The four musos sat aligned at the front of stage, treating the crowd to a set of unplugged numbers. The distinctive pitter-patter of the drumsticks on the cajon, the rhythmic strumming of the two guitars, and the deep regular hum of the bass was crowned by the gorgeous vocal harmonies. It’s just a shame that I could barely hear all of these elements together at any given time, seeing as everyone in the bar was having a conversation.
The second set fared better, possibly because the electric instruments were amplified more, meaning that we could hear more elements of the band. I’ll give them this – they can play! I guess that’s what you should expect from music students, but they really were impressive. I liked that the drums had trigger pads to bring in new sounds. But the best parts were when singer Shaan Singh ripped loose on saxophone between verses. The solo material was well received, obviously familiar to the audience, despite being so new. The audience sang along to the popular songs, prompting Singh to say “wow, you guys are louder than us!” The band also played plenty of covers to extend the set time, drawing from their wealth of experience playing these covers hundreds of times together back in their busking days. Two big hits that went down especially well were reimagined versions of Ginuwine’s “Pony”, and Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River”.
They have the talent, they have the songs, they have the popularity, and they have a big label backing them. This was a sold out show, and if they get their sound mixing sorted out I expect that they’ll sell out many more to come.
Novacrow are a UK based hard rock band with a generous dose of zombies and sleaze added to the mix – think along the lines of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie. They’ve just released debut EP Black Syrup, so I sent them some questions to learn more about the band.
What is the story behind your band?
Kitty: Seeing as the truth is pretty straightforward, in that Jonyx and I started making music together and we acquired Freddy and Torben for Novacrow purposes, here is an extravagant backstory.
Jonyx: Originally conceived on the planet of Sexlexis in the Andromeda system, we were sent to dominate Earth through the power of pelvic-thrustingly good music. Unfortunately Sexlexis became struck with the extremely erotic disease ‘Sexlexia’ and we were given the task of finding a cure, the fastest way to spread the word…Novacrow! (continuity errors in storyline may occur…)
Torben: …and then I joined
Where are you from, and what prompted you to start?
K: I have always loved playing in a band and I think the four of us were drawn together, because we all enjoy making lots of noise and embarrassing ourselves. Jonyx and I are from Wolverhampton, Torben is from Norfolk and Freddy is originally from Italy.
How would you describe your sound?
Freddy: A sextastic sonic force.
K: Fat juicy riffs, sleazy vocals and groin-grabbingly good choruses.
T: Top stuff.
What song or album do you recommend for first time listeners?
F: Our EP ‘Black Syrup’ is a must listen for anybody who enjoys being a person. I’d say ‘Fat Frog’ off it would give the best idea of what we’re about.
J: Black Syrup, it’s the tits!
T: I’d personally go for Fight the Horde, I consider it a stomping song.
Why kazoo? It’s definitely not a conventional instrument.
K: Kazoos are just hilarious. We first used one when we did a terrible cover of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Valentine’s gig. People loved it, so we thought it would be funny to add a bit of kazoo into all of our shows. We ended up recording it on the opening track of our EP, Fat Frog.
Torben, you appear to be the punk in a band of metalheads. Does this cause any conflict?
T: When I first joined I wanted to play everything much faster, but whilst punk is my favourite genre, I grew up on metal, owning every Opeth record and listening to them on repeat. Gojira were also big for me, and still are. But having said that, I wouldn’t say it has caused tension, at core we’re all just looking to have fun playing music we love.
Sadly, rock music is still male dominated. Do you find that you’re treated differently to other bands because you have a female singer?
K: It’s hard for me to be objective as (obviously), I’ve only ever been in bands with a female member, but I’d say that we are treated differently to an extent. ‘Female fronted’ is regularly treated like a genre, which is a bit strange, as we often find ourselves billed alongside a load of symphonic metal bands. To us, the fact that we have a female member isn’t an important part of Novacrow. I’ve had my fair share of derogatory comments, but it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than a couple of snide remarks to stop me from rocking my ass off.
It looks like you have a lot of fun playing on the zombie/horror theme. What are some more creative examples of where you have taken this theme?
K: We did a big cheesy B-movie music video for our single Fight The Horde!!! Which was super fun to film. We’ve used this in our live shows too, in one we used a giant screen to show clips creating a ‘storyline’ and had zombies coming on stage and out into the audience. At our EP launch we did zombie face painting too, so we had a whole crowd of the undead.
Between you all, the band covers recording, production, writing and art. Tell me about your DIY motives.
F: For us it pretty much came naturally, we all seem to fit together like a sort of jigsaw puzzle. John has the most experience in photo editing and designing, so he just took on the role of artwork designer. I’m a producer of my own accord outside the band, so I took command of recording, production, and video editing when needed. This leaves most of the artistic direction up to Kitty, so she’ll write most of the songs and we all chip in accordingly.
And then there’s Torben.
Paint me a picture of what I should expect to see at a typical Novacrow gig.
Kitty: Picture yourself at a dingy venue with a cheap pint of beer in one hand. Novacrow comes onstage and suddenly you are weak at the knees. Each member is dazzlingly attractive and unimaginably talented. Their music is so fantastic, you feel faint. Their stage banter is so hilarious, your sides actually split from laughter. The crowd around you are going wild, foaming at the mouth, tits everywhere. You fish out your wallet and you’re literally throwing handfuls of money at the band, they are just that good….
Kitty, I saw that in the list of books you read last year you covered a lot of classic literature and graphic novels, especially some dystopian texts. Talk me through some of your favourites. I know you have a degree in English Lit, so I’m expecting some good recommendations.
K: YES. Excellent question. There are so many incredible novels that everybody needs to read! Obvious choices include Fahrenheit 451, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1984, Brave New World, Slaughterhouse 5 and any of Poe’s short stories.
My longtime favourite author is Stephen King. His first person narratives are unbeatable and I love his great sprawling fantasy epics. It, The Stand, The Dark Half and The Green Mile, are a few of my top choices.
In terms of a quirky recommendation, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, or Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino. I’ve also just finished the trilogy of 1Q84 novels, by Haruki Murakami, which were fantastically written.
What format do you use the most when listening to music? [vinyl, cd, streaming etc..]
F: I mostly download my music, and when I buy CD’s I’ll import them to my laptop. I ain’t got the time to pick out a CD and put it in a CD player and shit, I just want it THERE!
Torben: MP3s or digital music, whenever I travel or walk I have music in. I have a vast collection of CDs which I listen to whenever I can, because I love having a hard-copy of the music I love most.
Tell us your best tour story.
F: We once played a biker club in the middle of Derbyshire and camped out on their fields. There was a HUGE slug that turned out to be just two regular slugs. There was also a lot of booze, some cooked chicken, a broken pump, and a giant fake plastic horse. And Showaddywaddy.
What is your band’s greatest achievement to date?
K: The fact that we’ve somehow tricked people into believing that we’re a real band, rather than a group of attention seeking idiots. I’m super proud of the EP and the excellent feedback we’ve had from it.
Who would you most love to tour or collaborate with?
F: The almighty GWAR.
K: Wednesday 13, Rob Zombie, Skindred or Alestorm.
T: Murder Dolls or Green Jellÿ who were great fun to play with… anyone who’s up for fun and some heavy music basically.
What plans do you have for the near future?
K: Loads of gigs, working on new material and general badassery
This is more of a discussion than a review. I have tried to omit any major spoilers, but you may wish not to read on if you are not up to date with the MCU movies.
A Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) adaptation of the Civil Wars story arc was never going to translate directly. They couldn’t just take the plot from the comics. The comics included an entire universe (mostly in America) of supers at ends, leading to showdowns featuring hundreds of powered figures around the country. Whereas in the MCU there are roughly a dozen supers currently known of. Hulk and Thor are off doing who knows what, and most the Avengers don’t even have powers, so how much of a battle are we likely to see?
With Civil War, when you boil it down, the issue causing the rift was the question of accountability. Do the heroes answer to governments to remain accountable and reduce collateral damage, but throw away their own personal freedoms with the same action? The comics also explored more issues, such as the consequences of heroes revealing their true identity.
There’s a lot of source material to use, and this isn’t even half of it.
In one camp we have Team Stark. Iron Man is wracked by guilt, and is trying to redeem himself anyway he can. He decides that answering to a governing body will relieve him of responsibility for his actions. On the other side of the fence we find Team Cap. Steve Rodgers knows that doing what is right does not always equate to following the law, and fights against registering to work for a body that will likely restrict his actions. Our supers all pick their side and make a stand.
I have to side with Cap on this one. I’m pretty sure the moral of his previous title, The Winter Soldier, was that you can’t trust anyone unless they’re Nick Fury. In that film SHIELD (the good guys that our heroes worked for/with) were secretly being run by HYDRA (essentially new wave Nazis). And if that’s the case, then it’s highly likely that the UN body are being run by some dodgy individuals as well.
Not that I can’t see the arguments for pro-registration. The film explores how lives lost as “collateral damage” are still lives that mattered to the families of those who dies. Sure, the Avengers may have saved the world a few times, but the people who lost loved ones when a building fell during a battle don’t always see it that way.
And members of Team Stark don’t really sell the virtues of accountability when two members, Iron Man and Black Panther, are both motivated by personal issues and driven by revenge. In fact, I was especially upset by the treatment of Black Panther. In this film, a usually noble and advanced character was depicted as a royal brat throwing his toys. Sure, his actions made sense, based on the plot, but it isn’t fair to gloss over such a great character just for the sake of including him in the film in order to set up a sequel.
Captain America: Civil War also opens questions about the futures of key Marvel figures. Marvel sold off the film rights for many of their characters back in the late 1900’s. This is why it was unlikely you would never see Wolverine fighting the Hulk, or The Fantastic 4 teaming up with Daredevil, on the big screen. The characters were owned by different studios, and that’s the way it was set to stay.
This can create confusion around some mutually usable characters. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are technically mutants, so although we saw them introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we also see them in completely unrelated settings in the Xmen franchise, as different studios use the characters with the same names and powers in separate stories.
Spiderman, played by Tom Holland. Notice his new classic look costume.
Likewise, Spiderman was a key character in the Civil War comics, but Marvel fans never thought that Sony would relinquish their grip on the rights to his use in cinema. So the fact that Spiderman is appearing in Civil War, opens questions about the future of his character on the big screen. Does this set the precedent for more collaborations and cross-overs to come?
For the record, Spiderman is portrayed quite accurately in Civil War. Parker is an dorky teen unsure about how to make the most of his new-found powers. He comes across as awkward, wise cracking with annoying jokes to compensate for his lack of confidence. Small details, like living in Queens with his Aunt May, having his own homemade webshooters, and Stark providing him with a new suit, means that Spidey fans should be pleased with how true-to-the-source he is.
As for the rest of the film? I enjoyed it. They did well to take the essence of the comics and turn it into something that worked onscreen. There are plenty of decent fight scenes, and despite the clear power imbalance between the sides, it seems to work. It is a Captain America film, but the two sides of the conflict are show in a balanced way. There are laughs and emotional scenes, and at the end of the film you feel like you’ve got your money’s worth. I was upset about Black Panther, but hopefully this is redeemed by his own title, and I felt that the Spiderman inclusion was done well enough to make up for it.
Hot tip: hang around after the credits. We all know that MCU films always have a scene after the credits, but Civil War also has a mid-credit piece as well.
News about this show left me both excited and nervous. Like Shihad’s live FVEY debut at Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena, this gig was ballot only, meaning that if you don’t manage to win a ticket, you don’t go. Opportunistic gig-goers could try their luck by entering the draw through iHeartRadio and 2degrees websites, but that was the only way to get a ticket. It’s an interesting promotion, because it means that there is a risk of alienating the true fans who would be willing to pay for admission if they had the chance. But then again, if you are lucky enough to win, then you get to attend for free.
Thankfully, I did score some tickets to the gig. Again, my heart sank when I realised that I wasn’t able to get to the office in Wellington central to pick up my tickets within the specified time. But I emailed iHeartRadio and they understood, and were able to sort something that meant that I wouldn’t miss out on receiving my allocated tickets. And luckily for any other diehard fans who had missed out, Shihad released an extra allocation the day before.
Shihad were to play three gigs in three centres on May 1st to promote New Zealand Music Month. It must have been a tight schedule. I know they were pushing it fine to make it to the Wellington show because I was on the same flight as them. Thankfully they didn’t hit any unexpected delays.
Funnily enough, one of the last acts I saw at Meow had also done something similar and played another show in the South Island on the same day. Meow was an interesting choice of venue. I would have expected San Fran or Valhalla as the venue of choice for a heavy band of this stature. Usually Meow is not suitable for a rock gig because it’s full of tables, chairs and empty beer kegs. Thankfully they’d cleared enough floor space to make it manageable, like when Frank Turner played there last. Maybe frontman Jon Toogood thought highly enough of Meow to return, after playing there on his solo tour late last year.
Last time Shihad played in Wellington they opened for their heroes AC/DC. It was great, but it seemed wasteful having such talent play a daytime slot when the crowd still wasn’t full. This time was far better, packed intimately into a small bar, squashed in with a hundred or so die hard sweaty fans. The band members were all dressed fully in black, with only white lights shining upon them for most of the set, which made for a sharp and simple looking show.
Shihad have recently re-released their eponymous “Fish Album“on vinyl, along with a ten inch pressing of the Blue Light Disco EP. The band decided that to celebrate this, along with the 20th anniversary of Fish, the had better play some songs off the album. The four songs from Fish, and two songs from Blue Light, were welcome appearances. Shihad have been drawing predominantly from FVEY for their sets over the past few years over the past few years, so it was nice to hear some older material that wasn’t so chug-heavy. In fact, I think it may be the first time I’ve seen Shihad play a bunch of those tracks. And just so we wouldn’t think that they were going too soft, they finished off with four FVEY songs, which left everyone gasping for breath.
I had initially held reservations, wondering if the band would need to hold back and pace themselves in order to last three sets in a day. I needn’t have worried. Sure, the set was short, but it was intense. Shihad are simply one of the best live acts around – on both local and international scales. Their intense energy and quality songs made for a vivacious homecoming gig.
I saw both Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath play this weekend, and although both were incredible, I found myself enjoying the Shihad gig more. Toogood actually mentioned that Maiden are one of the reasons he decided to start a band, and Sabbath are obviously influences because Shihad covered their song “The Wizard” on their debut Devolve EP. Shihad have taken the best aspects of their influences and distilled them into something more accessible for the next generation. Take the song “The Living Dead“, for example. It could easily pass for a Killing Joke song, but is easier to listen to than most KJ songs.
I have nothing to complain about. The venue worked well, Shihad were devastatingly good, and the show was free. It was a treat to hear them play some really old material that doesn’t often arise, and I honestly think it was the most enjoyable gig of the weekend.
California’s Rival Sons started off the night with a great set. They had a bluesy swagger to their brand of rock music, akin to acts like The Black Keys and Led Zepplin. Every one of the five musicians stood out as talented, adding flourishes and details to the already excellent music. They garnered a great response for an unknown act, with the audience far more into it than you’d usually see during an opening act. It seemed that nobody enjoyed their set more than an individual nicknamed “Nambassa Guy”.
I dedicated a paragraph to Nambassa Guy in my review of the 2015 Homegrown festival, when I first became aware of his notoriety. The open shirted legend is frequently seen at rock concerts around the country, spinning and strutting along to the music, and infectiously spreading his joy wherever he goes. My two mates who I was sitting with had never seen him before, but they both agreed that witnessing his magic was one of the highlights of their night.
Compared to Rival Sons groovy music, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath were grim and depressing. And it makes sense, when you consider their origins. Formed in Birmingham in 1968, Black Sabbath are widely acknowledged as the founders of heavy metal. The band started with the premise that if people paid money to get scared watching horror films, then surely the same people would love a band that played scary music? Their unique sound can be largely attributed to guitarist Tony Iommi, who had lost some of his fingertips in an accident working at a sheet metal factory. He used leather and plastic from melted bottle tops to compensate for his fingertips, and needed to alter his technique to allow for the lack of feeling, giving him a unique tone when he played guitar.
There are stories about women fainting and people freaking out at shows when Sabbath first started. I found this hard to believe at first, but after hearing them play the doomy eponymous “Black Sabbath” as the first song of their set last night, I can better understand the stories.
Three of the four members of the original lineup were present, with Tommy Clufetos (a drummer with experience playing for both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band) taking Bill Ward’s place on the drum throne, and additional musician Adam Wakeman rounding out the sound with guitar and keyboard.
At first I thought it was a bit inappropriate to have Clufetos playing “Rat Salad”, Bill Ward’s signature drum track, but “Salad” morphed into a more original drum solo that allowed Cufetos to show off his chops, and also allowed the elderly members of the band to have a breather.
Geezer Butler also treated us to a bass solo, drowning in pedal effects. But the star of the night was Iommi, the man behind the riffs that inspired thousands of metalheads worldwide. He came across as humble, downplaying his importance when Osbourne introduced him, but we all know that Iommi is Sabbath.
Ozzy’s voice was as good as ever, and he appeared more coherent than I have come to expect, based on interviews and his reality television show, The Osbournes. The Prince of Darkness didn’t bite the heads off any bats, but he sure put in a lot of effort trying to work the crowd up. He would ask us to clap and cheer and scream, shouting “I can’t hear you” every single time. Poor chap, he must be so deaf after all those years of fronting rock concerts.
It didn’t seem like it, but their set lasted almost two hours. They played a range of hits selected from the more notable albums recorded under the original line up. With six of the eight tracks from Paranoid being played, there was no way that they could disappoint. Although I called them grim before, there is another side to their music. We got the heavy metal, but we also got blues and psychedelia too.
The concert was not especially flashy or showy. There were lights, and some screens, but this was a band that relied on the songs rather than gimmicks. They’re old men now, and I think that they are lucky to have lasted so long. After the recent deaths of some of their contemporaries (David Bowie, Lemmy), it has become apparent that not all good things can last forever. This tour has been announced as their last, and after a few Canadian dates were cancelled due to ill health, it’s a believable announcement.
I was thrilled to finally hear some of my favourite songs in a live context, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that everyone in attendance was thankful that they took the opportunity to experience a vital part of music history.
