Will Not Fade’s 2024 In Review

It’s always fun to look back over the past year, to celebrate memories worth cherishing, and reflect on things.

I kicked off the year on a great note, seeing Princess Chelsea play a postponed gig in support of her recent record, the Taite Music Prize album Everything is Going to be Alright. I love how Chelsea’s music is so fresh and unapologetic, but is seeing commercial success and acclaim at the same time. It stands as one of the best gigs of the year for me. One of the photos I took that night was featured in FromThePit later in May.

Princess Chelsea at Meow

Later that month I saw Foo Fighters play, who had been one of my favourite bands when I was a teenager. They were significantly better than last time I’d seen them. Taylor Hawkins was a huge influence on me as a drummer and it is sad that he is no longer with us, but Josh Freese proved himself to be a suitable replacement. I’d stopped caring about Foo Fighters years ago, but I figured I may as well catch a gig in Wellington – seeing how I wouldn’t have the additional expenses that come with travelling – and I’m glad I did. Stadium concerts can be incredibly fun spectacles, or can feel souless with the loss of intimacy, but this was a great night out.

March is always a busy month for music in Wellington, with Cubadupa, Homegrown, Newtown Festival all being big festival fixtures that we look forwards to.

Shepard’s Reign at Cubadupa

May was my highlight though, flying to Europe to reunite with my good friends in Ranges, who played three dates in the UK along with FORT and Din of Celestial Birds, and then dunk!festival in Belgium. It was such a blast to see my friends again after six long years. You can read about it in my tour blog.

Other than Ranges, my standout bands at dunk! were Maserati and sleepmakeswaves. I made a point of trying to get to a bunch of gigs in Europe, and succeeded on that front, catching acts such as Tenacious D, Olivia Rodrigo, Danny Brown, Cancer Bats and NOFX.

sleepmakeswaves dunk!festival by Will Not Fade

sleepmakeswaves at dunk!festival

I had loads of fun helping Planet Hunter film their music video for “Valleys”, and spent time with them in the studio as they recorded their next album with James Goldsmith. Recently they played Sanctuary Sounds festival, which was a great weekend away. I wasn’t there, but they also supported Sparta when they came to Wellington in May, which is a cool achievement.

Local emo Happy Valley said farewell with an EP and tour. They have been hugely important for the music scene, helping to provide venues and run gigs for new bands. I’m sad to see them go but they’ve left a great legacy. Some individuals in the local hardcore scene have come together to form Start Today Crew, who run all ages shows at Thistle Hall once a month and are doing amazing work.

I was honoured when Michael Hollywood asked if I could contribute photos to a Audioculture profile of Vorn that he was writing. Vorn and I go way back. I’ve taken photos of a bunch of his bands this year, including the Vorn album release show for The Late Album in April, Crash Bandihoot, and a recent weekend when Wellington Sea Shanty Society played at Breaker Bay Hall.

Wellington Sea Shanty Society at Breaker Bay Hall (Vorn on accordion)

We have a new venue in Wellington called Meownui. I see the name being problematic – being so similar to Meow. I’m just waiting for the stories of people showing up to the wrong venue and getting confused. I only attended one gig there before it was fully finished, but I can see it being a great asset to the live music scene. It is wide and shallow with a mezzanine floor, so I imagine you’ll feel close to the stage from wherever you choose to stand, despite the 1000 person capacity. Auckland also combined two smaller venues into the larger Double Whammy, but I haven’t been so cannot comment on that.

The Beths were supposed to play at Meownui but it wasn’t ready yet so they played at Massey University Great Hall. They’re such great songwriters and basically tour non-stop so they’re very good at what they do.

Dartz have been some of the winners of 2024. Their album release show at San Fran was fantastic, as was their surprise set at Newtown Festival that weekend. Dangerous Day to be a Cold One reached #1 on the charts and the band toured in Europe and Australia.

Dartz at Newtown Fest

Dressed in Wax are back with a new lineup and released a new EP. Their EP release at Moon was fantastic.

Amy Shark has long been one of my favourite artists. I’ve had her new album Sunday Sadness on steady repeat and went to Auckland for her first NZ show in many years. It was a long drive up to Auckland for the show, but well worth it.

I’ve long championed Adoneye as one of my favourite local bands. I was pleased to see them win the National Battle of the Bands this year, and hope that they can capitalise on this success and get their name out there for.

Adoneye at Newtown Sports Bar

Japanese math-rockers Toe released a new EP, and also came to Wellington. I couldn’t believe that one of my bucket list bands had come here. It was incredible. The sheer muscianship and passion that shone through made for a captivating show.

Two big disappointments were Blink-182 and Tenacious D. My sister and I bought tickets to see Blink-182 play in Christchurch years ago. They played Auckland, but cancelled their Christchurch date without any official explanation, leaving me out of pocket for flights I didn’t end up using and disappointing many fans. The silver lining to staying in Wellington that weekend is that I managed to see Mogwai, Dartz’s sold out album release show, and Newtown Festival.

I actually did see Tenacious D in Paris in May. I didn’t write a review because I was was busy on holiday, and figured that I could just cover them when they play in Wellington later in the year. Paris was an extremely fun night, especially sitting in an enormous, packed-out arena with thousands of other fans who all know the lore behind such a ridiculous band. The skits and theatrics are still funny.

I was excited to see them play again in Wellington, but the band pulled the plug a few nights before. Kyle Gas had his birthday during their Australian leg. He made an insensitive comment alluding to the recent assassination attempt on Trump for his birthday wish. This got a bit of attention online and suddenly right-wingers were jumping on it, calling for the band to be cancelled and deported. I see this as a major over-reaction to a throwaway comment from a member of a band that have built their entire career on inappropriate and juvenile jokes, but someone made the call, the remaining tour dates were cancelled, and it looks like the band is finished. Jack Black continues to have a lucrative career, voice acting in big budget Hollywood animation films.

I haven’t been listening to loads of new music this year. One of my favourites releases that I haven’t mentioned yet was a collection of songs Into It. Over It. compiled and put out under the name Interesting Decisions.

FVKVSHIMA at Cubadupa

And FVKVSHIMA have dropped a few singles. I was pleased to be part of their first release, “Kuato”.

2025

February is going to be busy for me. I’m flying to Nelson to see Shihad – one of my favourites – play on their farewell tour. Then God is an Astronaut, Hot Water Music and King Brothers are all playing in the same week. If you like crazy rock music I urge you not to sleep on King Brothers. I saw them back in 2018 and and it was absolutely incredible.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Supergroove. I was a bit too young to have been around when they were a thing, but I saw them at the second Homegrown festival when I was a teen and it was amazingly fun, so I’m jumped at the opportunity to see them play again.

I’m excited for a debut EP, Tilt, from Taylah, who has also been working with Fly My Pretties lately. She is incredibly talented and I’m very excited to see her doing so well.

Taylah at San Fran

And in the world of post-rock, I know we have new music in the works from Astodan, distance, Jakob and potentially Spook The Horses (they played a few new tracks when opening for The Ocean).

I’m going to try to get to Indianapolis for Post. Festival in July. I was in awe of their lineup this year and felt mad FOMO. They’ve announced seven bands already and I’m so hyped that Pillars are back and playing their incredible album Cavum.

Words and photos by Joseph James

Will Not Fade’s 2020 In Review

I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say it has been a rough year. Personally, I had a lot of amazing plans that got cancelled. I was planning on traveling throughout Europe, seeing the world, touring with my dear friends Ranges and attending festivals such as dunk!festival and ArcTanGent. Then a pesky virus spread around the globe and put an end to all of that. Admittedly we’ve got it pretty good here in New Zealand. We had five weeks of national lockdown around Easter time, and certainly a lot of gigs were cancelled or at reduced capacity, but we’ve still had live music for a lot of this year, which is an absolute blessing.

Even so, I’ve found it hard for a multitude of reasons. I decided to retire from running the blog earlier in the year. But I have some spare time now that I’m on holiday and I enjoy writing these end-of-year summaries, so I’m back in action for this one last article for the year.

My top albums of 2020

The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers

As I mentioned, New Zealand has still been able to have concerts and gatherings for a lot of the year, so this has allowed a lot of NZ artists to stand out a bit more on the world stage. Benee is an example of one artist who has garnered international attention and success. The Beths are another group who have gone from strength to strength. Many of us fell in love with their self-deprecating powerpop with debut album Future Me Hates Me, and follow up record Jump Rope Gazers is just as brilliant. It’s more of a slow burner than FMHM, but still proves just as irresistible and catchy after a few listens, and an easy pick for my top album of 2020. The Beths are also great live and I was delighted to catch them live again this year after a number of postponements. They’re in such demand that they played 5 packed out shows over three days in Wellington, and I imagine they could have even pulled enough of a crowd to play a few more shows too.

Caspian – On Circles

Caspian’s last album Dust and Disquiet is phenomenal. They blew my mind playing that material at dunk!fest in 2018 and I was so upset that I couldn’t see them play again this year after my travels were cancelled. On Circles may not quiet measure up to Dust and Disquiet, but it’s still a solid album, just in it’s own way. It’s a more reserved offering, but this seems somehow appropriate for the times. There’s two songs with singing – Kyle Dufrey of Pianos Become The Teeth lends his voice to one track, and Phil Jamieson’s singing on the titular track is sublime and soul restoring. Something else I love about this album is the interesting tones and timbres they’ve gone for. Maybe they’re in alternate tunings, maybe it’s effect pedals, I really have no idea. But these tones, coupled with some cello and violin on a few tracks, make for unusual yet enticing listening.

Into It. Over It. – Figure

Regular readers won’t be at all surprised by this inclusion. It’s no secret that I’m a big IIOI fan. They were the first act that I flew overseas to see live. And the last album, Standards, was a great. Figure is a logical continuation of Standards. Brilliant songwriting, great playing. The drumming is complementary and they’ve continued their exploration into interesting tones.

Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings

Again, this should come as no surprise; Biffy Clyro have been my favourite band since I was a teenager. I almost slept on this one though – I pre-ordered the vinyl record and due to covid related complications it still hasn’t shown up. Warner said they’d send a digital download but never did (same case with their last record Ellipsis too, up your game Warner!) After a few months of waiting I figured that maybe I should do some hunting. I eventually got a copy of the album downloaded and I’m glad I did because it’s been on steady repeat ever since. Biffy have always trodden a fine line, making a point of being weird and alternative (at times inaccessible even, especially during the earlier albums), yet at the same time playing stadium rock and writing songs that earn mainstream radio play (more so overseas). And somehow they’ve managed to continue down this path with success. There’s less of the bland radio fodder that featured heavily on Ellipsis, and they’ve managed to evolve and push their style whilst style true to their distinctive Biffy sound.

Other music worth mentioning

distance

Sam Butler released two great solo EPs this year. I reviewed the first EP, over time.

Saint Speak

A side-project from Spencer of Tides of Man, lullabies for his newborn.

Spencer Gill with Tides of Man at dunk!festival 2018. Image: Will Not Fade

Jakob – “HAARP”

A great lost b-side from the post-rock titans.

Lakes

Lakes released my favourite album of 2019, and dropped a few remixes, covers and other tracks this year. This 7″ is my pick of their 2020 offerings.

And two albums not released in 2020 that I listened to a lot

Dave Hause – Kick

You may know Hause as the singer of punk band The Loved Ones. It’s almost a cliche how punk singers start solo projects along these lines (Think The Revival Tour). Kick is a great album, hopeful and defiant in the face of oppression. It’s in the vein of singer-songwriter, even country styles, something a bit more chilled out, but still with rock roots.

Metavari – Be One Of Us And Hear No Noise

I have no idea how I came across this album but it just hit the spot. A perfect blend of ambient and electronica. I’ve needed more calming music like this a lot this year.

The state of things in 2020

I’m terrified of the ongoing implications of what will happen to the music scene as a result of this pandemic. Musicians who rely on touring and selling merch for a living suddenly don’t have an income. Venues can’t get by because people aren’t allowed to attend gatherings. No venues means no places for bands to play. And it doesn’t just affect musicians, there’s the roadies and drivers and lighting techs and sound engineers and a whole industry suddenly without work.

Many musicians are resorting to livestreaming performances. [Here’s one that my friends in Ranges did for WherePostRockDwells]. Some people have been able to monetise livestreaming these performances. We will see if this becomes comomonplace in the future.

We all know that streaming is not really the answer forward. Sure, it is a revenue stream, but they pay such a pittance per stream that it’s a joke. Bandcamp have stepped up with Bandcamp Fridays, monthly events that they choose not to take their cut on any music and merch sold in order to help the musicians and labels who need the income so badly now. And it appears to have worked, with millions of dollars worth of transactions happening every Bandcamp Friday.

Thankfully we still have live music here in NZ for the time being. I’ve been paying to a Patreon for our local venue Valhalla because I know that without venues, we won’t have a live music scene.

Live music in 2020

I didn’t see many international acts this year, for obvious reasons. I did see Queen at the stadium (it was a bit of a spectacle but I’m glad I didn’t pay much), I saw Yawning Man at Valhalla, and a few metal bands at Obey The Riff festival at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt. My own band also opened for Sebadoh at a sold out show at San Fran in Feb, which was pretty awesome.

Yawning Man at Valhalla. Image: Will Not Fade

My best gig of the year was The Wellington Sea Shanty Society at Breaker Bay Hall. It’s exactly what it sounds like. I drank a lot of rum and sang pirate songs. My friends and I all agree that it was our collective best night out since The Beards.

Newtown Festival was one highlight. I spent most of the day there taking photos at the Ferguson St Stage for The Mousai.

Happy Valley at Newtown Festival. Image: Will Not Fade

Some of my favourite Wellington bands at the moment are Happy Valley, Planet Hunter and Adoneye, and I managed to see them all play a few times.

It’s a real shame that Spook The Horses had their European tour cancelled, but I was stoked that they asked my band to open at their album release and they killed it. They livestreamed the night if you want to go back and watch it.

Spook The Horses album release at Meow. Image: Will Not Fade

A real indication of how much things have changed is when I went to see local speed metallers Stälker recently. It was packed. Certainly a big change from reduced capacity shows that I’d been going to a few months earlier. The mosh pit was pumping and you couldn’t move because everyone was squeezed together so tightly. I used to live for nights like that, but it felt so uncomfortable after avoiding being too close to others for most of the year.

Stälker at Newtown Sports Bar. Image: Will Not Fade

2021

It’s hard to say what next year holds for us. Guns n Roses have announced a stadium tour in NZ. Is that too ambitious? Only time will tell. Hopefully the covid vaccine is effective.

Beastwars have held an Obey The Riff festival at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt over the past few years and it’s been successful. I’ve heard rumours about the potential lineup for 2021 and I’m excited about that. I’m not holding my breath about seeing any acts from overseas anytime soon though.

In terms of releases, I’m looking forward to a new Amy Shark album, and hopefully Adoneye release their debut (bass player Jesse is recovering from wrist surgery). There may also be a live DVD from Opium Eater (Jesse’s other band) and Glassblower are dropping their debut grindcore album. My own band Secrets of the Sun will have an album out at some stage early next year too. Sora Shima are coming back so I’m hoping to see them again, and fingers crossed for some new music.

What are your favourite albums of 2020? What are your predictions for 2021? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts!

Will Not Fade Awesomeness Award 2020 – Hamish Morgan

You’ve got to love people who embody a DIY ethic, and Hamish Morgan certainly fits that description. Wellington has been facing the loss of many local venues in recent years, including youth hub Zeal which was vital for the all ages music scene. Obviously with less venues available, bands have fewer places to play, meaning that the local music scene suffers as a result.

So Hamish took it upon himself to provide a place for local bands to play: his living room.

He recently wrote a piece about it for our homies The Mousai:

https://themousai.co.uk/post/189631733776/hataitai-homewrecker-wellington-7122019

For over a year now, Hamish has been hosting house shows at his flat in Hataitai. He provides a backline (amps, PA, microphones, drums etc), a venue (his living room) and advertising on Facebook and with posters.

Hamish playing with his band Happy Valley. Image: Will Not Fade

It’s a risky business. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest decision to name the events “Hataitai Homewrecker”. Yes, it is located in the suburb of Hataitai, but I’m sure that he doesn’t want his home destroyed. He limits the events to only once a month, noise proofs the space as much as possible and tries to enforce a strict curfew so as to not upset the neighbours too much. On the wall is a framed warning notice from Noise Control, who had been called out to the very first Hataitai Homewrecker event, but the other events have been mostly uneventful in that respect.

These events have become a right of passage of sorts for many bands. Hamish was the first person to book my own band to play, and many local Pōneke bands first cut their teeth at a Homewrecker. Plenty of musicians from the punk/hardcore etc scene in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton and even as far as Sydney have made the pilgrimage here to play as well.

This is more than just providing another place for bands to play. A bonus that some people may not realise, local artists are getting some good exposure from the posters. My personal favourite is from Daniel Vernon (of the band Dartz), who did this amazing hipster Hulk poster. I’ve since been noticing his artwork popping up all over the place.

I’ve had a few chats with Hamish and he’s stressed to me about how he wants to avoid it becoming a “sausage fest”, and wants to ensure there is a variety of gender representation. And he’s done pretty well, with plenty of wahine featuring in the lineups of great bands that play his events. I don’t want to put words into his mouth, but like me, Hamish is an early childhood teacher. Males make up a very small minority in that area of the teaching profession, so we are very aware of the impact it can make.

It’s been a great success, with Hataitai Homewrecker events having occoured monthly for over a year now. And Hamish is showing potential for branching out, having recently organised a free local show at a skatepark (sadly this was canceled due to a horrendous storm) and currating a stage for the upcoming Newtown Festival in March 2020.

So major tautoko to Hamish for taking it upon himself to provide a place for local musicians and sustain the music community.