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Arlandria, sweet sweet Arlandria

There are not many times in my life when I listen to a song for the first time and cannot speak for the grin on my face. Given that my tastes are delicate when it comes to rock music it is not surprising that I find within a single album songs that make me a fan of the band, and others that make me question my new found fandom.

Wasting Light by the Foo Fighters was one of those exceptional albums that never had me questioning, and probably was the album that first made me believe in the Foo Fighters.

I used to drive Mitsubishi RVR 1990 edition (3 door, one was sliding) which we named BAZ after the number plate. It was a beautiful recreational vehicle that posed as a people mover but really only had four seats. It was in this car me and my wife listened to some of the greatest music from 2008 – 2011. My Chemical Romance the Black Parade, when played at full volume made the car speakers shake (which in turn enhanced the experience), Adele 21 (my wife’s choice), Muse – Resistance, Keane – Perfect Symmetry, Pearl Jam, and so on and so on, and Wasting Light by the Foo Fighters.

I bought this for Tom, the drummer, when he turned 25. It was a sympathy present, knowing that after 25 your metabolism slows down and you start getting fat, that I hoped it would cheer him up. After he received the CD I kept receiving these random texts; ie. ‘FOO’S!!’ from an obviously maxed out brain. So, as a gift to myself for still being younger than 25, I bought the album. On driving home from JBI HI FI I played the album in BAZ.

E V E R Y   S I N G L E   S E C O N D   W A S   I N C R E D I B L E, but the one song that stood out was Alandria which I instantly played a second and third time.

The Foo’s are well known for their heavy guitars and layered instrument riffs. This song was no different but it was different. I think the biggest element I noticed was the beautifully crafted parts of the usually underrated guitar player Chris Shifflet. Originally he was not in the band until 1999. I found his craft in thios song added a whole new level of brilliance, played appropriately craftily in a now 5 piece band.

Dave Grohl has screamed a fair bit in his career, in plenty of albums (and almost constantly live) but it was awesome to hear his voice stripped back to a clean, not exceptionally energetic vocal. The dynamics of this changed a lot throughout the song btw. It seems the theories of the male vocalist reaching their peak by 35 has proven correct! You cannot argue that the vocals in Arlandria are both clever, emotional and placed appropriately throughout the song. My favourite quickly became the scream at the height of the bridge when everything stops so the vocals can rip through the fabric of purity. Rhythmically it is both dynamic and classic to the Foo Fighters, lyrically; emotional with many references to classic sayings (as the Foo Fighters have always done), but also Arlandria is a breath of fresh air that was needed.

I maybe starting to sound a little fanatic at this point! But please be aware that I remain cool, calm and collected. This song has hit every note of my rock infused being well, and I would be lying to write it any other way.  To sum up I am saying only this; ‘do it again… please’.

Nights with angels : the fall

I was a pleasantly surprised to hear this NZ band (suggested by Paddy who commented after the last blog). I have never heard of these guys before and don’t know the history of the band. From the name I was expecting another American metal band but as so boldly stated at the start of their video clip ‘this is Maori Metal’.

The song, named ‘the fall’, starts off with a chugging acoustic guitar rhythm and an epic yell/scream from the singer. It sets the scene and offered a mood that was quite powerful and vibey. First instincts reminded me of Evanessence and the Rasmus, bands from a while back now but both offering the dark moody material without the grunge and screams of heavy metal. The song had been mixed great too, different in a lot of ways to NZ metal. Classicly bands similar this hit the overdrive with drums and guitars (both of which in this song come secondary to the vocals.)

Lyrically the song is quite sound, playing on the themes of love and loss, and hits on points most people would connect with in one way or another. It is one of those classic senario’s where any theme that has world wide appeal is at first frowned upon. people say ‘your themes aren’t original’ and other crap when really of music is going to connect with people those themes are essential. I say; well done NWA, people at least can relate to the words! On saying that it is also appeared to be a bit of a story song.

Instrumentally ’the fall’ has been well played out. Acoustic guitars are used fairly often by metal bands who always tend to have a soft, moody side to their persona’s. Take ‘System of a Down – Roulette’ or ‘Slipknot – Snuff’  for an example of this, but ultimately it is the vocals that dominated my attention in this song. Sitting somewhere between Van Halen and 30 Seconds to Mars the vocals of the lead singer were both clear and powefully sung giving me the impression of many years at singing in the band. The gang vocals in the chorus’s and the acoustic guitar was awesome! For me it set this band apart from many others where the production seems to have been approached with an open mind.

With all that in mind I rate this song a 5/10 on songs that I am loving at the moment. Thanks for the tip Paddy! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more music from these guys. Till next week, or maybe friday.

 

the Singer

Blog #9

I have been considering for a while what kind of blogs people want to read, and how I can be consistent with these posts around the so designed area…so I have decided that for the time being I am going to critique modern songs. This will require a little help from the reader – by that I mean suggestions of songs you would like to have broken down and analyzed – and can be anything from the top 10 pop charts to local kiwi metal bands.

I will start close to home – New Zealand being a fine country with very diverse musical tastes – and bring up an artist that many people will be familiar with, and many people will have opinions on. Let’s get this straight from the start – I will be slightly biased because of my love for rock music, I will be truthful and say what I really think, but mostly I will highlight the things that I think are great about the songs. There are enough tough-arsed critics in this world spitting words to rile people up and make the creators gutted without needing another. So here goes…

Six60: The song most recently added to the Juice and Four selection is the song ‘Forever’. The video clip uses footage from live performances and concerts. The song speaks volumes with mystical sentences and phrases that (although hard to understand) inspire something like the feeling of an end: ‘the start of my demise’, and the strange line – giving insight to some fantasy future - ‘this is forever’, where love, or youth, or freedom become an eternal destiny. The lyrics – as so wonderfully quoted in ‘Blades of Glory’ by actor Will Ferrell ‘nobody knows what it means, but it’s provocotive, it gets the people going!’ - may not have any real significance (like many great songs) but the words inspire some sense of false hope. Much like the 2006 hit song by Youth Group - ’Forever Young’ – youth of the nation seem to cling to aspects of their life that they never want changed. Well done Six60, you are a clever bunch! Check out the video here:

Straight off when I heard the song I thought I was listening to a rendition of Audioslave’s ‘Shadow on the Sun’, but only becasue of how the guitarist plays the two note chord changes. There are often similarities between songs in popular music. We are so back logged with musical history that the creation process can become like a swamp, where every smell and liquid is infused together. What it seems to come down to is creating the music which fits with who you want to be – which begs the question: what is Six60 doing with this song? A friend who I played it to recently asked if it was Nesian Mystic – which made me laugh – but I did understand what he meant. Wikipedia says six60 are a New Zealand rock band, but who ever trusted wikipedia? My ear hears plenty of RnB in the vocals while the dominant guitar and heeeeeavy synth tends to remind me of Kora and, strangely enough, John Mayer. The song is wholly well done, if simple (which is sometimes best) with the classic suspension breaks, faded in synths, thick vocal effects and dynamic verses.

Probably one to roadtrip with, during summer, but don’t play it too much Juice ‘cos everyone knows too much of something sweet makes you fat. Lots of positive points, mean song, overall on my Mish-o-meter of songs I’m loving I give a 6/10.

If you are a reader then flick me a reply and tell of a song you would like a review of by Black Boy Peaches. It has been a pleasure and it will be again in about a weeks time.

The Singer

Blog # 8 ‘The greatest gig’

Gig night tonight for BBP. We are playing at Re:fuel for the first time in about 11 months accompanied by Strang and the Strange, and the Suds. I guess we are embracing the ‘student culture’ around the Dunedin scene a bit more than we have in recent years, not for any reason in particular, but the vibes are good. Re:fuel, for those who do not know, is the crux of student band culture in Dunedin, mainly for the reason that it is literally on campus underneath the building attatched to the central link. Half of the venue is a bar and the other half is a concert room.. Packed it could hold 400 odd (not including the bar).

We were setting up and soundchecking just a few hours ago and Tom asked the guy who let us in ‘what has been the best show at Re:fuel in the last year’, to which he replied ‘the mavericks.’ The mavericks are an american band from the 90′s that are kind of grunge/punk, with two drummers. Novel and awesome, although I never saw them play. The question got me thinking about what BBP’s greatest show so far has been. There may be some debate between Tom and I or anyone that has seen us as I recall the gigs from the past.

2009 Sammy’s - crowd = 250 (+), performance = average, weren’t a very good band at that point (-), production = sweet lighting rig (+), Cd sales = ? can’t remember (-), enjoyment 6/10

2010 Regent theatre – crowd = 600 (+), performance = good (+), Production = lighting rig, drum tower, drum battle = excellent, Cd sales = / can’t remember (-), enjoyment 7/10

2010 Boedega Wellington – crowd = 120 (+), performance = solid (+), Production = small (-), Cd sales = a dozen odd (-), enjoyment 6/10

2011 Parachute - crowd  = 200/300 (+), performance = rocking (+), production = festival (-), Cd sales = 6 (-), enjoyment 7/10

2011 12below – crowd  = 50 (-), performance = excellent, production  = small (-), Cd sales = ??, enjoyment 7/10

2012 Raglan Camping Ground – crowd = 150 (+), performance = excellent (+), Production = great tour lighting rig (+), Cd sales = dozen odd (+), enjoyment 8/10

2012 Orca – Corwd = 50 (-), performance = excellent (+), production = great tour lighting rig (+), Cd sales = 2 (-), enjoyment 8/10

This is not all of the gigs that we have done but some of the ones that have stood out the most; there have been a good 40-50 others over the years. All in all the greatest gig of Black Boy Peaches career for me was at the Raglan Camping Ground. Haha! hardly rock’n’ roll I know, but the place was sweeeeet.

It was an outdoor stage, facing a stretch of grass that ran alongside one of the food buildings. We didn’t even really advertise ‘cos we got rained off the previous day, yet heaps of people came out to watch. Our soundy (James Walters), and Lighting guy (Sam Dent) cranked everthing to full tilt and we played a rock concert. The vibes were great, we played as good as we ever have, the crowd cheered us off, people bought albums – the camping ground gave us free accomodation, the beach was just around the corner, did a bridge jump; needless to say – it doesn’t get much better.

But then, you know… tonight could top that and replace the best gig ever, or any of our gigs in our upcoming winter tour could.

If you are reading, please respond and let us know your favourite gig of all time! not even BBP, it can be anyone. We are all looking for the next best gig/thing/trend and Black Boy Peaches will be at the front of this quest for the next decade and more.. hopefully to give you a show that can be your best gig. If just for a while.

Mish

2012

Blog #7

Sometimes you just cannot compromise on quality. Before I started to write this blog I jumped on YouTube to seek out some fresh musical talent and watch some sweet music videos, stumble. I followed a few leads, watched several ones that seemed promising and after a good while started to feel fairly depressed about what I was finding. The remedy was simple enough.

I typed in “the Killers, When You Were Young” – instant gratification. It would be a lie for me to say that I was not an appreciator of the Killers music, in fact I am fairly well rehersed on their albums and style. The question this raises though is one of the ‘mere exposure effect’ and if my satisfaction for the Killers was genuinely due to excellence, or familiarity.

The ‘mere exposure effect’ is pretty much thus; the idea is that the more you are exposed to something, whether music, people, art, a home, flowers etc, the more you identify with it and find it comfortable and even enjoyable, (which is why people still listen to Bob Dylan) even if its not that good. It is a topic that can make you question who you are and if your indentity is your own or partly what you have been exposed to over the course of your human development.

Do you like ’80′s punk music because your parents raised you listening to it or because it resonates with you alternatively?

I.e; at this very moment I am listening to Crowded House greatest hits and I am finding it incredibly enjoyable, which begs the question… my own choice? or ‘mere exposure effect’, because my parents listened to this album while I was growing up?

It is probably something that everyone will have to decide for themselves and whether or not they actually care. I, for example, am perfectly happy to listen to Crowded House even if it is a rub off from my parents. As for ‘the Killers’; I would not have exposed myself to them so thoroughly if I had not thought they were wicked from the start:)

I therefore declare the song of the week; the Killers, When You Were Young, and the NZ song of the week;  Crowded House, Fall At Your Feet. Hmmmm, I think this new segment to the blogs will become a regular thing! Keep tuned into to Black Boy Peaches Blog series to know more! hahahahaha, yeah sucker.

 

Mish

blog #6

Hey hey hey, cruizing in for another post. Hope there’s someone out who is reading- cause this is for you. I am not writing this blog on valentines day for any specific reason but since it is the day of love, let me share some love with you!

Here is some information that not many people will know of; about BBP obviously, and the year ahead. 2012 is a big year for ‘the peaches’, and here’s why.

1. I will be returning to the country in a matter of weeks and we are embarking on another recording project. Up until this date we have have recorded ‘Slasher Ep’ 2009 and ’Company Feel Good’ 2010. Some of you who know the band well enough know that both of those records were completed with our old drummer and bass guitarist. Hence why this next project is very exciting.

We are starting this new EP, which is to be called MIRRORS, and recording it as the two piece we are. Never fear bbp listeners for our ‘sound’ has not changed and we are still an epic stadium rock band! Our songwriting however has changed and improved to the point where we are SO keen to record it is almost painful.

The EP will have 8 tracks of brand new songs and we will be releasing the single MIRRORS online and to radio stations (national and student) in the first half of this year. Naturally all the info will be on Facebook and our website so keep an ear out!

2. Tom is getting married! haha, the event of the year (other than the stag do, organized by yours truly), which is super awesome. Before then tho we are doing a bit more touring of the great NZ. June will see us around and about a bit before we get back and chuck a ring on Tom’s finger.

4. Oh, yeah and flat parties. This is calling to all people over 18 that are having a birthday party of epic proportions. BBP will play at your party for free! No jokes, we are keen to be playing heaps of house parties this year so if you are having a massive do hit us up on Facebook and we will come and play!

Look out for us at Re:fuel and around the town too, no doubt there will be a show around that you can attend.

5. Touring in England. We are doing a tour of England…

6. Tour of NZ! And we are coming back, of course, for a NZ summer tour…

All up it’s busy busy busy, with heaps of things to look out for. One of those things will be the MIRRORS release gig probably in June (Dunedin). I have many things to say on this here Blog also so keep reading for updates and opinions of the music world.

For example; last night I just watched the premier show of a new series called Revenge. I’m not sure if it is out in NZ but it is in Oz. And I know its not music related but damn! Talk about addictive! And I don’t usually watch TV really. I’m the kind of guy that tries to find Family Guy if the TV is on and if its not playing I switch it off. At the start of the programme this quote came on the screen which said; for those who are about to embark on a journey of revenge, make sure you dig two graves.

Enough said; I will probably try an use that line in a song. Aaaaand back to music. BBP are hitting up the festivals this year, mainly in the south island and we would be super keen for your opinion on some music festivals around soooo, click the reply button at the bottom of this blog and let us know your thoughts and responses.

Always good to chat.

Peace

Blog # …something

I always click bold when I’m writing these blogs so people can read it better but I have a sneaky suspicion no one reads them. I put this down to the fact that I am inconsistant with the dates I post them, ie. when I say ‘two days before the next blog’ what I mean is ‘a week and a half’ or a number of days more than what I said. Numbers and punctuation have never been my strong point in life, at school or any other point but from now I promise that I will potentially be better at putting up posts more consistently.

I guess my imaginary readers want to know about how tour is going… the answer is as follows;

I did  a post a few weeks back talking about all the adventures of tour. Adventures, I have recently found out, can also mean ‘trial’ and have connotations similar to that of crawling through miles of mud with barbed wire catching at your clothes and crocodiles snapping at your ankles.

I’m not saying it in the way that you hate everything about it and wish to be somewhere else (which is the first thought you imaginary readers had!) but that all you have to do is endure the mile and then by the end you will be better off. That is what tour has succumbed to. Haha, there is no bad spin on it, it is still better than any alternative to spending the summer months.

We have just left Thames after playing at the Salutation Hotel, and the night before at Ruakaka Tavern (which was the bomb btw, if you’re ever up that way for a gig then stop by!). The Beaches of Northland left us wanting to permanently move north yet thoughts of wonderful Dunedin have constantly tugged at the heartstrings for the last month. We will be coming home to Dunedin sometime in the near future and will be playing gigs in the city throughout march.  BUT NOW we have arrived in the Coromandel and true to the nature of Black Boy Peaches we organized a last minute gig. 

So I am sitting here in a tent typing away on Tommo’s macbook pro, drinking good old Speights, watching the crew prep tea before we set up an play the Tui Lodge. Ahead of us is sun, beaches, beer, road and more as we head south to Cambridge for a show on thursday then Parachute Music Festival for the weekend. After that the long trip home down the east coast of the north island, across the Cook Straight and southward till we reach the Motherland known as Otago. We are a better band now, stronger, more athletic and toned. Our computer hacking skills and band playing skills have increased tenfold and the only question the imaginary audiance out there has to ask themselves is this: When will I next see Black Boy Peaches play?

For now we have more to offer. 

The next post will be in two days.

Summer tour update #2

We are in Raglan and after two weeks of rain following us around the country the sun is finally showing. I know that talking about weather is a bad way to start a conversation but when you are on a Summer Tour in the North island you expect a certain amount of grace from the weather man.

Since the last blog we have done a fair few gigs, Smugglers bar (Nelson), Mikey’s Bar (Picton), the Interislander Ferry, Medusa Music Club (Wellington), the Homestead Bar (Masterton), Butler’s Reef (Oakura) and now tonight we are doing an outdoor concert at Raglan Kopua camping ground. Progress up the country is good, music becoming more and more appreciated as we go, haha- probably because tour not only gives you sweet muscles but you cannot help but to improve as a band.

Tradition; a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting:

Tour tradition; press ups (everyday, improving by one each day until the end of tour), swimming (finding a wave, a river, a beach or a lake in which to dip thy body: everyday of tour), making obscure noises everytime you see a policeman, drinking beer (budweiser, tui, speights… or whatever we can find).

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention some important details that have assailed us thus far. So while in Nelson we met up wbhich my little brother and his mate who were coming up to meet us for a night or two and while my little brother (who is an athlete of more than 6feet that trains everyday) was around I decided it was time for a bit of a wrestle. I (who am a scrawny musician whose only claim to any aspect of toughness is a few tattoos) start by slapping him in the face and five minutes later a tie is called an I leave the hous panting – ready to head with the band to Picton for our next gig. Suddenly my hand is extremely hot and shaking and I realize with a sense of dread I have injured my hand. It felt similar to the time I smashed up my shoulder in a bmx accident so I knew it was bad. It turns out that I subluxted my carpal mettacarpal joint on the outside of my left hand. The photo below shows you the genius solution to the problem: I played the gig that night single handed on the drums while Tom played the guitar. A complete role reversal, although I still sang. Amy, my wonderful physio wife, managed to manipulate the bones back into order so they clicked back into the joint then waalla – next day just play through the pain.

There are plenty more stories to tell but the internet usage in this cafe is about to run dry so I will update you after a few more gigs. Chur

More blog to read by saturday night. Peace

Blog#3 Summer Tour

It has BEGUN! And with some class I may add. Haha, not really at all to be honest, just the usual deal.

If you haven’t been on tour it pretty much goes like this; packing, waiting for people, re packing, driving, listening to Foo Fighters and Foster the People, unpacking, setting up, playing, selling CD’s, getting rained out, packing, driving, listening to Incubus, and so on and so forth in a repetitive cycle. Some people say repetition is the key to memorization and discipline but really repetition is the key to insanity. Ask anyone who types at a computer for 8 hours a day or works in a factory folding chocolate boxes together or cleaning toilets in motels. There is really nothing glamorous about being on tour… other than high pay rate, travelling around the country, playing epic gigs with a sweet sound system and awesome lighting rig and maybe the odd other thing, BUT you do get some good stories. ie. organizing last minute gigs, sleeping in a barn, swimming in the rain, busking in a summer storm. 

What I am trying to say is if you aren’t on tour this summer you’re playing it safe, which is fine, seriously…but we are having fun and as Tom so aptly quoted before we left, “we were born to be on tour” and so to all who are reading this while having to push through the daily grind, we salute you and hope that in reading my blogs over the next fours weeks you can escape with us somewhat…and if that is not enough you can always join us along the way somewhere  

BLOG# 2 – A real description

Friday night, 16th December, gig number one of of Summer Tour.
It was a freakin’ sweet start to tour on Friday as it has been a while since we have played in Dunedin. Dunedin as everyone is well aware of has a world reknown music scene, although I could not pin down exactly why. There are about 5 iconic Dunedin Music venues around the town – in no particular order Sammy’s, Re-Fuel, Chicks Hotel, 12 Below and new to the scene- Urban Factory. There are others of course; 10 bar, Isis, Regent Theatre and so on but for some reason those five stand out. They’re not flash or exceptionally unique (apart from the fact that a bunch of them are underground, literally) but what they have is the ‘vibe’, what all music venues strive for.
Hence 12 Below on Friday 16th, PRIMo.
30 people, BBP’s first gig in 8months, cranked guitar, mega drums, and sweet sweet vibes. Supported by ‘Settler’, thank you very much, and sponsered by no one. ‘Indie’- as in individually labelled, would be the kind of terms that would label us as a band although our sound is far from indie. We kind meet somewhere in between the Killers album ‘Sam’s Town’, Muse – ‘Black Holes and revelations’ and Foo Fighters- ‘Wasting Light’- and although all of these bands have in someway hit the mainstream it is the in-between songs that we relate to.
The last song we played on friday was called ‘let’s run away’ and is to be the first track on our EP called ‘Mirrors’ which we are recording early next year. “STORY” : We play acoustic gigs at Alibi in the octogon on fridays, and one friday I decided to test a new song I had been writing – lets run away. It starts quiet and builds and builds until at the end you cannot play any louder or and harder. So we did this and classicly a fight broke out. There are a few fights now again but not usually between friends, and as they got kicked out and the lights turned on and the bar closed me and Tom turned to each other and suddenly realised what had started the fight.
It was this song we finished with on Friday and it was this song that capped the night of the 16th as one of our best shows to date.
If you weren’t there, I’m sorry you missed it, if you were there – you will know I tell no lies.