the Electricka Zoo, early 2017

Next appearing at Fringe Bar in Wellington, Tuesday 28th March 2017, 8:45pm. Free entry.

The Electricka Zoo are one of Wellington’s most intriguing new live bands, a bass/guitar and live electronica duo of Dave Black and the Digitator. They combine influences from EDM, punk rock, jazz, reggae, Balkan and Portuguese music into their own homegrown NZ sound.

Keep an eye and two ears out for their first album, coming soon.

http://heavyspacerecords.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/23-electricka-zoombadger-sett-split-7.html?m=1

In the meantime a vinyl-only 7″ single and collection of early (2015-2016) demos on Soundcloud are available.

Indonesia Festival at Te Papa

Two audience videos at the Indonesia Festival at Te Papa national museum in Wellington, NZ:

Gamelan music, in styles from Bali by Gamelan Taniwha Jaya

and central Java by Gamelan Padhang Moncar.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Te Marae, Level 4
Sunday 23 October 2016, 10am-5pm

This was a full day of music, dance, song, and batik fashion from Indonesia.

Continue reading “Indonesia Festival at Te Papa” →

The Electricka Zoo – live in Cuba Mall

The Electricka Zoo performed a battery-powered guerilla gig in Wellington last Friday.

We’re taking a break for the rest of this month to travel separately overseas, but look forward to bringing you some gig announcements for the last third of 2016… as well as these tunes we’re working on coalescing into an album.

Gamelan Jadi Mata Kuliah di Selandia Baru

Gamelan Padhang Moncar featured on Metro TV news in Indonesia today.

https://youtu.be/tdqb7s3wU9E

Happy Indonesian Independence Day, 17th August!

Gamelan Padhang Moncar, 18th June

All-Day Multicultural Event

Saturday 18th June 2016, 10am-5pm

St Patrick’s College Hall, Kilbirnie

A small gadon group from Gamelan Padhang Moncar will perform at this festival, which will feature a wide range of performances from many cultural groups (European and Māori, Pacific and Asian) as well food stalls and face-painting. More information here.

This event is to raise funds for the seismic strengthening of their historic building which is currently a busy building site rather than a place of worship.

Gamelan Padhang Moncar – 11:30am (followed by Indonesian dancers)

Gamelan Padhang Moncar have in the past held some very special music events at the church of St Mary of the Angels, involving their wonderful choir (Vita Brevis and Darkness to Light).

Three gigs in early March!

I’m playing not one but three gigs, in three different genres, in Wellington in the first week of March – all free or koha entry.

First up there’s the international multimedia epic East to West

on Thursday 3rd of March at Photospace Gallery, Wellington.

This will be followed by the first ever gig of The Electricka Zoo

on Saturday 5th of March, 7:30pm at the Performance Arcade, Wellington

and then by Gamelan Padhang Moncar

on Sunday 6th of March, 10:00am at the Newtown Fair, Wellington.

If you’re in Wellington please come to some or all of these! I look forward to seeing you there… a special prize for anyone who makes it to all three…

Ascension Band 2004

The post-punk big band Ascension Band convened in 2003-2005… here’s the 2004 lineup performing at the Meatwaters Festival at Happy in Wellington.

Nigel Patterson – hammond organ & conductor
Dave Edwards – guitar & electronics
Mike Kingston – guitar
Jesse Toews – bass
Warwick Donald – bass
Antony Milton – violin & electronics
Damian Stewart – laptop
Jason Secto – cornet
Simon O’Rorke – percussion
Myles Climo – drums

The following year we won best music award in the 2005 Wellington Fringe Festival

Ascension Band 2005

“With elements of punk, post-punk, jazz, classical, straight rock, opera and music hall, the Ascension Band are that rare thing: Something Wholly Other. They retain avant garde cred and still manage to rock harder than AC/DC.” – www.varsity.co.nz

Dave Edwards – electric guitar & electronics
Nigel Patterson – hammond organ & conductor
Will Rattray – electric guitar
Bell Murphy – bass
Warwick Donald – bass
Murray Stewart – keyboards
Damian ‘Frey’ Stewart – laptop
Ryan Prebble – tone generator
Sam Jenks – trumpet
Felicity Perry – vocal
Atushi Iseki – vocal
Matt Baxter – drums
Greta Welson – drums

This riff

Continue reading →

Fringe Festival 2016: East to West

Here’s my first major project for 2016, as part of the New Zealand Fringe Festival:

The show is a big OE epic of video & music from the Tasman to the Atlantic, a decade in the making.

It takes the audience on a journey half way around the world from New Zealand, across Australia, via a dozen countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Albania, Portugal and more.

l’ll play a live soundtrack myself as a solo performance, to evoke each country… it’ll be a culmination of the travelling and field recording /world music direction I’ve taken over the past decade.

So far it’s screened in New Zealand Fringe Festival and also at the Southland Arts Festival in Invercargill.

My 2005 Fringe show Ascension Band won best music award. So did the 2006 Lines of Flight show in Dunedin that I was part of.

Phantasticus Acousticus

Phantasticus is a 5 piece high-energy gypsy-flavours ensemble hailing from Wellington, the Gypsy-Balkan capital of New Zealand.

The lineup combines the fearless fiddling skills of Ana Christie and Alex Hills, matched by the awesome forces of Michael Kingston* and Rick Shaw on guitar, all wrapped up in the powerful bass boutique of Jacqui Nyman.

With an album of delicious original tunes under their belt, Phantasticus are taking the world by storm. These musicians are so well-seasoned they will leave you asking for ‘Kiwi-hot please’.

*Mike Kingston is a key member of The Winter. He plays guitar or cello on several fiffdimension tracks