25 January 2011
“We managed to get to #1 with Young Blood and we’ve remained in the charts with a few of our singles now. The album itself has had huge success and we’ve done quite a few big shows as well. We’re at a point where there’s no next step to being big in New Zealand.”
Self-professed I.T geek and synth whiz, Aaron Short takes our interview during a break from work on some B-sides and is, just as his surname suggests, short and to the point when he explains the band’s need for greener pastures. Upon considering the quintet’s achievements last year, it’s no wonder he’s restless.
Prior to the release of their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You, the indie kids had already played in the UK, New York and Australia, been shortlisted on BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll, won an APRA Silver Scroll for Young Blood, had their music feature on various television ventures and landed a spot on the bill for this year’s Big Day Out tour. According to Aaron, these triumphs have been a long time coming.
“We’re not just your quick make-one-song-bang- bang-bang-there-you-go band, there was a lot of work before that. People don’t really notice, but up until Young Blood came out we had been going since the very beginning of 2008,” he says.
TNAF had already released two EPs on indie label Round Trip Marsand although the record was released through their own label, theNine Inch Nails-hailing Somewhat Damaged; the initial hype surrounding the band and sequential signing to Universal Music (NZ and AUS), and Fiction Records (UK) have the success of that first single to thank. The band’s ennui has resulted in the type of success that’s almost unheard of in GFC-recovering New Zealand.
“In New Zealand it’s difficult for musicians to do [music] as a full time job regardless of whether you have a number one spot on the chart or not, it’s still not an easy thing to rely on your music as a full time career.” His dissecting of the industry and business-like mentality has contributed to the band’s progress, even before Universal signed them TNAF made sure they were as “appetising” as possible.
“We’d got everything up and running and held our hands up saying ‘here’s our finished piece of work,’” says Aaron. “With everything there, there’s less risk in what they’re about to invest in. It can be much more difficult if you’re a band that’s still forming and still putting songs together... Every move is very thought out for us.”
Unsurprisingly, the next move for the troupe is one overseas, scotching any plans Australia may have had to make them the nextCrowded House patriots. They’ll return to their homeland for a week after the Big Day Out tour before migrating to London in early February. “We can’t really do more than five or six gigs a year here before we start playing for the same audience over and over again, there’s only so far you can push things.
“We are properly relocating over to London, it’ll definitely be better to be based there in terms of touring; you’re not doing 30-hour flights to get to your gigs,” jokes Aaron. What comes across as slightly snobbish is just a business stratagem for these social climbers. More importantly though, this move could represent a broader cultural shift, where that long white cloud over the ditch can be seen to still produce music as internationally recognised as Crowded House - but don’t try to tell them that.
Echoing their own lyric, “we’re only young and naïve still” Aaron admits, “we’re only a couple years into the industry so when someone asks what we think about the New Zealand music industry, we may have hit singles and all of that, but we are still young and we don’t know what we’re talking about that much.”
With their rapidly growing success, both in the New Zealand industry and overseas, the band may become experts sooner than even they realise.
Self-professed I.T geek and synth whiz, Aaron Short takes our interview during a break from work on some B-sides and is, just as his surname suggests, short and to the point when he explains the band’s need for greener pastures. Upon considering the quintet’s achievements last year, it’s no wonder he’s restless.
Prior to the release of their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You, the indie kids had already played in the UK, New York and Australia, been shortlisted on BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll, won an APRA Silver Scroll for Young Blood, had their music feature on various television ventures and landed a spot on the bill for this year’s Big Day Out tour. According to Aaron, these triumphs have been a long time coming.
“We’re not just your quick make-one-song-bang- bang-bang-there-you-go band, there was a lot of work before that. People don’t really notice, but up until Young Blood came out we had been going since the very beginning of 2008,” he says.
TNAF had already released two EPs on indie label Round Trip Marsand although the record was released through their own label, theNine Inch Nails-hailing Somewhat Damaged; the initial hype surrounding the band and sequential signing to Universal Music (NZ and AUS), and Fiction Records (UK) have the success of that first single to thank. The band’s ennui has resulted in the type of success that’s almost unheard of in GFC-recovering New Zealand.
“In New Zealand it’s difficult for musicians to do [music] as a full time job regardless of whether you have a number one spot on the chart or not, it’s still not an easy thing to rely on your music as a full time career.” His dissecting of the industry and business-like mentality has contributed to the band’s progress, even before Universal signed them TNAF made sure they were as “appetising” as possible.
“We’d got everything up and running and held our hands up saying ‘here’s our finished piece of work,’” says Aaron. “With everything there, there’s less risk in what they’re about to invest in. It can be much more difficult if you’re a band that’s still forming and still putting songs together... Every move is very thought out for us.”
Unsurprisingly, the next move for the troupe is one overseas, scotching any plans Australia may have had to make them the nextCrowded House patriots. They’ll return to their homeland for a week after the Big Day Out tour before migrating to London in early February. “We can’t really do more than five or six gigs a year here before we start playing for the same audience over and over again, there’s only so far you can push things.
“We are properly relocating over to London, it’ll definitely be better to be based there in terms of touring; you’re not doing 30-hour flights to get to your gigs,” jokes Aaron. What comes across as slightly snobbish is just a business stratagem for these social climbers. More importantly though, this move could represent a broader cultural shift, where that long white cloud over the ditch can be seen to still produce music as internationally recognised as Crowded House - but don’t try to tell them that.
Echoing their own lyric, “we’re only young and naïve still” Aaron admits, “we’re only a couple years into the industry so when someone asks what we think about the New Zealand music industry, we may have hit singles and all of that, but we are still young and we don’t know what we’re talking about that much.”
With their rapidly growing success, both in the New Zealand industry and overseas, the band may become experts sooner than even they realise.
TOUR DATES 2011
21 Jan – Big Day Out, Auckland
23 Jan - Big Day Out, Gold Coast
26 Jan - Big Day Out, Sydney
30 Jan - Big Day Out, Melbourne
4 Feb - Big Day Out, Adelaide
6 Feb - Big Day Out, Perth
23 Jan - Big Day Out, Gold Coast
26 Jan - Big Day Out, Sydney
30 Jan - Big Day Out, Melbourne
4 Feb - Big Day Out, Adelaide
6 Feb - Big Day Out, Perth
Sideshows:
28 Jan - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne
2 Feb - Oxford Arts Factory – Sydney
2 Feb - Oxford Arts Factory – Sydney
Passive Me, Aggressive You is out now through Somewhat Damaged and Universal Music.
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