Cut Off Your Hands surpass Expectations
Cut Off Your Hands' new single is out now
Also In The News
|
Chelsea skipper John Terry has been named as the permanent England captain by manager Fabio Capello. |  |
Wednesday, 20, Aug 2008 10:17
The list of musical success stories from New Zealand isn't exactly a long one. There's Split Enz, who became Crowded House, the Datsuns, Flight of the Conchords and... well, the score from Lord of the Rings was rather nice but that was composed by Howard Shore, and he's Canadian.
But with the arrival of Cut Off Your Hands, a vicious and vibrant foursome from Auckland, the roster of great bands from Aotearoa is set to expand, with support slots with Foals, the Wombats and Black Kids winning new fans and working with former Suede guitarist and uber-producer Bernard Butler on their debut album You and I promising great things.
inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley talks to Nick Johnston, the new Iggy Pop and frontman of the Kiwi pop-punk pioneers.
Are you excited to be releasing a debut album?
Yeah, we've had 2 EPs worth of material released over the last 2 years in NZ/Australia, so it almost feels like a second album for us. But it's such a good feeling, even of accomplishment alone- to have a finished record that we are proud of, ready for release.
Did Bernard Butler have a big influence on it through producing?
Yeah, he's got an acute ear for detail which is a huge asset for everything from sounds to melodies and harmony to arrangement, and he also really understands where my songs are coming from and how us as a band perform. We worked with him last year on our second EP and I took a lot of influence form that short session with him which must've effected the way i wrote for the album. We worked with various big name producers such as Stephen Street and Flood, (both of which are heroes of ours and were amazing to work with) but Bernard was the guy who most succesfully understood and enhanced both the super melodic pop aspects of our songs with out compromising the raw energy that the demos and our shows possess... this was very important for us.
You were originally called Shaky Hands but had to change the name to avoid legal action - surely you got the better name anyway?
I don't want to sound like a moaner, but we did feel really backed in to a corner in the way the other band forced this upon us. However it turned out to be a positive move for us, as most people like the name a lot more! It was important for us as well at the time to not let it get to us and keep doing what we were doing which was constantly improving ourselves by engaging in crazy hectic touring schedules and constantly writing better songs.
Kiwi musical success stories, apart from Crowded House, are fairly rare outside of their own country - is it a challenge to get noticed?
Yes it is because for one there isn't really a music industry in NZ, and secondly its 26 hours and over £1,000 away from the UK, which is a huge risk to take if you may only be playing to a handful of ex-pats at a grotty pub! We decided we'd only move over if we had a UK record deal or substantial interest in the band... so we chanced our arm and spent our savings on a trip to london after 2007's SXSW. We were lucky it worked out for us.
Does upbringing inform music or would you be the same band if you were from, say, the Deep South?
Well, I think the scene in NZ is influenced by the lack of industry in quite a positive way - in terms of creativity that is. Bands are formed (in NZ) for the sake of creating something the individuals are turned on by, as opposed to kids here in london desiring to be the next Razorlight on the cover of a glossy mag. It's naive and pure and idealistic, but at least it's rooted in substance, rather than commerce and fashion.
Is the support of someone like Steve Lamacq a big help?
Completely, playing on his live to air show opened a lot of doors for us here in the UK.
Would you give yourself a pretentious label like art-rock or are you just a punk band?
I consider us to be a pop band. That word has a lot of negative connotations, but i think the words 'pop' and 'commercial' do not necessarily have to go hand in hand. We make melodic hooky music, it just happens to be fast and energetic, but it's still pop.
How was touring with Foals?
It's not often you get to tour with a band that you end up loving as people but also love their music, this was the case with foals. They are a lot of fun, and are genuinely good kids. We are both heavily influenced by DC bands, in particular the ethics of groups like Minor Threat and Fugazi, so with that common ground we got on great.
You've got a reputation for energetic performances - were any injuries sustained on the road?
I broke my right leg and badly sprained my left, after a stupid jump from an 18ft balcony during our set on the last night of tour. It's the second time I've broken that leg during a show and now my lower back is wrecked which my doctor says could be a compound fracture from the same accident.
How do you spend your time while on the road?
For the most part it's extremely boring, we get to read tonnes which is lovely, otherwise it's just movies on our laptops.
Even if you all have different musical tastes, is there one band that you all love?
At the drive-in, Talking Heads and Q and not U were the original common ground for us, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, the Buzzcocks, Cure, beatles, Beach Boys, any Phil Spector productions... Bailterspace. There's actually more than I thought!
And finally - what would you be if you weren't a musician?
Studying all the way through to my Doctorate in English Lit., then lecturing/professing till my dying days.
Lewis Bazley
Cut Off Your Hands' new single Expectations is out now:
Cut Off Your Hands' Freshers University Tour dates are:
September
16 Uni West Scotland, Paisley
18 Dundee Uni
19 Edinburgh Uni
20 Edinburgh Heriot Watt Uni
21 Glasgow, Strathclyde Uni
22 Glasgow, QM Uni
24 Huddersfield Uni
25 Uni Central Lancs, Preston
26 Liverpool Uni
28 Birmingham Uni
29 Leeds Uni
30 Warwick Uni
October
2 Manchester Met Uni
3 Leicester Uni
4 Staffordshire Uni
5 Sheffield Uni
6 Hull Uni
7 Derby Uni
9 Loughborough Uni
10 Chester Uni
11 London, Goldsmiths
13 Southampton Uni
15 Plymouth Uni
16 Bournemouth Uni
17 Kent Uni (Canterbury)