Interview: Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela is a lion of a man.

At 70-odd years of age, the man has seen more than most of us would even consider possible. Exiled from his homeland of South Africa aged just 21, Masekela spent the next thirty years playing, recording and/or touring with the likes of Harry Belafonte, Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, Bob Marley, U2 and many, many, many more. He has recorded more than forty albums under his own name, topped the US charts, played the infamous Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, toured the globe countless times and (with longtime friend Stewart Levine) put together Zaire '74, the concert in Kinshasa held at the time of the 'Rumble In The Jungle' boxing fight between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman. He is a recipient of the coveted 'Keepers Of The Flame' award and a consistently strong voice for the rights of Africans and indigenous peoples.

And he spent fifteen minutes of his time speaking with me on Radio Ponsonby.

Have a listen here, or in the player below...

Interview: Ladyhawke

REFRESHINGLY REAL

Ladyhawke's eagerly awaited new album Anxiety is about to drop worldwide at the end of the month. Originally scheduled for a late-2011 release, repeated delays have resulted in the artist otherwise known as Pip Brown spending a long time on the promo trail, talking about herself. Despite this, when I spoke with her recently she was forthright, eloquent and hugely charming.

She's a role model to thousands of young women, yet she likes to wear mens clothes. She has a massive live following and months of touring the globe ahead of her to promote her new album, yet she suffers from almost uncontrollable stage-fright. She is a world famous pop star, yet she manages to retain her realness amongst the madness.

And it has been some madness: Ladyhawke's self-titled debut solo album propelled her into a realm in which seldom few musicians exist. The singles Paris Is Burning and My Delerium were massive globally, earning her a clutch of Tuis, a couple of ARIAs and the international acclaim and attention of folks like Peaches, Kylie Minogue and Perez Hilton. She has travelled the world, playing across America and Europe, at renowned festivals such as Glastonbury and SXSW. She is signed to Modular (a subsidiary of Universal Records) and is clearly a global priority for what is an extremely powerful label.

Yet she's still the Kiwi girl who grew up in Masteron: "I've never changed who I am," she declares, "From the word go I was quite vocal about who I was and set a precedent almost. I've been quite lucky because everyone just lets me do my own thing, no-one's ever asked me to change."

She pauses, laughing: "The only time I've ever encountered people trying to change me is when I do photo-shoots, and the stylist will try to make me look really girly or something. I quite often have battles with that because it's my image I'm putting out there and the way I look is the way I'm happy looking! I get really offended, like they don't think the way I look is cool enough for their magazine or something?"

Ladyhawke's look is only one of the things Brown has firmly under control, with song-writing and studio partner Pascal Gabriel well aware of "best practice", Pip Brown-style: "He knows I like us both getting in a room and coming up with an idea together," Brown admits, "If he thinks of an idea without me there it doesn't feel right to me, I feel like I haven't been a part of it."

For someone with such a considered approach to her career, the delay in the release of Anxiety has been frustrating: "It's been finished since last year, I can't even remember when! August, or July or something!" she sighs, recalling the reasons for the long wait, "It's all the crap you have to wait for, all the red tape and label stuff. It was supposed to come out in October, I'd mentally prepared, had done a heck of a lot of promo and when it got pushed back I was like 'Oh my God!'"

Anxiety will be out at the end of May worldwide, and Brown brings her band to New Zealand in July, plating a handful of shows on a tour which also takes in Europe, the UK, Australia and the US. I'm particularly intrigued by her profile in America, as her success there is something which seems to have slipped under most Kiwis' radars. "I love touring the States," says Brown, "It's a huge place and it's a lot of hard work but it's really fun. There's a lot of support there, I've played some amazing shows and it's been incredibly positive."

Why don't we in New Zealand hear more about your success overseas? "I don't even know," Brown says, laughing nervously, "It gets brought up quite a lot, people say to me 'Why do you think people don't like you in New Zealand?'" She's laughing again, but it's awkward, "I really don't know. Maybe it's because I don't live there anymore?"

This seems to be a recurring theme among New Zealand musicians who have ventured overseas either in search of success or in order to follow a path that is being tread by Ladyhawke, or the likes of The Naked and Famous or The Datsuns. The infamous 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' is alive and well - and keenly felt.

"What a lot of people don't realise is when you've been away for a certain amount of time or you've had a bit of success, you get some really nasty comments," Brown says, "You get such cynicism in New Zealand and it weighs you down, and makes you wonder why - shouldn't everyone be proud?"

Honest words well spoken, and further proof that in a world of increasingly manufactured ready-made stars with their safe sound bites and scripted interview responses, Pip Brown has the strength of character to stand by her beliefs. Refreshingly real, indeed.

Interview destined for publication in Volume magazine - but remained unpublished due to the mag closing its' doors.

Check out my review of Ladyhawke's second album, Anxiety, here.

Interview: Electric Wire Hustle

BIG THINGS

Fresh out of their first SXSW experience, Electric Wire Hustle - Mara TK, David "Taay Ninh" Wright and Myele Manzanza - will be basing themselves in Berlin for six months with three main goals: getting more shows in Europe, releasing their second album and having a decent crack at America. This is a seriously driven group of young men - who are building a serious global following.

"First I miss JayZ. Now I'm going to miss @E_W_H ... que puneta!"


"Sometimes the best @SXSW experiences are the least expected. Follow @E_W_H Electric Wire Hustle from NZ. Not to disappoint."


"Our favourite act last night at #SXSW was Electric Wire Hustle, Kiwi-soul purveyors from NZ. Check 'em out!"


"SF! ATTENTION! RT @HipHopCoolAgain: Electric Wire Hustle (@E_W_H) live at @yoshisjazz SF 3/22/12!! #newzealand!"


Connecting.

Music has always been about connecting. Connecting with your audience and with other like-minded folks. Independent artists will acknowledge genuine connections are vital to continuing any kind of career, particularly when negotiating the sharks and trolls that inhabit the music industry.

Individually and collectively, Electric Wire Hustle's ability to connect with people from across the globe - allied to their vibe-heavy psychedelic soul sound - sees them standing on the verge of big things in 2012.

For a group of young men making music that is distinctly fresh and forward-thinking, their pragmatism is perhaps fitting. Speaking about the next six months of their lives each of the band-members are clear-headed about what they want to achieve.

"It costs a lot to go and do this," says singer and multi-instrumentalist Mara TK, "It requires big investments of time and resources, but it is an investment, and we're still in the investment stage of building our business."

"Part of basing ourselves in Europe is to try and get over to the States if any other possibilities pop up," continues mutli-instrumentalist Taay Ninh, "Now that Europe's starting to build into a good thing for us, we're hoping we can get to that stage in the States as well, and try to establish ourselves with an agent and get some more shows."

"That's sort of one of our goals for SXSW," adds drummer Myele Manzanza, "Trying to find a good agent or some decent representation, someone who's on the ground and a bit more connected than we are."

It really is all about connections. All three of the band have attended the renowned Red Bull Music Academy, and admit the benefits have been far greater than musical. "The academy is definitely a big networking foundation," says Taay, "And in trying to forge a way in the States, we really have to call upon each and every contact that we have available."

It's not all about music industry types though. "We've met people who were following us since pretty much day dot!" says Taay, excitedly, "I was pleasantly surprised by how embracing everyone was of us and what we were up to. In particular the San Fran gig was the same warmth you get from playing in Wellington at the San Fran! It's like a home vibe and that to me was pretty special. ANd it just goes to show how quickly the music can travel. People are finding it. OK, maybe the've downloaded it, but here they are at the show. While music may not be selling as many units as it used to, the cycles still working - just in a different way."

EWH is well aware of 'the cycle' and they've been working hard on having new music to perform, record and release. After spending six weeks together in Wellington brainstorming ideas, they'd amassed a wealth of material, which they're looking at filtering through while living in Berlin. As for encountering problems with the close-quarter living arrangements? Their pragmatism shines through once more. "It's a good unit," says Manzanza, matter-of-factly, "I guess the trick is just to allow everyone their space when it's time for that, and when it's time to be sharp and be on the ball - then be on the ball!"

"This will be the longest we've been away collectively focussed on the band for," enthuses Taay, "I'm excited about getting to Europe and just being able to lock it in and focus and get it finished."

"A couple of people have said it's fruity," says Mara TK, "I don't think it's fruity!"

"It's pretty eclectic!" counters Tayy.

"It's more like three distinguishable styles," insists Mara TK, "Myele's producing more on this album and I think all three of us have been listening to quite different things for the last little while, so that has certainly seeped into the sound."

"I guess that's just the period we're in artistically at the moment," admits Taay, "Creating all this new material and trying to find consistency, and at the same time filtering through it as we've done in the past. I mean, you don't have any guidelines to follow! It's kind of instinctual and at the same time it comes out in our discussions: 'Is this us?', but even asking that question's a bit abstract because we feel that we're evolving. Though we've got some strong ideas, we haven't moulded it to the point where we're like, 'OK, cool, this is us'. Yet!"


SIDEBAR #1:
FIVE SXSW SHOWS IN THREE DAYS (IN THEIR OWN WORDS)

I had the pleasure of conducting the interview above just prior to their final New Zealand shows before hitting the road for WOMADelaide and their shows in the States. At the time, these were their thoughts on the impending SXSW shows:

"We keep hearing that SXSW is a kind of, for lack of a better word," pauses Manzanza, "Clusterfuck of music industry, type of thing, so it should be pretty full-on. We're not necessarily expecting the most polished kind of environment or circumstances. We're going in with a sort of infantry, soldier-on-the-ground thing..."

"You should see TK," deadpans Taay, "He's got the meanest commando roll down."

"Yeah man," grins Mara TK, "Sometimes you just gotta get out!"

Really rather fortunately for us, Taay Ninh kindly took the time after playing at SXSW to jot down a few thoughts about each of the five shows the band played in the three days they were in Austin for the festival. here are those thoughts:

"SXSW is crazy, there's no doubt about that," states Taay, "It really feels like the centre of the musical inverse for the period that it engulfs Austin. And Austin seems to be wholeheartedly wwelcome being engulfed!"

Show #1: Swan Dive
First cab off the rank is the Yours Tru.ly showcase (our fam from San Fran). The venue has history and much character. Dusting a bit of rust off we get into the swing of things after the first tune. We've been warned of potentially small crowds, but this venue's packed and the reception is warm. Receive high compliments from th ex-drummer of Babes In Toyland and talk a tour of Canada. Agent for Robert Plant is here. Also see B-Bravo and The Starship Connection live for the first time and meet Coultrain (Hawthorne Headhunters, PPP) which is dope.

Show #2: Malverde
Our friends Mint Collective and Grown Kids Radio (Bay Area). Amazing setting in a beautifully designed space. I'm distracted by the view off the balcony and the hand-made t-shirts we're given. There's a good vibe here and the line-up is tight. One of the keyboards bugs out and stops working (long story) so we try to perform the hell out of our show after Alice Russell smashes it with San Fran's legendary The Park backing her. Pack down real quick after a photo-shoot to head to the other side of town.

Show #3: Gypsy Lounge
The Couch Sessions. Now we're out in a tent on the other side of town. Some big names on the bill with us. Manage to scramble the loan of another keyboard. On stage sound i stesting butw e put on a good show and convert some new fans. The Couch Sessions crew are great - true aficionados. Hang out with The Step Kids after and talk donuts and a get together in New York.

Show #4: New Zealand Showcase
Easiest set-up by far and a contrast to the previous shows. Great stage crew. Feels like home. King Kapisi slays it and so does Cairo Knife Fight and Avalanche City after us. We put on a tight show and while the crowd is more industry it feels good as we walk off the stage without any major mishap. Spy Valley wines - always a treat and the location draws some people off the street. Shout out to Gary and the NZ Music Commission.

Show #5: The Driskill
With under an hour before the next showcase we have to haulgear five blocks or so to the plush setting of The Driskill hotel for the Style X showcase. Things run real tight - too tight as Hayley (our manager) is caught in traffic with a keyboard and the stands. We commandeer two other stands and make do with one keyboard and make-shift set-up. Maybe it's the last show. Maybe it's resigning yourself to the fact it's not going to be perfect and that's just the nature of SXSW. Maybe it's the body seeing the finish line and some potential rest? We give it our all and let go of all the rigmarole that's surrounded getting here and being here. We play the hardest we've played and it's acknowledged by the whole audience, which is rewarding. Meet some great people afterwards and there's talk of more things to come, including yet another Miller Light (much to everyone's delight).


The original version of this interview appeared in VOLUME magazine Issue #28

Interview: Roots Manuva

 COLOSSAL INSIGHT

Roots Manuva has a reputation as a sweet but somewhat grumpy interview subject. Yet when VOLUME magazine spoke with him prior to his forthcoming New Zealand shows, he came across as more of a loveable rogue. Settled back home in Stockwell after an evening spent downing a few pints of bitter (some things never change), Roots Manuva aka Rodney Smith opened up about learning to embrace growing older.

"I'm having to slap myself and wake up to that! For years I wanted to play that down - now it's getting a lot serious. I've got kids of my own that show interest in creativity and music, I work with music projects now that kids are just getting into music at the same age as I was, and I've kind of seen the full responsibility, I'm working things out," he says, chuckling - not for the first time - in his deep, treacle-smothered baritone, "It's like I have to try and package my story and my experience to try and share and give back to them and keep the culture alive, because I think it's a really socially and spiritually significant art form and a worldwide movement that should be celebrated and nurtured."

Roots Manuva has long been held up as a leading light of UK Hip Hop, though it's a term he dismisses. "I can understand it: it starts conversations and it's good hype at the time, but you know, after (long deep breath), after more than ten years in the game now, you gotta look at things a little more thoroughly in their context to the universe and the art and creativity." Even so, it's clear he's still passionate about hip hop music and the lifestyle. "If it wasn't for hip hop I wouldn't be doing music. It was because of people like KRS-One and Chuck D that brought a whole different perspective to the subject matter, it seemed like more than music, and the fact that hip hop as a culture is more than music, that's what was attractive," he pauses, chuckling again, "It wasn't so much like, 'Hey, let's put on lipstick and a wig and flares and let's get famous!' - we're doing this for a living, we're doing this regardless."

Rodney Smith has been 'doing this regardless' for the best part of two decades, first appearing on a handful of singles in the mid-'90s, then dropping his ground-breaking debut album Brand New Second Hand in 1999. His fifth full-length, 4everevolution was released late last year, and many are saying it's his best yet. Certainly it's one of his most innovative, blending reggae, '80s pop-funk, straight up hip hop and even a sung ballad - but it has always been one of Smith's strengths that he is able to take inspiration from all corners and produce something uniquely his own.

"The first sonic palette was obviously Jamaican-made music, or UK Jamaican-influenced music, but at the same time I always liked things like Human League and even Duran Duran," he says. As a young Black man growing up in post-Second World War Britain, he had an increading opportunity to seek out new sounds, but travelling back to Jamaica as a young teenager exposed him to an even greater variety of music. "Jamaicans like cheesy British and American pop more than they like dancehall. I mean, often in a party you can hear something like Michael Bolton alongside the most crazy ragga tunes. That was when I was about twelve. It just blew my mind and freed up my mind to think, hey, I can be into anything!"

Smith says he still has the desire to perform and record music, and continue pushing boundaries while doing so. When asked if his approach to making music has changed since he first began, his answer is typically disarmingly honest - and tongue-in-cheek: "Oh yeah, I think it's just growing up as a professional, tax-paying musician, I kind of learned how to condense and compartmentalise the kind of emotional tantrums into the context of song."

Growing older has become something of a recurring theme in our conversation, with the allied feelings of having an obligation to pass on to the young what has been learned from many years in the business ("A lot of the young kids just think of the pizzazz straight away!") to planning a career beyond being Roots Manuva. "It was always my thing to develop a label and have artists coming through, and the Roots Manuva thing was never supposed to be beyond a couple of records. I just wanted that to be where I just expressed myself. The thing that paid the bills was I wanted to be a jobbing studio owner, or a jobbing beatmaker," he chuckles once more, "It's not really worked out like that at all!"

But it has worked out. Despite an approach Smith himself describes as "A bit more organic, a bit more like if the vibe and the feeling is right", the man has carved himself a place in the hip hop history books, and remains as relevant and vital to music - let alone hip hop - as ever.

Interview originally appeared in Volume magazine


Roots Manuva - Volume's Video Picks
Watch a Roots Manuva video and you're not going to see shimmering silver jumpsuits or giant wind tunnels, yet many are among the more entertaining hip hop videos around. Here are five of our favourites:

* Witness (1 Hope) from Run Come Save Me (2001)
Smith visit his former primary school and competes in the egg and spoon, three-legged and obstacle races, before being chased from the field by an angry mob of kids.
Watch for - 2.59 - when the headmistress, realising he's there to compete rather than host, says "This puts us in a very difficult situation really..." while Smith continues peeling off his tracksuit.

* Again and Again from Slime and Reason (2008)
Continuing the sporting theme, Smith is last man standing for his cricket team who need two runs to win with two balls remaining in the match. The first knocks Smith out briefly, but our hero recovers and smashes the second to the fence, winning the game at the death.
Watch for - 3.30 - the victory dance.

* Buff Nuff from Slime and Reason (2008)
So wrong it's right. Smith as "Bad Ice Cream Man" dispensing his dripping wares to a group of overly enthusiastic, lycra-clad women.
Watch for - 1.40 - oral sex simulation taken to the next level. (NSFW!)

* It's On from Ninja Tune XX (2011)
One of the bigger budget videos from Smith sees him dressed in a sharp suit and backed by a trio of black and white-clad, doll-face painted Japanese dancers. Also one of the few videos in which he looks genuinely cool.
Watch for - 1.56 - when the old man on the beach waves to Smith, beckoning him to play chess.

* Get The Get from 4everevolution (2011)
Fashion tips from the Pim Pimpernel, as Smith goes bag shopping with guest vocalist Rokhsan - while wearing a cravat, yellow-striped trousers and carrying a golf club.
Watch for - 2.06 - where Smith and Rokhsan almost forget the words...

Interview: Erykah Badu

ANALOG GIRL IN A DIGITAL WORLD

After fifteen years in the music business, Erykah Badu remains a fiercely indpendent spirit and genuinely inspiring artist. From the multi-platinum success of her 1997 debut Baduizm to collaborations with Dilla, Madlib and Flying Lotus - and her three famous "Baby Daddies" - she confidently walks her own path. VOLUME spoke with her prior to her first visit to New Zealand...

Erykah Badu is as famous for her deeply spiritual - some would say seriously weird - personal beliefs and influence on former partners Common and Andre3000, as she is for her award-winning debut album, Baduizm and the impressive run of releases that followed it, but it really is her music that makes her a true original.

Her sensual blend of soul, hip hop and R&B allied to an undeniably sassy and classy attitude and exotic good looks has set her apart from the pack for more than a decade. It began with a debut album which exposed Badu to the kind of attention most folks would've struggled to deal with - but Erykah Badu is definitely not most folks: "I think it would've been difficult if I hadn't been aware what business I was getting into, because you get into the music industry, you gotta sell units," Badu states, "Then when something wonderful like gaining a cult following, multi-platinum sales and all that stuff happens, that's some extra shit! I had my year like that in '97: won about fifteen awards, two albums came out, met the love of my life - one of 'em - I had a son the same day my second album came out, met The Roots, started the Soulquarians; it was an amazing time for me.Just think: I had my whole life to write my first album. I took my time, and I feel I was rewarded greatly for something."

She pauses, gathering her thoughts: "But even with the career I've been afforded, the large platform I've been given and the great spotlight, we still have to keep evolving in everyday life. I've learned that, no matter what your position is, you still have a responsibility to the people around you and closest to you. My focus is on my evolving."

Part of that evolution has involved collaborating with artists like Common, Dilla, The Roots - all of whom Badu took both musical and personal pleasure from working with: "Common came to my place in Brooklyn one time, and we connected very, very well, became best friends," Badu says, "With The Roots, I had Baduizm, but I didn't have the song I thought would round the album out. So I got on the train, went to Philly, met with Amir and stayed at his house for a couple weeks, and came through with the rest of the album."

She continues: "I got to meet amazing people just doing that: Dilla. Madlib. Bilal. D'Angelo. Sa-Ra. Jill Scott. It connects like that. I think people who vibrate at the same frequency, vibrate toward each other. They call it, in science, sympathetic vibrations."

This was the Erykah Badu I was hoping to hear more from and, as it turned out, she didn't need a lot of encouraging: "I don't know if it's because I just turned 40, but my mind's in another, totally different place now, I don't really give a fuck about anything right now - in the best kinda way," she chuckles, "But since the earth is taking its polar shifts, as it does every 2500 years, it does something weird to the earth's core, makes it heat up and you get these different disasters and things."

"The Mayans said in 2012 there would be a shift, or an ending, or a beginning, or a return of something, and I think it co-relates with what's going on with the planet. Because we are earthlings, very much connected with the planet, made of the same carbon and hydrogen and oxygen as the planet's made of, it's quite natural for us to behave the same way - it's a recalibration."

While Badu's explanations for the turmoil of recent years goes some way to justifying her out-there reputation, it seems there is a growing reaction to perceived injustices globally, from established protest groups to ordinary folks. "I don't know a lot of details about what's going on politically," she admits, "I just feel that our children's minds are a lot different to ours. That's a result of being born in this age and time and frequencies where there's karma that's had oxygen and boron and all those other chemicals that are vital to our bodies, so I think our children are in a more unique, concentrated state."

"We're evolving as a race and as a planet, and I do hope there's some sort of rebirth," she concludes, "But not without the labour pains first."

Considered words from a woman entering her fifth decade, a mother-of-three who has seen more of the world and the people in it than most, and experienced first-hand how harsh the glare of the spotlight can be. Analog Girl in a Digital World maybe, but there can be no doubt Erykah Badu is fully prepared to stand up for what she believes in. We could learn a lot from her.

Interview originally appeared in VOLUME magazine...

ESSENTIAL ERYKAH


'Apple Tree' (1997) from Baduizm
Where it all began...

'Call Tyrone' (1997) from Live
Has a "diss" ever been delivered with such sophistication as this?

The Roots featuring Erykah Badu 'You Got Me' (1999) from Things Fall Apart
After the record label baulked at Jill Scott's involvement, Erykah re-recorded Jill's part and a classic was born - and Jill and Erykah are still friends too.

Guru featuring Erykah Badu 'Plenty' (2000) from Guru's Jazzmatazz
Listen to this track and try not to fall completely in love. We bet you can't.

'Bump It' (2003) from Worldwide Underground
Her languid, lyrical vocals in full effect on a track so laidback it's almost sideways.

Erykah Badu with Common 'Love Of My Life (Ode To Hip Hop)' (2003) from Brown Sugar OST / bonus track from Worldwide Underground
A pairing of the two most conscious artists in hip hop - also romantically involved at the time.

'Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)' (2010) from New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh
A loose-limbed monster groove sampling the Roy Ayers/Sylvia Striplin classic 'You Can't Turn Me Away'.

Interview: Mayer Hawthorne

A GENTLEMAN'S ARRANGEMENT

The story of the beginnings of Mayer Hawthorne is a good one: performing hip hop music as DJ Haircut, he gave a couple of blue-eyed soul sounding tracks "as a joke" to Stones Throw Records boss Peanut Butter Wolf - who then asked Hawthorne to record a whole album in that style. On the eve of his world tour, VOLUME magazine spoke with the man born Andrew Cohen about being Mayer.

"It was a little daunting at first, for sure," says Cohen, speaking about recording his debut, "But people are really smart and they can sense when something is real and something is fake, so I knew I had to just really be myself."

I'm really glad he brought it up. One of the peculiar things about using different aliases when making music is when only one of the aliases is lauded. The idea of the wonky-angled baseball-cap wearing hip hop DJ Haircut becoming the sharp-dressed ladies man Mayer Hawthorne - essentially overnight - is fascinating, but has seen Cohen's authenticity come into question. "If I was playing a character, well, I'm not a good actor, so I think people would've seen through that and it wouldn't have worked like it did."

Beyond the challenge of writing an albums' worth of material in one defined style, there was also the small matter of fronting a band for the first time. "It was something I'd never really done! I'd never been the lead singer of any group." Cohen had been the bass player, the beatmaker, the one who provided a canvas for the frontmen to paint over. "It was definitely something that took a lot of getting used to, but I had to bite the bullet, dive in to the deep end head first and say 'Am I gonna do this or not?'"

There's little doubt he did it. The first track Cohen wrote as Mayer Hawthorne was also his lead single and an absolute gem.  Just Ain't Gonna Work Out was part-Dilla, part-Smokey Robinson, yet all fresh. The door opened to considerable success - and this is where it gets interesting: is it possible for someone who has found such success in one style to progress that sound without losing their fanbase? Cohen thinks so: "That was kind of the main focus for the new album. I thought to myself why am I making this music with just one style, when I grew up listening to every style of music? I was really proud of the new record, I felt like it wasn't retro-soul, it wasn't throwback-soul, it wasn't new-soul - it was Mayer Hawthorne. I felt like I found my own sound on this record."

That Mayer Hawthorne sound is rooted in his upbringing. "Detroit is the shit, man! It's a beautiful place with a lot of creativity, and a lot of amazing culture. It's also a really hard-working, blue-collar place to live, so I'm really grateful for that work ethic that was instilled in me early on."

Cohen grew up in Ann Arbour, Michigan, with an incredibly supportive family."I was really blessed to grow up in a musical household. My Pops taught me to play bass when I was six years old and he still plays in a band in the Detroit area to this day. My Pops was a huge influence on me, of course, he still is!" There's a great piece of footage on YouTube of Mayer Hawthorne and band performing in the Cohen family basement at halftime during the SuperBowl final (there was a massive uproar in the US when Nickelback were announced as the official halftime "entertainment"), with "Pops" on bass.

From a tight family unit growing up to signing with Stones Throw for his debut album, Cohen has had great support as he has become Mayer Hawthorne. "I still talk to Peanut Butter Wolf almost every day, man! Stones Throw are like a family, and I think that's part of the magic of it, you know, that Dam-Funk and Wolf and James Pants and I can go to the record store together and dig for records, and it has nothing to do with releasing our music or performing, it's about our shared love for music."

Ever the gentleman, Cohen has convincingly - and with considerable class - let me know that Mayer Hawthorne is as real as it gets. How do you do?

Interview by David Carroll

FIVE INFLUENTIAL RECORDS FROM MAYER HAWTHORNE'S POPS' COLLECTION

Earth, Wind & Fire 'Let's Groove' (1981)
"That was a huge record for me as a kid."

The Police 'Synchronicity' (1983)
"I remember that was the first record that I actually bought with my own money. It was on cassette tape and because it was my Dad's cassette, and I'd played it so much I wore it out and it snapped, and he made me buy him another one!"

The Beatles 'Rubber Soul' (1965) and 'Help!' (1965)
"My Dad's favourite is definitely 'Rubber Soul' so that was probably the first one that he put me onto; but I remember the 'Help!' soundtrack too. I really loved that one as a kid. There was just something about those tunes that just really connected with me as a little shorty."

The Doobie Brothers 'Minute By Minute' (1978)
"That was a big record for me growing up."

Steely Dan 'Aja' (1977)
"Steely Dan are one of my favourite groups of all time. Man, I got a chance to see Donald Fagen play with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs out here, and that was one of the most epic moments of my life, seeing them all play together!"


Original interview and sidebar appeared in Volume magazine issue #20
Go check out the whole issue here.
For more on Mayer Hawthorne, try here.
For more about the New Zealand shows, click here.

Interview: Junior Marvin of The Original Wailers

STAND UP!

"When you make a promise to Bob Marley you try to keep it!" says Junior Marvin, the singer and guitarist most widely known for his work in the late '70s with Bob Marley and The Wailers. He had plenty of stories to share with VOLUME magazine recently, about working with The Beatles and saying "no" to Stevie Wonder, as well as life after Bob.

Born in Jamaica, Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards Jr. (variously known as Junior Marvin, Junior Kerr and Junior Hanson) moved to London when he was nine years old. Already a musical child, he landed a role in the Beatles' movie Help: "The Beatles were all pretty short and I was tall for my age," Marvin remembers, "We were at Pinewood Studios, and it was made up to look like the Bahamas, and I was the police, chasing Ringo."

"I was playing keyboards and singing then, but when I was sixteen years old I saw Jimi Hendrix and thought I had to play guitar!" enthuses Marvin, "And later, my friends in England were in bands which were part of what was known as the 'British Invasion', going to the US and touring with Jeff Beck and with Traffic - and I thought 'I gotta go!' because that's where everyone else is going!"

Marvin continues: "My original plan was to go to a music school in Boston, but I met a manager who had heard me playing and he said 'Look, T-Bone Walker needs a guitar player and I think you're good enough.' Of course I thought I was nowhere near good enough!" he laughs, "But I spent a year with T-Bone Walker, and I met Billy Preston, Ike and Tina Turner and Sly Stone."

When Marvin moved back to the UK, he worked with Steve Winwood, Toots and the Maytals and the Keef Hartley Band - and was a member of the London cast for the stage musical Hair - before forming his own group, blues-rockers Hanson.

And in February 1977, one of those right-place right-time moments.

"I met Chris Blackwell, and he says 'Hey, come to this hotel and meet a friend of mine' - he didn't tell me who it was," Marvin chuckles, "So on that day, just as I was walking out the door my phone rings - and it's Stevie Wonder offering me a job in his band. I said I would think about it and get back to him, as I had this meeting to go to. So I meet with Chris Blackwell and walk into this hotel room, and there's Bob Marley sitting there, and he says 'Junior, I want you to join my band'."

Marvin laughs again at the memory: "I got home and I had to call my friends and family and decide whose offer to accept! I went with Bob because he was Jamaican, and there was more encouragement to do it."

Junior Marvin appeared on four albums alongside Bob Marley, including Exodus, which Time magazine labelled the 'Best Album of the 20th Century'. After Bob's untimely death in 1981, Marvin continued with The Wailers, recording four more albums and performing across the globe.

"We were in Germany when Bob was ill," says Marvin, quietly, "And he said to us, 'Listen, if anything happens you should stick together', so we felt we owed him. We made a promise to him and it felt right, you know, everyone had the same vibe. Bob had a unique message, and I was very honoured to be able to continue to spread that message. I still think it was the right thing to do."

In the late '90s, Marvin decided to leave The Wailers, moving to Brazil (where he hung out with Gilberto Gil for a few years), before heading back to the US and joining with fellow guitarist Al Anderson to tour as The Original Wailers.

Junior Marvin released his long-overdue debut solo album, Wailin' For Love, in 2007, and songs from that album - alongside Bob Marley classics - are what New Zealand audiences will hear when Marvin brings his touring band with him to perform at Ragamuffin.

"I can't wait to get back to your beautiful country," Marvin says excitedly, "I was there with Bob, and again shortly after his passing. It's going to be an exciting, extremely lively show with audience participation encouraged. One Love!"



Top Ten Junior Marvin Musical Moments (in chronological order):

(1972) What It Is (from the Keef Hartley Band album Seventy Second Brave)
A foot-stompin' blues-rock bar brawler

(1973) Rain (from the Hanson album Now Hear This)
Funky psych-tinged blues rock

(1977) Three Little Birds (from Exodus) / (1978) Is This Love? (from Kaya) / (1979) One Drop (from Survival), all with Bob Marley and The Wailers
...we'll just call it a three-way tie...

(1980) Hail H.I.M. (from the Burning Spear album Hail H.I.M.)
Deep Rasta vibes

(1980) Spanish Dancer (from the Steve Winwood album Arc Of A Diver)
Gorgeous guitar-work for the blue-eyed soulman

(1982) Dub Softly (from the Sly and Robbie album Dub Rockers Delight)
Beautifully mellow guitar playing

(1989) Reggae Got Soul (from the Toots and The Maytals album Reggae Got Soul)
A storming stepper with a classic guitar line

(1990) One Draw (from the Rita Marley album Who Feels It Knows It)
An hilariously controversial ode to sinsemilla

(2005) Give Them The Rights (from the Congos album Give Them The Rights)
Righteous reggae and the characteristic falsetto of founding member Cedric Myton

(2008) Stillness Of Heart (live at the Nuke Festival, Austria)
A scorching guitar solo playing with Lenny Kravitz

(2011) Where Is Love? (from the Junior Marvin album Wailin' For Love)
Classic good-times reggae vibes

Nb. We at VOLUME highly recommend tracking down and listening to all of these songs listed above.


Interview and sidebar originally appeared in VOLUME magazine issue #016

Interview: Thom Powers & Alisa Xayalith from The Naked and Famous

NAKED AMBITION

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Words which propelled The Naked and Famous into the ears and record collections of tens of thousands of New Zealanders. The huge chorus of that song struck a chord further afield than our shores too. After a year playing shows around the world, and on the eve of what looks set to be a successful return to our shores, front-folk Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith sat down for a yarn with VOLUME about tall poppies and living up to the hype.

"I feel privileged and a little confused as to why it's worked out for us," says Powers.

"We never really thought things would get this grand, to the scale of what it is," agrees Xayalith, "Or we didn't think it would happen for us this year!"

It's certainly been a rapid rise for the five-piece. The single Young Blood went straight in at number one on the New Zealand charts and earned the band a coveted Silver Scroll Award. The debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You was also a number one, and the group have received six nomintions at the 2011 NZ Music Awards. They've spent the last year performing shows throughout Europe, and at major festivals like Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury. They're currently in the US, where they played the famous Lollapalooza festival, gathering some famous fans along the way.

"I don't know of any greater achievement that when people who have inspired me say that I've inspired them," says Powers, recalling recent tweets from Mark Hoppus (Blink182) and Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle), "I grew up listening to those bands, walking around brooding to them at high school, and here's this guy saying 'dude, it's awesome'. It's those kinda moments you just get stopped in your tracks."

"I mean, I had my sights set on the bFM Top Ten," he recalls, "And we did that and then it just snowballed from there. Now it's to the point where things are happening for us that we had no ambition for. Sometimes we have to work out what it is and sometimes it's just whatever, let's not be too pretentious about this. If we can reach anyone - it doesn't really matter what the avenue is - if we can convert someone to be a fan of our band then that's great."

Some in the scene here in New Zealand bandy about the term 'overnight success', and there's a feeling these opportunities have come to you too easily. Do you think that's fair?

"Nah," says Powers, pointedly, "I don't know how anyone could say that."

"Sometimes it can annoy me," says Xayalith, "It reminds me how much New Zealand can be a goldfish bowl and people just get caught up in that very small town mentality."

"The tall poppy thing in New Zealand seems kinda cute to me now seeing how the rest of the world works," agrees Powers.

"If you want to put it in simple terms," continues Xayalith, "Somebody liked our music and wanted to take it to the rest of the world. We got our big break with someone from overseas fell in love with Young Blood and we got plucked out of New Zealand, and that was more than we could hope for."

Do you feel pressure to create a "Young Blood Part Two"?

"I've always been thinking about that and the challenge really excites me," enthuses Powers.

"And Thom's so good, so driven, he can write anywhere.He does little bits here and there every day," explains Xayalith, "We've already got a lot of songs built up and I know there are some really good ones in there."

"We've met bands who can't write on tour," says Powers, "And we're going 'wow, we're really a little further ahead here'."

Part of the reason the band have moved ahead so quickly is their crack management team.

"What happens behind the scenes is a large part of why bands get out of bed in the morning," says Powers, "Paul and Campbell at CRS have helped us out in more ways that I can even remember. They're like surrogate fathers!"

"We also have a great record label," adds Xayalith, "When Fiction Records heard our album they didn't want to change anything. They knew we had a very strong vision of what we were, and they really respected that. I think that's what a lot of bands need to have these days if they want to be able to survive - they need to have a strong vision of their own."

Almost a year to the day since the band showcased their vision, performing their lauded debut album, they're returning to our shores to play at the Music Awards and the Auckland Town Hall. What's changed in the live show since we saw you last?

"The touring live band we've become is something I don't think we would ever have had an opportunity to become in New Zealand," says Powers, "But nothing's really changed. We're still showcasing an album that we feel very confident about and proud of."

"I remember going to see my favourite bands and hearing the songs in all their glory, so to speak, and it just felt like such a privilege and such a pleasure," he explains, "You had this expectation of wanting to hear your favourite songs, and your expectation gets blown away because it's just so fucking loud!"


This interview originally appeared in VOLUME magazine issue #009.

Interview: Adrian Utley of Portishead

WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT?

It's been 14 years since Portishead last performed in New Zealand - which seems reasonable considering there were 10 years between their second and third albums. Alongside Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons, Adrian Utley forms the core of the famed group. He had plenty to tell VOLUME about the band's beginnings, their forthcoming shows, and how they stay sane in the music business.

"I have really fucking had enough of this!" Adrian Utley was over it.

He'd been playing guitar since hearing Hendrix's Axis: Bold As Love, he'd kicked off a career in music in the mid-'70s, playing in country and western bands, British holiday camps, jazz groups and with legends like Jeff Beck and Big John Patton.

Utley was a noted session musician, a virtuosic guitar-slinger for hire, and he'd reached the end of his tether.

In stepped a young Geoff Barrow: "Geoff was working as a tape operator - which really meant making loads of cups of tea for the bands and engineers - and he sampled a band I'd played in," says Utley of his first meeting with his future band mate, "I heard him messing about with it, and introduced myself."

"He was 19 and I was 30. We were both listening to A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep and electronic avant-garde music, but while most of the people in my life were respectful of my desire to hear hip hop, they didn't like it," chuckles Utley, "But Geoff and I were as obsessed with Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions as we were with making new sounds, so I was like: 'There's a new door here'."

The Portishead story is well-told: this 'new door' opened to worldwide fame as their 1994 debut album Dummy sold like hotcakes pretty much everywhere, winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize and essentially breaking the band in the US even before they'd toured there. Dummy is rightly considered a classic, and in 1997 their self-titled follow-up cemented them as a big deal. Then, nothing. Well, sort of nothing, as the band disappeared from public view for the best part of seven years.

So, did Portishead split up? "No!" Utley exclaims, "We'll never split up! We'll always make music together, but at that point we just didn't want to do it anymore. I mean, we wanted to play music together, but the experiences we'd had, particularly in touring the Portishead album, affected the level of expectation on us," he says, referring to a combination of "pressure, press and misquotes".

"Don't get me wrong; I've played my whole life in shitty dives so I'm grateful for Portishead, The thing is, we care very much about the music and getting it across, but our home lives had fallen apart and it got so intense, so we just couldn't keep going."

Portishead played a scattering of shows in the mid-2000s before releasing the aptly-titled Third in 2007, which quickly silenced the doubters and was embraced as a worthy addition to their small but highly regarded catalogue.

Now, they return to our shores - what can we expect from the show? "We'll be playing the old tunes and loads of stuff off Third. We've got some very cool visual stuff going on, and we've worked very hard as a band to be able to play 90% of everything you'll hear live, with only a few samples," Utley enthuses. "Though it sometimes feels a little like a house of cards, it's exciting and gives us the opportunity to really cut loose. We're looking forward to it immensely!"

I press him again on how long this all might last this time - is this the 'final hurrah' for Portishead? Or can we expect another album, eventually? "Nowadays we really just play together when we want to," says Utley, "I don't mean to sound conceited about it - I mean, we've all got kids now - and we don't want to thrash ourselves anymore. Plus we've all got other projects on the go, and we've found that working with people outside of the group breeds enthusiasm for writing more Portishead songs, so we're all excited about working on the new album when we're home from the tour."

That grounded attitude must have helped hugely in dealing with the level of success Portishead has enjoyed. "Definitely. We all lived in Bristol when we started - and mostly still do - you know, we didn't all move to London and change the way we live. We didn't all suddenly come swishing into the studio wearing cowboy boots - none of us would've let the others get away with it!"

Trip Hop: The Birth Of A Movement. Or Not.

"They're just words, aren't they?" Adrian Utley is talking about 'trip hop'.

Alongside Massive Attack and Tricky, Portishead are considered originators of the sound, or at least responsible for popularising it.

"People need a vocabulary to describe music," he says, "but it is weird. And while there were lots of bands who got in on that sound, I thought they came at it the wrong way."

"Portishead were influenced by hip hop, electronic and avant-garde music, but we were always reaching for something new," Utley says of he and Geoff Barrow's early endeavours, "We came to this music from trying new things; putting the drums through shitty little amps but throwing really fucking heavy guitars on there."

"I guess us, Massive and Tricky were on a similar tip, but we never intended there to be a movement; we never shared what we were trying to do with those guys," he says, "I mean, one time we were recording in a studio in Bristol and we knew Mushroom [of Massive Attack] was in another studio down the hall, so we went to say hello. When we walked in the door, he pulled down all the faders and turned the computer monitors off!"


This interview originally appeared in Volume Magazine Issue #005, 4th October 2011.

Read the live review of Portishead's 2011 NZ show here.

Interview: Mu from Fat Freddy's Drop

CHURCH IS IN SESSION

It seems appropriate Fat Freddy's Drop will be performing at an iconic Auckland venue most recently used as an evangelical church.

Auckland's oldest surviving theatre, The Mercury, hasn't been home to a musical show since 1992, which was a large part of the attraction for the band when they began planning to play a few local gigs before heading to Europe for the seventh visit in as many years.

"We wanted to keep things fresh for us and our audience," says Mu, when discussing why they'd chosen The Mercury Theatre and Wellington's Front Room for these shows, rather than ramming a few thousand punters into bigger venues and banking some serious spending money. "The summer tours have been pitched at the younger end of our audience, so we thought this was a good way to appeal to the older demographic. It'll be much more intimate, classier, more comfortable, and you get the same Freddy's show with a mix of new and older material."

Did you say new material?! "Some new material and two older songs - 'Black Bird' and 'Afreak' - which we've just tracked and we're really happy with." So, new material, for a new album? "Yeah, there's new material and older stuff that's never been recorded being reworked. We're sifting through those to pick out ideas strong enough to make good songs."

While I pause to take in the good news, it seems Mu's just warming up. "We've found a great space, one of those classic old Welli warehouse spaces we all grew up in, going to awesome parties. We keep the PA set up there and just walk in and jam, so we've been writing some new material and jamming it loud to replicate a gig environment."

Anyone familiar with the Freddy's back story will know this is a huge departure from their set up at The Beach, Mu's home studio at Lyall Bay where they recorded both their albums, but Mu is resoundingly postive about the change. "It has injected new life and new energy into the band. It's cool to have our own space and it's exciting to go and jam there."

He laughs when I ask if he ever really thought Freddy's would make it to three albums. "It's been amazing to be involved. The personnel within the band is the main thing: whenever we hook up to tour, to record, to write new songs, it's still a lot of fun. We just love making music together."

I put it to Mu that, besides loving making music together, it must also be incredibly gratifying for the band to return to Europe year after year to bigger crowds and better venues - having made a conscious decision to do it all independently. "Definitely, very much so. It's been a lot of hard work, but being independent has been the right decision for us. I think it still is. In Europe there are different tiers of the industry, and when you operate at the level we're at, you can get over there, put on good shows and make enough money to bring some home."

This tour sees Freddy's in Norway for the first time, alongside their own dates in Poland and Belgium (where they'd previously only played festivals), plus Germany, France and the UK. "Berlin will be big. Brixton will be big," understates Mu (they're headlining Brixton Academy, expecting just shy of 5000 people). "We get well looked after in those places now."

He laughs again: "Though it's always about finding new ways to keep it fresh, there's still that spark when we get together, and it's still really enjoyable."

Hallelujah.

This interview was originally published in Groove Guide issue #368, 4-10 May 2011.

Mu from Freddys interview in Groove Guide

Pick up a copy of this weeks Groove Guide magazine and have a read of the interview with DJ Mu from Fat Freddy's Drop. It's my first piece of writing for a publication which has been moving from strength to strength under the guidance and editorship of that fine fellow Sam Wicks. Get amongst!