MAGAZINE: February / March 2011 Issue

Tiki Taane

From playing guitar in a metal band at 14, to writing one of the biggest acoustic love ballads this country has ever produced, Tiki Taane's 20 year career in the music industry is testament to his multi-pronged talent. With the forthcoming release of his new album In The World Of Light, I sat down with Tiki for some serious discussions about his journey to date.

“I get to Palmy around Saturday. Pack up house Sunday, removal truck comes Monday. Probably best if u can bounce up Saturday bro. We can do interview at my pub if u like (free beer and the best steak and chips around haha).”

And so it begins, with an informal personal invitation via email. An invitation to hold audience with Tiki Taane in Palmerston North, at an old school pub he is now the owner of. Tiki Taane - a mainstay of New Zealand music, highly decorated with countless music awards, multiple gold and platinum sales certifications and an itinerary of past live appearances that’s longer than several arms and legs - is soon to once again be the man of the hour, for what must count as the fourth or fifth time in his 20 year long international music career. In light of the forthcoming release of Tiki’s second solo album, In The World Of Light, this is one invitation that’s too good to pass up.

Read the full feature by Martyn Pepperell in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now. Plus download our exclusive Tiki track 'King Of The Dubs' for free here!

Adele

Sitting in her record company’s offices, just off Portobello Road in West London, Adele admits to feeling anxious about the imminent release of her second album, 21.

“It’s a bit like standing in the middle of Times Square butt naked,” Adele declares with a raucous laugh. “It’s my own fault because I always write about myself and my own experiences. But I’m dead excited as well.”

Read the full feature by Stephen Jewell in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Head Like A Hole

Like a woolly mammoth emerging from the nearest cave, Head Like a Hole are back, and it’s like they’ve never been away.

They reformed for the Vodafone Homegrown Festival in 2008 and have been steadily gigging around the country ever since. Having released their first single in 12 years in late 2010, they watched it go straight to number one on the bFM charts with a bullet. Come March we’ll hear a new album, and by all accounts it won’t disappoint.

When I talk to Booga Beazley one sweltering pre-Christmas afternoon, the frontman is at home in Otaki with the kids - a far cry from the on-stage maniac that Head Like a Hole (HLAH) fans have grown to know and love. He’s keen to talk about his recent graduation, which saw him take home a diploma after completing a City & Guilds course in professional cooking from the local learning establishment.

Read the full feature by Helene Ravlich in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Ivy Lies

One thing that vocalist Emla Palmer and bassist Lisa Blatchford from pop rock trio Ivy Lies can vouch for is that, when it comes to the music business - hard work doesn’t always pay.

The two are sitting in an Auckland café lamenting their lack of funds with which to buy a ticket to the Big Day Out, but still proud to have something to show for their currently impoverished state - a brand spanking new album.

Read the full feature by Helene Ravlich in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Mayer Hawthorne

In mid-February, acclaimed modern soul figure Mayer Hawthorne makes his New Zealand debut. I made contact to talk DJing, influences and Detroit.

Mayer Hawthorne (real name Andrew Mayer Cohen) is that dude. Singer, producer, songwriter, engineer, arranger, DJ, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, food blogger… the list goes on. Originally hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, these days he is signed to Peanut Butter Wolf’s iconic Stones Throw Records and delivers his uniquely slanted soul music to a global audience, with the assistance of his stellar backing band.

Read the full feature by Martyn Pepperell in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

PJ Harvey

As a groundbreaking artist, PJ Harvey is as enigmatic and eccentric as you’d expect. But she also possesses a beguiling mix of a steely British core and impassioned sensitivity, as her latest album, Let England Shake, reveals.

Few artists are truly visionary, pioneering or peerless - but PJ Harvey is a rare exception. From her startling debut Dry, to the stark beauty of White Chalk, each successive album has enhanced her reputation and repertoire, whilst revealing another layer of her chameleon-like genius. It’s the same with her current offering, Let England Shake, a mesmeric collection that enhances her growing iconic stature.

Read the full feature by Des Sampson in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

White Lies

Difficult second album? Not if it’s White Lies telling tales, as they do so effortlessly on their compelling new album Ritual.

Few bands emerge as fully formed as White Lies did in 2009 with their debut album, To Lose My Life. Echoing the ghosts of greats like Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Cure, as well as contemporaries like Editors, Interpol and Arcade Fire, it was a brooding but joyous collection that struck a chord and catapulted White Lies to centre stage.

Read the full feature by Des Sampson in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Queens Of The Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age return to their roots, and to New Zealand, for their first headlining tour as, explains Josh Homme, a brand new band.

Frontman Josh Homme is well over six foot tall with roguish ginger hair, and delicate features that do not, in any way, complement his other physical characteristics. And yet, he is a babe. As an individual, Homme is more than the sum of his parts, and he has applied this same (albeit subconscious), mentality to Queens of the Stone Age, to their benefit. He notes this while apparently standing in the corner of his room, admiring the join between two walls.

Read the full feature by Courtney Sanders in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Gang Of Four

In 1979 Gang of Four penned Entertainment! and revolutionised rock music forever. 32 years later they have formed again to both re-politicise music and present unique ways to monetise music, visiting New Zealand for the very first time along the way.

“I did think it was truly radical. Did I think this sound would influence bands for decades to come? Absolutely not. But I had this overarching feeling that we were creating something truly inspired.”

I have caught Andy Gill - speaking down the line from his home in Central London - unawares. A discussion about conflicting time zones awkwardly begins our interview (the artist is juggling yoga and interviews), but Gill is then ready to discuss his band, in both its new and old forms, in the articulate, argumentative fashion one expects from a member of the serious, seminal post-punk outfit.

Read the full feature by Courtney Sanders in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.

Megadeth

Megadeth are truly thrash metal pioneers, renowned for pushing the sub-genre to its most technical and intricate extremes. I caught up with co-founder Dave Ellefson on his recent trip to New Zealand for the No Sleep Til festival.

Frontman and co-founder Dave Mustaine was an early member of Metallica and helped form that band’s identity before being kicked out. As he went on and formed Megadeth, Mustaine traded insults for years with Metallica, never hiding his bitterness at being fired. Mustaine has become a cultural icon with appearances in various TV shows, movies and of course from the countless inflammatory statements he has made about members of Slayer, Metallica, Pantera… shit, there’s a whole Wikipedia page just on Mustaine’s feuds.

Read the full feature by Daniel Rutledge in the February / March 2011 issue of Rip It Up. Out now.