New Zealand bands Racing and Clap Clap Riot are getting together this September!
Racing, with its hypnotic groove, got together in 2006. They are looking forward to playing their fried disco ripper 'Misbehaving' that although recently released is already a smash with the public.
Clap Clap Riot with 10 years of making great music together is working on their brand new album “to shine” with an expected release in 2017.
We had the pleasure to have as few of our questions answered by Dave Rowlands who is the Clap Clap Riot guitarist and Ed Knowles Racing’s vocalist.
1. When did the band start? How did you meet/get together?
Dave: 2006, we met at high school and started playing music together when school was winding up.
2. Which artist or group has had the biggest influence?
Dave: John Lennon
3. What is your most treasured memory as a band?
Dave: There is no single memory, rather a collection of great memories spent touring, recording and writing together.
4. Which city are you most excited to play in?
Dave: Auckland and Christchurch are both always fun. We’re really looking forward to hitting up the Sherwood for the first time as well. And Wellington. And Dunedin.
5. What are your favourite and least favourite venues?
Dave: I love the Wunderbar in Christchurch and also very nostalgic about the old Dux De Lux in Christchurch as well. Sammies in Dunedin was a tough one – it's a huge room and was freexing last time we played there.
6. The new album is expected to see the light of day in early 2017! What can fans expect?
Dave: We’ve progressed further with our songwriting, and the sounds have expanded considerably. There're lots of cool layers to the songs, as well as a new level of writing that has come to the fore.
7. Why did you take such a long break to release a new single?
Dave: There was no break in the background of things. Just took a while to get things finalised as we were focusing on shows in Australia and getting the writing exactly where we wanted it. We wanted to have the album ready before recording as opposed to just doing a little bit here and there.
8. What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Dave: Make sure you get along with each other – you’ll be spending a lot of time together.
9. What do you guys think of Racing?
Dave: There bloody legends M8
1. When did the band start? How did you meet/get together?
Ed Knowles:We started playing music together in 2014, and we met through all our previous bands playing shows together. The Checks, Space Creeps and Sherpa.
2. Which artist or group has had the biggest influence?
Ed: I’m sure we all have different influences but the things that we all get in on are really big hypnotic grooves. Anything like that works for all of us. Chemical Brothers to Queens of the Stone Age.
3.Name three things your band members have in common.
Ed: - A love of complimentary airline beverages
- A love of spicy Mexican food
- A love of unloading gear
4. What is your most treasured memory as a band?
Ed: When we were doing the preproduction for our record we were staying near Pakiri beach and every morning, we would go down and swim in the waves. Those swims always pop up in our conversations and are often referred to with great fondness, so much so that we are planning another trip.
5.What is your favourite song to cover? Or if you don’t do covers – why not?
Ed: I don’t think we have ever done a cover live, but we play around with them at practice for fun. The last one I remember was something by Fat Boy Slim.
6. You’ve just released the new song Misbehaving, what has been the public reaction?
Ed: The public reaction to Misbehaving has been great. Every time we play it, people start dancing even if they don’t really want to. It’s a foot tappers dream.
7. Which city are you most excited to play in?
Ed: I am excited to play them all. Racing has never played in Dunedin or Christchurch so that will be cool for us.
9. You guys received great reviews on your last show “The future of New Zealand music is in good hands, haven’t been this excited in a local band since ages ago” Do you think you guys are the future?
Ed: I think there are loads of good guitar bands coming up in Auckland at the moment.
10. What do you guys think of Clap Clap Riot?
Ed: Whenever I think about Clap Clap Riot, I think about a drinking game that they taught me a few years ago. I think it was called Wizard Staffs or something like that, but yeah, essentially you tape your new can of beer on top of your old/finished one, repeat, repeat, repeat, until eventually, you have a long tower of beer cans taped to your hand. I knew there was something special about them then and there... plus that last record had some seriously impressive songwriting on it.
Both bands will be bringing their frenetic stage show to five of country’s centres, including two hometown shows to cater to both all ages and R18 audiences. Don't miss out!
September
Auckland - Saturday 10 - Old Folks Association Hall
Queenstown - Thursday 15 - Sherwood
Dunedin - Friday 16 - Re:Fuel Bar
Christchurch - Saturday 17 - The Dark Room
Auckland - Friday 23 - Whammy Bar (R18)
Wellington - Saturday 24 - Carol
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