STACK NZ Mar #71

NEWS EXTRAS

After the cannibal gore-fest The Green Inferno , Eli Roth is set to tackle a very different sort on man-eater in Meg . UNDER STA TER’S ORDERS New Kiwi band Racing is looking forward to road-testing their debut album at Auckland City Limits.

E merging out of the ashes of garage rockers The Checks, the Auckland four-piece released their self-titled debut EP last year and will soon start recording their first full-length album. Singer Ed Knowles told STACK that the band – guitarist Sven Pettersen (The Checks), bassist Dan Barrett (Sherpa) and drummer Izaak Houston (Space Creeps) – are looking forward to the inaugural Auckland City Limits and introducing their sound to festival goers. Although a release date for the debut album is still to be confirmed, he hopes it will be out around the middle of the year. “We’ve pretty much got it down to 15 songs and we’ll then go in and record them,” Knowles says. “I think it will be an evolution from our EP. The EP was almost like we were venting a heavy side, but I think we are leaning further to the more melodic side: I guess you could say a little more ‘Checks-y’ – more chords than riffs!” No stranger to big stadium gigs from his time in The Checks, Knowles says there is something special about a live show in big arenas and he hopes Auckland City Limits becomes a regular event here.

The inaugural Auckland City Limits – a spin-off from the celebrated Austin, Texas, event – will be held at Western Springs Stadium on March 19 and will play host to 40 overseas and local acts, including Kendrick Lamar, The National, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, Girl Talk and Ladyhawke. For more information visit www.aucklandcitylimits.com

EXTRAS

Check out the digital edition of STACK for the full interview

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE The New Zealand star of theTV zombie hit Fear theWalking Dead has to face up to a very different sort of resurrection in the biblical drama Risen.

I ’m usually asked to play terrorists so I thought it was a prank when I was offered this role,” laughs Kiwis star Cliff Curtis on playing Jesus in Risen , which is due in cinemas this month. “I’m also in my late 40s and Jesus was apparently crucified when he was 33, so it was a miracle I was even cast!” Currently starring in TV’s Walking Dead spin-off Fear the Walking Dead , the New Zealand star is a devout Catholic and says he was an altar boy as a child. “I used to joke about playing Jesus because I never thought I was fair-complexioned enough and didn’t have blue eyes,” says Curtis, referring to the traditional archetypes of Christ,

an image since dismissed by historians. To prepare for the role, Curtis lived alone for a month, making his own humble meals. He also undertook a self-imposed vow of silence while filming Risen in Malta and Spain, which he only broke it when he volunteered to wash the feet of his Apostle castmates. “I had to set my ego aside in order to be of service to a very significant divine being on this planet,” he explains. “I talk a lot, a lot of unnecessary nonsense – and certainly not divine – so the only way I felt I could cleanse myself was through silence. I lived monastically, allowing just an hour each day to talk to my wife and kids. “Some may say it was unnecessary, but I compare it to doing Hamlet on stage and then pulling out your phone and Facebooking. That would be all wrong, so I did what I thought was respectful for the role.” Curtis will also be seen on DVD this month in the first season of Fear the Walking Dead , with the first part of the second series expected to go to air here in April. He describes his character, Travis Manawa, as an optimist and an idealist, which he sees as

being both a strength and a weakness. “I love that he’s an optimist,” Curtis says. “I think it’s important to humanity. When things are going wrong, you need someone who insists everything’s going to be okay, we’re going to pull together and we’re going to work it out. It’s a strength, but it can also become a weakness. When things start falling apart and all of his ideals are challenged, it’s just a matter of how long it will take to realise that all of his ideals can’t apply to the situation.” The early promos for season two suggest that the cast may be about to embark on an ocean journey, but Curtis and co. insist that they have been kept in the dark about what’s in store for them. “You never know! We’re not making it up when we say, ‘We have no idea’. We’re not trying to be clever. We honestly don’t know. [Laughs] It’s all a part of being a part of a genre like this. No one should know because every danger is potentially the last one you’ll face, and that’s the premise of the show.”

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete First Season is out on March 3

Fear theWalking Dead

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