STACK NZ Apr #72

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GIMME SHELTER! How a storm nearly wrecked The DandyWarhol's new album Distortland .

L ate last year, The Dandy Warhols nearly gave up. A huge storm ripped through Portland and stomped its docs straight through the roof of The Odditorium, the studio-cum-hangout which Courtney Taylor-Taylor and his bandmates have occupied for years. “It happened five days after we turned in our record,” the frontman tells STACK . “To work on a record for three years and not have copies or duplicates or back-ups, outside of that same room? Dude, and then we left on tour three days later, so if we hadn’t found it, it would’ve been raining into our studio for months.” Distortland was a hell of a ride in general (“You know how you know a record’s done? When you have destroyed, or damaged severely, every interpersonal relationship in your life”), but the journey began on

Taylor-Taylor’s Yamaha cassette four-track, a piece of equipment he’s owned since he was a child. “It’s been working for 25 years or something; it’s f–ing insane. I’m very fast with it, I know what to do. It has a couple bells and whistles on that particular model that I know how to abuse. And they really respond to abuse,” he laughs. Zo ë Radas

DIY PLEDGE FOR DIGGLE

Distortland by The Dandy Warhols is out on April 8; check out www.stack.net.nz to read the full interview

W ith their self-released 1977 EP Spiral Scratch , the Buzzcocks effectively gave birth to indie music. So it’s kind of appropriate that guitarist Steve Diggle is taking a 21st Century approach to DIY music for his upcoming solo album. He has teamed up with PledgeMusic to help fund it and fans willing to chip in can choose from a range of exclusive items, including signed posters, one of his trademark polka dot shirts, and a special box set containing the new LP plus his first three solo efforts. “They said you can do meet and greets, but people do value these bits and pieces more,” Diggle told STACK while on tour in New Zealand with the Buzzcocks last month. “I am known for my polka dot shirts, and those have gone very quickly.” At press-time, pledges had just passed the three-quarter target mark, but Diggle says he is not expecting to make any money out of the project: to him it's just a good way to retain artistic control, while giving something back to the fans. He agrees that it is a return of sorts to the DIY ethos of the Buzzcocks’ seminal Spiral Scratch EP. “It has come full circle – we’re back where we started in a way,” he says. Diggle hopes to start recording the as-yet- untitled album this month, with a view to releasing it in June. It’s likely to include a few things not usually associated with the Buzzcocks, such as acoustic guitars and piano. The punk legends’ latest jaunt Down Under was a 40th anniversary tour, so for the most part, the band have been concentrating on favourites from their first four LPs. However, the Buzzcocks' latest album, The Way, has just been issued here and Diggle is pleased that some of their Kiwi fans have recognised some of their new songs. “We have got an armoury of classic songs and whenever we play there is always someone who says, ‘why don’t you play that one?',” he says. “That said, People Are Strange Machines is off the new album; it’s a catchy song and rocks live. And we have been doing The Third Dimension , which is one my favourites off The Way . It’s back to our more experimental roots – a little bit darker, a little bit different.” Tim Mackrell

EXTRAS

TIME TO STEP UP AND EMBRACE NEW GENRES Director Tammy Davis says the success of Born to Dance shows Kiwis can make all sorts of different genre movies.

A lthough New Zealand has deservedly received acclaim overseas for its horror and fantasy, the local film industry has largely stayed away from other commercial genres. However, Born to Dance director Tammy Davis believes that the success of New Zealand's first ever hip hop dance movie shows that the local industry should consider embracing other sorts of genre films. “I think what we have proven is that we can diversify and make lots of different films,” the first-time director of New Zealand’s highest grossing local movie of 2015 tells STACK . “We can make dramas, make comedies, we can make dance

films… we can make any films we like. This really opens up the door. Whatever kind of genre of film you want to make, we can do it.” Born to Dance is out now on DVD and Blu-ray here, and the film is slated for theatrical release in a number of other international markets. Davis is doubtful that there will be a sequel, but the actor-turned-director has a number of new projects in the pipeline, including a six-part TV drama series and a feature-length expansion of his short film Ebony Society . John Ferguson

The Way by the Buzzcocks is out now; visit www.stack.net.nz for the full interview.

Check out the digital edition of STACK for the full interview.

APRIL 2016

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