Graphic novels for NZ Music Month

One of my favourite things about the art of comics is how they depict sound. Since the medium is completely mute, comic artists have to come up with novel visual tricks to portray music.

In Ed Piskor’s Hip-Hop Family Tree, the colouring will go into a shaky ‘double-vision’, giving the panel the disorienting effect of looking at a 3D movie without the glasses, to depict the rattling bass of a sound system. In Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Phonogram, music fans called ‘phonomancers’ turn pop songs into magic spells to illustrate (without music) that feeling of power and invincibility you get from listening to your favourite song.

It seems more and more comic artists are going to bat for this technical challenge, as the graphic novel music biopic has become a popular subgenre in the 2010s. Sitting somewhere between documentary and written biography, it allows artists to exaggerate and caricature the details of an artist’s career. Mike Allred’s pop-art inspired drawing style is a perfect match for his most recent work Stardust, rayguns & moonage daydreamswhich gives David Bowie a cosmic career odyssey worthy of the work that he put into building the myth of Ziggy Stardust. Similarly, The Fifth Beatle sees the Fab Four through the eyes of their humble manager Brian Epstein; the comic’s colouring accentuates the efforts Epstein went through to take four lads with the marks of musical greatness from the grey pallor of Liverpool to the bright shiny vistas of international stardom. The graphic novel biography makes bands and artists seem larger than life in a way that photographs or concert films can sometimes struggle to capture.

From the mega-pop stars, to the unsung heroes of music history, to the fans that keep the passion burning, there’s a graphic novel for every audience in our collection!

The complete Phonogram / Gillen, Kieron
“Collected in a single volume for the first time, the first critically beloved work from the creators of The Wicked + the Divine. Includes RUE BRITANNIA, THE SINGLES CLUB and THE IMMATERIAL GIRL, with RUE BRITANNIA coloured for the first time. The world where Music Is Magic has never looked better.” (Catalogue)

Hip hop family tree [2] : 1981-1983 / Piskor, Ed
“The second instalment of this acclaimed graphic novel hip-hop history (originally serialized on the popular website Boingboing) covers the years 1981-1983. Hip Hop has made a big transition from the parks and rec rooms to downtown clubs and vinyl records. The performers make moves to separate themselves from the paying customers by dressing more and more flamboyant until a young group called RUN-DMC comes on the scene to take things back to the streets.” (Adapted from catalogue)

The fifth Beatle : the Brian Epstein story / Tiwary, Vivek J.
“The Fifth Beatle is the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who discovered and guided The Beatles — from their gigs in a tiny cellar in Liverpool to unprecedented international stardom. Yet more than merely the story of “The Man Who Made The Beatles,” The Fifth Beatle is an uplifting, tragic, and ultimately inspirational human story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Brian himself died painfully lonely at the young age of thirty-two, having helped The Beatles prove through “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” that pop music could be an inspirational art form. He was homosexual when it was a felony to be so in the United Kingdom, Jewish at a time of anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was considered just a dingy port town.” (Catalogue)

Blue in green / V, Ram
“The dark and haunting portrayal of a young musician’s pursuit of creative genius — the monstrous nature of which threatens to consume him as it did his predecessor half a century ago. From creators Ram V (Grafity’s Wall, These Savage Shores) and Anand RK (Grafity’s Wall). BLUE IN GREEN is an exploration of ambitions, expectations, and the horrific depths of their spiraling pursuit.” (Catalogue)

Bowie : stardust, rayguns & moonage daydreams / Allred, Mike
BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams chronicles the rise of Bowie’s career from obscurity to fame; and paralleled by the rise and fall of his alter ego as well as the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust. As the Spiders from Mars slowly implode, Bowie wrestles with his Ziggy persona. The outcome of this internal conflict will change not only David Bowie, but also, the world.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Gunning for hits. music thriller / Volume 1, Slade : / Rougvie, Jeff
“In the 80’s NYC music business, Martin Mills, a record company talent scout, jumps at the chance to make a comeback album with his favorite rock legend. When it goes sideways, Martin is forced to use deadly skills from his past” (Catalogue)

Redbone : the true story of a Native American rock band / Staebler, Christian
“Brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas were talented Native American rock musicians that took the 1960s Sunset Strip by storm. Determined to control their creative vision and maintain their cultural identity, they eventually signed a deal with Epic Records in 1969. But as the American Indian Movement gained momentum the band took a stand, choosing pride in their ancestry over continued commercial reward. Created in cooperation with the Vegas family, authors Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni with artist Thibault Balahy take painstaking steps to ensure the historical accuracy of this important and often overlooked story of America’s past. Part biography and part research journalism, Redbone provides a voice to a people long neglected in American history.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Total jazz / Blutch
“In these freewheeling short stories, vignettes, and sketches that originally appeared in Jazzman magazine, the famed French cartoonist examines not only the genre and its creators but the nature of the subculture. The grumpy festival-goer, the curmudgeonly collector, the anxious auditioner, and many others are his targets. As improvisional as Coltrane and Mingus, Blutch captures the excitement of live performance and of creating and listening to music.” (Catalogue)

Topp : promoter Gary Topp brought us the world / Collier, David
“As with all of Collier’s work, his latest graphic novel is a combination of memoir and biography. This time, he explores his involvement in the cultural landscape of Toronto in the 1970s and 80s, specifically focusing on the life of Gary Topp, a concert promoter and founder of the pioneering Canadian repertory cinema. Topp emerged from an immigrant background, abandoned the family textile business, and became an influential figure in the lives of an entire community. He was also Collier’s first boss and mentor. Though outspoken and opinionated, Gary Topp inspired love and devotion, not only in those who worked for him, but also in the acts he booked — including the Ramones, The Police, and the Dixie Chicks. This graphic novel looks at a rapidly disappearing past and uses Topp’s ability to see beyond the mainstream for a look at where our culture is heading.” (Catalogue)

NZ Music Month: In Conversation with Ruby Solly!

On her Facebook page, Ruby Solly describes herself as someone who writes things, sings things and plays things. While true, it doesn’t take much work to discover that this description doesn’t quite capture the scale–or success!–of Solly’s recent projects, publications and accomplishments.

For starters, Solly (Kai Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) is a music therapist, having recently graduated with a Master in Music Therapy from Victoria University (read her thesis here!). She’s also a taonga puoro practitioner, composer and role model at the Conversation Collective.

Solly’s poems have been published in The Spinoff, Landfall, Sport, Orongohau/Best New Zealand Poems 2019 and more, and her recent article in e-Tangata, Being Māori in Classical Music is Exhausting has brought increased insight into the attitudes and privilege within New Zealand’s classical music community.

This blog is also being written during New Zealand Music Month, so it wouldn’t be right to forget her musical achievements, including playing with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Whirimako Black, Trinity Roots and The New Zealand String Quartet. She describes her current project as music that reflects “my connection to the land I live on and the ancestors that passed through here”.

Anyway, all that is just the tip of the iceberg. For more–including what she’s been up to during lockdown–check out our conversation with her below. Solly also performs two fantastic poems: “Arrival” and “Six Feet for a Single, Eight Feet for a Double.” Enjoy!

New Zealand Music Month: Quarantunes Part Two

During lockdown several of our hugely talented librarians have been creating and sharing music via the Johnsonville Library Facebook page to provide a pleasant distraction from the rigours of lockdown. The music is as diverse as you can imagine, covering numerous genres and worlds. So we thought New Zealand Music Month is a perfect time to revisit just a few of these musical creations and take the opportunity to ask their creators to pick a favourite New Zealand album and tell us why they love that particular piece of music.

(This is Part Two of our New Zealand Music Month Quarantunes blog–for Part One click here!)


Sue: performing Prelude In C Major by Johann Sebastian Bach

QUARANTUNES with Sue #2

This evening's beautiful and reflective QUARANTUNE comes to you from the talented fingers of Brooklyn Library's own one-woman orchestra, Sue, and from the pen of Gabriel Fauré. We hope you enjoy.#quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Gosh, where do I start re: fav NZ album? That’s like asking what your fav book or movie is… different sounds and genres are snapshots and reminders of different experiences. BUT there are a few NZ artists that jump out – I love Listening to Bic Runga and Anika Moa. I know Beautiful Collision (Bic) and In Swings the Tide (Anika) got a fair hammering in my old car’s CD player! I think the combo of awesome melodies, poetic lyrics and crystal clear voices are the clincher for me. But then we’ve also got so many amazing classical artists – Ross Harris’ Requiem for the Fallen in memory of  soldiers who died in the First World War, is pretty humbling and awe-inspiring too.


Justin: performing his own music (Mow the Lawn)

QUARANTUNES 17 April 2020

Welcome back to Quarantunes, where tonight we are joined by Justin, Team Leader for Northern Libraries & Community Spaces. He’ll be singing an original song called “Mow The Lawn”. Have a nice weekend. Stay safe and stay home! #quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Friday, 17 April 2020

I have to be very honest… as an American and having spent most of my life in America we are not very well versed in New Zealand music past Crowded House! But that band definitely made an impact on me because they have such great songs. It’s all about the great songs for me! I did some digging once I learned about Crowded House and I really just fell in love with this album. It brings me a sense of peace, calm, and hope. “Six Months in a Leaky Boat” is the song that does it for me. It has everything I want in a good song: amazing melodies, great rhythm, and a wonderful and soaring blippy synthesizer.


Reece: performing his own music

apologies to my new flatmates who have only known me for like two weeks but will shortly be very familiar with every single riff I have left to record on the Glassblower album

Posted by Reece Davies on Monday, 23 March 2020

Wellington’s post-rock/metal scene has been one of the more active areas in the city over the past decade, and People Used to Live Here by Spook the Horses is the pinnacle of what the genre attempts to achieve in its quieter moments. Haunting and lonely, the album takes you on a journey through abandoned places courtesy of restrained instrumentation, occasional vocals and rich textures. The accompanying videos, available on YouTube, showcase the group’s dedication to the atmosphere of the album and are all vital viewing, especially the final track “Following Trails”.


Discover More:

Wellington Music at WCL: Want to keep up with the latest gigs and releases throughout Wellington? Then look no further than the Wellington Music at WCL Facebook page, run by our very own music specialist Mark!

Wellington Music Past and Present: This site is a tribute to the decades of music that have contributed to Wellington’s sound, as well as a browsable portal to our physical CD collection.

Music eResources: With half a million tracks between them, Naxos Music Library and Naxos Jazz Library will have your lockdown listening covered. Discover them via our Digital Library.

NZ Music Month: Quarantunes Part One

During lockdown several of our hugely talented librarians have been creating and sharing music via the Johnsonville Library Facebook page to provide a pleasant distraction from the rigours of lockdown. The music is as diverse as you can imagine, covering numerous genres and worlds. So we thought New Zealand Music Month would be the perfect time to revisit just a few of these musical creations and take the opportunity to ask their creators to pick a favourite New Zealand album and tell us why they love that particular piece of music.


Claire: performing The Cuckoo Waltz by Emanuel Jonasson

QUARANTUNES 23 April 2020

Good evening and welcome back to QUARANTUNES! Tonight we've got the wonderful Cuckoo Waltz peformed by not one, not two, but THREE of the wonderful Claire from the Johnsonville Library. Enjoy! Stay home and stay safe!#quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Wednesday, 22 April 2020

 

My favourite NZ album is Love and Disrespect by Elemeno P – it reminds me of O-Weeks at university, where I must have seen them live at least half a dozen times (which might not seem a lot, but I am not a huge concert-goer… shockingly for a librarian – I’m not a huge fan of big crowds of people!). I would certainly class it as the soundtrack of my Vic Uni experience in the early 2000s frequenting house parties and road trips along the way.


Stephen: performing Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (And the moon descends on the temple that was) by Debussy

Welcome back to Quarantunes! We’re back right where we started with Stephen and his lovely piano. Tonight he’ll be performing a piece by Debussy. Stay home and stay safe please!#quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Friday, 24 April 2020

 

My favourite NZ album – difficult to choose. I did recently write essentially an essay on Facebook about how much I love Solace by Jakob, so I guess it’s that. Jakob’s 2007 offering Solace is utterly consuming, from start to finish. It’s very difficult to describe the sound of this album and the emotional resonances it has for me. The dense layering of opener “Malachite” is sitting on the roof of the Wright’s Hill bunker and looking out over the darkening city as the first spots of rain stain the concrete. The crunching, subterranean bass of “Pneumonic” weaves a cocoon of sound so dense it feels as though you’re physically enveloped, untouchable. “Oran Mor” and “Everything All Of The Time” are the sweep of waves and the crash on the shoreline all at once. “Saint” breathes us through the quiet.

Ultimately I think that while Solace, like all of Jakob’s albums, is undeniably beautiful to listen to, it is music that suddenly ‘clicks’ when you have a memory or an experience to pin it to. Everything slots into place, and suddenly the music becomes part of your DNA, and you cannot ever listen to it in the same way again.


Sam: performing his own and Neil Johnstone’s (another of our librarians) music

QUARANTUNES 9 April 2020

Tonight's QUARANTUNES is here and we're happy to introduce you to Sam, one of our librarians from the Johnsonville and Tawa Libraries. He's joined by Neil, another one of our librarians from the Wellington City Libraries, who has prepared a backing drone synthesizer part to accompany Sam's guitar. We hope you enjoy this beautiful soundscape and we'll see you on Saturday with our next installment of QUARANTUNES. Stay home and be safe! #quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Wednesday, 8 April 2020

 

Hollywoodfun Downstairs’ debut album The Mancunian Swing from 2013 remains my personal favourite. The sound is highly distinctive, utilising dissonant noise guitar, deranged vocals and pummeling rhythms, with strangely infectious hooks to create a punk rock maelstrom. Whilst there is an overarching sense of venom across the record, there are also moments of quiet fragility as well as a strong pop sensibility, which helps to give it real dynamic weight.

Songs like “216” and “Fuzzy” have an almost classic ’60s Brit-rock vibe to them, whereas the one-two punch of “This Circus Believes” and “Crackhouse” close the album in a relentlessly intense fashion. Whilst it may sound somewhat tame compared to some of their later work, to me The Mancunian Swing truly shows Hollywoodfun Downstairs at their most creatively nuanced and interesting.


Jamie: performing his own music

QUARANTUNES 19 April 2020

Sunday QUARANTUNES are always a nice time to sit back and enjoy the ambient guitar stylings of Makerspace Specialist Jamie. We hope you had a nice week and that your evening is full of happiness. Be well, stay safe, and stay home! #quarantunes

Posted by Johnsonville Library on Wednesday, 15 April 2020

 

I have fond memories of this album, lying on the floor of our house in England when I was about 6 or 7, listening to it. It was the first time I had ever heard of New Zealand, now I live here!! The intro/jangly guitar part to “Weather With You” and the progression of “Four Seasons in One Day” are just two of the songs that made me pick up a guitar. It is up there in my top ten of all time!


Discover More:

Wellington Music at WCL: Want to keep up with the latest gigs and releases throughout Wellington? Then look no further than the Wellington Music at WCL Facebook page, run by our very own music specialist Mark!

Wellington Music Past and Present: This site is a tribute to the decades of music that have contributed to Wellington’s sound, as well as a browsable portal to our physical CD collection.

Music eResources: With almost half a million tracks between them, Naxos Music Library and Naxos Jazz Library will have your lockdown listening covered. Discover them via our Digital Library.

An Interview with Toni Huata

Kia ora ano and welcome to our third and final feature in our New Zealand Music Month series of interviews with local Māori musicians. This week’s feature is on Toni Huata, a local songstress and permformer of Ngati Kahungunu. Check it out!

2_Toni_Huata_at_PAO,_Wellington_

Would you like to introduce yourself?
My name is Toni Huata from Ngati Kahungunu , Rongowhakaata, Rongomaiwahine and Lebanon, Germany, Ireland and Scandinavia.

Where are you from? How long have you lived in Wellington for?
I was brought up in Hastings and have been based in Wellington now for around 20 years.

What’s your musical background? What instruments do you play?
I’m a vocalist and performer first then producer, director and voice tutor.  I play the guitar and piano but my voice is my instrument.

How did you learn? What made you want to learn?
Encouragement from family and friends to attend the Whitireia music course as a vocalist, which lead onto Touring Theatre Companies and eventually our own business. I also dabbled in percussion and the drums whilst at Whitireia but just for a tutu.

In what ways have you drawn on your Māori lineage for inspiration for your music?
Every way. My family is who I am and our stories in the past, present and future is what drives my compositions and music.

Are there any themes in your work? What are some of those?
Family, land, culture, love, health, empowerment, loss, children, being a parent, woman and mother, all sorts of things. I’m working on my fifth album Tomokia now so you can imagine we’ve covered a lot.

Where do you feel Māori music is at now?
I feel Māori music is always evolving and is particular to each individual artist in how they wish to express themselves. There are Māori language artists, kaupapa Māori artists and artists that produce music not necessarily with a Māori flavour or language, but are Māori.

What do you enjoy most about performing? Anything you don’t enjoy about it?
I love performing and expressing myself to all. With music I find it tends to be either intimate or big outdoor festival style which require different levels of energy but always with truth. In theatre it is different again, still the truth but in support of a central story. With music the story is in each song. Big theatre productions can make me nervous but I just say my karakia and ask for help to be on top of everything and trust that all will be well.

PAO_concert_Jen_Toni_and_Marisa

Who are some of your favourite musicians? Is there anyone you look to for musical inspiration?
I love many past and present artists for different reasons. Either their voice or their stage persona. Best to see them live in concert.

Who have you enjoyed working with?
I’m working currently with Paddy Free and it is another great working relationship. We also worked together on my single Tahuri Mai (releases on May 24 2013) and 4th album Hopukia (2012). I also love working with Gareth Farr (in RWC 2011, albums Hopukia and Whiti and stage production Maui – One Man Against the Gods), he is so talented and is a laugh in the studio. Past producers I have had many wonderful experiences with and always a good laugh. I love working with long time collaborators and friends Charles Royal and Tanemahuta Gray.

Will you be celebrating NZ music month?
Yes, we are currently in studio starting my fifth album Tomokia. My single ‘Tahuri Mai’ releaseD through DRM and Amplifier on May 24th and to iwi stations May 20th.

Favourite book?
Health, cultural, spritual and self-help books.

If you could listen to just one song forever, what would it be?
That’s a hard one, I love so many pop and Maori songs.

Are there any songs you’d like to cover?
I’m covering ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, a bi-lingual version, on this next album. The Māori lyrics are different to the original English lyrics but this has come by the request of many family members and friends.

Do you have any up-coming Wellington gigs we can get along to? Where can we find out more?
Check my websitefacebook and twitter.

In the near future I’m at the Wharewaka June 8th, then Kahungunu Matariki June 21st at Flaxmere Park in Hastings and in Wairarapa July 5th…

2_Toni_Huata_Solo_opening_for_World_of_Wearable_Arts,_NZ

You can check out some of Toni’s albums right here at the library!

Whiti.

Hopukia.

Te Maori e.

An Interview with Karl Teariki

Kia ora and welcome to the second interview in our series of interviews with local Māori musicians. Here we have an interview with local musician Karl Teariki, helping us to celebrate NZ music month by telling us all about his sweet sounds!

karl grfx

Would you like to introduce yourself?
I am from the tribe of Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Waka o Takitimu, growing up on my ancestral land known to our family as Maunga Kōhatu, but known these days as ‘Royshill’, Highway 50, 15 km south west of Hastings. My marae is Omahu and my hapū is Ngāti Hinemanu. On my father’s side, I also descend from Te Waka o Takitumu in Rarotonga, from the tribe Ngāti Raina with connections to Mauke, Tāhiti and Ra’iatea. Although I have lived in Wellington just over twenty years, I will always be from Heretaunga. The real one, not the one in Upper Hutt. I have worked on many kaupapa Māori albums starting with the iconic band Black Katz led by Ngātai Huata when I was 12 playing cello on the track Mahinaarangi.

What’s your musical background? What instruments do you play?
I first started on guitar when my Mum was getting classical guitar lessons from a well-known Hastings musician, the late James Baker, who was a session player from England, a lovely man and a great teacher. I used to sit in on her lessons after school when I was 6 years old, and I think I just soaked it up like a sponge as kids do. I started playing the pieces my Mum has learned by ear, and she taught me what she had learned. She says she stopped teaching me when I got better than her. A few years later I also learned classical cello from my teacher Alison Hansen, as well as continuing on guitar with Mr Baker, and later at high school with Dave Boston. When I was 15, guitar was definitely cooler, so I put the cello away and transferred what I had learned on the cello to electric guitar. Music has always been a creative outlet for me as has art and ‘The art of Tutu’, my number one passion. Tutu means basically to learn and explore through experimentation.

karl hill small

In what ways have you drawn on your Māori lineage for inspiration for your music?
I have always drawn on my heritage when it comes to composing, from my first release at the age of 17 with a grant from Puatatangi. It was called He Taonga, and combined what I had learned on classical guitar, and my mum and dad also performed on the title track He Taonga. My favourite track from that release was Whakakāhu, which means ‘to assume the form of a hawk’, and combined orchestral elements I composed and were performed on keyboard by my cousin Traci Tuimaseve. I am interested in using the thought processes and concepts handed down from the ancestors and translating those into modern genres for people to enjoy. That was the concept behind the release of PAO, which featured my sons Tangaroa and Te Manea. It was a 5 track EP made with funding from Te Mangai Paho. On that EP I created some Whakatauki, (Maori proverbs) that reflect how the ancestors formed thoughts from observing nature. For example, in the song Ko Te Reo (The Language),

Iti nei, iti nei,
ka hangaia e te manu
tōna kohanga.

Iti nei, iti nei,
ka tipu te pī,
ki te manu tīoriori.

Little by little,
the bird builds
their nest.

Little by little,
the fledgeling grows
into a beautiful songbird.

The thing with whakatauki is they can relate to many things, depending on how they are examined. This one could relate to learning or goal setting; a bird building its nest from little things. Learning is the same, each small thing learned is an achievement that build towards a bigger outcome. I guess themes in my work are to do with my heritage, and how that fits into the modern world. 

Where do you feel Māori music is at now?
I feel that Māori music is continually growing and evolving, depending on the generation that is carrying it. Each generation has its own preferences and tastes, like the word whakapapa which translates to genealogy. It literally means, ‘to become a layer’; each layer / generation has its responsibility to those before and after it.

What do you enjoy most about performing? Anything you don’t enjoy about it?
What I enjoy most about performing my music is to leave a thought or feeling with someone that they did not have previously. An idea can be shared with someone, without losing it.

Who are some of your favourite musicians? Is there anyone you look to for musical inspiration?
I have many favourites but for me it’s about how that piece of music can make me feel, regardless of the composer or genre. I appreciate music that is crafted, but then a three chord song can tell amazing stories. I prefer a music ‘smorgasbord’ over ‘a la carte’ if that makes sense.

What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working towards the second release from PAO, again featuring the vocals of my sons who will be 14 and 16 when we are finished. A couple of the songs are in English with the rest in Māori. They cover many themes from losing loved ones, returning home, heritage, heartbreak, tutu, and also covers a few favourite songs, including AEIOU written by Wī te Tau Huata in the 1950’s and sung by many a primary school student across the country.

boys-pao-flyer1

If you could listen to just one song forever, what would it be?
That would probably be a song called Nemesis, by a group named Shriekback released in 1985. I like its weirdness and strangeness.

Are there any songs you’d like to cover?
I’d love to cover the following songs from a Polynesian / Māori perspective: UK black – Soul II Soul, Exodus – Bob Marley, Sing our own song – UB40. There are also many beautiful Māori songs I would love to cover one day.

Do you have any up-coming Wellington gigs we can get along to? Where can we find out more?
Get a free download:
PAO on soundcloud.

Karl Teariki on soundcloud.