‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.
A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.
Up next is Kurt, singer/guitarist for new band Pass the Peas.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
We are Pass the Peas, Wellingtons first gender diverse boy band. Down in the swamp I wrestled with the apathy, this resulted in ballads and blues with a cynical lyrical content. It’s a five piece (Tiho on drums, Jamie on Bass, Alice on lead guitar, Ben on keyboards and Kurt on vocals).
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
We just released our first EP ‘Greek Heat’, this is largely based around an arm wrestle my older brother had with a massive Greek barman (he lost). We also have several tracks that we are working on currently that explore the inner most workings of the human mind, such as; ‘Selling feet’ which deals with the inner most workings of selling smut on the internet.
Where is the best place people can follow you and find your music?
I’m not too sure about that as I don’t really do social media. But we do have social media, so people can just follow us there. We’re on Spotify and Bandcamp, probably other services including but not limited to the aforementioned.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
I can’t speak for everyone, but ‘Raw Power’ by Iggy and the Stooges lit me up from opening tip. I was drawn to this record in my Dads collection by the album art, I was trying to understand the androgyny as a 12 year old boy from a small town. It was only a few seconds before the blistering solo at the start of the opening track (Search and Destroy) absolutely blew me away and I grew my hair. Pretty much the same thing happened to me with Black Sabbath’s ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’, some psycho looking album art drew me in and I never left. ‘Never mind the bollocks’ by the Sex Pistols hit at the right time for me too (mid-angst/puberty).
What other Wellington musicians would you most like to work?
Dartz and Ingrid and the Ministers.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
I honestly like playing in my garage. I can do this nude and I don’t need to arrange any transport.
In your songwritting or composing (or the bands songwritting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
In our time together we half learned ‘Do you think I’m sexy’ by Rod Stewart, but when Alice joined the band she vetoed that right off the bat. So we currently have no songs other than our originals, which come from all sorts of different stages in our lives. I’ve brought songs to the table that have all vocal parts and chords determined from back in my University days (6 plus years ago), yet when everyone comes together and does their thing it becomes the first time the songs sounds how I imagined it. We’re quite lucky how easy it is for us to play together. Alice has only recently joined the band, but all the material she has contributed fits so well that it feels like it was always there. Jamie has a very Miami Heat Chris Bosh way about how he plays, extremely steady (like a locomotive) yet capable of carrying the offense for extended stretches (good touch for a guy his size also). Tiho is a lawyer/drummer. He has a very mathematical way about him, wears a suit to practise and goes by the ‘Bosnian Document’ in certain circles. I know very little about Tiho, he’s an excellent drummer with plug and play ability (comparable to Lou Williams). Ben is the Brian Scalabrine of keyboards, extremely skilled and very intelligent but severely lacking in athleticism. I give Ben about 10 years before he suffers a heart attack. I’m Kurt, I play guitar and sing (you could liken me to Vince Carter if you look for similarities).
Where/when’s your next gig?
This Friday at Caroline with Dartz and Ingrid and the Ministers.