‘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.
Today’s guest is Dave Edwards (AKA Dave Black) who is part of electronica duo The Electricka Zoo and has other various solo audio visual projects under the fiffdimension label, and also plays in the gamelan orchestras Gamelan Padhang Moncar (Javanese style) and Gamelan Taniwha Jaya (Balinese).
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
The Electricka Zoo is a duo of live electronica by The Digitator and guitar & bass by Dave Black. We met in high school in New Plymouth many moons ago, played in various other bands/projects/countries, and met up again more recently in Wellington and started playing together regularly. Each of our songs is our take on a different genre, and the combination of electronic and organic layering lets us sound like a full band. We’re a bit experimental but also danceable, energetic and fun.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
We released our first (self-titled) album in 2017 – music.net.nz called it ”a totally original, mind-warping album”. So far in 2018 our main project is our upcoming shows in the NZ Fringe Festival.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Website or Facebook, or get our album at Bandcamp.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
Shapeshifter – Soulstice (Kiwi electronica)
Beck – Mellow Gold (DIY genre bending)
Sticky Filth – Weep Woman Weep (a key Taranaki band).
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
We look forward to playing alongside Muscle Man, The Shaman, and Vince Cabrera (at Pyramid Club on the 9th of March); and Grumblewood, mr sterile Assembly, and Battle for Endor (at Plimmer Steps on the 16th of March).
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
We’ve been regulars at the Fringe Bar and Pyramid Club (among others), and look forward to trying out a larger space at Plimmer Steps.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Usually one of us will start with an idea and the other adds to it. We have enough structure for each piece to have a definite flavour and enough freedom to improvise on it and be different each time. We might start with a musical idea we want to explore – eg drum & bass EDM on Down to the Ground, the self-explanatory Mutant Reggae, the major 7th bossa nova feel on Island (inspired by the coincidence that both of us had early NZ settler ancestry from different islands off the coast of Portugal), the bluesy swing of Inverno, or the hijaz scale and 7/8 Balkan time signature of ‘Eastern’… even though we have quite eclectic influences they all fit into our own musical universe.
Where/when is your next gig?
Friday 9th of March at Pyramid Club.
Saturday 10th of March at EscVelocity in Featherston.
Friday 16th of March at Plimmer Steps.