Favourite phrases he used – “That shits ridiculous”, I also love this word. Used to describe the awesome sound of the new MTD entry level basses (one of which is just $999 at Rockshop) which I agree was ridiculously huge and gritty and in your face. The MIDI bass also pumped out some ridiculous sounds.

Gorilla – used to describe pumping B string walking staccato lines – which arguably do sound like a gorilla, especially the way he played it.

Bubby has a really open mind and like’s all kinds of music. A memorable part was when he said he started out wanting to play drums, which got a good response from me and I leant over and gave a smile to Dylan Elise. When his sister told him to checkout Dave Weckls album Synergy, that’s when he got converted to bass during the intro of one of the songs was a great solo section. Anyhow…. some pics:

This show is a must see for 2012

Tickets available from http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/ and at the venue.
Presales $10.00
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2012/easter-dub-hop-dam-native-weightshakerz-super-villains/mangawhai

Mangawhai Tavern is easy to find.
Mangawhai is located midway between Auckland and the Bay of Islands.
Take the Twin Coast Discovery Highway,
just 80 minutes drive from the Auckland CBD (turn off SH1 just north of Te Hana)
or 50 minutes south of Whangarei (turn off SH1 at Waipu).

http://www.mangawhaitavern.co.nz/

www.damnative.com
http://weightshakerz.com/
www.facebook.com/SuperVillainsRMC

Dam Native have a bunch of gigs in the works, first of which is in Hamilton this Saturday – should be mean! True Talent Promotions are putting together a few gigs at late notice: Dam Native @ Khuja March 9, will send out another email with more info on that as it comes to hand. Chris Hathaway is putting together a Dam Native show up at Mangawhai Tavern Saturday April 7 (Easter weekend). Finally, my man Jinetero MC is putting togeher an Ol Mecha Supreme + Dam Native gig for early May! Boom! I got the whole town putting together Dam Native shows for us, I like it.

Ticket giveaways: Reply to win either of a single pass to the Outlook Launch party in Auckland (worth $60+bf!) or the Dam Native show in Hamilton (both are on same night!), just let me know which show you want and your in the draw. Suggest you would be pretty lucky to get to that Outlook show it will be amazing! Congrats to Brande M and Esther W who won those tix!

Saturday 3 March		Dam Native @ 3rd Bass, Flow Bar, HamiltonSoul StationAotea-RawFreecellAudiosmithInterceptSavant Emma Hand Projectile
Saturday 3 March		Outlook Launch Party @ StudioDIESELBOY (USA) / Human Imprint / SubHuman KRYPTIC MINDS (UK) / Osiris Music / Swamp 81 / Tectonic ULTERIOR MOTIVE (UK) / Subtitles / Critical / Metalheadz SPECTRASOUL (UK) / Shogun / Subtitles / Metalheadz ICICLE (UK) Shogun / Subtitles / Renegade HardwareStrictly limited $45+b/f then $60+b/f standard tickets available from www.iticket.co.nz and Real Groovy Recordss http://www.outlookfestival.com/
Friday 9 March		Dam Native @ Khuja more details TBC
Saturday 7 April		Dam Native @ Mangawhai Tavern
Key:		A band I play drums for A band I think are The Bomb Interesting Event/Multimedia

Videos o’ the moment:

This is hilarious.

Mega Party

Quick version: Dam Native band will be playing the support shows of Leigh Sawmill Friday 3rd February, and Kings Arms Sunday 5th.

Press release from the promoter:

THE RED EYES

NZ HOMECOMING TOUR

JAN / FEB 2012

NEW SINGLE >> Circles <<

The Red Eyes, Australia’s much loved Dub/Reggae monster group, celebrate their 10th birthday in 2012 with their first NZ Tour, kicking off at Revolver, Queenstown on Jan 26, before taking in venues in Dunedin, Wellington, Leigh, Hamilton and Auckland. They will also appear at the inaugural festival Winchfest on Jan 28 performing alongside Katchafire and Cornerstone Roots.

The Red Eyes ‘NZ Homecoming Tour’ heralds the prodigal return of NZ’s long lost sons El Witeri and Damien Charles. Born and bred in Auckland, the two musicians’ musical roots were developed touring around NZ throughout the 90’s before they re-met in OZ and honed their alternative Dub/Reggae style for an appreciative Australian audience. Over 10 years their fan base has grown exponentially, seeing them play major festivals throughout the pacific and Australia including the 2011 Australian Raggamuffin tour with Jimmy Cliff and Mary J Blige.

Established in 2002 The Red Eyes’ successful 2nd album ‘Red Army’ was a finalist for Best Blues and Roots Album at the Australian Independent Record Label Awards and lead singer El Witeri was a finalist for APRA songwriter of the year. 2007 release ‘Rudeworld’ and their two EP’s ‘Highplace’ and Prolific/My Kingdom’ have collectively sold over 12,000 copies worldwide.

Exploding onto the NZ turf with a string of club dates through Jan and Feb 2012, The Red Eyes are touring their new track Circles, the first single release from their anticipated third album.

Mixed at the Andy Baldwin Studio in Brooklyn, ‘Circles’ took The Red Eyes producer King Charlie to the US to make the most of the strong Aussie dollar and NY talent with the production of their new single.

The lyrics allude to the relentless touring and winding road that is a musician’s life, where artists are increasingly at the bottom of the recording industry food chain.

For independent bands like The Red Eyes, creating a path outside the mainstream label structure has become more of a reality, particularly with the explosion of social media driven opportunities to reach new audiences.

It may be ‘a winding road… full of hoops and loops and circles’, but The Red Eyes are proving that there will be no stopping them.

NZ Tour Dates

Thu 26 Jan: Mint, Wanaka

With guest DJ Damon (The Nomad) DJ Set

Fri 27 Jan: XIIB/12 Below, Dunedin

With guests Skull Dubbery and DJ Jungle Far I

Sat 28 Jan: Bodega Wellington

With guests Newtown Sound feat Israel Starr

Sun 29 Jan: Winchfest, Oakura, New Plymouth

Also feat. Katchafire and Cornerstone Roots

Fri 3 Feb: Sawmill Cafe, Leigh

With Dam Native and DJ Dubhead (TBC)

Sat 4 Feb: Flow Bar, Hamilton

With guest DJ Captain Nemo

Sun 5 Feb: Kings Arms, Auckland

With Dam Native and DJ Dubhead

Ticketing: www.eventfinder.co.nz

thered-eyes.com

www.facebook.com/themightyredeyes

www.soundcloud.com/the-red-eyes

A print quality PDF file version of the poster artwork is available for printing.

Stoneleigh wines have setup a temporary pop-up bar in Wynyard Quarter and are running an event called Stoneleigh Summer Series. EASY will play this Wednesday 7 December and again on Thursday 15 December (arguably a better gig since you also got Chloe Bartlett band before us and Sweetmix Kids doing a short DJ set after we play).

Location: Viaduct Events Centre, Wynyard Quarter, Corner of Halsey & Jellicoe Street, Auckland [map]

Two legends of Aotearoa Hip Hop play together again this weekend.

Summary: Use CDBaby if you’re up and coming, and try Tunecore or ReverbNation if you’ve already cracked it / doing very well out of your recorded music and plan to retire on it, cos you’re gonna need something to keep up those $34.95/year fees till you die and beyond with RN/Tunecore. With CD Baby theres no annual fees – over the life of an album, this is a big deal. Especially as your musical catalog grows. If you have 5 albums up for sale and have to pay a $35 annual fee per album per year, it will cost you $175 a year just to keep your music on iTunes. You would have to sell over 1,900 song downloads a year for the CD Baby 9% cut to equal that amount. Over in NZ we gotta convert that USD Fees into NZD.

Bandcamp: You also need a Bandcamp website and go via one of these distribution networks. They aren’t mutually exclusive. Not having one is not allowed , you’d be insane not to. In fact, I’ve already launched the Tomachi.TV Bandcamp site for my album.

[1] Source: http://tunecore.websitetoolbox.com/post/Distribution-Channels-5055989
[2] Source: http://www.reverbnation.com/main/overview_label?feature=digitaldistribution
[3] Source: http://members.cdbaby.com/cdbaby-vs-tunecore.aspx http://members.cdbaby.com/digitaldistributionpartners.aspx
[4] Source: http://www.theorchard.com/distribution
[5] Source: http://members.cdbaby.com/sell-on-itunes.aspx

EASY are due to play a fairly major sounding gig this Thursday: Rhyme Summit Aotearoa at The Studio on K Rd. A spoken word sorta gig read below…

Thursday 20 October		EASY @ Aotearoa Rhyme Summit Rhyme Summit Aotearoa is a brand new annual event on the NZ Spoken Word, Rap & Lyrical-Music map that will see some of the country’s finest hip-hop and reggae wordsmiths take the stage alongside our most well respected spoken word and poetry performers, with special international flavors including ‘Grime’ and ‘Latin’. Join us for one outstanding night of lyrical entertainment in the style of Def Jam poetry. The event will be covered by Maori Television and broadcast in New Zealand. ______________________________ 95bFM Presents: In association with Anahera Press An Obese Squirrel Event ______________________________ 6:30 – Doors Open 7:00 – HAKA POWHIRI 7:10 – MISAYA THE LIONESS 7:30 – SILVA MC 7:35 – SOLOMONIX 7:40 – JAH RED LION 7:45 – HOLLIE SMITH 8:00 – GRACE TAYLOR (South Auckland Poets Collective) 8:03 – BILL E-FLUID 8:06 – LEIANA ROBERTSON 8:09 – SELINA TUSITALA MARSH 8:12 – TYSON TYLER 8:15 – K-ONE 8:18 – EMMA HAND (Queenstown) 8:21 – GUS SIMONOVIC (Serbia) 8:24 – ROBERT SULLIVAN 8:27 – KIRI PIAHANA-WONG 8:30 – EASY (8 piece band) 8.55 – EASY w PHD 9:00 – PHD (NZ / USA) 9:06 – DAREN KAMALI (South Auckland Poets Collective) 9:10 – KAY POETA 9:13 – TAURIZZ 9:16 – PENNY ASHTON 9:19 – ERMEHN (King Of The Doors) 9:22 – RUIA APERAHAMA 9:25 – CRONIK RE 9:28 – PROJECTILE (England) 9:30 – SOUL STATION (5 Piece) 10:00 – WORDPERFECT 10:10 – JAI MACDONALD 10:13 – NOWROZE NAYAR (Bangladesh) 10:16 – ZANE SCARBOROUGH (South Auckland Poets Collective) 10:19 – CARRIE RUDZINSKI (USA) 10:22 – PAKKZ THE GENERAL & DLAR (Borough Kings) 10:25 – SIMONE KAHO 10:35 – GLENN COLQUHOUN (Kapiti Coast) 10:38 – KING KAPISI 10:48 – QUEEN SHIRL’E 10:51 – UPTOWN SWUITE (USA) 10:54 – JINETERO MC (Cuba) 10:57 – BIG SMYLE 11:00 – RESIN 11:03 – THE FEELSTYLE (Samoa) 11:06 – MICHELLE BOLTON (USA) 11:09 – J-KUPA / BADU KID (Kamo Collective) 11:11 – CHRISTIAN JENSEN (Norway) 11:14 – DUB TERMINATOR & MANA MC 11:40 – MATTHEW HARVEY (UK) 11:43 – BRIGHT SPARKS (Scotland) 11:46 – MICHAEL RUDD 11:49 – FLUENT 11:52 – FREDDIE BISH & PIATA 11:55 – RAZOR CHEST 11:58 – SPEARMAN / BOXX 12:01 – BELLA MAFIA 12:04 – DEMI KAHN (USA) 12:07 – BEN BROWN (Christchurch) 12:10 – STUNTMAN 12:13 – SOMETHING DIFFERENT 12:19 – MOMENTUM 12:16 – BELLA SHANTI / SHINE FORUM   Hosted by AMANDA ASHTON (Maori Television) ______________________________ TICKETS – TICKETS – TICKETS 1 Night ( www.1-night.co.nz/browse-campaigns/view/605 ) Real Groovy (438 Queen St), Beat Merchants (555 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn), Conch (115A Ponsonby Rd) 1-night iphone app ? $20 Presales (Limited) ? $29.90 First Release ? $40 Door (Subject to availability) _______________________________ *Original Artwork ‘Tawhirimatea’ by Rewi McLay *Graphic Design by Kameron Hollis & Darryl Jones Big Thanks to: Maori Television K Rd Business Association Bill Gray Photography (1 Snap Music) Rockstar New Zealand Central Promotions South Auckland Poets Collective 1 Out Street Battles
Key:		A band I play drums for A band I think are The Bomb Interesting Event/Multimedia

Videos o’ the moment:

Video for Dub Me Crazy by Bulletproof feat. Jessie G

The draw will be on Friday 21 October 2011, so you need be signed up before then:

Email address:

Australasian Premiere

2011 // 88 Min // Political, Documentary // DVCAM

Director/Screenwriter/Editor/Photography: Rodrigo Mac Niven

Music: Rafael Capuzzo

Producers: Rodrigo Mac Niven And Mariana Genescá

Production Company: Mixer, Miravista, Globo Filmes, Teleimage

“Smokescreen is an independent project, inspired by the wish to construct a more balanced society based on freedom, diversity and tolerance.” — Rodrigo Mac Niven

Obviously if you do not win the tickets, you should still strongly consider checking out some of the other films on offer: