Neil: “The whole thing started with Split Enz. In 1972 I watched it unfold in real life as a glassy eyed teenage brother, became immersed in it and then at the age of 19, that was 1977, I got to be part of that mighty and mental New Zealand invention. We took it to every corner of the globe, stumbling from one opportunity to another. I wrote some songs along the way, I Got You, Message To My Girl , One Step Ahead, History Never Repeats , they helped to give the band a bigger audience but that early music will always stand tall for me, original and uncompromising, my inspiration…check out Mental Notes! Respect to brother Tim, Eddie , Noel , Phil and the others for blazing the trail. After all, they started it. I was invited in. It was intense and truly excellent.
Paul Hester (drums) and I (singer / guitar) went onwards from Split Enz to Crowded House, we wanted to be in a 3 piece band that could fit into one rental car. We found our bass player Nick Seymour, fresh from the catwalk, clearly loving the attention. We liked how he wore his bass low, had aspirations to funk and after a while we let him paint our suits with Masonic symbols. Despite all that and along the way we became a really good band. I think we tried to make ourselves even smaller by turning to acoustic, bass, snare drum, 3 part harmonising our way through lounge rooms and restaurants, busking, unplugged, whatever they ended up calling it on MTV. It made us very interested in our audience and we learnt how to draw them in, to sing together like it’s a party. That’s became our way of doing things, wishing for accidents, showing artifice and awkwardness the door.
Four albums later, praise be, we had a lot of songs that a lot of people liked to sing along to, like Don’t Dream Its Over, Fall At Your Feet, Better be home soon, Something So Strong , Weather with You, 4 Seasons In One Day….. We were grateful to all of them, and to the special people that helped us bring the songs forward, producers Mitchell Froom and Youth, mixer Bob Clearmountain. It was a blessing beyond belief but it also messed with our minds as only success can do.
When we lost Paul it was like someone pulled the rug out from underneath everything, a terrible jolt out of the dark blue. He was the best drummer I had ever played with and for many years, my closest friend. I thought our history was good, how could it have ended up in this place? Later that year I started making music with Nick again, and it felt right somehow that we put another chapter in the book, the motive was simply to exist again and put our belief into it, reconnect with the kindred spirit.
Enter Matt Sherrod on drums, knowing nothing of Crowded House and in no ones shadow, he gave Crowded House a new anchor, proving a good foot and a big smile goes a long way. Welcome back Mark Hart, the keeper of knowledge with his giggling fits and his daily devotion to the piano. Time On Earth was released in 2007 and the tour that followed turned us into a great band again, much more than nostalgia, it gave us the scent of something new.
And so the 4 of us Nick Seymour ( bass ), Mark Hart ( keys / guitar ), Matt Sherrod (drums) and myself Neil ( singer, player ) began our new record last year at Roundhead studios in Auckland with Mr Jim Scott as our producer ally. Some of these 11 songs were first played at a little gig north of Auckland The Leigh Sawmill back in Feb 2008. They have been worked over on the road and transformed a few times, some all the way back to square one, it’s a good place to return, from time to time.
This 11 track album is exotic in parts, traditional in origin, through many a twist and turn we fashioned some drama and intrigue. You will find some threads that go back through all that history and some new discoveries as well that will need to be followed up. Its part of the continuum and it may just be the best thing we’ve done ……till the next one.
