Fat Freddy’s Drop will be feeding some lucky fans when band member Iain Gordon cooks his world famous Paua Wontons at the ONE DROP shows in early January.

Keyboardist and cook, Iain Gordon aka Dobie Blaze, will be accompanied by fellow Freddy’s, band members (including Hopepa on DJ duties) as he folds, cooks, and serves free Paua Wontons at Ascension Wine Estate, Matakana on 2nd January and Black Barn Vineyards, Havelock North on 7th January.

The Euro Asian Pacific fried fantasy party pleaser will be served to the first 100 people with ONE DROP tickets that make it through the gates to each of the cooking shows. It’ll be the place to be, just follow your nose to The Oak Grill Bistro at Ascension or the Grower’s Market at Black Barn.

The concept of serving Paua Wontons to the people before the shows follows a successful cooking demo that Gordon and Freddy’s presented on the Chef’s Unplugged stage at Harvest at Jimmy’s Festival in the UK earlier this year.

Since then the band have filmed and released a video, ‘FAT FREDDY’S DROP PRESENTS KISS DA COOK Episode 3: PAUA WONTONS with Chilli Quince Sauce’. The video follows the Paua Wontons recipe from the ocean to the plate and features the band’s party tune The Nod.

Following the Paua Wontons entrée, the live music on the menu for ONE DROP at Ascension Wine Estate features Fat Freddy’s Drop, TrinityRoots and Cornerstone Roots, while ONE DROP at Black Barn Vineyards, Havelock North features Fat Freddy’s Drop and The Nudge.

For more information on the ONE DROP shows click here.

Friday 9th December 2011 @ San Francisco Bath House, WELLINGTON

Doors 9PM, Tickets: eventfinder.co.nz & Rough Peel Music, Vivian St

JOURNEY TO WELLINGTON

Classic cool reggae band Cornerstone Roots play one show only at San Francisco Bath House, Wellington on 9th December to celebrate their new single Journey. “Journey is a reflective song about how we respond to life’s ups and downs, and the conviction with which we continue on that journey” bandleader Brian Ruawai said. The singer songwriter established Cornerstone Roots in 2001 with partner and bass player, Naomi-Jean Tuaopepe. The whanau band has grown with the addition of the couple’s 12-year old son Reiki on backing vocals. On Journey his chorus vocals add a youthful optimism reminiscent of Musical Youth’s Pass The Dutchie. The Raglan based band’s Journey is mixed by DJ MU from Fat Freddy’s Drop, and holds true to their foundation of conscious reggae.

Cornerstone Roots catalogue includes three critically acclaimed albums, and the band tour extensively around the country and abroad including a 22-date European tour in 2010. The current line up is five strong and also features Andre Peri on drums and

Reti Hedley on samples and guitar. Opening their San Francisco Bath House show is rising star Ria Hall, soul funk singer and kapa haka exponent who has released a self-titled debut EP produced by Riki Gooch. Plus a freestyle mash up of dub and dubstep from Tui SoundSystem led by frontman and producer Mr Samy’samson.

Cornerstone Roots Journey available online from 14th November. Download at amplifier, digirama, iTunes, Bandit NZ, Vodafone, Telecom, Marbecks Digital and FlyBuys Music.

CORNERSTONE ROOTS SUMMER TOUR DATES

Sat 3rd Dec – The Roots Festival, Auckland

Fri 9th December – SFBH w/ Ria Hall & Tui Sound System, Wellington

Mon 2nd January – One Drop w/ Fat Freddy’s Drop & TrinityRoots, Matakana

Sat 7th January – Reggae on the Rock, Kaeo

Sat 14th January – Kaikoura Roots Festival, Kaikoura

Sat 28th January – Raggamuffin, Rotorua

Sun 29th January – Winchfest, New Plymouth

www.cornerstoneroots.net

THE DROP AND BRENT ECCLES ENTERTAINMENT PROUDLY PRESENT…

Place your order now for the not-to-be-missed ONE DROP event reuniting the original marauders of Aotearoa roots music Fat Freddy’s Drop, TrinityRoots and Cornerstone Roots.

The heavyweight line up bring ONE DROP to Matakana’s Ascension Wine Estate on Monday 2nd January 2012, almost a decade after they all stepped it up at Raglan and Kaikoura festivals in the summer of 2003.

The recently re-formed TrinityRoots will feature new drummer/vocalist Jean Pompey bringing her dexterous chops to the hypnotic roots infused reggae dub jazz waka, while Cornerstone Roots represent the classic cool wave of conscious roots reggae.

The seven-headed Freddys soul monster is flying high with fresh material, spanning soul and reggae, to house and Afro-beat, road tested over the past year across Australia and on tours to UK and Europe in July and September. From selling out O2 Brixton Academy in London, Freddys off shore highlights include playing on Europe’s second biggest PA system at Fete de L’Huma Festival, Paris, playing to 3000 fans over two sold out nights at Melkweg, Amsterdam, selling out Vega, Copenhagen a month before the show, and selling out shows in five German cities. Freddys has co-headlined festivals with Prince, Grace Jones, The Roots, Joan Baez, Eryka Badu and The Kooks, and with the band fully established internationally enjoyed the luxury of travelling across Europe in two nightliner buses.

Fat Freddy’s Drop then head to Havelock North for ONE DROP at Black Barn Vineyards on Saturday 7th January. Helping bring the ONE DROP vibe to Black Barn will be special guests The Nudge with their concoction of highenergy swampy psychedelic blues.

ONE DROP is an All Ages event, and tickets are on sale from ticketmaster.co.nz, amplifier.co.nz and venues. Ticket/Bus packages available to both ONE DROP, Matakana and ONE DROP, Havelock North.

ONE DROP, MATAKANA

ASCENSION WINE ESTATE

Monday 2ND January 2012

FAT FREDDY’S DROP

TRINITYROOTS

CORNERSTONE ROOTS

Gates Open 5.00PM, ALL AGES

Tickets Available From

www.ticketmaster.co.nz

www.amplifier.co.nz

www.ascensionwine.co.nz

Tix/Bus packages Ticketmaster

ONE DROP, HAVELOCK NORTH

BLACK BARN VINEYARDS

Saturday 7th January 2012

FAT FREDDY’S DROP

THE NUDGE

Gates Open 6.00PM, ALL AGES

Tickets Available From

www.ticketmaster.co.nz

www.amplifier.co.nz

Tix/Bus packages

www.blackbarn.com

For more information visit  www.fatfreddysdrop.com

Hikoikoi are pleased to announce that they will be performing at One Love in London (UK) on Sat 20 August 2011.

Famed as the Uk ’s Number One Reggae and Dub festival, One Love is a 3 day festival at Hainault Forest on the outskirts of east London . The festival was established in 2008 to commemorate Bob Marley’s 1978 legendary concert of the same name. Running for  four years One Love is a festival with artists from all over the work performing including The Mad Professor and Daddy Freddy, and Hikoikoi is thrilled to be joining them.

Hikoikoi’s slot at One Love is part of an intense month long European Tour which will see them perform at a number of festivals and clubs throughout Europe.

They are also booked to share their music and conscious messages at Xnoizz Flevo Festival in Bussloo, near Apeldoorn , in The Netherlands.  Running since 1991 Flevo is considered one of Europe biggest youth festivals. This year the theme is “Are You in Tune?” with the vision and mission of the festival being to help young people form, develop and strengthen their character and become relevant for their society… so Hikoikoi is stoked to be involved.

The European tour also sees the introduction of Mike Duffy as bass player in Hikoikoi. Mike Duffy; a recent graduate from Wellington’s Prestigious Jazz School is a seasoned musician with a well respected full and funky bass sound, evident in his performances with Newtown Rock Steady and Zirigidum.

Lead Singer Paul Wickham is excited about the fresh new line up and the European Tour saying: “This is an exciting time for Hikoikoi, with a new team member and a new European Tour. We are so thrilled to welcome Mike to Hikoikoi and are busy working on the new album, as well as getting ready to make our mark in Europe . The time is right for us to share the Hikoikoi music and positive messages with other cultures around the world…bring it on!”

www.myspace.com/hikokoi
www.facebook.com/pages/Hikoikoi

Fancy yourself as the next Sebastian Vettel? Keen to thrill the crowd with your creativity and flamboyance? Think you can produce the best thing on four wheels since the Flint mobile? Then you could be on your way to Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix glory!

The Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix returns to New Zealand for the third time on April 10^th 2011 and will transform the Auckland domain into a winding race track that will test man and machine.

The Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix is looking for a new national champion who will bring to race day a healthy dose of courage, a creative trolley and have gravity as their new BFF.

Only the best 100 trolleys will make the grid but everyone is eligible to enter by heading to www.redbull.co.nz. Those keen will need to show their commitment, creativity and some imaginative flair, to get entries in by 31^st of January 2011.

Teams and their trolleys will be judged on three evenly weighted criteria; creativity (originality, innovation and design); performance (showmanship of the team before and during the race – including introduction skits, spins, crashes and costumes) and finish time (race time).

326 is very proud to unveil ‘the drum light’ where music meets function. 326 is a local design collective a.k.a the playtime brand of award winning Design Business Studio Alexander. Utilising the classic lines of drum stand and snare this light looks great in any location and is fully height adjustable. One tap of the drum activates a set of LED lights within the snare and one further tap turns them off. The sound activation is designed not to be triggered by any ambient noise. Check out the images and video. Enquiries via the shop or leave a comment, we’d love to know what you think.

Tiki & Charlie – Design By Jono Hislop

Inspired by his baby son, Tiki Taane has written a beautiful and melodic song as a gift for all New Zealand children.
 
Starship Lullaby is the first single from the upcoming album ‘In The World Of Light’, (due for release in March 2011).  All proceeds from every download of Starship Lullaby will be donated to Starship Children’s Hospital.
 
In Tiki’s own words:
 
“I wrote this song for my son, Charlie Te Marama – I’m always singing and playing the guitar and it totally calms him down. One day when he was 3 months old, I was jamming some random chords and noticed he got really excited, every time I played them he went nuts. So off to the studio I went to piece the song together, and after a few days I had fleshed out the beginnings of the Starship Lullaby.

I hope this song reaches the heart and soul of all who hear it, and that  through just one simple download know that you are helping save lives.”

“We were so humbled by Tiki’s generosity,” says Starship Foundation CEO Andrew Young. “To gift his beautiful song to Starship means so much. But on top of that, donating all the proceeds from every download of Starship Lullaby will help our charity support so many young New Zealand children in real need.  We can’t thank Tiki enough.”
 
Starship Lullaby will be available for download on October 4th from Amplifier.co.nz, itunes, Telecom, Vodafone, Digirama.co.nz, MarbecksDigital .co.nz and Tiki’s own website, Tikidub.com.

Direct from Brazil Marku Ribas Quintet are bringing their unique style to New Zealand. Marku Ribas is a master of styles such as samba-rock and samba-jazz and he is releasing his new album in New Zealand.

Marku Ribas Quintet is the headline act opening of the Live Brazil Festival, an annual celebration of vibrant Brazilian culture in New Zealand.  

Joining Marku Ribas in the special opening evening at Te Papa there will be a concert by brilliant saxophonist and composer Lucien Johnson. The young Kiwi musician has just been to Brazil for a month in a residency and will show his impressions of Brazilian Music, especially choro, together with his quartet The Troubles.

In the same night there will also be presentations by Funky Junk – a Wellington band playing instruments made of recycled material – and ZambaBem Dance Company.

The whole program of Live Brazil is free entry.

Spread over four days, at the new venue Estadio (17 – 19 Blair St),  Live Brazil offers a taste of everything Brazilian – cultural exchange, musical jams, short films and photography, traditional food, Capoeira, music and dance workshops, and a market day.

The program is sure to get everyone in a Brazilian party mood. It will include a samba-rock ball with Marku Ribas Quintet, DJ Bobby Brazuka from Auckland, New Zealand’s virtuoso pianist Jonathan Crayford giving his take on Brazilian music and commanding a jam session, several Brazilian inspired Wellington bands such as Zirigidum, short film exhibitions and delicious Brazilian food.

LIVE BRAZIL FESTIVAL 10

 October 21^st 2010        Marku Ribas at Nelson Arts Festival

October 23^rd 2010        Marku Ribas  at Queenstown Jazz Festival

October 24^th 2010        Marku Ribas at Ponsomby Social Club

“Go Hard or Go Home”

Jester Underground is one of New Zealand’s notorious underground Music and Event Management Companies created and managed by Auckland’s Tory Staples. With no business training and all the love for the industry Tory launched his full-time business three years ago after dabbling in live music events after leaving school.

Through no lack of hard work Tory has successfully landed three business partnerships creating solid progress for both his artists, and the company.

“We have media support through Juice TV for both Events and Artists, Jagermiester takes the pressure off with unique sponsorships to everything we pursue, and Miscreant Studios has been looking after our Artists recordings needs supplying top quality recordings, mixes and masters! Things couldn’t be easier at the moment thanks to these guys!”

Jester Underground works with a number of talented artists and will continue to support and grow New Zealand’s underground music. With big plans for the future and all new albums released this year Jester Underground will be well worth keeping an eye out for!

What is your business slogan or motto if any?

Not so much a slogan or motto but a saying a really good friend of mine said to me back in High
School, “Go Hard or Go Home”. So that’s what we do, we go hard! I wouldn’t want it any other way! No point chasing something you only half want or believe in.

What made you decide to launch your own business and what was involved in the set up?

To be honest I always knew being my own boss was what I wanted and needed to be successful in a personal way! The Music Industry is forever changing as we’ve heard over and over again! So the set-up was based heavily around contacts I had made previous to officially launching ‘Jester Underground’. I acquired help from my Mum in the administration department and set my own task of chasing EVERY opportunity that was presented directly to me or that I heard about in passing.

In your opinion what is the key to making it in the New Zealand music industry?

The New Zealand music industry is so small so the first thing any aspiring musician, promoter or manager should learn is respect. I’ve been doing this for over 3years which is NOTHING in comparison to the big guns who have been around well into the 20years plus range. I may know a thing or two here and there but being able to sit down and respect the advice of others is paramount to taking those steps forward.

How do you source new bands to work with and what do you look out for when choosing new artists?

These days I get introduced to a lot of new music which is awesome! I get a real kick out of hearing what’s new and what’s coming up etc! When choosing artists for events, tours etc we aim for tight, well oiled machines. Artists who can work the crowds get them going while playing their instruments at full force! From a promoters point of view you have to be picky to ensure a solid line-up on the various Bills and make sure every audience members leaves that venue knowing their money was well spent. When
making my selections, I listen to the potential artist’s demos, EPs or Album and then attend one of their events. I like to get the full experience of both recorded works and live performance before I make my decisions.

How many bands or musicians do you like to work with at any one time?

The most I have ever worked with in the Management side of Jester Underground was 14. Let me tell you, that was hard work. I had only officially signed 3 of them at the time the other artists were friends of mine or bands I really enjoyed and I offered to help get them started. I think 5 bands is a healthy number for me. Each band is different and offers their own challenges to me.

What is one of the largest projects you have worked on to date?

National Tours for any artist is big undertaking. Not only are booking venues which generally takes more than one phone call or meeting to do! You are organizing local supports, Promotions, Interviews for the headlining artists, Transport options, backline, PA Systems, Lighting Rigs, Accommodations, Food, and ensuring everyone is happy! This is all before you have even left for the first show! Aside from that the largest single project to date would have been the Jester Underground Music Month events. We worked alongside Bluevibe Studios sussing events, showcasing different genres each week of the month, it doesn’t sound like much but it pretty much became a month long festival. Next year will be bigger! Possibly even National with a Roadshow style tour, who knows!

Who are your major influencers and how do they influence your work?

To be honest I have never really been able to answer this question. I don’t really have any direct influences or people that inspired me to do what I do in the Music World. My Dad however owns his own Air Conditioning company, he’s been running it for well over 20years and is successful in his field. That’s my influence or aspiration is to own my own company for 20years plus and be successful in my own fields.

Who is your favourite New Zealand band and why?

Aside from the 5 I manage I would have to say Bang Bang Eche – Those dudes are the coolest cats you will ever come across. A lot of fun to hang out with and their music is infectious. You should check them out. I think they’re in Europe at the moment, But differently get your hands on one of their EPs.

What is the most difficult part of your job?

Being young! I often get overlooked. Just makes me work a little harder every time to prove myself. Kind of lame but it’s true.

And the perks?

Being involved in such a diverse and cool industry! Not one day is the same, heaps of interesting challenges to take and seeing my Artists developing! Of course there is also the free concerts, loads of nights out hanging with friends, hearing new music and the travel. This job has seen me travel around the world several times, the perks are endless.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

A professional Race Car Driver!

What sound or noise do you hate?

When brakes on a car have a stone stuck in them or they need to be replace and they squeal!!! That noise is the worst noise ever!

What do you do during your time off?

Time off? What is that??? haha… No I drum, I spend time in the studio working on my own musical gift.

If I gave you $100,000 right now what would you do with it?

I’d start off with a High Schools tour, taking NZ bands, production crews and engineers into these schools showing students that you can have a successful career in music! Just got to be smart about it and work at it. Along with the Schools Tour set-up a space where musicians can practice, hang out, eat junk food, trade stories and just be part of a community. I feel that’s missing at the moment. And lastly I’d buy a bigger touring van! I love Touring!!

What are Jester Undergrounds plans for the future?

We have a lot in the pipes! We have a couple of big tours being planned which will see us dip into the international touring department which is ultimately where we are heading. Expansion is on the cards, we’ll be looking to take on a couple of managers and event promoters to further expand our reach with in New Zealand. More Tours, More Events, and More music in New Zealand and the World. Wish I could elaborate more on this but truthfully our future plans are to grow!

In your opinion who should we keep an eye out for in the future of New Zealand music and more importantly where can we learn more about them?!

Well besides our 5 artists! all of whom have brand new recordings coming real soon!!!

Janine Foster is showing true promise check her out here: http://www.myspace.com/janinefoster
Battle Circus are incredible: http://www.battlecircus.com
New Way Home http://www.myspace.com/newwayhome (they have a new album on the way)
Mad Pattern http://www.myspace.com/madpattern

Jester Underground currently work with:

Decortica: www.decortica.com
Jimmy and the Goodbrew: www.myspace.com/jimmyandthegoodbrew
Christopher Reed: www.myspace.com/chrisreedband
Turning Tricks: www.myspace.com/weareturningtricks
Tim Walker: www.myspace.com/timjwalkermusic

www.jesterunderground.com

Photo: Tory Staples

The Black Seeds announce Free Download in support of upcoming U.S/European tour!

In support of their recently announced North American/European summer festival tour, The Black Seeds have announced a special Free Download Offer where fans can now get a 5-track sampler from their website for a limited time.

The sampler includes the latest single ‘Love Is A Radiation’ from the platinum-selling ‘Solid Ground’ album, a live track, plus some new unreleased b.sides & remixes from their forthcoming remix release.

The Black Seeds will perform 28-shows across North America and Europe in July/August, including performances at major festivals such as New York’s Camp Bisco (Method man, LCD Soundsystem), the UK’s ‘The Big Chill’ Festival (Thom Yorke, Lilly Allen), and many more.

Their latest album ‘Solid Ground’ has been receiving critical acclaim in North America including being named ‘Best Soul Album 2009’ by JamBase’s Dennis Cook. In late August the band will release The Black Seeds Specials - a collection of remix’s, b.sides and alternate versions of songs from ‘Solid Ground’, and featuring artists from both NZ and around the world.

Fans will also given the chance in the near future to remix a Black Seeds song, with the winning remix to be included on the release.

Download the free sampler now for a limited time from:

www.theblackseeds.com