I was stationed in Christchurch back in 1987 and found the Playroom and an awesome band called Hammerack. Our command got to know them quite well and even hired out the Playroom and them for an awesome private show.
Does anyone know what happened to them?
Have any music from them, or know where I can find some?
What ever happened to the playroom?
Any help or information is greatful. I really miss the NZ music scene. I have not been there in over 15 years and really miss it.
Later all
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I used to tag along to the
I used to tag along to the Hammerack shows when I was 14 years old. My first live band experience was seeing them and Shihad at the Blenheim Rd (which is - I think - opposite a big Warehouse store right now). Me and a friend ended up there somehow, got turned away of course because we had acne and we were about 4 and half feet tall, then Murray suddenly sticks his head out a window and says "hey lads, jump in here". We got lost in the moshpit and stayed there for the entire gig so the cops wouldn't nab us! First gig - great gig. Heard "Straight From Hell", "Andromeda" and "Hard Rock Fever" there too.
I probably used to annoy the piss out of Jamie every Thursday and Friday when I offered to carry his gats into the Playroom weekly - he must've been a patient fella I tell ya. I would get up on stage and play second guitar to Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and Anthraxs' version of "Got The Time". All the time. And that's how I got the playing bug.
I remember lots of names and faces from that place, and it was just magic when you walked in there and saw the massive stage and huge lights, the smell of the smoke machine. All that stuff I'll remember for a loooong time.
I play in a CHCH metal band called HUMAN and we've been around for the better part of 16 years now. Me and our bassist Vaughn were regulars at every show and that's how we got started in bands that would eventually lead us to where we are now. Jamie recorded our bands third demo before Hammerack left for Auckland, in Hammeracks' rehearsal room. Best sounding tape we ever did IMO.
So Jamie, wherever you may be roaming matey, I hope you remember us because we talk about those days alot dude - from you sitting in your bedroom looking out the front window playing guitar ALL day, to me thrashing my Exodus tapes at you in the van, and those raging parties out at Ian and Stephs in Waikuku.
Rot n roll!
Scott
HUMAN
www.human-metal.com
www.myspace.com/humanmetal
Just to let you know: To the
Just to let you know: To the poster who said that Fat Sally's EP was not recorded at Nightshift. I have a copy right here in front of me & amzingly it says "Recorded at Nightshift Studios" ...strange that!
Hey Leon here, I caught up
Hey Leon here, I caught up with Rick Johnson the original drummer recently, he's now living in Blenhiem and he gave me a copy of the Hard Rock Fever CD! Man it's been ages and I am once again thrashing it in my car...I'll try to get some copies going as i'm sure there are many who would love a copy of this!
I think that post means Fat
I think that post means Fat Sally @ Nightshift not Hammerack.
just to confuse the issue even further?
That Hammerack/Shihad gig
That Hammerack/Shihad gig you went to (u lucky devil u)..was also filmed for "Radio with Pictures"(RIP)...i remember it well ahhh
I loved Jamies hand-carved Fender Strat. I think it was carved by Shaun Jordans dad, but someone else may have more accurate info on that bit of useless info....Had a snake carved across the top..
My earlier post may have been wrong in regards to Band names...Brandt and Anthony formed a band with Rick(drums) and I can't remember if it was called Pagan or Voltage(???)..i see someone mentioned Voltage MK2...anyone got a less addled brain..also pretty sure Tiny use to do guest Vocals from time to time.
hey scott long time no see
hey scott long time no see mate, jamie, mark, murry and kevin were definately awesome. jamie was in my opinion a flawless guitarest, rhys and i tried to pick out his mistakes in his metallica covers and we would be lucky to get one. i remember you being there and when you and vaughn started Human all those years ago. I remember the trick you used to pull with your eye! hahahahaha
the good old days.
partying at the house of funk
AKA the droid.
Hammerack were offshoot of Fat Sally. ...
Hammerack were offshoot of Fat Sally.
Whatever happened to the Blenheim Rd?
Kevin Emmet is still around, he does the covers thing in Chch, Monserrat and Machine Jam.
Im trying to think of where Fat Sally recorded their stuff, maybe Nightshift, Im in their next week, I'll sort and if I get anything sensible i'll post.
Go Chch Metal!
Not Nightshift, although Fat Sally did ...
Not Nightshift, although Fat Sally did one EP there mid '80s. Sorry...
Laugh I used to go to the playroom ...
Laugh
I used to go to the playroom when i was 15! saw hammerack and brainslide and shihad and headl like a hole there, was really good
sorry nothing to add to the post except that it was bloody good times - go Jamie on guitar
I was just searching for something on ...
I was just searching for something on this band...
The band I'm in played a friends birthday party at Creation and the soundguy came up to us afterwards and told us we sounded like a band called Hammerack. Bizare.
Anyway, where was this place on Blenhiem road?
cause theres a all ages place where bands play called zebedees out there just past the Medow Fresh factory.
I can just seem my band being mentioned in some obscure corner of an obscure forum in 20 years or so. Scary.
Wow! I never thought I would hear ...
Wow! I never thought I would hear Hammerack mentioned again. I was in Hammerack from '91-'93. We then relocated to Auckland and split into two bands. Furious Geoge and Subtract. Furious George lasted until about '95. Myself (bass) and Mark (drummer) are currently playing in Subtract. Check out our album Formula One. We weren't an offshoot of Fat Sally at all. We played with Fat Sally a lot. The playroom became "The Arena" where Hammerack continued to play until '93.
I was about 11 or 12 when I first came ...
I was about 11 or 12 when I first came to know of Jamie and Hammerack. I'm 32 now so do the math, but this was the original Hammerack from Nelson and they released a cassette called Hard Rock Fever. Shaun Jordon (later Brainslide) was the original singer and the band featured Rick Johnson on drums and Brandt Leitch on bass. A great recoding though probably not available now.
i was browsing the net and decided, ...
i was browsing the net and decided, just for a laugh, to do a search for my dad's old band... i typed in Hammerack, and look where it brought me!!! my name is Brydie Lauder, and my dad is Murray Lauder, Hammerack's bass player of many years. I was just recently watching vids of Hammerack concerts and giving dad a hard time about his hair!!! he doesnt play much now, except when he's teaching me!!!
Im now 38 and from nelson where ...
Im now 38 and from nelson where Hammerack originated. i was a good friend of brandt who played bass. Im pretty sure Hammerack was formed from the ashes of another band which only lasted briefly, called Ramshack..I vaguely remember an awesome gig at the stoke hall.Pretty sure Jamie and Shaun were the originals.Pure hard rock and hall full of bogans bikers hippies and punks..ahh the good ol' days.Anyway after that Brandt and Rick made up the original Hammerack.I use to go to all there practices which use to be in a building near the Bus depot.Anyone who was there could tell you they were gonna be awesome live. Jamie in my opinion ,is one of the best Guitarists' i have ever seen(worldwide)..and ive seen a few .they played regulary at the Tasman Tavern (RIP) some of the most blisteringly hard rock shows ever played.With Shauns' Morrison like baritone ,Jamies power and speed and Brandt and Ricks heavy groove they turned headbanging into an Olympic Event,which im sure i won gold several times.
A Hammerack gig in nelson and down the Coast was a sold out event.A couple of trips down to Pines tavern just North of westport are some of my fondest memories..and some of my vaguest..u know what i mean..Imagine watching a house bus pull up outside the pub and around 40 people piling out of it..classic. or 2am in the morning and Hammerack are in full flight and the cops raid the place...fantastic..
Hard Rock Fever is a classic rock album..and if anyone decides to release on CD then Im up for it.
I cant say i know much after jamie relocated to CHCH, although I saw Hammerack a few times not long after he got there at the Blenheim RD tavern..They were still Rockin hard then and were tight as despite the lineup changes..
Brandt and Rick after Hammerack formed Pagan with Anthony Su (not sure if i spelt that right) with I think Tiny and or Rick on vocals..although my memory fades alot around this era..Anthony ,a mate of Jamies,is an exceptional Gat man ,quite amazing for a small town to have such talent.And they played some amazing gigs as well. scout hall in richmond was a beauty..Brandt was sick of watching an older guy beat up some young fellas so mid song dropped his bass ,lept off the stage , round house kick to the head not once but twice .On the second kick managed to blast out thru the locked firedoors..I might add brandt was seriously high up in Seido karate...nice memories.
Well what are they up to now...well im not sure, pretty sure Rick is still in nelson playing drums..hell of a top bloke and an awesome drummer and singer.Shaun and Jamie I have know idea ,but would love to know.I caught up with Brandt briefly via email,in London e is..Brandt is in charge of security at a long running Heavy Metal pub in london..i forgot its name..hes been there for years. Also is coaching the English Karate squad and has apparently a couple of years ago had a go at Cage fighting..Pure madness..
Someone told me Anthony is in CHCH and is very fit..Tiny ??? last i saw him was in a Crowded House video I think,or was it Emma Paki..
Any news on any of them would be cool...
Cheers Adamrat
hay guys my name is rania and jamie ...
hay guys my name is rania and jamie from hammerack is my uncle and we were surfing thr wb and found this forum i will get him 2 contact u guys sum time xoxoxo long live hammerack
Hi...whats Jamie up
Hi...whats Jamie up to??
Could you ask him to maybe post something sometime...
You know like what music he's making...etc..
cheers..
Rock Hard
Jamie was definately the
Jamie was definately the whole reason i have played guitar for 15 years now. what a dedicated musician he was, practiced 2 hours every day i was just a teenager myself back then. i used to go to his house listen to them practice. i have never forgotten the quality of their music. i used to love being in the front of the stage shouting out * HAAAAMMMMEEEEERRAAACK*
Awesome
thanks jamie!
The memories of Hammerack have made me ...
The memories of Hammerack have made me all squidgy inside..
if you wish at another later date I can reminise about another fantastic Nelson band
the (infamous) "Boner"
Feel free to discuss..
cheers adamrat
Hi my name is Leon and I my sister ...
Hi my name is Leon and I my sister Rochelle (RIP) used to date Shawn Jordon from Hammerack. I remember being about 14 while learning bass when she bought home the album Hard Rock Fever and told me she was dating the singer! Man I played the hell out of this album admiring Ricks drumming, Jamie's blistering solos and Shawn's harp playing. At 17 I joined up with Rick and Smiley in Boothill (on bass) which played the Tasman, the Lost Breed's and mostly the Turf Hotel in Nelson. I then moved onto Voltage MK2 with Anthony Su and we played all over the place. The last I saw of Shawn was in ChCh about 6 years ago when we were trying him out for vocals in our ChCh grunge outfit Broken Circle. I would kill for an original copy of Hard Rock Fever, if anyone has a copy I will happily pay for a copy.