Do You Believe In PUNK (as in the ETHIC not a sound)

If so read on -

I can play rudimentary guitar; I can write songs okay. I want to be
part of the neatest PYSCHEDELLIC-POP-ROCK band ever. I love the CHILLS, the CLEAN, U2, the DOORS, the MUTTON BIRDS, the BEATLES. In my musical diet these constitute my carbos. I feast on lots of quirky treats from which I get those essential vitamins and minerals that make my ears hear, my eyes see, and my bones strong - stuff like Emma Paki, Sparklehorse, the Brunettes, Pavement, Arclife comps, AK79, John White, Chris Knox. I also devour delicacies that are necessary for the function of those vital organs buried deep within - essentials like Hirini Melbourne/ Richard Nunns projects, Strawpeople, Roger Eno. I refuse to eat processed foods - Stevie Ray Vaughan or Metallica for instance.

I Believe the musical vision I see at least one other sees too, I'm just waiting for them to bring dawn to the parts that are still in darkness.

There are components of other peoples musical worlds that are present in mine - melded perhaps, like when the clouds become rain. Some of these people are:

(DRUMMERS) Larry Mullen(U2) Martyn Bull(the Chills - drummed on Pink Frost and Flame Thrower) Hamish Kilgour(the Clean) Todd Knudson(the Chills 2003 - currently the best drummer in NZ???)

(GUITARISTS) David Kilgour(the Clean) The Edge(U2) David Long(the Mutton Birds) Kaye Woodward(the Bats) Robbie Krieger(the Doors)

(BASS PLAYERS) Adam Clayton(U2) Robert Scott(the Clean) Justin Harwood(the Chills, Luna)

(KEYBOARDISTS) Martin Phillipps(the Chills) Ray Manzerek(the Doors)
James Dickson(the Chills 2003)

(SONGWRITERS) Don McGlashan(the Mutton Birds) Jim Morrison(the Doors) Martin Phillipps, John White(Mestar), Chris Knox, Lennon-McCartney(the lyrical simplicity of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' belies the big idea don't you think?)

I want to take a punk approach, largely through necessity, though partly on principle. If punk is about expressing individuality, how can it be a sound. If it is a sound are all these individuals the same?

Punk is about who you are, what you feel, making do with what you have to facilitate your release. Reacting, perhaps, against the fact you don't flow in the usual grooves, instead spilling over and running your own course. Making limitation virtue producing something unique because of it, something that reflects your one-in-infinity self: a cryptic manifestation maybe, or a direct blueprint.

If I measure music against punk, the perfect size and shape - the surrender to conquest - is thus revealed: Martin Phillipps, Sketchbook Volume 1; a piece of punk purity; punk made malleable; punk defined.

I believe in pop the concept, not the umbrella term for the perfectly marketed product, the abstract business plan. Pop should be about communication, connection completeness; finding a common thread that weaves it's way through the soft inner fabric of life. Something felt by the lonely two as hope stepped out of the first dawn; or something felt by the worldly horde as the shadows grow longer in the last light. Something as ever present in every day as the sun: a cold, grey glow, or crystal clear clarity; or an emotion washed up on a desolate beach after a 50 year storm. Not a sentiment, however, that you think you should harbour based on who you need to be in order to stay afloat on the surface of life, the stagnant pond. Something you feel in a darkened room, in your darkest hour, in your most naked form. What you feel when the child within reaches out of a dream, takes your hand, leads you back to the ancient garden.

For me, a definitive pop moment is the winter segment of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons': the knowing ache, a knowledge that the ache must endured for cycle to perpetuate. Shedding old leaves to make way for new growth; the anxious wait for favourable conditions. I think 'Fish' by the Clean possesses a similar quality, but fleshed out in punk form.

If you are interested, contact me through ngati_the_serf@yahoo.com.

Thanks heaps,
Justin.