Locals Only

Joining me today is an artist who after a "coupley" cutbacks on the thruster rode a set to the sumner shore. Then with a wettie on and shuka in hand they barrel rolled their way around the crushing coastline of Aotearoa. Cruising through with iconic uni rock tunes, the sounds of which can be heard on their studio albums, The Halfway House, Frederick’s Friends and Back to Basics. This week on Locals Only it’s, George from The Butlers!!

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In many ways Knucklebones is a follow-up to Vicarious, the Strawpeople award winner from 1996 (Album of the Year) with Paul Casserly and Fiona McDonald back together as the core of the project.

Knucklebones is a collection of all new material. It was recorded at Bigpop Studios in Auckland and features some stellar guests and contributors.

The most recent Strawpeople album, Count Backwards from Ten, came out in 2004. That’s 19 years, or, “the thick end of two decades,” as Casserly puts it.

In the meantime, McDonald has raised a family, been involved in various TV shows, including a stint as a judge on NZ Idol. Casserly has worked in radio and as a TV director and writer.

So why now? “It was always on the list of things I wanted to do again, I was always about to start but time really does fly doesn’t it” explains Casserly, “I’d been collecting ideas, making notes and then one day, I actually sat down and started the thing.”

Puerto Rico, or more specifically Vieques is also to blame.

“It was at a joint 50th birthday celebration,” explains Fiona, “A whole group of our mutual friends had gathered to gasp in horror at the passing of half a century. At dinner one night Paul came over and suggested we make some more music together. I told him I was thinking just that. It took us a few years to get our shit together and start writing.”

For both, writing music again was an interesting process, for Fiona “it wasn’t quite like riding a bike, we fell off heaps of times before we could take in the scenery.”

While the guts of the thing is the work of McDonald and Casserly, there’s a cast of heavy hitters behind this production as well.

People like Matthias Jordan from Pluto, Nick Atkinson of Supergroove fame (saxophone), and drumming legend Chris O’Connor, along with the always in-demand bassist Mark Hughes, who just happens to be Fiona’s brother in law. There’s even a cameo appearance from Luke Hurley (guitar), a legendary Auckland busker. Casserly recruited him one Sunday morning at a market.

“I heard someone playing one day at the Takapuna market, it was in the distance and it sounded amazing, spooky, so different to the usual buskers you hear. When I got closer I saw it was Luke Hurley and I remembered him from 95bFM days, so I waited till he’d finished and asked if he would come in and do a session. He’s an amazing musician and a lovely man.”

Partners in previous crimes; Chris van de Geer (guitar) and bassist Joost Langeveld are also back, both playing and acting as producers and label owners at Bigpop.

Chris and Joost have long been part of the Strawpeople story. Going all the way back to a high school band that included Greg Johnson, with Paul on drums and Joost on bass.

“It’s so cool to have these guys not only as label owners but as players and producers” says Casserly,  “these guys live and breathe music. They’re kinda the godfathers.”

Fiona and Joost were also in Auckland band N.R.A (Not Really Anything), which led to her being poached by Headless Chickens. Another connection; Angus McNaughton was the engineer when McDonald recorded her first song with the Chickens, the smash hit Cruise Control. Not only did Angus master Knucklebones, he provided the photograph of the dahlia on the album cover.

The addition of keyboardist Matthias Jordan as a co-writer proved crucial, says Casserly, “when he started working with us, it all came together. He’s ridiculously talented.” And then there’s Luke Berryman aka DJ Orphan and engineer Jacob Rush, both part of the Bigpop production family and both making a huge impact in the studio. The song Paper Cuts was seriously re-worked by Berryman, “almost a remix, I would say. He really pulled it apart and made something epic,” recalls McDonald.

Remarkably, Pope John Paul II and Idi Amin also feature. The track Love Diktat brings the Polish Pontiff and infamous dictator together in an unlikely duet with ‘Love’ as a theme.

“One of my first experiments in sound involved a cassette tape my parents had of John Paul’s tour of Ireland. I had that in one channel while Public Image Limited raged in the other. This is a more whimsical affair, just a riff on love really and whatever you think about them, I reckon their voices have a strange lyrical magic.”

Found sounds also feature, a gas heater can be heard along with Nic Atkinson’s moody sax-scape on the track Forgot to Forget. Sampled beats make way for the majesty of real drums on Second Heart thanks to drum master Chris O’Connor. But the heart of the album is that familiar combo of sampled beats, bass, guitar, keys and more than anything, the voice of Fiona McDonald.

“Those vocal cords are incredible” says Casserly,”I mean I’m really proud of the music we’ve made but that voice and what she does with it never fails to amaze me.”

McDonald says she’s proud of the album. “I called Paul when we got the master back, and said, good job us.” For her, working with Casserly again was “a rare treat. Paul has always been my favourite writing partner.  We usually agree on things and for some reason our outsized egos don’t seem to overlap.”

It was her idea to cover Baby It’s You, continuing a Strawpeople tradition of covers which began when Trevor Reekie (Pagan records legend) suggested the Swingers’ One Good Reason (sung by one of his other artists, Merenia) back in 1990. The covers continued with Stephanie Tauevihi’s versions of songs by John Hiatt (Faith) and The Church (Under The Milky Way) and in 2000, Bic Runga with The Cars’ “Drive”.

Baby It’s You has always been a favourite of Fiona’s, “I’d always thought it’d make a great cover, slowed down and moody as fuck.”

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Joining me today is an artist who carved out their sound among the Kinks and Kebabs of Karahape Road. And it was on that very rainbow road that this duo's emotional lollipop sound became the cherry on top of Aotearoa’s Pop. All of which can be heard on their highly anticipated DEBUT album Crowd Pleaser. Welcome back to the Locals Only Lounge, Ash and Gabe AKA FOLEY!

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Joining me today is an artist who carved their craft on the steep streets of sunny dunedin. Then after countless crate beers and trips to the night n day dairy they got a plane to put their southern skin to the test in the humid moon light of Indonesia. And it was in this glow stick bintang paradise that they washed ashore with their new sound which can be heard on their highly anticipated third studio album Cigarettes in space. Welcome to the Locals Only Lounge, Jake and Dylan from Summer Thieves!

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Welcome to Locals Only, the New Zealand music podcast where we talk Aotearoa’s finest musicians about the soundtracks of their lives. Joining me today is an artist whose blisteringly energetic sounds have backhanded their way off the North Harbour Sports & Country Club tennis courts all the way to the waipara bush where a ten day meditation saw the rise of their name and their sound which can be heard on their stunning debut self titled album, Ringlets. This week on Locals Only, it's Leith and Arabella from Ringlets! 

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Welcome to Locals Only the New Zealand music podcast where we talk Aotearoa’s finest musicians about the soundtracks of their lives. Joining me today is an artist who was raised by the elves of the North Pole in a cosy home filled with the smells of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. His time in the winter wonderland has filled him with a mirth worth sharing with the world not only on Christmas day but in the middle of the New Zealand winter. He does so through the art of Jingle Bell Ballads such as The Christmas Elf Who Pissed Himself. And you can see this PIssmas spectacular live this week from the Basement Theatre. A Very Jed Parsons Xmas. This week in the Locals Only Lounge, it's Jed Parsons!! 

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Welcome to Locals Only the New Zealand music podcast where we talk Aotearoa’s finest musicians about the soundtracks of their lives. Joining me today is an artist who boarded a rickety plane in Dorsett, England and flew all the way to Aotearoa. They then embarked on a journey of heartbreak and self discovery which all led to the question, who really gets what they want? This week on Locals Only, it's Macey!!

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Welcome to Locals Only the New Zealand music podcast where we talk Aotearoa’s finest musicians about the soundtracks of their lives. Joining me today is an artist who alongside their band has hacked their way out of the west auckland bush, jumped on an array surf, boogie and paddle boards and taken their frothy uni rock sound right across Aotearoa. May 2023 saw the release of their debut EP, Lost in the Groove. But not lost to the eyes and ears of young New Zealanders. This week on Locals Only, Double Parked!!

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Welcome to Locals Only, the New Zealand music podcast where we talk Aotearoa’s finest musicians about the soundtracks of their lives. Joining me today is an artist who was raised by the white hot mud pools of Rotorua in a house filled by the sounds of Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and more notably her music teaching father. She found early success in songwriting and set out on a journey of self discovery and moved to New York. But her time in the busy streets of the city that never sleeps left her without an answer to the burning question in her mind: who am I? So, she returned to Aotearoa and turned her artistry to the page, drawing stacks of self portraits. It was in these charcoal drawings that she saw an unraveling moving portrait that spoke not of who she is but instead how she feels. The feelings of which can be heard on her debut album self portrait of a woman unraveling. This week on Locals Only, Alayna!!

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Today on Locals Only, Luca George joins Tom Harper in the Locals Only Lounge.

Join us as we take Luca through the 'Soundtrack Of Your Live' interview. Hearing all about his favourite tracks throughout the years... 

LISTEN ON iHeartRadio or wherever you get your pods!

Huge thanks to NZ On Air!

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