Matthew Bannister | |
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 Bannister outside Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington during the 2007 Pop Conference | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1962 (age 60–61) Dunblane, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, media theoretician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | |
Matthew Bannister (born 1962) is a Scottish-born New Zealand musician, journalist and academic.
Bannister had a stint as a teenager in the late 1970s playing rhythm guitar in working men's clubs and other unlicensed venues with Gavin Keen (lead guitar), Graeme Dooley (drums) and Spike Quinn (bass) in the 1960s covers band Feedback. In 1980, while he was a student at the University of Otago in Dunedin, he co-founded the band Sneaky Feelings, for which he was a vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter. After the band dissolved in 1989, Bannister formed Dribbling Darts and worked as a journalist and reviewer. Both bands had music released on the Flying Nun record label. He has also worked briefly with The Mutton Birds.
He released a solo album, Moth, in 2007 as One Man Bannister. In 2008 he released an album with The Weather called Aroha Ave, and in 2011 a self-titled album with The Changing Same. The next two One Man Bannister albums, Evolver (2013) and Rubber Solo (2019) are re-recordings of entire Beatles albums (Revolver and Rubber Soul respectively). [1]
In the mid-1990s, Bannister began writing a memoir about his experiences as a musician in the 1980s Dunedin scene. Partly, this was a response to concerns he had over being "written out" of New Zealand's indie music history: "I published a book ... about Sneaky Feelings because I felt we were being written out of the label's history and indeed out of indie history, for example, our non-appearance in various articles about Flying Nun, in indie discographies, and in local ... rock polls". [2] This book, Positively George Street, was published in 1999.
In 1998, Bannister returned to full-time study as a PhD candidate in the Department of Film, TV and Media Studies at the University of Auckland, graduating in 2003. His thesis was titled White Man's Soul: Pakeha masculinities in the popular music of New Zealand / Aotearoa. [3] A revised version of the thesis appeared as a book, White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Guitar Rock, in the Ashgate Popular Music and Folk Series in 2006.
He now works at the Waikato Institute of Technology (WINTEC) as a Theory/Post Graduate advisor in the School of Media Arts. In 2021 his book Eye of the Taika: New Zealand Comedy and the Films of Taika Waititi was published. [4]
Bannister's father Peter was a botanist working at Otago University. Bannister is married to Dribbling Darts/The Weather bandmate Alice Bulmer. [5]
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an artistic statement, opting for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. Influences may be drawn from genres such as experimental music, avant-garde music, classical music, and jazz.
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced.
The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, reggae, and hip hop, with many of these genres given a unique New Zealand interpretation.
Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars played in a droning chordal style. The sound is mainly associated with pop music as well as 1960s guitar bands, folk rock, and 1980s indie music. It is sometimes classed as its own subgenre, jangle pop. Music critics use the term to suggest guitar pop that evokes a bright mood.
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by The Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s Dunedin, which gave rise to modern indie rock.
The Dunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement and a genre of indie pop and alternative rock, created and pioneered in Dunedin, Otago, in the early 1980s. The Dunedin sound is considered to have been a key factor in the origination of indie rock as a genre. The scene was closely associated with Flying Nun Records, an independent label which has become one of the world's most renowned.
The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, The Mutton Birds (1992), Salty (1994), Envy of Angels (1996) and Rain, Steam and Speed (1999). They had a number-one hit with "The Heater" (1994), while their two other top 10 singles were a cover of "Nature" by the Fourmyula (1992), and an original, "Anchor Me" (1994). From 1996 to 2000 the group were based in England; they returned to New Zealand and then disbanded in 2002.
Alan Gregg is a New Zealand musician, originally from Palmerston North, now based in London. Originally a keyboard player, Alan has mainly played bass guitar in his professional life. After moving to Auckland, New Zealand, Alan was a member of the Dribbling Darts of Love before joining The Mutton Birds, which he was part of from 1992–1998. In The Mutton Birds he contributed bass, vocals, keyboards and wrote a number of songs. After leaving the Mutton Birds, he acted as a producer and studio and touring musician before recording his first solo album, under the name Marshmallow in 2002. Other musicians on the album included Bic Runga, Ron Sexsmith, and Andrew Claridge.
Three Leaning Men were a New Zealand 1980s indie band from Palmerston North who recorded one LP, Fun in the Key of E, released by Meltdown Records. The band's debut performance was supporting Sneaky Feelings at the Massey University Social Hall. They also supported Hunters and Collectors, the Chills and New Order.
Ross Elliott Burge is a New Zealand musician, who started playing drums with the Nelson College rock band Mandias in 1973. He decided that this was to be the life for him, and called the NZPO to ensure back-up. He has since played drums for bands and artists such as, and in roughly chronological order:- Andy Anderson's express, Rodger Fox Big Band, Sharon O'Neill, Jon Stevens, The Scouts, Two Armed Men, Spines, Sneaky Feelings, Dribbling Darts, The Happ'ng Thang (Australia), The Mutton Birds, Bic Runga, Rick Bryant, Windy City Strugglers, Tim Finn, The Finn Brothers, Dave Dobbyn and Anika Moa.Hamish Gunn [ guitar and vocals in Mandias, Golden Horn Sound Company Band sponsored “Lady and BackBone” ].
Sneaky Feelings are a New Zealand pop rock band which releases on the Flying Nun Records music label. The band formed in 1980 with the line-up of Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Kat Tyrie and Martin Durrant. Tyrie was replaced by John Kelcher in 1984. Durrant was temporarily replaced by Ross Burge in 1988 for the band's second tour of Europe.
Donald McGlashan is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cinema and television. Among other instruments, McGlashan has played guitar, drums, euphonium and French horn.
Traditional Māori music, or pūoro Māori, is composed or performed by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and includes a wide variety of folk music styles, often integrated with poetry and dance.
Rock music in New Zealand, also known as Kiwi rock music and New Zealand rock music, rose to prominence first in 1955 with Johnny Cooper's cover version of Bill Haley's hit song "Rock Around the Clock". This was followed by Johnny Devlin, sometimes nicknamed New Zealand's Elvis Presley, and his cover of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The 1960s saw Max Merritt and the Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders achieve success. In the 1970s and early 1980s the innovative Split Enz had success internationally as well as nationally, with member Neil Finn later continuing with Crowded House. Other influential bands in the 1970s were Th' Dudes, Dragon and Hello Sailor. The early 1980s saw the development of the indie rock "Dunedin sound", typified by Dunedin bands such as The Clean, Straitjacket Fits and The Chills, recorded by the Flying Nun record label of Christchurch. New Zealand's foremost hard rock band Shihad started their long career in 1988. Since 2018 this title is now undoubtedly held by New Zealand Māori metal band Alien Weaponry who have achieved huge success in Europe and the USA.
Dribbling Darts were a New Zealand band based in Auckland which existed from 1989 to 1993. The name is a quote from William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act I, Scene III: "Believe not that the dribbling dart of love...".
Outside Music is a Canadian record label and distributor founded by Lloyd Nishimura in 2001. In 2007, it expanded to include an artist management division which includes Jill Barber, Matthew Barber, Aidan Knight, Justin Rutledge as management clients.
Mainly Spaniards were a 1980s New Zealand pop group led by guitarist/singer Richard James, who released an early 45, That's what friends are for, on the Flying Nun label. A follow-up was recorded but never released after James moved to Auckland to work as a schoolteacher in late 1983. He went on to perform and record in The Pterodactyls and The Letter 5. In 2008, he formed The South Tonight with John Kelcher, late of Flying Nun band Sneaky Feelings, and with other Christchurch musicians.
Waiting for Touchdown is a compilation album by the New Zealand band Sneaky Feelings, released in 1986. It combines songs from the album Send You and the singles "Husband House" and "Better than Before".
Alastair Riddell is a New Zealand singer-songwriter.
Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock or college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The term originated from Bob Dylan's song "Mr. Tambourine Man", whose 1965 rendition by the Byrds is considered one of the genre's representative works. Since the 1960s, jangle pop has crossed numerous genres, including power pop, psychedelia, new wave, post-punk, indie rock, and lo-fi.
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