This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2024) |
The Pin Group | |
---|---|
Origin | Christchurch, New Zealand [1] |
Genres | |
Years active | 1980-1982, 1992 |
Labels | Flying Nun, Siltbreeze |
Past members | Roy Montgomery, Peter Stapleton, Desmond Brice, Ross Humphries, Mary Heney, Peter Fryer [2] |
The Pin Group was a post-punk band formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were the first band released on Flying Nun Records, and featured Roy Montgomery, Peter Stapleton, Ross Humphries, Mary Heney, and Peter Fryer. [2]
The group were part of the first post-punk wave to emerge out of New Zealand in the early 1980s, and the influential Dunedin sound associated with Flying Nun. They released two singles and one EP on Flying Nun and played primarily in Christchurch and the South Island before disbanding in 1982. They reformed briefly for one release in 1992, and their discography has been re-issued twice in the years since.
In November 1980, guitarist and vocalist Roy Montgomery, drummer and lyricist Peter Stapleton, and bassist and lyricist Desmond Brice formed the Pin Group. The band debuted live at the DB Gladstone Hotel in mid-1981, which was becoming a key venue in the Christchurch alternative scene. [1]
Soon after their debut, Brice's inexperience with the bass led to him being replaced by bassist and vocalist Ross Humphries, but Brice let the group continue using his lyrics. [2] Christchurch artist Ronnie van Hout became a close collaborator of the band, designing gig posters and all the band's covers. [3] In 1981 he made a short film of Brice reciting poetry, then the band practicing in their Christchurch home. Montgomery, who managed an EMI record store in Christchurch at the time, came into work and found someone had spray painted "Roy Division" on the wall outside, a reference to the Pin Group's similarity to Joy Division. [2]
In July 1981, the band recorded two singles at Nightshift Studios in Woolston, "Ambivalence / Columbia" and "Coat / Jim". [2] The sessions were engineered by Nightshift owner Arnie van Bussell, with the studio operating out of his home. [1] The "Ambivalence" 7" was released in September as the first single on newly formed Flying Nun Records, [4] a week before The Clean's "Tally Ho!". The single charted for a week in October, reaching #36 [5] and achieving little radio play. The group was unhappy with the final result of "Ambivalence", disliking its lo-fi and distorted sound. [1] The second single was pressed quieter as a result. "Coat" was released in November of the same year, with the initial run of 300 pressings for each single selling out quickly.
After the release of the two singles, the group discussed expanding their sound, recruiting Mary Heney on guitar and backup vocals from fellow Christchurch band 25 Cents, and Peter Fryer on viola. [1] Montgomery contacted the EMI New Zealand head office through his record store job, and asked if it would be possible for him to book recording time at the EMI Studios outside of Wellington. [3] He was able to, and in December 1981 the five-piece travelled to EMI Studios to record five songs. The session was engineered by Frank Douglas, an in-house engineer at EMI who had been working at the studio since the 1950s. [2] [6] The group recorded four new songs and re-recorded "Ambivalence", with all five songs being tracked and mixed within one working day. [1] They played their last show in March 1982 at the Christchurch Arts Centre’s Jazz Cellar, as Montgomery departed for England soon after. The Pin Group Go to Town EP was released in May on Flying Nun.
Following the disbanding of the Pin Group, Humphries joined Clean offshoot group The Great Unwashed in 1982 before the group disbanded in 1984. [7] Stapleton and Humphries would later start The Terminals in 1986, featuring Heney's sister Susan on bass. Montgomery and Stapleton would also play in Dadamah together in the early 1990s, an experimental rock group that released one album. Montgomery began releasing solo work in 1995 after leaving Dadamah in 1993.
In 1992, the band re-united to record a 7" single on Siltbreeze named 11 Years After, featuring a new version of "Coat" and their often-performed cover of "Hurricane Fighter Plane" by Red Krayola. [2] In 1997, Siltbreeze issued a compilation album titled The Pin Group, featuring the band's three singles, the Go To Town EP, and a live cover of "Low Rider" by War.
In 2011, Flying Nun re-issued the band's discography in a remastered album titled Ambivalence, including a full live performance at the Gladstone Hotel from July 1981.
Peter Stapleton died in March 2020, and Mary Heney died in December 2020. [2]
Title | Details |
---|---|
Retrospective |
|
Ambivalence |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
The Pin Group Goes to Town |
|
Title | Details | Peak chart position (NZ) |
---|---|---|
"Ambivalence" / "Columbia" |
| 36 [5] |
"Coat" / "Jim" |
| — |
11 Years After |
| — |
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.
The Dunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement in Dunedin, Otago, in the early 1980s. It helped found indie rock as a genre. The scene is associated with Flying Nun Records an independent label.
Bailter Space is a New Zealand shoegaze and noise rock band that formed in Christchurch, in 1987 as Nelsh Bailter Space; they had previously recorded as The Gordons. Its members are Alister Parker, John Halvorsen, Brent McLachlan. After releasing seven studio albums, numerous EPs/singles and a career retrospective compilation, Bailter Space went on an extended hiatus in 2004. They returned in August 2008 to play the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan.
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.
The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the "Dunedin sound", and one of the first bands to be described as "indie rock".
Straitjacket Fits were a four-piece alternative indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1986 and broke up in 1994. They released three studio albums, Hail (1988), Melt (1990), and Blow (1993), and several EPs. Their line-up for their first two albums consisted of Shayne Carter, John Collie (drums), David Wood (bass), and Andrew Brough. Brough departed the band in 1991 and was replaced for the band's final album by Mark Petersen.
The Bats are an influential New Zealand rock band formed in 1982 in Christchurch by Paul Kean (bass), Malcolm Grant (drums), Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward. Though primarily a Christchurch band, The Bats have strong links to Dunedin and are usually grouped in with the Dunedin sound musicians that emerged in the early 1980s. The band has retained the same four members from 1982 to the present day.
Alastair Galbraith is a New Zealand musician and sound artist from Dunedin.
The Terminals were a New Zealand alternative rock band. They released material on the Xpressway and Flying Nun labels.
Peter James Stapleton was a musician from New Zealand, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Terminals. Stapleton was also a member of the groups Vacuum, The Pin Group, Dadamah, Flies Inside the Sun, Eye, and Scorched Earth Policy.
Andrew Mark Brough was a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Dunedin, New Zealand. Best known for his work with the Straitjacket Fits, he later led the band Bike. In 1996 he was shortlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll and in 2008 he was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
Roy Montgomery is a composer, guitarist and lecturer from Christchurch, New Zealand. Montgomery's mostly instrumental solo works have elements of post-rock, lo-fi, folk and avant-garde experimentation. His signature sound might be described as atmospheric or cinematic, often featuring complex layers of chiming, echoing and/or droning guitar phrases. He is currently head of the environmental management department at Lincoln University in New Zealand.
Sentimental Education is an album by the New Zealand group Sneaky Feelings. First released as an LP in 1986, it was re-released with extra tracks as a CD the following year. Several of the extra tracks had previously been released as singles, including the band's biggest single, "'Husband House".
Melt is the second album from Dunedin, New Zealand band Straitjacket Fits. It was the last to feature the original line-up of Shayne Carter, Andrew Brough, John Collie and David Wood; Brough was to leave before the third album, Blow. The album reached no. 13 on the New Zealand music charts, and sold 40,000 copies in the United States.
The Axemen is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in 1983. They played at the protests for homosexual law reform in 1983, where member Little Stevie McCabe was severely beaten up in the Christchurch Cathedral Square toilets.
The Renderers are a New Zealand band from Christchurch formed in 1989 by Maryrose Crook and her husband Brian.
South Indies is a rights and publishing label established in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1984 as a vinyl records label and small book publisher. It released vinyl, books, cassettes and video-cassettes before moving into the leasing of material to distributing labels, and the protection of existing copyright. It subsumes various "one-off" projects and imprints such as Alpha Books (NZ), Tank Publishing, 5 to 12 publishing and some early Titus Books titles. It has entered into collaborative or licensed releases with enterprises Powertool Records (NZ), Sophomore Lounge (USA), Grapefruit (USA), Partizanska (Serbia) and Zelle (Austria). It has facilitated use of existing artwork for publications such as In Love With These Times and, more recently, a 92-page colour illustrated artbook dedicated to the artists of the early Flying Nun period, Hellzapoppin.
Bilders is a New Zealand music group of varying lineups that produced a string of self-recorded 7-inch vinyl releases between 1980 and 1982 leading to Beatin Hearts, the first studio-album from fledgling New Zealand independent record label 'Flying Nun Records'.
Maryrose Crook is a musician and artist from New Zealand.
"Cruise Control" is a song by New Zealand band Headless Chickens. Written by members Chris Matthews and Michael Lawry, the track was released as the second single from the band's second studio album, Body Blow (1991), in 1991 and reached number six on the New Zealand Singles Chart. Three years later, the song was remixed and re-released as the "Eskimos in Egypt" mix. This version of the song peaked at number 26 in Australia and topped the New Zealand chart as a double A-side with "George".