Four years on, the now Wellington-based Lander says the same artists still loom large over his current project, The Blue Onesies.
"It's funny 'cos when you write songs you go through phases of really liking a band, you like them so much that it really starts to rub off on your music," Lander says over the phone fresh from a Onesies rehearsal.
"Then even when you leave listening to that band behind you, there's still a massive influence left over."
The Blue Onesies, (which also includes fellow Tweek Chris Keogh) are visiting Dunedin tonight in support of their second EP, The Blue Onesies' Plums.
Describing Plums' sound as "pop and roll", Lander says the EP is five songs of lush textures, vocal harmonies, and unashamedly catchy songs in debt in equal parts to the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Village Green-era Kinks.
"It's just the guitars and that '60s sound, that's the way we end up writing," Lander says. "Chris [Keogh], Jim [Rogers] and I are all writing songs in a very similar vein at the moment.
"It was gonna be an album, but I think it's going to make a better EP. Who has the time and the patience to sit down with a band they haven't really heard before and listen to a whole album? It's quite an ask these days."
Perfect for late-night hazy listening, The Blue Onesies' Plums was recorded in a suitably relaxed environment: under mood lighting in an abandoned beer fridge in central Wellington.
"We recorded in an old beer fridge where they kept all the kegs. It was a really nice set-up. There's old gear everywhere, and there's little mood lights going. It's a really nice atmosphere and it sorta came out in the recordings. I'm really stoked with how everything came out. Fluorescent light isn't the most conducive to making music."
Drop in to the Crown Hotel tonight to catch The Blue Onesies.
• Described by Radio NZ as "One of the most unique voices in New Zealand popular music", acclaimed composer, producer and performer Dudley Benson is October's 91 Club Night headliner.
Hard to pigeonhole, Benson's music often combines traditional choral influences with a folk-pop sensibility, but for this must-see show in The Den, Dudley Benson will be donning his electro-pop hat for an effervescent evening of entertainment.
Going solo in support of Mr Benson is Stef Animal, the hypnotic Golden Awesome singer and keyboardist (also formerly of Mestar), whose vocals and swoony synth-pop sound will kick the night off.
And rounding everything off is the very dance-worthy SoNic Smith, Dunedin's own break-beat electro maestro.
See it, hear it
• The Blue Onesies' Plums EP release show, with special guests Males and The Maybe Pile, tonight at The Crown Hotel, doors open 9pm, $5. Download The Blue Onesies' Plums for free via theblueonesies.bandcamp.com
• Dudley Benson, Stef Animal and SoNic Smith, tonight at The Den, Dunedin, 9pm. Free with your 91Club Card, $10 without.
