Andrew Maitai is into records. He has his own label, Powertool Records, an independent outfit based in Auckland that’s survived several economic cycles, Spotify and Covid.
He also hosts a music venue, UFO, and a record store, Alien Records, in the northern town.
So, come time to release the latest recording of his band, The Fuzzies, it was always going to involve the full panoply of artefactual listening options — or a good many of them.
It means Cupid is available to stream but also on CD and as 45rpm long-playing vinyl.
The vinyl can claim a small piece of New Zealand music history already, as one of the first records from a new Pheenix Alpha AD12 record press at Auckland’s Stebbing Recording Studios.
"We were literally the first people, the first hot off the press, pretty much," Maitai says.
It’s the band’s first album after a couple of EPs.
"It’s a long-player but it wasn’t quite 40 minutes, actually quite short, under 30 minutes. So, what happened was, we made the master in Nashville and they came back to us saying ‘would you like it to be on 45’, because it is actually short enough to be 45 instead of 33. And we said, sure, why not, because at 45rpm it sounds a lot better, actually better quality than 33."
It was a happy accident, Maitai says.
Not only that, but in what looks like Zeitgeist-riding marketing genius, the album has not one but two Barbies on the cover — a decision the band insists was made well before the movie.
The image, which appears to catch the pair of dolls practising naturist yoga, is the handiwork of the late Dunedin musician Hamish Kilgour — and includes a painted landscape by his hand.
Kilgour camped at UFO for a time during the first Covid lockdown.
"He was about to go back to New York and he couldn’t get back there, because all the borders were shut," Maitai says.
"So he ended up in our place over the first lockdown and ... he is one of these guys who likes lots of arty type stuff, so he would wander around and make art displays out of everything that was lying around the place.
"And Niki, from the band, used to take photos of them. Not that I think he really knew, she just took photos of them because she found them quite interesting, and that was one of them."
Kilgour was a good friend and his loss is still mourned, Maitai says.
"It has been a long time coming. It is nice to have them finally out and about into the world."
None in the hook-laden set troubles four minutes, although a couple go close, allowing for that speedier vinyl.
The three piece, consisting of drummer Maitai, bassist Niki Maera and guitarist Kelly Michael, produce a sound appropriate to the band’s name, drawing inspiration from the rich history of garage guitar pop, stretching back at least as far as the Velvet Underground, and taking in the output of Flying Nun’s southern pomp.
"You tend to play the things you like," Maitai says, while qualifying that he’s "just the drummer".
Songwriting duties are shared between Maera and Michael.
Michael counts the cheekiness of album opener Jackman, a low-slung Lou Reed meets Iggy Pop amble, among his favourites live, owning a song-writing debt to the New York music scene.
"Its kind of a casual song but it does have a bit of punch to it," he says.
"I love all of Niki’s songs but I particularly love Delighted to and the title track Cupid."
Maera, who was previously part of all-women guitar pop outfit Mary, brings a Kirsty MacColl via The Breeders vibe to proceedings, evoking Dunedin jangle queens LBGP on the way.
She has one of the most developed melodic ears in the band, Michael says.
"She is very skilled at creating melodies."
While they definitely have a sound, each song has its own character, something that sets them apart as a band, he says, and something he personally tries to communicate in their live sets.
Michael spent the late ’80s and early ’90s in Dunedin, catching the tail end of the Flying Nun heyday and the Xpressway scene and becoming involved in the Super 8 venue.
"It was an astonishing time in history, honestly," he says.
"I have a particular fondness for coming to Dunedin."
The gig
- The Fuzzies play Moons tonight, in Dunedin, with The New Things (from Wellington), Victor Billot, Hystera, and Chris Hesitation.
