Hamilton band Fallen fell out of the local music scene while keyboardist
Andrew Newth pursued his solo project, Southern Tribe.
But in the past couple of months they've bounced back, playing support for several visiting acts, including
Shihad and Head Like a Hole. They've also played with several local acts.
"We've been tagging along with other bands," says vocalist and engineer
Scott Newth.
Fallen are a new incarnation of an old band, Love And Violence. "We changed the
name because we decided to dump all our old songs and go in a new direction."
The present line-up of Fallen is Scott Newth (vocals, engineering), Andrew Newth (keyboards, loops, samples),
Mark McGeady (drums), and Chris Paki (guitar).
Fallen's brand of music defies conventional labels and categories, Scott Newth
says. "We've been described as a cross between Tricky and Nine Inch Nails, but even that doesn't really
describe it."
Andrew Newth explains Fallen's sound. "We use slowed-down loops and overdriven guitar, pushed to the
extreme."
Fallen don't have any plans to record anything in the near future. "What we do takes a long time to record, which makes recording expensive. We take three times
longer to record than most bands because of the way we record - we like to experiment while we're in the studio."
They've recorded one song, 'Confessional', and have demos of others. "'Confessional' took 16 hours to record, which gives you
an idea of how we do things when we're recording."
Another song, 'Untitled', is "a good example of our sound - it's very slow and has Tricky-style clanking drum
loops and slowed down hip hop loops as well as distorted acoustic guitar."
Fallen are playing The Meteor on August 1, along with former Hamilton gothic band
Disjectamembra, Janitors Lung, and Reserved For Emily.
LINE UP:
Andrew Newth - samples, loops, keys, noise
Chris Paki - guitar
Mark McGeady - drums
Scott Newth - vocals, engineer
MUSIC STYLE:
They refuse to describe their music as it may lead people to think they are something they are not. They would rather
you go and see them and decide for yourself.
HOW LONG TOGETHER:
Almost a year in the present line-up, various line-ups since 1989.
WORST GIG:
The Pod in Auckland; had to give up after two songs as the PA was too small to handle their sound.
BEST GIG:
At the Gluepot - Techno Hell 2. Great venue, a shame it's gone.
RELEASES:
None yet, but as Love And Violence: "The Nth Times" CD album, "Turn To Me" single and video,
"Confessional" video.
INFLUENCES:
All four members have different influences: hardcore metal, industrial, gothic, indie pop, all sorts of stuff.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE:
Just to keep playing from time to time, maybe record an album one day.
The sounds of Hamilton have taken us over as we visit that fair Waikato city for some music, specially selected by Bill at bFM. Fallen and Southern Tribe are both connected in one or the other with the Newth Brothers, Scott and Andrew, two well-known Hamilton musical identities who started out as Love & Violence in the early 90s.
Fallen includes both brothers along with Marky Mark (Mark McGeady) and Chris Paki. This is the band that has pretty much retained the Love & Violence sound without the emphasis that band used to place on their keyboard sound. "It's more conventional in that sense being drums and guitar orientated," says Scott, over the phone from the Contact 89fm offices in Hamilton where he works as Programme Director.
Southern Tribe is brother Andrew solo, a spin-off project from Fallen. All members of that band have been doing their own thing for a while now, since the demise of Zoo Studios 18 months ago, left the band high and dry with some 16-track stuff recorded and unfinished.
