WOMAD 2018: Day 1
As always 13th Floor photographer Michael Flynn has unfettered access to all the stages at WOMAD. This year Tim Gruar is along to add words to Michael’s pictures. Here’s their report from Day 1.
Tim Gruar
The 13th Floor Continues to Explore the NZ Festival
The New Zealand Festival continues this week in Wellington. Tim Gruar and Ruben Mita were there to sample some of the music and events. Highlights include: collaborations between Lawrence Arabia, Luke Buda and Sam Scott and another with Laughton Kora and Bailey Wiley; a dazzling jazz performance from American bass king Thundercat; folk by The […]
13th Floor Explores the NZ Festival
The New Zealand Festival kicked off in Wellington this weekend. Tim Gruar was there to sample some of the music events on offer, including a dance production with music by Eden Mulholland, new soul singer, Teeks, an historical take on pop in Te Reo from Ria Hall and the return of jazz sax player Nathan […]
Drax Project – The 13th Floor Interview
For four Wellington music students, the transition from classroom to festival stage has been swift. Three years ago The Drax Project were playing cover tunes on street corners. Now they’re playing festivals like Homegrown and Sound Splash, touring with Six60 in Aussie and opening for Lorde and Ed Sheeran. Tim Gruar rang guitar and vocalist […]
Stiff Little Fingers’ Jake Burns on Not Fading Away: The 13th Floor Interview
“Live fast, die young,” and “Not fade away,” surely apply to the first punk generation that exploded in a blitzkrieg of bile and fury in the 1970’s. The mantra was like some anarchic politico-SAS mission. Yet a few of the old guard endure – The Sex Pistols reformations or the return of the Buzzcocks… and […]
Wellington’s Coastella Festival 17 February 2018
Small, but perfectly formed, The Coastella Festival returned to Paraparaumu on Saturday and Wellingtonians, who’d been hanging out for their own festival for years, turned out in their numbers for The Black Seeds, The Young Folk, Nadia Reid, Mermaidens, Anthonie Tonnon and a dozen more local and international acts.
Glass Vaults Explain That ‘Braingasm’ Thing Ahead of Coastella
Indie-pop shapeshifters Glass Vaults want to bring you a little bit of a cerebral thrill. Their latest release The New Happy mixes twisting guitars with spasms of digital blips and dashes – all intended to get you moving. Ahead of their upcoming appearance at Kapiti Coast’s Coastella Festival, Richard Larson talks to Tim Gruar about […]
Eden Mulholland talks Rushes, Rooms and Writing
Eden Mulholland released a string of sweet indie pop albums a few years backand then disappeared. Now he’s resurfaced with a newly composed soundtrack for the Opera Peer Gynt, written a score for a dance company and recorded a few songs, including his latest release Forwarding Backwarding. Tim Gruar had a chat to him on […]
13th Floor Talks To Mermaidens Abe Hollingsworth
Back in early August last year Wellington trio Mermaidens released their most recent long player, Perfect Body. Since then the band has toured at home and across the ditch, gaining accolades and respect for their unique sound. Now, this February they’ll get to play at their home crowd, at Wellington’s second Coastella Festival. Tim Gruar […]
The East Pointers – What We Leave Behind (Proper)
Hailing from the Canadian east coast, this trio of two brothers, fiddler/singer Tim Chaisson and banjoist Koady Chaisson, with guitarist Jake Charron, give us their sophomore effort, What We Leave Behind, a strong attempt to inject some fresh vibrancy and enthusiasm into traditional banjo and guitar music.