Auckland's Beach Pigs emerged late last year and have set about roping in followers, steadily gigging throughout the year. They have just put out their first release, a self-titled EP and we caught up with them to find out more about it and the band generally....
So how long have you been playing together for?
Since the 5th of December… so around 10 months.
And how did you get together?
We were all around the Ellerslie neighbourhood, save Billy, who came all the way from Avondale. But we were good mates that were keen to start a band! We were on the lookout for a drummer and had heard that Suren Unka was keen on the same sound as us. But, just to make sure, we had to kidnap him. And so, yeah… there you have it. Dan Kerr on guitar, Billy R on bass, Dahnu on vocals and Suren Unka on drums.
Who writes the songs?
Dahnu, it all starts with the riff though.
Where did the name come from?
It came from a Mexican movie I don’t remember the name of. In the movie there’s all these wild pigs that invade these beaches. Hahaha, Beach Pigs… I mean that’s what we’d rather be!
Are there any musical influences in particular you share as a group?
Our influences have mostly come from the bands in the Auckland scene... and the Pixies. Modest mouse has been on since the start, Dr Dre, Katy Perry and ol Bob Dylan.
What new music have you been enjoying of late?
We've recently been discovering some 90's bands that seem to have been over looked during the 90's and have only just been unearthed such as; Built to Spill, Unwound, Pavement. We've been really diggin the new Rackets singles, loving Street Chants new mish and Meese's sick new Album.
And which other bands do you hang out with?
The friends we hang out with, we only find out later are in a band. The ‘bands’ we hang out with are humble in the sense that they’re in a band. But mates or bands that have really helped out Beach Pigs are Rackets, Hivemind and of course the community of bands.
How did you make the video for ‘No Work’?
Hahahaha, on Suren’s gangsta camera bro! We made it while talking about how we we were gonna do it. The story is about a really bad experience at work where Dahnu injured himself to the point where he’s deemed unfit to work... hence ‘No Work’. So the video is a play on that.
Tell us about your new EP…
The new E.P, Beach Pigs recorded by Bob Frisbee is our first release:) We recorded It over in New lynn (west) at Frisbee's studio. We wanted this E.P out and into your ears as soon as we posibly could. 23rd Of September we released the 5 track e.p with help from Crown, Ahnand Unka who sussed us the artwork and Sam Thomas for his awesome venue (SnakePit).
The state of music in NZ is...?
It’s the same as its always been. Heaps of bands struggling to get noticed with so much unheard talent and yet so many fakers getting picked up for all the wrong reasons. People are starting to realise it though. All the kids know.
Future plans...
We're going on a bNet tour with the Rackets on the 19th of October. Our main focus for now is writing and recording new material.
Michael McClelland
