Been around since?
My (Frank’s) 21st birthday party… so almost 2 years. But I’m not sure exactly what we did for the rest of the year when I turned 21, so that year doesn’t count does it?
Current line up?
Graham Panther (Vocals & Guitar), Tim Neale (Vocáls & Geetars), Jony Gabriel (Drums) & Frank Gibson (Bass & singing far, far away from a microphone). This line-up isn’t just current, it’s the only line-up. Phony Bone 4 Life etc…
Where are you based?
A-Town. The Big A-K-L. Lattéville.
Musical history? What were you listening to back in high school?
Frank was listening to Nine Inch Nails, followed by NOFX, followed by a bunch of UK hip hop that Graham & Tim turned me onto. Jony was and still is listening to Pearl Jam. Graham was listening to bands from the eighties. Now he can’t stop listening to ZM. Tim thinks that’s the name of one of the few obscure indie bands he hasn’t heard of yet.
What are you currently listening to?
Frank stole The Robocop Kraus’ CD off the Internet because they had a cool name. Also the first Black Eyed Peas record, before they decided to sell their souls to both Satan and the late Turkmenbashi. Graham is convinced the second song off the new Pink cd he bought starts eerily like Phony Bone’s ‘Imposters’. Graham is wrong in thinking this. He thinks Bright Eyes’ ‘Digital Ash’ is the greatest album ever. Jony is digging on The Black Keys. Tim? Something painfully cool.
The state of music in NZ is..?
Beautiful.
What’s your favorite place to play?
Frank was particularly smitten with Sohl Bar in Hamilton because they gave us Belgian beer brewed in the basement of monasteries by Trappist monks. It’s gone now though. Pretty much everywhere in Auckland is good. Dog’s Bollix, Schooner, King’s Arms. How diplomatic of us to say.
What was your favorite show?
We LOVED Barnstock, a festival in a barn in Waiuku last month. We still have dirt in our pedals.
The Makeshift Magazine launch party at the King’s Arms, which brought us back from a two-month hiatus. We should always play in the daytime. Jony’s 21st birthday party was a whole lot of dancing and leg-humping, which is good too.
What is your recording process?
We tend to begin simply, putting down all our existing parts, then get further and further away from the original song. Our from-home, do-it-himself producer Damian has a way of getting us to rethink what we’re doing as separate from its live setting. He also has a way of using the ‘reverse’ function wherever possible, and we have a way of encouraging this.
Jony’s first response was to the word ‘process’ was “HA!!!” which is also true.
What's been your best recording experience?
Our recently finished new single, Modern Day Tragedy. It came together over a couple of months with everyone in different places scattered around the globe (Ireland, Hong Kong, California & South Island) at different times. Coming back together to complete it was both a lot of fun and a lot of trouble – several opinions at once. But we’re really proud of the outcome. It feels like the evidence of that hard work. And the song is very uplifting. Like Reebok Pumps.
What’s been your worst recording experience?
We used to try to make demos from a single lapel mic in a vacant car lot out on the North Shore (none of us live there, so it was a joyous commute) called Motorworld. There was a 20ft long foam sign reminding us of the fact it was called Motorworld every time we walked in there. We had to stop practicing there when we arrived one week and it was full of cars again.
At one stage the flat we were recording in with Damian was host to a party, where all the flat furniture was dragged out into the street and doused in gasoline. Matches threatened but never eventuated. New windows were made in the walls, and there was rumour of a large rock in the washing machine. We kept the room locked.
But the happy ending is that he got his bond back. I’m not sure if there is a moral to go with that.
Favorite radio show/station?
We are required by law to state 95bFM and FleetFM. FleetFM since Frank does a show on Thursdays 1-3pm called Caboose Cuts. 95bFM cause Tim does a show called Sunday Best on 9am-12pm. Guess what day that’s on? Graham still says ZM. Everyone else disagrees.
The Future holds…?
Brandy snifters full of only brown M&Ms. We have that new single coming out, to hit at least the bFM and KiwiFM airways. We’ll be playing around town a fair bit so check our myspace (/phonybone) or website (www.phonybone.co.nz). We’re also going to Wellington a couple times at the end of this month and also in April
