Karma Riot live at Medusa for special Medusa birthday week! Formed in early 2011, Karma Riot is the brainchild of Rob (Goblin) Cousins. Originally from South Africa, Rob experienced equal parts fame and infamy as the lead singer/guitarist/songwriter for the band Stoned Goblin. After relocating to New Zealand, he applied his talents to being a solo musician, playing his originals acoustically. Finding the time was right, Rob set about 'remaking' Stoned Goblin, firstly enlisting his brother/former drummer Brian Cousins and then recruiting bassist Simon Houston, Andre Vrey and Ren Fei all of whom (with the exception of Ren) had many years experience with a number of bands. Shortly before the first live gig Andre departed from the band due to complications with New Zealand immigration. After this setback the band recruited guitarist Carl Green to replace Andre and practiced heavily on previous 'Stoned Goblin' material and also fleshed out some originals which had not yet been completed, this was all in effort of the inaugural gig at The Angus Inn in Lower Hutt for the Angus Inn Battle of the Bands. despite a strong set, Karma Riot did not make it through to the later heats however due to stiff competition and overwhelming audience bias, but were not deterred by the outcome, instead using the reception to fuel themselves for further gigs. As it turns out they didn't have to wait long as they were offered a support block on a gig at Bodega the following week by former Stoned Goblin Guitarist Rene Walt's band 'Cochise'. Before they could embark upon this next gig, tragedy struck again and yet another band mate bowed out, this time Ren due to a clash of his work schedule. The band soldiered on however, with Rob having to assume second guitar duties as well as vocals in time for the Bodega Gig. Following on from this Karma Riot got in contact with 'Monroe', a band they had played alongside/against at the Angus Inn Battle of The Bands, and decided to set up an 'event' gig at The Garden Club, based around several birthdays that coincided for some of the members in each of the bands. The reception compared to the previous gigs was a lot stronger, but still needed work due to the placement of Karma Riot's set at the end of the evening. From here on out and with lessons learnt, Karma Riot are set to attack the next gig with three words tattooed onto their minds. Watch.. this.. space. Karma Riot are a 4 piece Alternative Rock outfit, incorporating many aspects of Heavy Rock into their material. They construct music, created with a pop aesthetic. The music is a juxtaposition of a light and dark tonal spectrum, filled with a melodic sensibility and an emphasis on broad powerful chorus structure with deftly crafted rhythms and catchy hooks. Each member brings skill and ability, from polyrhythmic beats through to harmonic phrasing/pinching and bass chording, all of which along with the well defined lyrics create a cohesive whole and allow the material to be admired not just for the popular element but also musically for it's direction and vision and reaches through to the live performance which makes a Karma Riot gig an unmissable and exciting act to watch.
