Interview: The Golden Awesome - PSY FI ft. Micronism, BIRDPARTY & More

PSY FI is a phenomenally stacked one night multi-media event, "celebrating future-focused artists" at Massey University's Great Hall in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, happening this Saturday 9th May. Doubling as a book launch for author Lee Hana’s new post-punk collection Descendants, PSY FI's sonic component includes performances by Classic Record award-winning electronic artist Micronism, and the first live excursion this decade from Aotearoa shoegazers The Golden Awesome. Based between the capital and Ōtepoti Dunedin, Chris Cudby caught up with the much-loved group via the magic of email to find out what they've been up to...

PSY FI
Saturday 9th May - The Great Hall, Wellington
7pm-1am, with DJ Martyn Pepperell and video artists

Featuring...

Lee Hana - is a Pōneke writer with a new book of visionary science fiction, 'Descendants'

Erika Grant - is both sound explorer and one of Pōneke’s great musical collaborators, from Orchestra of Spheres to Cookie Brooklyn & The Crumbs

Tondo - the mesmerising duo of Gemma Thompson from Savages (UK) and Sam Sherry from A Dead Forest Index

Dream Chambers - is the otherworldly astral vehicle for beloved Aotearoa-American songwriter Jess Chambers

The Golden Awesome - a rare special appearance graces us with peerless legendary shoegaze

BIRDPARTY - electronic producer Emma Bernard of Ludus and William Barrett of black metal’s Heresiarch work up an ecstatic sci-fi club soundtrack

Micronism - Denver McCarthy’s incomparable Micronism project uses ambient techno to burst all boundaries in a transcendent flood

Charmort - Charlie Morton, bushwhacking surprising new trails through the nexus of bleeding-edge electronica

Tickets on sale HERE via UTR (free parking, licensed bar)

Chris Cudby: Welcome back The Golden Awesome! Is this show a one-off reunion? When was the last The Golden Awesome live show?

The Golden Awesome: Hi! Yeah, it’s been a while alright — our last shows were in 2019, at the Pyramid Club and at the Welcome to Nowhere festival. We never deliberately stopped playing, life just took some other turns — Stef moved to Dunedin, Matt moved into a cat motel, Jo went and had kids.

Who is in The Golden Awesome lineup for PSY FI? How did you come to be involved with this event?

It's still the four of us — Matt (bass), Justin (drums), Jo (gats) and Stef (vocals). The PSY FI people asked us if we'd be keen. We were. Emails were sent. Set lists were written. New kick pedals were purchased.

Your one album Autumn, which came out in 2011, has aged very gracefully. How does it feel to return to these songs fifteen years after it was released?

Thanks! It doesn’t feel that far removed, it’s more like we’re still piecing things back together after the big Covid disruptor, same with other projects too. The songs seem to have lasted the distance, thankfully.

Do you remember, what was the original impetus or 'mission statement' for getting The Golden Awesome started?

A pretty obvious one – listening to My Bloody Valentine together at late-night parties! It suddenly felt OK for us as musicians to dive into that kind of sound without feeling derivative, we’d absorbed it so much.

Who were the local acts you would play with at the time? Where were the good places to play?

We played a bunch at Mighty Mighty. A few times with Orchestra of Spheres and The All Seeing Hand. There were some festivals (CALH, Welcome to Nowhere, Newtown Festival), they were always fun.

Any favourite / standout The Golden Awesome shows or tours?

We had two really good Camp A Low Hum shows. And we did two mini-tours of the east and west coasts of the US — like a crowdsurfing-moshpit flat party in Davis / California, and playing with lovely local shoegazers Wild Honey in Baltimore.

Do you have any unreleased The Golden Awesome tunes up your sleeves?

We did start recording more songs as far back as 2012, and we’ve been listening to some of the demo mixes again recently… so watch this space!

What has everyone in the band been up to? I understand (maybe incorrectly) there might be a Top Gear 2 record from Stef at some point?

Jo and Matt have been playing in a party band called Hot Rugs, and Jo had a trio with Bill Direen and Mark Williams called Ferocious, plus a Cloudboy reunion a couple of years ago. Stef has been recording with VSS Club and making tunes for Jess Johnson and Simon Ward's psychedelic films. And yeah Top Gear 2 is nearly in the can...

How are you co-ordinating band practises?

Stef is down in Dunedin, so we're practising a bit without the vocals. We'll squeeze in one last run-through with everyone before the show.

Any contemporary local tunes / artists you've been enjoying?

Some of our friends in Wellington have been making really cool music in the last little while, check out BeachBalls, SL Reflex and Deaf Edge. There's a nice EP from a Dunedin band called Loa Loa that came out recently.
  

What can PSY FI attendees expect on the night?

Some loud + washy + dreamy songs played with enthusiasm in a huge hall.