The Leers: Matt Bidois, James Kippenberger, Kiki Rockwell, Jack Furniss and Jacob Buchan. Photo / Supplied
The Leers: Matt Bidois, James Kippenberger, Kiki Rockwell, Jack Furniss and Jacob Buchan. Photo / Supplied
Matt Bidois says singing is something you can learn to be good at.
He's a "practice makes progress" kind of man - and he should know.
Bidois is one-fifth of the Mount Maunganui-originated band The Leers and is also the lead vocalist - but it's a role he said hefell into as the only bandmate who hadn't already established some level of skill with an instrument.
He said he and fellow founding members - James Kippenberger, Jack Furniss and Jacob Buchan - grew up together, with all but home-schooled Furniss going through their school years together, beginning at Ōmanu Primary School and ending at Mount Maunganui College.
They were bright-eyed teenagers watching others around them - including L.A.B. lead vocalist Joel Shadbolt and fellow Kiwi musician Tom Young, who is part of the band Leisure, perform and they wanted to do the same.
"I remember Joel playing guitar when he was 13 or 14," Bidois said.
"We remember watching them enter competitions and play some really cool shows."
Once the group of friends decided which instrument each would play, Bidois said they just started "jamming together".
"We were all like 13, 14 ... fourth form, maybe fifth form, that's when we started jamming together as a group."
Bidois became the lead vocalist. He said he never took singing lessons but practised as much as he could and while he would not consider himself "technically good", he hoped he was a decent singer today.
"There was no one else that wanted to do it."
He said people assume being able to sing is something you are born able to do but believes he is proof the belief "you either have it or you don't" is untrue.
"It's so not the case.
"One of our parents has a video of or first talent quest show. It's so bad, it just goes to show."
They moved away to Auckland after secondary school, with Buchan and Furniss returning to the Mount about six years later, setting up their own separate businesses. Bidois and James are still based in Auckland, working full time with hopes of returning to the Bay in the near future.
"It's been quite cool because the friendship element has really helped us out a lot."
Fast forward to today, they're now 28 and have recently got over the nerves of playing to their biggest crowd yet when they opened for Bay of Plenty band L.A.B at their sold-out show at Spark Arena earlier this year. Before playing for that crowd of about 5000 people, the largest gathering The Leers had performed in front of was about 800 people.
He said that experience opened their eyes to the possibility of taking their music even further.
"It's helped us out a lot."
Last month, L.A.B, led vocally by fellow Mount College alumnus Joel Shadbolt, announced The Leers would be joining them in concert again, this time performing at Auckland's Mount Smart Stadium next March.
Bidois said they were excited about the possibility of performing for an even bigger crowd but believed their delivery was the same as if they would be performing to a crowd of their normal size of about 200-300 people. The only difference between the stadium show and the upcoming arena show would be that they won't be as nervous about playing in front of such a big crowd.
About seven weeks ago, the four-man band welcomed a new addition - Piha-based artist Kiki Rockwell, who Bidois said had slotted in seamlessly.
Bidois said The Leers - a name that stuck simply because they liked it - try to get together about twice a month, juggling work, distance and travel with their band commitments.
The Leers: James Kippenberger, Matt Bidois, Kiki Rockwell, Jacob Buchan and Jack Furniss. Photo / Supplied
Bidois said playing music full time would be the goal, and seeing what Shadbolt and Young had achieved gave him and his bandmates hope they could still achieve that.
"They're both amazing talent.
"The dream would be just to free ourselves up.
"Maybe it's our time next."
Next up for The Leers is a hometown gig on Friday,
performing at Mount Maunganui's Astrolabe Brew Bar. They're looking forward to their first time back on stage locally since before lockdown.
