A quick word with... with Renee Brennan of Tadpole

By GRAHAM REID

Tadpole's debut album, The Buddhafinger, entered the charts at No 2 a month ago. They play an all-ages gig at the Mandalay tonight with all-girl punks Foamy Ed and Wash from Tauranga, kicking off a month-long national tour. So Renee, new star and nice person ...

Where were you when you heard about your chart entry?

I was driving and a friend rang to congratulate me. We weren't supposed to know. The record company wanted to surprise us. But it was my birthday and someone rang to congratulate me on that — and going to No 2.

Good birthday present. How old are you?

I turned 26 — and we went gold on the same day. It was a good day.

And night, I imagine. Where did you celebrate?

We went to Tanuki's Cave, the Japanese place on Queen St next to the Classic Comedy Bar. The whole band went and the record company bought some drinks.

How soon before you see any money?

The cut-off figure from when we start making any money will be when we sell about 25,000. So far we've sold about 13,000, so we're getting there. The tour will hopefully help.

Are you famous? Signing autographs in the street?

It has happened and is happening more frequently. I quite enjoy it. Some people are nervous but some are just, "Hey man, really like your music."

Are they the kind of people you had in mind when you made the album?

I don't know that we had a market in mind. I'm just grateful if anyone likes it. But it's been fantastic, a really broad section of people have liked it. Some of my mother's friends have bought it and said they've enjoyed it. I hadn't expected that.

On the album you thank, among others, Becks. Is that a favourite tipple?

No! That's a girlfriend, Rebecca. So no, I'm not an alcoholic.

Why The Buddhafinger?

It's a sample off one of our songs that our DJ found. It's an old line from a kung fu movie which talks about using the Buddha finger accurately to win. We thought that was appropriate for the band's mental attitude to what we were doing.

And why Tadpole?

Committee decision, I'm afraid. No one was entirely happy with the choice but it was the name we all hated the least. Some were ridiculous names involving cakes for some reason. We were also wandering around looking at street signs. We were going to call ourselves Shortland Street at one stage. That was when we were getting really silly.