Back from a terrible abyss

Nick Harte

It is a cruel fact of life that beautiful music often comes from ugly experiences. Such is the case for the Shocking Pinks' Nick Harte, whose second album Mathematical Warfare was spawned during "the worst year of my life".

"There was a lot of drug abuse," says the Christchurch musician, whose T-shirt appropriately reads 'Fast and Loose'.

"I had about 20 relationships or something stupid. I just ended up in therapy writing songs about it. It helped me through things. It is kind of an embarrassing album to listen to for me."

The ex-Brunettes drummer first came to attention for his solo debut album, Dance the Dance Electric. The album was praised both locally and internationally, with British music 'zine Pitchfork calling Harte's combination of grisly guitar noise and funky electro-pop "tragically hip".

On Mathematical Warfare he still dabbles in weird electronic soundscapes but overall it's a dirtier, grungier affair. It represents a period in his life when he was almost shipped off to a mental hospital following a drug overdose.

"When I was in the Brunettes we went to London for three months and when I was there I did a lot of cocaine and ecstasy. I think I screwed my body up in quite a big way. We were part of that whole NME clique-y scene which I didn't enjoy at all, I just found it really fake. So to escape it I used these sort of escapist drugs.

"When I came back from London I knew I was about to go crazy and I just couldn't handle the instability anymore and I was going to do some stupid stuff. I had to break up with the person I was with. I'd been with them for three years and it was just really awful but I just didn't want to drag her through all this stuff."

The result is a moody collection of "love songs", (Emily, Girls, Alice, Lucy), rough and ready disco (Broken Lens, I Want Ice, Cutout) venomous indie rock (Victims,) and trippy mood pieces (Rocquaril). All the songs showcase his recording expertise, which revolve around his uniquely drum-heavy style.

His first band was at age 10 when he and childhood buddy Paul Reid (Rubicon, Shortland Street) would play Cure covers and write their own songs. But when he joined the Brunettes as drummer he realised he preferred to work on his own.

The Shocking Pinks started as an imaginary band so he could write songs. Then he decided to make it real, recruiting musician mates so they could play gigs.

"The other line-ups haven't worked because some of them have come in thinking it's going to be the main thing but I don't think they related to the songwriting because it's more personal. I think they all took it really, really seriously because they'd never played in any bands before. They didn't really understand."

Several line-up changes later and the Shocking Pinks is still fundamentally Harte's baby - he has a solo contract with Flying Nun - but he says his new live band are understanding of his "obsessive" song-writing method and desire for creative autonomy.

By the time he gets into the studio he has the songs mapped out in his head.

A jazz and classical music buff, he spent hours teaching himself to play drums, guitar, violin, saxophone - basically, anything he could get his hands on. Most of this album was recorded in classic Flying Nun style, on a four-track in his bedroom.

"My parents broke up when I was 2 and my mother would spend a lot of time with men I didn't like so I'd lock myself in my room and play guitar and drums. I realised very early on I wanted to learn every instrument I could record on my own."

Some of his stranger musical experiments have included "strumming" a glockenspiel with a drumstick, hitting household objects and slapping his ex-girlfriend's stomach.

On Mathematical Warfare he has also expanded his vocal range. There are moments on the album, he says, where he sings so high it sounds like a violin or synth sample.

As for the other side of his experimental personality, Harte says he's been off the drugs for six months.

"I'm a lot healthier. I'm really good.

"If I had to write a book about my last year and be really brutally honest then each song is like a page."

Performance

* Who: The Shocking Pinks

* Playing: A Low Hum tour to promote new album Mathematical Warfare

* Where and when: Edens Bar, Auckland, tomorrow, Leigh Sawmill cafe, Sunday