Work ethic along for ride on feelers tour

By MIKE HOULAHAN

Summer holidays work wonders for most people, and the feelers are no different.

The band - who took three years following up their multi-platinum-selling debut album Supersystem with 2001's Communicate - have just released album three, Playground Battle, a relative blizzard of activity for the three-piece.

Actually, drummer Hamish Gee laughs, it wasn't like they were given a rev-up by an impatient record company or that they switched on the musical afterburners. Rather, they went on holiday.

Much of Playground Battle was written during the band's summer tour last year. As they played beach resorts around the country, the feelers took in their luggage determination and a newfound work ethic.

"Every day we made an effort to put something together at soundcheck," Gee says.

"If we had any spare time we'd bring up the latest ideas we had, and if anything came together we'd play it that night during the set. If it went well and the crowd enjoyed it, it was always a possibility it might end up on album three."

One of the reasons the feelers - Gee, bassist Matt Thomas and guitarist-vocalist James Reid - spent so long recording the difficult second album was the sheer weight of touring they undertook. Supersystem's unprecedented sales figures saw the band trek around New Zealand several times, then attempt to replicate that success across the Tasman and further afield.

By comparison to Supersystem, the numbers for Communicate - while good for a New Zealand record - were disappointing. The band were mystified and slightly bewildered, Gee says, but soon began to understand they were one of the first local acts to fall foul of a phenomenon which was not an issue when they first topped the charts. "When we released Supersystem not every kid had a computer with a CD burner," Gee says.

"I think the rule of thumb in the industry these days is that if you sell 20,000 copies of a record in this country there are probably 60,000 copies of the album out there, so many people are burning CDs these days, which is a worry.

"We did wonder what was going on [because of the sales numbers] but when we toured Communicate we had much larger crowds than we did touring Supersystem, which had sold around three times as much. I got the sense then more people had been exposed to the music than had actually gone out and paid for it."

Local bands make the bulk of their income from live concerts rather than record sales, so from that perspective the more people who hear the band and go see a show so much the better, Gee says.

However, he stresses there is another side to every story.

"There is a downside for the artist - if the record companies are losing out there's less money to invest in bands, whether it be bands already signed or bands hoping to be signed."

The band did more touring than ever after releasing Communicate ... but this time were always aware they had to write Playground Battle.

"We spent a lot of time touring here and overseas and promoting the first album, and it never occurred to us we had to eventually start writing the second album," Gee confesses.

"Three years later we thought 'Ooh, hang on, we'd better sit down and start working something out,' so went bush with some acoustic guitars and tried to work some songs out.

"For this record we decided to keep distancing ourselves from distractions, rather than boozing it up and enjoying the holiday. It's easier now as well: it doesn't feel like we're making ourselves work harder but as time goes by it becomes part of normality.

"We've been together for over 10 years now and I think we're all on the same road with the same sort of direction in mind. There's less tension, and the job gets done a lot faster."

With greater focus comes other benefits, Gee says. Recording Playground Battle only took 28 days - as opposed to the six months it took to craft Supersystem, for example. Working with producer Greg Haver (Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers) the band thrashed their way through arguably their rockiest album to date.

As befits an album comprising songs which were inspired moments polished in front of a generally inebriated and highly demanding audience, the songs on Playground Battle work hard at getting the listener's attention as quickly as possible and not letting go.

"We didn't go into the studio to experiment, we had the songs organised and arranged before we went in," Gee says.

"Studios aren't cheap places, and spending in excess of $1000 a day to have debates about what you're going to do and experimenting with whistles and bells and see what happens isn't really cost effective."

Performance

* Who: feelers with Elemeno P, Steriogram

* What: Beach Crazy tour

* When: Roadhouse Papakura tonight; Glenfield Tavern tomorrow, Empire Tavern Auckland city Monday; various dates to follow


- NZPA