San Diego band the Schizophonics bring blend of explosive rock’n’roll to Northland

Pat and Lety Beers from The Schizophonics are looking forward to playing in Whangarei and Kerikeri on March 19 and 20. Photo / Supplied

Rock’n’roll couple Pat and Lety Beers are bringing their special blend of lunacy to Northland as part of a nationwide tour of their band the Schizophonics.

The San Diego band, who also includes bass player Tommy Lambert Granger, play at OneOneSix in Whangārei on Sunday, March 19, along with local support band Neon Serpent.

They are also playing a free concert at the Plough and Feather in Kerikeri on Monday, March 20, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

The Schizophonics’ live performances have been described as “explosive” and “frenzied” thanks to guitarist and vocalist Pat Beers’ antics on stage.

Drummer Lety Beers said her husband ccould get pretty wild.

“I’ve just got to hold it down, I’ve never been a technical drummer and couldn’t be with the guitar going so wild.

“Every now and then he’ll fling himself off the stage, and I’ll wonder if he’ll get back up. But he’s pretty agile.”

The couple formed the band in San Diego in 2009, and have since played hundreds of shows around the globe.

They are returning to Aotearoa this month following a tour of Australia with Brisbane band The Unknowns.

Speaking from Melbourne, Lety said she and Pat were “really excited” about the New Zealand leg of the tour.

“We love exploring these countries we get to go to once every blue moon; our favourite thing is meeting up with friends again.

“We want to come back and hang out with John Baker [New Zealand music promoter] and all the people we’ve befriended.”

Schizophonics guitarist and vocalist Pat Beers gets wild on stage. Photo / Supplied

With influences like James Brown, Iggy Pop, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix and The Sonics, Lety describes their music “as if you put a bunch of our favourite artists in a blender”.

“We put James Brown and his performance and Little Richard and his energy ... it’s a little bit of all the stuff we think are good in a blender.”

The band have previously played in New Zealand in 2019, and again in 2020 when Covid-19 hit.

They are bringing this show here on the back of their new album, Hoof It, which was written during lockdown.

“It was a strange time, there were no shows, no tours ... I told Pat let’s use this time to write, it’s the first time we’re not having any tours to prep for which would take us away from writing.

“We’re both really happy with it.

“We’ve got a small group of friends who are brutally honest, and they’re the ones that’ll tell us whether we’ve had a s*** show or a good show.

“The feedback from them has been really good.”

The Whangārei concert kicks off with a performance by local band Neon Serpent from 6.45pm to 7.15pm.

Doors open at 6pm and The Schizophonics hit the stage from 7.30pm.

Tickets cost $27 and are available from undertheradar.co.nz