Ekko Park band from left, Nick Douch (drums), Joe Walsh (vocals/guitar), Alex Hargreaves (guitar/vocals) and Bryan Bell (bass/vocals). Photo / Supplied
Te Awamutu's main street will be buzzing when Kiwi musician Jordan Luck brings his band to town for the first time for a gig at Peach and Porker this month.
The Jordan Luck Band will be performing at the bar on Saturday, February 23, accompanied by Auckland-based rock band, Ekko Park.
It will be a special gig for Ekko Park drummer Nick Douch, 29, born and raised in Te Awamutu.
Nick grew up on a farm in Te Māwhai, the youngest of six children.
He fell in love with music at five when he went to see country music singer Slim Dusty in concert with his parents Geoff and Geraldine at Founders Theatre in Hamilton.
As a child Nick was hugely inspired by Crowded House, whose founding members included Te Awamutu's Neil Finn.
"I got right into drumming through Crowded House and I haven't stopped drumming since," Nick says.
He went to St Patrick's Catholic School and Te Awamutu College, going on to play in the school's concert and jazz bands under teachers George Brooks and Bob Hollinshead.
After school Nick completed a Bachelor of Media Arts majoring in commercial music at Wintec.
The last time Nick played in Te Awamutu was with former band Eqwanox about nine years ago.
He is excited to play to a home crowd and hopes to see a few familiar faces in the audience.
The Jordan Luck Band and Ekko Park have just finished a 15-show tour, and Te Awamutu is the last stop.
"We got invited to play at Peach and Porker, so we checked out the venue and thought it was pretty cool, so we thought, why not?"
The two bands share musicians, with two members of The Jordan Luck Band — Joe Walsh and Bryan Bell — also playing in Ekko Park.
"We tour together all the time because it just makes a lot of sense," Nick says.
Nick now lives in Auckland where he works as a drum teacher at Eliette's Music Academy, teaching about 120 students.
"I'm never not playing music," Nick says.
"I play most weekends — either with my band, filling in for other bands or helping out with the odd recording."
Nick says the gig in Te Awamutu will be an energetic and fun night out.
Ekko Park will play music from their two albums Tomorrow Tomorrow Today and Know Hope.
They'll also perform tunes from third album, which was written and recorded on Nick's parents' farm a year ago, and is due to come out this year.
Nick says The Jordan Luck band will put on an epic show.
Frontman Jordan Luck is widely known as the lead singer and songwriter of the New Zealand rock band The Exponents, whose song Victoria was recently voted as the eighth greatest New Zealand song of all time.
The live show at Peach and Porker will feature crowd favourites such as Why Does Love Do This To Me, I'll say Goodbye, and Sink like a Stone.
"The Jordan Luck set is epic. It's Kiwiana the whole way through," Nick says.
"The two bands are really on form and it will be a lot of fun."
Tickets from www.undertheradar.co.nz
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