Former Whanganui man James Stuteley one half of Carb on Carb

Nicole Gaffney and James Stuteley are pictured at a Waikato service station with their band's touring car. Photo / Supplied

A fledgling music career is taking former Whanganui man James Stuteley off on a tour of Australia this week.

Stuteley, one half of the band Carb on Carb, got interested in music when his sister Stephanie played in bands around Whanganui.

At Whanganui High School there were musical friends and supportive teachers and he entered the annual Smokefree Rockquest four times.

His first instrument was the guitar, but he now plays drums in Carb on Carb while partner Nicole Gaffney plays guitar and sings.

"It's been good changing and learning a new instrument. It means that I get to let loose behind the drums a bit," he said.

He and Gaffney formed Carb on Carb in Wellington in 2012. Stuteley is a vegetarian and the name relates to food they like to eat — "like potatoes on pasta".

The two soon moved to Auckland and they have released two albums — Carb on Carb, with their second album For Ages released in May. Both are on the Australian Black Wire Records label.

The band has reached number 11 on the New Zealand artists music chart and toured New Zealand, Australia, the United States, China and southeast Asia.

This week they head for shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra, and after that they play at The Others Way festival in Auckland.

Australia is one of their favourite countries to perform in — "Australia has been really good to us; we get good audiences and do really well," Stuteley said.

Their most popular single is It's Been A Rough Year, which relates to what they and their friends went through in 2016.

Stuteley is the band's manager, searching out performance opportunities, getting recommendations and responding to invitations.

Their musical style was first labelled indie rock, but they call it emo — emotional rock music. It comes naturally to Stuteley.

"I used to play less emotional music, but I have found emotional music is more satisfying. It's more than nice background and a happy-sounding song. There's more to connect to."

He and Gaffney write their songs together, and Gaffney also leads Girls Rock Aotearoa, a week-long musical camp for young people.

The pair make enough money from their music for a part-time income but have to find work between tours. They would like to make a fulltime living from their music, but Stuteley said "only on our own terms".

"We're pretty happy doing it as a part-time thing."