Shocking Pinks’ Dance the Dance Electric made an immediate impact on the New Zealand music scene on its release in 2004. The debut of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nick Harte, the album nodded to the sound of classic New Zealand bands such as The Clean and The Bats, as well as My Bloody Valentine's shoegaze sounds, and a budding dance-punk scene. Pitchfork gave it an 8.5 while most New Zealand musicans gave a thumbs up to a sound and energy that crossed over to a number of styles and genres.Dance the Dance Electric is getting a well-deserved re-issue in October through A Low Hum. This will be complemented by a collection of recordings by New Zealand artists including Zen Mantra, James Duncan, Juiceroof, Seth Frightening and I.E Crazy, Mount Pleasant, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Seth Africa, P.H.F, Instant Fantasy, Wormstar, Spring Break, Birdation, Leonard Charles and Secret Knives whose interpretation of “Every1” you can hear below.We also had quick chat with Shocking Pinks’ mastermind Nick Harte and A Low Hum’s Blink AKA Ian Jorgensen.Noisey: How do you feel about other people covering your songs? Are you worried what some may do?
Nick Harte: I'm not at all worried. I'd hope the contributors just do their own thing as I've heard a few tracks so far and it's really cool observing the radically different approaches people have all taken. I've always thought the most interesting covers are those that are, stylistically, true departures from the original versions. In fact, I tried to approach my own cover of Dennis Wilson's "Forever" (featured on the forthcoming Dance the Dance Electric bonus material digital release) in a similar way. You've been playing shows around New Zealand over the last year or so, but a world tour is something new. How many of these places have you been to before?
China and Belgium will be totally foreign to me though certain destinations in France, the US and parts of Germany will also be a first. It will truly be an epic tour for us. I'm anticipating chilling in China, playing Le Marquis De Sade in Rennes, but mostly making time to check out the Cinematheque in Paris (amongst visiting all the cool bookstores on my list). Blink how did you go about choosing the artists to contribute covers?
Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgensen: From a logistical matter-of-fact record label perspective I knew I would need to just work with artists whom I knew worked quickly, weren’t precious and could record themselves. This isn’t a project you want an artist who records 200 tracks on a song and then spends five months mixing. From a curatorial aspect, I then looked to dissect the elements of what makes a Shocking Pinks song and find artists who would really draw out and highlight particular sentiments. I also wanted a nice mix of contemporaries along with younger acts who grew up with the album as an influence. It was important also to ensure there was a decent representation of artists from Christchurch, where the original album was birthed.Whereas in almost all cases, I just let artists choose which song they wanted to cover, which means several songs are doubled up and some are left out… as soon as I started thinking about this project I really wanted to hear Claire (Dear Time’s Waste/I.E Crazy) and Sean (Seth Frightening) doing ‘Nostalgia’ together. I was so chuffed they were keen, and the resulting track is even better than I could have hoped.
The covers album will be available late Oct 2015.
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Nick Harte: I'm not at all worried. I'd hope the contributors just do their own thing as I've heard a few tracks so far and it's really cool observing the radically different approaches people have all taken. I've always thought the most interesting covers are those that are, stylistically, true departures from the original versions. In fact, I tried to approach my own cover of Dennis Wilson's "Forever" (featured on the forthcoming Dance the Dance Electric bonus material digital release) in a similar way. You've been playing shows around New Zealand over the last year or so, but a world tour is something new. How many of these places have you been to before?
China and Belgium will be totally foreign to me though certain destinations in France, the US and parts of Germany will also be a first. It will truly be an epic tour for us. I'm anticipating chilling in China, playing Le Marquis De Sade in Rennes, but mostly making time to check out the Cinematheque in Paris (amongst visiting all the cool bookstores on my list). Blink how did you go about choosing the artists to contribute covers?
Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgensen: From a logistical matter-of-fact record label perspective I knew I would need to just work with artists whom I knew worked quickly, weren’t precious and could record themselves. This isn’t a project you want an artist who records 200 tracks on a song and then spends five months mixing. From a curatorial aspect, I then looked to dissect the elements of what makes a Shocking Pinks song and find artists who would really draw out and highlight particular sentiments. I also wanted a nice mix of contemporaries along with younger acts who grew up with the album as an influence. It was important also to ensure there was a decent representation of artists from Christchurch, where the original album was birthed.Whereas in almost all cases, I just let artists choose which song they wanted to cover, which means several songs are doubled up and some are left out… as soon as I started thinking about this project I really wanted to hear Claire (Dear Time’s Waste/I.E Crazy) and Sean (Seth Frightening) doing ‘Nostalgia’ together. I was so chuffed they were keen, and the resulting track is even better than I could have hoped.
‘Dance the Dance Electric’ is available Oct 5.
The covers album will be available late Oct 2015.