Futurians (band)

The Futurians

The Futurians at Lines of Flight, Port Chalmers, 2011, by Sheridan Dickson.
Background information
Origin Dunedin, New Zealand
Genres noise rock, sci-fi punk
Years active 2001–present
Labels Heavy Space Records
Associated acts It Hurts, Uniform, Murdabike, Wolfskull
Website thefuturianz.blogspot.co.nz
Members Ducklingmonster, CJA the Pirate, ISO-12, Rocko Mandroid
Past members Kraus

The Futurians are a long-running noise rock band from New Zealand.[1] Foxy Digitalis magazine called them the "best punk band on the fucken planet."[2]

Style

They have a distinctive retro-futuristic visual style. Their Power / Reactor single was released inside a 16-page full colour book of artworks and collages by the band, with a DVD compiling music videos from 2003 to 2013.[3]

Their music has been described as drawing influence from digital rock, funk, minimalism, no wave, new wave, Brian Wilson, krautrock, noise music, disco, lo-fi, art rock, punk rock, dirges, riot grrrl, doom rock, and drone rock. Both musically and lyrically, the band's songs contain retro-futuristic sci-fi-related themes. They have been called "torn-down semi-punk skiffle", "the sound of gay robots disco dancing and crushing everything underfoot", taser-war stomp, overamped, "moto-beat wiggy-fuzz-workout", "as raw as a skinned knee", sounding "like a banshee funeral for Brian Wilson’s cyborg clone", "armed with nuclear weapons of sonic dust", pure mayhem, "the remnants of space debris raining down on the green hills of New Zealand", a "lo-fi art rock nightmare", and "bent punk wizardry".[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Their music is often recorded in low fidelity. One reviewer said, "the only way you'd achieve less fidelity is if you converted to punch-card and faxed to yourself."[12]

Formation and membership

Ducklingmonster (Beth Dawson) and CJA the Pirate (Clayton Noone) were playing in Dunedin as BC. In 2001, drummer Pat Kraus joined and named them the Futurians.[13][14] He left after recording their first album, and ISO-12 (Jason Aldridge) and Rocko Mandroid (Sean Norling) were recruited soon afterwards on synth and drums respectively. Stefan Neville of Pumice was later an interim member, and Antony Milton played a space-y game onstage once.[7]

Festivals

They have played at many New Zealand festivals; including Lines of Flight, Meatwaters, the Dunedin Fringe Festival, Rising Tides Festival, Deathstar Disco XXXIII, and Swallow Your Words.[15][16][17][18]

Covers

The Futurians have covered the Rolling Stones, Joy Division, Human Instinct, Grace Jones, Boney M., Robots in Disguise, the Troggs, the Timelords, Hasil Adkins, Billy Joel, Iggy Pop, Tivol and Gary Glitter.[19][20]

Other activities

Rocko Mandroid

Rocko Mandroid has played in Near Death Experience, Elixir in Flux, Dickthephone, Invisible Axe, Rampage, Double Date, Good Bugs Bad Bugs and Wolfskull.[21] He currently records and performs under the name Voodoo Gangster and manages Radio One.[22] Mandroid was responsible for curating and producing the six Urban Serpent magazine and music compilation releases between 1999 and 2003. He is one of the co-founders of the Lttl Paisly label in Dunedin, which specialises in handcrafted small run music releases, fashion creation, graphic design and screen printing. He is the founder of the Ōtepoti Music blog, which archives and promotes music made in Dunedin, New Zealand.[23]

Ducklingmonster

Ducklingmonster is a DJ, cartoonist, fashion designer, curator, visual artist, zine maker, cultural engineer, video artist, fine artist, and radio show host.[9][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] She performs music solo with beats, lights, vocals, good manners and home-made electronics from the Musical Electronics Library.[35][36][37] Her solo shows have been called authoritative, with precise and fearless dancing.[38] As part of the "No Venues" concept, Ducklingmonster shows are often staged in unconventional spaces such as public parks, back yards and church stoops. This was born of a frustration of having a stage create a barrier between the performer and the audience, and barriers encountered between art practice and commercial and institutional venues. Her Society for Cutting Up Venues Manifesto outlines the philosophy behind the No Venues concept.[39][40][41] She is a core member of the Uniform Collective, a central Auckland women's art collective that organises art shows, parties, and a magazine. The collective aims to enable more community interaction and is interested in ideas of place, community and feminism in their neighbourhood.[40][42]

Ducklingmonster also plays in File Folder and the Maltese Falcons and has played in It Hurts, Bugz on Film, Uniform, Octopus, the Ghastlies, Rise of the City Cat Cult, Panda Battle Battle Panda, LD50, the Shutups, Static, Zombie!Fuck?, 5 Satans, Richard and the Hadlees, Vulcan Steel, the Windups, the Murdering Monsters, and Evidence X.[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]

CJA

CJA has played in Armpit, Armice Pumb Pit, Vulcan Steel, International Tall Dwarfs, Freejoas, Claypipe, Spacewolf 2, Horsehead Nebula, the Strange Girls, Sundowner, Naked Sailors, Wolfskull, Jorts, Behemothaur, je serai une tombe, Invisible Axe, Alien Space Wreck, and the Ideal Gus.[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] He has recorded a large number of solo albums and runs the Heavy Space Records, Little Robots Rule, Looking for Love and Root Don Lonie for Cash record labels.[62] He is also a comic artist and created the City of Tales series with Stefan Neville.[63][64][65] CJA DJs on Radio One on his weekly show, Very Heavy, Very Heavy.[66]

ISO12

ISO12 mainly plays Korg MS-20 in futurianz - other bands past and present include Mink, Murderbike, Wolfskull, Freejoas, Vulcan Steel, Mental Health Triangle, Laser Cooling, and Murdabike; and also performs freestyle hiphop.[67][68][69] He helps run the STeeP STReeT fashion label.[70]

Recordings

Albums

Singles and EPs

Cassettes

Compilation appearances

References

  1. ↑ Valentine, Sam (16 March 2013). "Lines of Flight ready to take off". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Rose, Brad. "Late Round Gems #2". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Currently Available". PseudoArcana. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Valentine, Sam (2 March 2013). "Sound shell hooks a whole school". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Mosurak, Doug. "Still Single". Dusted. 3 (11). Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Feltham, Henry (11 April 2011). "They are a pop band". Critic. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 "the futurians". the big city. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  8. ↑ Rose, Brad. "The Futurians "Faktory!"". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  9. 1 2 Middleton, Matt. "why the futurians rule the world". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  10. ↑ Rose, Brad. "The Futurians "Pimp My Tardis"". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  11. ↑ Rose, Brad. "cja & the silverbullets "overgrow"". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  12. 1 2 Clover, Stephen. "Four quickies for Root Don Lonie For Cash". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "BC TRAMWAY TO THE RISE". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  14. ↑ Kraus. "About Kraus". Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Flights Of Fancy Blur Musical Lines At Dunedin Fringe". Insiders Dunedin. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Meatwaters3: Reappears At Happy". Scoop. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "The Rising Tides Experimental Music Festival Announced". Under The Radar. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Deathstar Disco XXXIII". Under The Radar. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Play the Breathtaking Sounds of Tivol". Soft Abuse. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Robots in disguise Futurians.". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Sean Norling Discography". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  22. ↑ "Sean Norling". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  23. ↑ "Ōtepoti Music". Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  24. ↑ Johnson, Amber. "My Top 5: Waterfalls". Wireless. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  25. ↑ Taylor, Imogen (2016). "Three Words". Art New Zealand (158): 117–119.
  26. ↑ "Dailies launch w/ It Hurts, Ed Gains, Biscuits, Ralph and Spunks". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  27. ↑ "AURA! EMPORIUM". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  28. ↑ "AFM - Audio Foundation Radio 88.3FM". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  29. ↑ "Ryoji Ikeda test pattern (live set)". Auckland Triennial. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  30. ↑ "Hear This Zine!!". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  31. ↑ Russell, Bruce (editor) (2012). Erewhon Calling: Experimental Sound in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Audio Foundation. pp. 100–101. ISBN 978-0-473-21766-2.
  32. ↑ Dass, Kiran. "While most of the people involved seem undoubtedly brainy we sadly never get to find out if they are good looking". Mediascum. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  33. ↑ Adams, Pip (14 March 2016). "Book review with Pip Adam". RNZ National. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  34. ↑ "Video: Purple Pilgrims - Into Night (Brush My Hair, While I Cry)". Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  35. ↑ "MELtastic Auckland Artists". Space Surveillance Network (July 2014): 26. July 2014.
  36. ↑ "Pink Desert". Ngā Taonga. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  37. ↑ Fenton, Rachel. "in profile: ducklingmonster". Three Words. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  38. ↑ Savage, Maryann. "[review] Ducklingmonster: MY PEDALS KISS ME DEADLY (WHAT I'M THINKING WHILE PLAYING)". comicsNZ. Auckland Libraries. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  39. ↑ Ducklingmonster (24 October 2013). "The Society for Cutting Up Venues Manifesto". Soundbleed. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  40. 1 2 Burke, Sarah (2 June 2015). "Local women's group launch new art exhibition on Karangahape Rd". Te Waha Nui. Auckland University of Technology. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  41. ↑ "Artspace Studio Residencies". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  42. ↑ "UNIFORM". Uniform Collective. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  43. ↑ "The Ghastlies". Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  44. ↑ Chirnside, Angeline. "Everything happened (part II): It Hurts". Clean Teeth Recordings. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  45. ↑ "Cartoon, Brian Crook's Black Mox, SF, Octopus, LA Lakers". Stuff. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  46. ↑ "It Hurts Washed Up - YouTube". Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  47. ↑ unknown, Jason. "NZ's Kraus & Duckling Monster are The Maltese Falcons". Free Music Archive. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  48. ↑ "Fancy New Band (Archive) 5 Satans". bfm. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  49. ↑ "Panda Battle Battle Panda". Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  50. ↑ "The Maltese Falcons". Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  51. ↑ "Ben Spiers, RST, Chris O Connor and It Hurts". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  52. ↑ "The Murdering Monsters". Free Music Archive. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  53. ↑ "Introducing File Folder". Music 101. Radio New Zealand. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  54. ↑ "Horsehead Nebula". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  55. ↑ "cja". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  56. ↑ "ARMICE PUMB PIT - Scud 10" lathe cut New Zealand (CJA/Armpit)". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  57. ↑ "Clayton Noone". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  58. ↑ "cja the pirate". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  59. ↑ "CJA". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  60. ↑ "GROUPER (Portland), PUMICE, CJA/SMOKEHOUSE - Chicks Hotel - DUNEDIN". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  61. ↑ "Naked Sailors". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  62. ↑ Noone, Clayton. "root break, new labels, bandcamp etc...". root don lonie for cash. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  63. ↑ "The Oatschive". Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  64. ↑ "What The Fuck Is A Free Radical?". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  65. ↑ "Clayton Noone". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  66. ↑ "Very Heavy, Very Heavy". Radio One. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  67. ↑ "WOLFSKULL". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  68. ↑ "Full Moon Drum Machine Circle". Under the Radar. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  69. ↑ "#3 MURDABIKE - MURDA4LIVE 7" lathe record". Heavy Space Records. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  70. ↑ McKinlay, Tom. "The art of the textile". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  71. ↑ "The Futurians". Soft Abuse. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

External links

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