Daniel strikes a chord with Iggy

BY JOCELYN REIN

A music career may be on the cards for Daniel Tate after getting the chance to play face to face with the godfather of punk.

From his Onehunga basement, filled with a film and production crew, Daniel played his part as one of eight band members laying down Iggy Pop’s classic track The Passenger last Friday.

Each of the musicians recorded from their homes around the country and were all linked to Iggy’s studio in Miami where he recorded the vocals.

It’s an impressive achievement for any musician to play with the shirtless legend.

"It’s definitely a lot more interesting when I Google my name now," says Daniel.

The stunt was organised by telecommunication company Orcon as a promotion for its next generation broadband.

Daniel, who played bass on the track, was chosen out of more than 200 musicians around the country who sent in video auditions of their versions of The Passenger.

"I just thought why not give it a go," says Daniel.

He says he was surprised Iggy liked his version of the song, which just stuck to a simple bassline.

"There were a lot of people who were probably better players than me," he says.

"But I don’t think that’s what he was after."

The band members had about 20 minutes to chat to Iggy before the eight-hour recording session began.

"He’s a good guy. He was really helpful and gave us some good advice," says Daniel.

The self-taught bassist is four months away from becoming a qualified electrician but says he hopes playing with the legendary artist will open doors for his music in the future.

"I’d love to make my living out of music," he says.

Friday’s recording session was streamed live on social networking site Facebook throughout the afternoon and the finished track is now being turned into a television ad for Orcon.

Orcon chief executive Scott Bartlett says he’s amazed at the quality and number of musicians who auditioned for the band.

"Iggy obviously has huge pulling power in the global music community," he says.

"It was a pretty tough job screening them down to eight but with Iggy’s help I think we have unearthed some awesome talent."

- © Fairfax NZ News