In control and thrilled with the response

Andrew Penman says he threw his toys after his band Salmonella Dub finished their most recent album, but now he reckons it is one of their best releases to date – and they're out to reinforce that with a one-off show in Nelson tomorrow.

Feedback has been "amazing" for Freak Controller, the band's seventh studio album, which was released in November last year, says Penman, the band's frontman and self-described "freak controller".

"I personally had a toy-throwing episode after finishing the album, as you do, because it's such an involved creative process," he admits, but "now that the emotional attachment of what I thought was going to be the final product has dissipated, I actually think it's probably one of our better albums. Content-wise, it's up there."

Testament to that presented itself at a gig last weekend, when the band did a couple of DJ shows on Waiheke Island.

"We had old fellas – when I say old, older than me, probably in their 60s – waving their fists into the air to drum 'n' bass tracks like Walk Into Your Mind, and we had young girls mouthing the words to Dub Shakes, so obviously people have bought it and listened to it."

The involvement of guest artists on the album made it better, he says. The work between them and the band was on a fully collaborative level, rather than simply chucking a vocal into a track. Whirimako Black, Paddy Free, Ian McAllister, Guy Benfield, Mana Manuu, Antsmif, Metua Manuu Tangiiataua, Mana Retimana, Michelle Harrison and Paul Buchanan (aka the Mighty Asterix) gathered at the band's Kaikoura-based Hapuku studios and workshopped ideas.

Tomorrow night, Salmonella Dub will bring the Mighty Asterix and MC Mana to Nelson's Phat Club to test a new set for the Homegrown Festival in Wellington this weekend. The gig starts at 10pm; tickets $27 from Everyman.

- © Fairfax NZ News