City band to share stage with reggae legends

MAGNIFICENT EIGHT: Rhythmonyx members (from left) John Pfeifer, Nick Garraway, Richard Hogan, Jonno Leask, Tom Smythe, Rhys White, Rumi Koda and Hemi Pickett.

Among the Invercargill exodus to Queenstown next week for the two Original Wailers shows will be eight southerners out to make their own mark on the hardcore reggae crowd.

Invercargill eight-piece hip hop-dub-funk groove machine the Rhythmonyx have scored a premier support gig backing the giants of reggae in the Queenstown Memorial Hall on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The city band, directly descended from seminal southern dub lineup Purity Rising, are no strangers to sharing the stage with the biggest headline Kiwi acts, but drummer Richard Hogan and soundman-FX operator Tom Smythe admit this gig is up another level.

"With Purity we played with some big New Zealand names but this is the first time as a musician I've played with an international act," Hogan says. "I've DJed with a few international DJs but this is definitely my first international experience in a band sense."

"You don't get much bigger in reggae, really," adds Smythe.

Rhythmonyx picked up the Wailers support through their contact with promoter Johnno Stapleton at Queenstown's Revolver venue, where they've played probably half a dozen times.

"Purity Rising used to play at his club quite a bit and since Rhythmonyx have been getting it together we've been going up and playing a few times," says Hogan. "So he knows what we can do. He's seen our set build from the early stages to what it is now."

Hogan and Smythe are only a little apprehensive about the mesh of musical styles between the illustrious headline act and their own band. Bob Marley and the Wailers have sold more than 250 million albums in the past four decades. The Wailers are true giants of reggae, featuring the Barrett brothers, Carlton and Aston, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson, who toured and recorded with Marley until his death in 1981.

There are two bands touring the globe with a rightful claim to the Wailers name. The first Wailers lineup includes Marley's legendary bass player Aston "Family Man" Barrett.

That's a different band from the lineup playing in Queenstown, the Original Wailers, who were formed last year by Marley's lead guitarists Marvin and Anderson. They banded together with a group of renowned reggae session men. On their New Zealand tour the Original Wailers will be performing Marley's classic album Exodus, which was rated by Time Magazine as the album of the 20th century, with Marvin singing Marley's lead vocal parts.

Hogan says the Rhythmonyx have "a slight flavour of reggae, but we're by no means strictly reggae, that's for sure".

Although he admits to being a little anxious about how their rootsy mashup of musical styles will be received by the hardcore reggae crowd next week, Hogan thinks the Rhythmonyx are capable of holding their own. "I think we can turn around any crowd in a lot of ways."

Smythe: "We're pretty optimistic, really. We've had some pretty good receptions so far. We're practising every night this week and getting our set down nice and tight."

The Rhythmonyx will get every opportunity to make an impression, with an extraordinarily long 90-minute set to play each night. That'll be the band's entire set, with a couple of new songs thrown in, Smythe says.

His job behind the mixing desk is frantically busy as he keeps tabs on front-of-house sound levels as well as running backing tracks, drum machines and the numerous effects that add a sophisticated electronica element to the band's eclectic sound. "It can be quite an effort. You're operating three things at once."

Having also been a part of the Purity Rising setup for six months before they disbanded, he sees a bright future for the Rhythmonyx.

"I think we've got a lot more potential (than Purity) – I think it's got more of a market appeal."

The Original Wailers, Queenstown Memorial Hall, 8pm, November 17and 18, with support from Rhythmonyx, DJ Junglefari and DJ Fat Eddie. R18. Tickets $15 from Play It Again Records Queenstown and Wanaka, and Quest stores in Queenstown, Wanaka and Invercargill. After-party at Revolver.

chris.chilton@stl.co.nz

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