The Menzies (New Zealand) – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

The Menzies (New Zealand) – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Artists, musicians, we immortalize. We set it in stone. Is there anyone who has passed that you feel you have immortalized in your work? If so, can you tell us a little about them?”

Chris, Menzies: My Nana, Daphne, passed away just a few days after we released our first single. Her maiden name is Menzies (it’s also my middle name). She’s not the sole reason the band was called Menzies but there’s definitely a bit of her in there. She was an amazing, amazing woman – so much fun, and laughter, and care for others. When we were making the tour posters for our recent tour a photo of her dancing outside of her house in Masterton became the tour poster.

RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video (you pick.) Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.

Chris, Menzies: The making of the Spaghetti Land music video was a riotous time. We really only just pulled it off. For context, the video is of a human-sized boulder chasing us. The boulder was finished the day before the music video. It was made inside a garage and we later realised it might be too big to get out of the garage (it only just fitted out at the right angle). We didn’t have a way to get it to the park we were filming on, so we borrowed a van of which again it only just fitted into at the right angle. When we got to the location, Nikita our drummer had a terrible chest infection and could barely go outside in the cold, the shoot day was the due date of Doug our bassists first born (who arrived a few days later), and Ryan who was shooting the video had had the sh*ts for days leading up to it. It was also raining when we got there (for an outdoor shoot). Miraculously the rain passed and it all came together.

RRX: “The best laid plans of mice and men…” I don’t really know the quote, but I know this one; sh*t happens. When we least expect it, calamity befalls us. Sometimes just comic inconvenience. Please tell us a story about some comic inconvenience that happened to you whilst performing?

Chris, Menzies: On our recent north island tour we played a show at Whammy Backroom in Auckland. After the show we were running the gear out to the rental car in the parking lot. Nikita came and asked me where I parked the car. I came out and said “there”, pointing to a now empty car park. Shit. We scoured the car park for any contact details of tow companies that might be operating in the car park, it was that or stolen. Fortunately it had been towed, literally while we were on stage. The others lugged our gear up K Road to the place we were staying a few doors up, and I got dropped off by a mate at the tow company. $380 later the car was ours again. When I finally found a park and got back to where we were staying it was about 1am. When I entered the room the whole band was awake because the room was wall to wall with a very loud club playing club bangers. It’s like we were on the dance floor, but in a room with bunk beds and no windows. We laughed about it and did a walking loop of K Road and came back to the room to try and get at least some sleep for the night before our gig the next day.

RRX: We let it out differently when we play music. The happy, sad, good and bad; it can all be put out musically. Overall, do you feel better when you sing about the better times, or the worser times? Is there a difference you can describe?

Chris, Menzies: I don’t know if I’ve sung about the better times! Looking over our catalogue I think every one of our song looks at a moment with some level of discomfort in it. I think I’m more drawn to those moments in creativity, at the very least just to interrogate them a bit. Do I feel better for doing so? Not necessarily haha, but it’s nice to explore a feeling of discomfort in a creative unfiltered way.

RRX: What instrument would you add to the band if you could? Is there anything you are trying to do musically that would be helped with one or more additional players?

Chris, Menzies: In our most recent tour we had Wilson Cain join on trombone and we had two violins (Helen Kim, and Andrew Kelly). That was a lot of fun and a full sound we loved. But honestly, I’ve been thinking lately about how much I’d like to play with a cello. I was listening to and thinking about Velvet Underground’s music recently and how John Cale creates this beautiful hypnotic drone on violin. I’d love to play around with that on a cello.

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?

Chris, Menzies: There are some amazing bands in Aotearoa New Zealand right now. Here are some we love: Womb, Timothy Blackman, Maxine Funke, Mousey, Hans Pucket, The Naenae Express.

And we have so much respect and love for people who make gigs and events happen in the Wellington music scene, there are too many to name but we have so much time for them.