Hallelujah Picassos are an indie band originally active in Auckland NZ from 1988 til 1996. We've remastered our back catalog for reissue and recorded some new tunes, have a listen...
Author/musician Gareth Shute has written a great piece on the Picassos over at Audioculture, 'the noisy library of nz music'. It's got a ton of photos too. Go take a look....
"In the mash-up culture of today, it’s hard to recall how rigidly bands used to stick within a single genre. When Hallelujah Picassos arrived in the late-80s, they blasted away at people’s conceptions with their feral mix of indie rock, ska, hardcore punk, and hip-hop..."
In 1991 we made a real low budget video for Black Spade Picasso Core. Mainly cos it had the f-word in the chorus and we knew we’d never get NZOA funding for that. Harold made it with a mate of ours, and amazingly enough, we got it screened on national tv, uncensored. TV3′s Nightline showed it once. Such an edgy programme. The song had come out on our independently released cassette single or cassingle, Peanut Butter Now.
There is a fairly good chance we will play this live next Saturday Oct 26, at the Kings Arms. Come along and find out
Auckland 90s reggae-dub-ska-thrash-punk outfit Hallelujah Picassos returned to the live stage in June this year, with a brief support slot for the mighty Drab Doo Riffs. After 12 years away from the live arena, they had a fun time jumping around like lunatics, and all reports from their fans at the gig were they still knew how to rip up a stage.
So, they’ve decided to put on their own show, this Labour weekend. Catch Hallelujah Picassos at the Kings Arms, Saturday October 26. With the fine musical accompaniment of Bloodbags, Loud Ghost, and DJs Stinky Jim and Peter Mac. Presented in association with our friends at 95BFM.
The band have a few special guests in store, Mr Darryn Harkness will be joining us again on the bass, and will also be signing copies of our CD Rewind The Hateman, which will be on sale at the gig. Door sales only, $15.
Our slot at Galatos before Drab Doo Riffs was a lot of fun, thanks to everyone who came along. If you couldn't make it, we had some friends filming it. Check it above. We're gonna do another show soon.
via Cheese On Toast... "THE DRAB DOO RIFFS have revealed this promotional video for their latest EP “Aquatic Ape Theory” and details of the EP Release Party.
The party to celebrate the EP release is being held on 28 June 2013 at Galatos Theatre in Auckland and will feature special guests Hallelujah Picassos, Orchestra Of Spheres, David Saunders and friends, and Dirtbag DJs.
The press release for the EP reads:
“Aquatic Ape Theory” is The Drab Doo-Riffs’ brand new 10 inch vinyl only concept EP. Featuring such favourites as Telsa Girl and Do The Cat, as well as previously unheard-of material, “Aquatic Ape Theory” explores the origin and destination of the human syndrome and related topics to a perilous ‘surf noir’ soundtrack that will set your teeth rattling.
Recorded and mixed at York Street and Montage studios on equipment designed by 20th Century audio electronics genius Rupert Neve, The Drab Doo-Riffs have flouted the most basic rules of rhythm, harmony, and sound engineering to bring you these 7.5 startling numbers inspired by, amongst other things, Nikola Tesla, Catullus, Daleks, cats, and the lessons drawn from the example of our Simian brethren."
$10 door sales. $20 records at the door. June 28th at Galatos theatre. Special B-Card pre-sale packages (ticket to the release party & vinyl EP) available from the Bfm offices from now!
This video turned up on the revived Deepgrooves website, and has also surfaced on Youtube. I directed this video for my band Hallelujah Picassos, in 1989. I was at art school, and we knew Mark Tierney from BFM, where he was in-house studio engineer, prior to going to work at the Lab recording studio for Bill Lattimer. We recorded with Mark at both BFM and The Lab.
When Mark scored this tv co-hosting gig (alongside Robert Rakete and Lani Gifford), I was able to hit him up for some TVNZ film stock (16mm positive), and he got me into TVNZ to do the film to video transfer/telecine, and then scored me some editing time, all done via contra under the auspices of the tv show CV. This was how NZ bands got videos made before NZ On Air funding came along.
I hired a cameraman and his camera, we borrowed a studio to film in, and I bought fish and chips for all our mates who came along as extras. Total cost of video = $138. The other band in this clip, Drone, were also at art school, coincidentally.
"Mark's CV: Bit of a tangent here, but note worthy none the less. Prior to forming the label in 1991, Mr. Tierney was quite a well known TV "personality" fronting, along with a couple of others, a music show called CV. We were at the time, oddly enough, fans of both of these bands.
Bob and Harold would later form the Riot Riddum Sound System (2R2S) and would go onto record a number of tracks for the label including Home Girl (produced by Mr. Tierney), which featured on our first compilation. Bobbylon would also later guest on 3 The Hard Way's Hip Hop Holiday. We currently have a number of 2R2S DAT tapes slotted in line to be digitized and uploaded. "
