Talking Heads: Hallelujah Picassos and Trevor Reekie

Photo: Ted Bagurst/Volume

Talking Heads: Hallelujah Picassos and Trevor Reekie, Volume magazine

"With their groundbreaking fusion of everything to reggae to nascent hip-hop to thrash, the Hallelujah Picassos defined a vibrant, close-knit and avowedly non-conformist time in the Auckland music scene that’s gone undocumented since – but a pair of retrospective compilations are putting the record straight.

Trevor Reekie was there from the start as a producer, Pagan Records owner and fan - for this Talking Heads, he and Picassos Peter McLennan and Harold 'Roland' Rorschach talked about what their music means now, fitting in then, and finally reveal why they ditched Trevor's label."

Listen to the full interview below or here. Thanks to Trevor Reekie and Sam Wicks at Volume.

PCore by Martyn P

Hallelujah Picassos – Picasso Core Jukebox (album stream)

March 7th, 2012 by Martyn Pepperell, Vanguard Red 

"Simon Grigg (@Opdiner on twitter) has already written about Auckland, New Zealand art-punk/reggae auteurs Hallelujah Picassos with an almost definitive degree of passion and experience, excerpts of which you can read over on the Hallelujah Picassos Bandcamp by CLICKING HERE. 

While I’m not comfortable with (or interested in) scaling a monolith already so thoroughly conquered, I am very keen to hip you to their new release Picasso Core Jukebox, a collection of far-too-long-hidden cover versions of songs as recorded by the Picassos, including amongst others, a fuzzy version of ‘It’s A Man’s World’

Revisionist history is a funny thing, and within the documented historical narrative of New Zealand music, there are a few sources which would have you believe that Flying Nunn Records were the be-all-and-end-all of local music in the eighties and early nineties; and the only people pushing the boundaries. 

That blatantly isn’t true though, and looking over the existing Hallelujah Picassos catalogue and the extensive e-liner notes associated with recent re-releases, it’s amazing to reappraise how stylistically fearless they were in their era.

You can stream Picasso Core Jukebox below. Afterwards, consider purchasing a digital copy, complete with extensive, illuminative liner notes."

Radio Ponsonby

Peter interviewed on Radio Ponsonby by Nick D'Angelo, have a listen...

P-core with Wammo

KiwiFM interview with Wammo, from monday. Cheers, fella!

Tune in to Radio BFM this afternoon at 315pm, I'm chatting with Cameron about the new reissue, Picasso Core Jukebox

P-core Jukebox review

Johnnie and Roland, photo from the ebooklet that comes with the album. 

Review: Hallelujah Picassos 'Picasso Core Jukebox'
By David Carroll (aka Bro90)

"I want to educate people to the fact there are always more possibilities than the situations you have encountered. Naivety is still so strong among people. The Picassos are about social and cultural observation." - Harold 'Roland' Rorschach, Hallelujah Picassos (1992)

I remember coming to Auckland from a rather rural upbringing in Waihi Beach, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and first encountering the Hallelujah Picassos. I was gobsmacked. As a young man wanting to get my teeth into playing in a proper band, these guys blew my mind. They played reggae. They played rock. They played most everything - hard, and loud. I was sold.

What's more, they hung out at what became my local: DKD Cafe. What was curious to me was they never really received their dues. Shit, there are kids worldwide right now trying to piece together what these guys did years ago! Perhaps Picasso Core Jukebox (alongside last years' originals collection, Rewind The Hateman) might address that? Probably not. 

That's a shame, as these guys were the real deal and even now, well over a decade later, the excitement, the genine intent, the sheer passion seeps through these incredibly diverse grooves. Imagine what this sounded like to a fifteen year old kid from the country!? It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. Scratch that. It was like everything I'd ever heard before, thrown together in an aggressive, vibrant, liberating whole. 

Put aside the decidedly average recording quality on some of these tracks and put yourself into the shoes of early 1990s New Zealanders as the Hallelujah Picassos tore through a set littered with these (severely) re-imagined covers alongside their own material. 

One of the criticisms these guys have always copped is that their records sounded like compilations. Fuck that. And fuck the Great New Zealand Songbook, while we're at it. If you want some proper NZ music history, and you want to pay respect to some of the actual originators in our scene, buy Rewind The Hateman, and then buy this. Makes me proud to be a Kiwi again.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available from Amplifier, iTunes, Digirama, Marbecks Digital, and on Bandcamp (MP3, FLAC, etc).

Out now!

The brand new Hallelujah Picassos reissue Picasso Core Jukebox hits digital stores (see Amplifier, iTunes, Digirama, Marbecks Digital, etc) today! Very exciting. It's a collection of our cover versions, newly remastered and sounding rather splendid. Listen to it here, on Bandcamp.

You can catch Peter talking about the new reissue on the radio today (Monday) on KiwiFM at 835am, and on Radio Ponsonby at 1130am, and also on Tuesday morning, Peter will be on GeorgeFM at 7.20am, and  BaseFM Breakfast around 8am.

We've also had coverage online from NZ Musician, Cheese On Toast, and Conch Records.  Cheers! More coming. And big thanks to BFM's Stinky Jim and Andrew Tidball for giving us a spin last week.

Picasso Core Jukebox - out March 5

Newly remastered swag of Picassos covering everyone from HLAH to James Brown to Greg Johnson to The Sonics.  Out next Monday. Have a listen!




here's the official press release...

"Following on from last year’s remastered collection of Picasso classics, Hallelujah Picassos are releasing the next installment in their reissue series - a newly remastered, digital album collecting the cover versions from Auckland’s legendary ska/ punk/ reggae/ pop/ thrash/ hiphop/ hardcore outfit. It’s a bunch of songs originally done by the likes of Bo Diddley, James, Brown, HLAH, The Sonics (who are touring NZ in April), Greg Johnson and more, given a crazy sonic twist.

Kicking off with Peanut Butter, a hugely popular tune on student radio when released on cassette in 1991, 21 years ago. The band took the original reel to reel master tape to Stebbings and had them digitise it - they had to bake it first to get it to a playable state! Never heard it sound so good.

There are a few cameos in there too, like comedian/actor Alan Brough turning up to add vocals to Homegirl, a song originally done by Bobbylon and Roland in their Picassos’ side project, Riot Riddum Sound System.

There’s two previously unreleased songs seeing the light of day, covers of The The - Perfect, and Tears of a clown (Smokey, via The Beat, or English Beat). Picasso Core Jukebox comes with an e-booklet with extensive liner notes looking behind the songs and how the band discovered them, along with previously unpublished photos.

Out Monday March 5, thru Bandcamp/Amplifier/iTunes and all good digital outlets. Digital only release. PCorp 004. Released by Loopy Fruit Recordings.

TRACKLISTING:

1 Peanut butter (One way streets, 1967)
2 Who do you love (Bo Diddley 1957)
3 Psycho/Strychnine (The Sonics ,1965)
4 Tears of a clown (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, via The Beat’s version from 1979)
5 Talk in this town (Greg Johnson, 1993)
6 Air (Head Like A Hole, 1991)
7 Perfect (The The, 1983)
8 Catman (Gene Vincent 1957)
9 Homegirl (Riot riddum sound system 1991)
10 Crying Again (Prime Movers 1982)
11 It’s a man’s world (James Brown, 1966)

Kia Ora

Kia Ora is Air NZ's inflight magazine...  nice review!

We all love peanut butter

The original reel to reel master of Peanut Butter. Now digitised (by the clever folk at Stebbings, after they baked the tape) and remastered.... sounds awesome! Next reissue release out in March.  More details shortly.

Picassos NZM

Hallelujah Picassos, NZ Musician interview by Mark Bell.

With their recorded output of two EPs (‘Lovers +’ in 1992 and 1996’s ‘Gospel of the DNA Demon’) and two albums (‘Hateman In Love’ from ’92 and 1993’s ‘Drinking With Judas’) unavailable for love nor money for over 15 years, the five members of Hallelujah Picassos have finally decided to set the record straight and claim their rightful place in the pantheon of Kiwi music history with a remastered 18 track re-release of their choicest cuts – ‘Rewind the Hateman’. 

Mark Bell met up with Harold ‘Roland’ Rorschach and Peter McLennan at his local watering hole to get the skinny on Picasso’s dub things, and to discover why they’ve chosen this moment to re-introduce their unique sound to the music listening public.

There was no problem identifying the Picasso pair when they arrived, what with former frontman Harold Rorschach’s sartorial style remaining intact from two decades ago – the tall lean frame, chunky boots, black jeans, braces hanging down, beanie, the leather wrist bands and arty pendants – ever very much his own brand. By contrast, guitarist Peter McLennan, who now works for a major newspaper, was always the least extreme-looking member of the Hallelujah Picassos, and these days would not have turned any heads on the ferry coming over.

Much as their music, the Hallelujah Picassos were a very diverse bunch of individuals, but there was always a keen intelligence and shared vision behind their sprawling musical output. With a reputation for high energy live shows and a wildly diverse grab-bag of influences including (but not confined to) punk, reggae, garage rock, dub and Jamaican dancehall, the Picassos were trail-blazing, genre-mashing misfits in a late ’80s/early ’90s Auckland scene dominated by big-hair rock and shoe-gazing angst. 

This band– fleshed out by Bobbylon (drums), Johnnie Pain (bass, keys) and Gavin Downie (added later on second guitar) – were manifestly neither of these things. Their influence on a generation to come, for which the concept ‘genre-mashing’ would become totally commonplace, should not be underestimated.

Not surprisingly this self-released compilation album they’ve titled ‘Rewind the Hateman’, is an idea they’ve been nurturing for a while. 

“Yeah, it’s something that’s been knocking around for quite some time,” explains Peter. “Basically when our releases came out they were available, and then the record label that released them [Wildside] stopped operating and Festival disappeared, which was the distributor. So for most of the last 20 years our music has been out of circulation. I’ve had people over the years come up to me and go, ‘Aww man, I lost my Hallelujah Picassos CD, where can I buy another one?’ and they don’t really exist.”

The opportunity to re-master their output was another major motivator, and was completed by Alan Janssen and Rick Huntington at Uptown Studios. Sent to Australia by Festival to be mastered, their first album came back “way quiet” according to Peter. 

“We were on Wildside and we weren’t earning money for Festival, like Kylie Minogue was, so they didn’t really care about us, and fair enough.

“Hearing it in the studio when we started on the re-mastering project, we digitised all the music and got it all tracked in there and set up, and hearing it on the studio speakers again, it was really gratifying because all the crazy production ideas we had back then still sounded really good.”
Harold describes the band as having a dualist approach to their music. On stage they were there to entertain. 

“We wanted to get the audience as excited as we were,” Peter explains.

Harold seems a little annoyed (to this day) by the critics who said the band failed to capture the excitement of their live act on tape – they made studio albums in the studio, not live albums. Back in the day there was a slight dearth of trained sound techs and one could imagine a group like the Hallelujah Picassos might have difficulty finding recording engineers adaptable or knowledgeable enough to execute the band’s unconventional (for the time) production ideas. 

“We were really lucky,” continues Peter. “When we first went to bFM we worked with Mark Tierney, who was the in-house engineer for bFM before he started working at The Lab. So we moved and did our first album with him at The Lab as well. He was really good because we’d basically come up with these ideas like, ‘We want to take Harold’s vocals and throw them into a backwards delay… and then throw some distortion on them!’ and he’d sort of laugh for a second and then go, ‘Oh yeah, let’s give it a try and see what it sounds like’. Because the worst kind of recording engineer you can get is someone who says, ‘You can’t do that.’”

They were also fortunate to hook up with live soundman Dave Hornblow, who the lads tutored in the dark arts of dub and reggae production, allowing them to transfer some of their studio-inspired effects to the live situation – although creating carbon copies of their studio recordings was never a priority.

With all four original members contributing songs the band was never short of material, and once even managed to commit 26 songs to tape in a nine-hour session – probably some sort of record. Budgets were tight due to the band financing their own recordings (although this has paid dividends with the new release, as they own the tapes) and they quickly learned how to work fast and efficiently in the studio.

Despite some of the songs sounding like they’re goofing off or taking the piss, in reality they were very well rehearsed and had detailed cue sheets for every song. And having four individuals contributing equally to the creative stew didn’t make for many difficulties in terms of focus and decision-making. 

“We were always open in terms of each other’s ideas,” says Peter. “We had strong opinions because we were passionate about what we were creating and we all had different elements we were bringing to it.”

This also led to a certain amount of musical cross-pollination between members, allowing the band to evolve and solidify its unique sound. 

“And I think that’s one of the reasons we get on well today. We’re still friends and we’re also passionate about the idea of what we did, we truly believed in it,” Harold finishes.

Which naturally leads one to ponder whether we can expect to see the Picassos whipping up a frenzy on stage any time soon? 

“We’re talking about doing some sort of live event next year,” Peter confirms. “But Johnny’s in Indonesia so I’m not sure what we’re going to do about that. But we want to do some sort of gig or… I don’t know what it will be like… and I mean the thing with the Picassos is that we had this reputation for doing quite wild live gigs, and people didn’t know what to expect when they went along, but they knew it would be good. 

" So that’s basically what we’re going to do with this event we’re gonna do next year – we don’t know what its going to be like, but we know it’ll be good!”