Just passing through

Press, 31 July 1986, Page 12

Just passing through

TONY GREEN

Never one to let his music get into a rut, Bill Direen has recently wound up a whistle-stop, solo tour, which included a successful concert at the State Trinity centre last Friday. Direen is, of course, the inspiration behind The Builders, a constantly evolving combo presently responsible for four interesting and often brilliant albums, “Beatin’ Hearts,” “Split Seconds,” “CoNCH3,” and “Let’s Play.” The former Christchurch musician, now based in Wellington, was assisted by a double-bass player, Barry Stockley, during the tour. Was touring in this way a cost-decreasing exercise? “No, no ... costincreasing, really, because I was going to do it

by myself,” said Direen, “but Barry and I had done some recording together that worked out well, so it seemed like an interesting idea.” Direen is not too keen on Wellington (“a nice place to visit...”), but he has been busy running his own Independent label, South Indies, as well as recording, occasionally playing live, and also becoming involved with the new “experimental” label, Braille Records. “There’s a lot that naive rock musicians can learn from trying new ways of playing music. Braille are involved in a sort of acoustic jazz, using pretty unorthodox instruments.” (The label has just released four new LPs). But, speaking from a Ministry of Works hut somewhere on the Lewis Pass, Direen was quick

to point out that The Builders were still very much a going concern. “At the moment, The Builders are investigating rhythms and funky stuff a bit, as on our last two records (“CoNCH3” and “Let’s Play”). Greig Bainbridge (bass), and Karl Holdorf (trombone), are still there, and lately, Michael Tan has been the drummer.

In the pipeline is a compilation LP of early (and hard to find) tracks from the band, including songs such as “America,” and “Girl At Night.” Direen is also eager to put out a pop single, something that the band has not yet done. “Ginger Jar” is the most likely candidate, probably backed with The Builders classic “Bedrock Bay,” which Direen feels “has never been done quite right”