CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE

Rip It Up, Issue 88, 1 November 1984, Page 12

CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE

Bryan Staff

(The Narcs Negotiate the Chasm between Ashburton and Austin)

They call themselves a band for the eighties. They call themselves the Narcs unless you happen to live in Australia that is, where they are about to be launched as the Great Divide, which is the title of their album. Confused? You won’t be after reading this story. Basically the Narcs came from Christchurch. Well, sort 0f... I mean the drummer is really from Auckland and Liam Ryan is a North Island boy; but Tony and Andy started there with a different drummer back in 1979. In terms of Christchurch chronology, that puts them between Pop Mechanix and Dance Exponents. “We used to go and check out Pop Mechanix when we were just starting out as a covers band,” explains bass player Tony Waine. "We were playing a lot of stuff by the Police, so just for a joke we called ourselves the Narcs.” Jokes aside, the band now takes itself extremely seriously. They are not content to see themselves as just another pub band. As Liam Ryan puts it. "We will always be the Narcs in New Zealand, but when we had to think about releasing records in Australia, we all sat down and thought about the name and any connotations or limitations it would have over there. Hence if Flowers or Alistair Riddell can christen a band from a record title, why not The Great Divide? "I’m sure a lot of people think of the Narcs as a three piece,” explains Andy Dickson. "We have a great live act going for us, and we are a great pub rage... show us any live audience and we can get up them, get right up them ... but we wanted to show that there was more to the band too.”

" ‘Heart and Soul’ was a bit of a punt in a way,” says co-writer Liam Ryan. “It shows the band as serious songwriters, capable of ballads. In a way it was a different thing for us to do, but with Dave McArtney producing, to me it cracked the ice.” Liam joined the Narcs last year, originally as a guest for five weeks during the tour to promote ‘No Turning Back’. But after about three days in, everything had gelled to the extent that he was considered to have become a permanent fixture. He had previously been in the States playing country with Gray Bartlett and done three years in Midge Marsden’s band prior to that. ‘The thing that appealed to me about joining the Narcs was the songwriting possibilities Publishing and recording my songs was what I most

wanted to do with my music.” On The Great Divide all band members write or co write songs. Nowadays the live sets don’t contain covers either. "There have been lots of great songs over the years that we have done,” says drummer Stephen Clarkson. “I suppose we should have released them before we moved on; we could have done a kind of Narcs greatest hits albums first.”

All the songs on the album were written this year in fact the band sees their record as a very forward looking project. “We’re writing all the time now. Gone are the days of getting out of bed to watch the soaps on television then wandering down to the Gluepot for a few beers. We actually recorded 14 or 15 songs before we brought it down to a final 10 for the album. Some we found work better in a live situation, and others again come out amazingly well on tape.”

Fellow CBS stablemate Dave McArtney produced the album; in fact he is much in demand as a producer at the moment, having been asked to work with Marginal Era and as the guiding light on the Mockers’ new single. "We actually approached a lot of producers," says Liam. “In Australia, Vanda and Young, Ross Wilson and Mark Opitz all indicated that they were keen; but there is the scheduling in of time to work with other people, so in the end we decided to go NZ all the way. Dave was already a friend, he had done a great job on 'Heart and Soul’, and so we had evolved a great working relationship as well.” Dave McArtney is also a keen skier, which makes it a lot easier to convince your record company to allow you to take four days off in the middle of recording to go listen to what you have done on a Walkman and a ski slope. So the boys

all went down t Treble Cone, where they jacked up a most elaborate deal involving alpine helicopters, TVNZ and Nordica ski wear, and then four mornings in a row found them being airlifted and filmed for their video, in the travelodge to end all band clips. “We really wanted to use NZ backdrops and views, rather than the 9 o’clock in an Avalon studio approach. This country has such great scenery from the coastline to the mountains, and now there is a chance that we can get MTV in the States interested in the clip especially if we get some backing from the Tourist and Publicity Department.” Sponsorship. Today it is really the name of the game. Ever since Citizen Band first strapped on a wrist watch, bands have looked at ways to underwrite the cost of touring, and even their day-to-day existance, by linking their name to that of an advertiser. Things have yet to come to the level of grand prix drivers; where every stitch of their clothing is covered by a logo or decal; in fact a total sellout of a band to a plethora of firms would present an amusing sight on stage; but if you look at posters these days, more often a brand of liquor or soft drink is being incorporated into the bottom corner next to the radio station logo. Can you imagine the Narcs bouncing on stage at The Cricketers Arms with “hey alright... let’s hear it for Palmolive for that fresh srubbed Narcs look!’? “We are out knocking on doors in our own subtle way. With the Nordica promotion, we each helped the other, and it was no big hassle. We met a whole new industry. People who might normally not come to see a rock band. You don’t change what you are about, you sell what you are into.” The cover of The Great Divide reflects this upmarket thinking. Four little figures in silhouette in the snow; caught in the dawn as the sun comes over the top of the mountain. I bet it looks great on television. And this is probably the Narcs most important message. Life in the rock business is all about hustling. Don’t despair is The Arts Council doesn’t want to know about you. Seek other sources of revenue. Trading a television appearance fee for the airfare to Avalon to make the clip is just the start. Look around and make a deal. And by the way, the Narcs haven't really approached Palmolive so there is one up for grabs to start with!