THE NIXONS: SHEDDING SKINS

Rip It Up, Issue 213, 1 May 1995, Page 9

THE NIXONS: SHEDDING SKINS

JOHN RUSSELL

When the Motown writing team of Holland/Dozier/Holland penned the wonderful soul track ‘Rollercoaster’, they could have been documenting a year, in the life of Auckland band the Nixons.

Twelve months ago they celebrated the release .of their debut album Eye TV, and were gearing up for a successful nationwide tour with Supergroove. Then in midDecember, after an overnight drive from, a gig in Wellington, the band had $65,000 worth of gear stolen from a van parked outside bass player Mike Scott’s house in Northcote.

Despite the obvious enormous financial blow, Nixons’ singer/guitarist Sean Sturm says the theft forced the band to reassess why they were part of the game. “It really made us think about why we were doing music. When we did the Supergroove

tour last year, it seemed like we were doing it for business reasons rather than because we really enjoyed the music. I think the loss of our gear has almost put us back on track."

Not only did the Nixons lose their gear, but drummer Mark Pollard, who formed the band with Mike and Sean, threw in the towel after six years of loyal service. When asked why, Sean is more than a little choosy with his words.

“Losing the gear might have facilitated things a little, as Mark was the one who lost everything, and he was quite despondent at having to start again. I think Mark decided he needed to do something else while he could. There certainly was tension towards the end of the period we were with Mark. He’s quite a difficult character to get along with musically.” The two remaining Nixons immediately

recruited drummer-aoout-town LUKe uasey, who has kept time for Second Child, Salad Daze, Ultimate and . Seven Dials, amongst others. The new line-up also reunites the last rhythm section of the legendary Bygone Era. Luke: “We’ve been friends for quite along time and we’ve always played in bands along side each other, so it wasn’t that unusual when they asked me to play. I’ve always wanted to be in a trio, just cause I like the minimal idea of trying to get the most out of the least amount of components. Plus, there’s only so long you can dance round the campfire in your loincloth and play dungeons and dragons, y’know, being a heavy metaller.” This month the Nixons release a .fresh recording, the EP Special Downtime, that sees them complete their triangle of transition with a step in a new direction. Recorded

drilj UllXeU 111 Uiiuera.vvccr\ ai ivm ■jiivi.i., Special Downtime is a sombre, almost all acoustic release, an 'approach necessitated from their ‘beyond control’ circumstances. Sean: "An EP was all we could afford to do at the time, and we figured we may as well take this approach since we didn’t have any gear anyway.” The band describe the EP as an, “interlude” between . Eye TV and its successor, due to be recorded this summer. Meanwhile, a promo trip to Australia is on the cards for August, and further afield, the San Francisco label Incandent is planning to release Eye TV in the States next month. With their break into the American market will come another change — the Nixons moniker is already in use Stateside so the band will be looking for a new title. Send your suggestions care of RipltUp, and remember, a change is as good as a rest.^'^’* 4 '"'