Walking the Dog The Stereo Bus

Rip It Up, Issue 236, 1 April 1997, Page 15

Walking the Dog The Stereo Bus

“What I do when I write a song, I disappear off into a little world of my own creation; and it’s usually a quiet, spacious, sleepy sort of place. I remember someone that I played some of the songs to, after listening to them he turned and said, Jesus, Dave, you’re a real ambient cunt, aren't you?’ And I thought that was quite appropriate. ”

On this occasion, recipient of the Cword is none other than Dave Yetton, formerly of Flying Nun band JPS Experience, and at present the driving force behind the loose arrangement that is the Christchurch-based pop collective, the Stereo Bus. As Yetton explains it, the Stereo Bus is “the result of the input of various musicians”, namely, a couple of Mutton Birds, a Solid Gold Hell-er, and a one-time Sneaky Feeling, with Yetton at the helm. In the truest sense of the word, the Stereo Bus is not a band, it exists as a vehicle for Yetton’s post-JPS tunes, a dozen of which feature on his new record, The Stereo Bus. Fans of Yetton’s previous outfit are sure to be pleased, as this new bunch of blissedout pop songs display no wild variation in style from his Nun days. “I was aware as the songs happened, that they’re not a million miles away from JPSE stuff, and I was comfortable with that, that’s what I do. I’m not the sort of songwriter who can do a bit of this or that, I can play guitar, I don’t know the names of any chords, I barely know the names of the strings, I just put my fingers where it sounds appropriate, and it always seem to come out sounding like JPS.” When the JPS Experience split in 1993, Yetton went bush, literally. For a brief period he lived in a remote area in the Bay of Islands, and spent his days walking his dog on the beach, and generally unwinding from the pressures that had built up around the band in the

latter stages of its life. “I found the constant touring and the lack of being able to have a life outside of being in JPS started to wear me down. We used to talk about it and say, ‘You know, maybe the only people that are really suited to this kind of lifestyle are the Jack Daniels-swigging, black leather brigade who sleep in their trousers,’ and we always felt like sensitive sissy boys who get tired and stressed, who wanna go home. I began to feel the musical enjoyment was being undermined by the other obligations we had, and it was mutual, we felt it was time to cut it loose and try something different.”

With a level head and a fresh perspective, Yetton returned to his home town, Christchurch, where he landed a part time production job at the student radio station, RDU, and began making music again. “I just got into writing songs and disappearing up my own bum in some ways. I shut myself away with the four track, and I was quite happy to do that. When I came to Christchurch I didn’t feel the urge to jump back into the whole band thing in a hurry. I was enjoying having time out from that, just playing music and recording on my four track because I enjoyed doing it, not because I felt I had to get back out there or anything silly like that. I guess I really wanted to find the enjoyment again, which I did.” Working at his own pace, Yetton assembled

an album’s worth of songs between 1994 and 1995, most of which were recorded with his fellow Stereo Busers at Wellington’s Word of Mouth Studio. Yetton recorded The Stereo Bus for the small Wellington label Beats Bodega, though he says it wasn’t a case of deliberately avoiding associations with Flying Nun. “From their point of view, I think Flying Nun are not in a position to pour money into bands that aren’t touring, operating units. I had their full support to go ahead and do it and I feel fortunate they had that attitude about it; if they’d wanted to they could have said, ‘No you can’t release it [on Beats Bodega],’ because Flying Nun have put a lot of time and energy into JPS, both as a band and individual songwriters. But with Beats Bodega keen to do it, the whole thing just fell into place without too much effort.” Yetton has described the songs on The Stereo Bus as “sissy pop music”, and acknowledges he finds it “hard to work out where it falls”. Simply put, The Stereo Bus contains 12 of the coolest, most genuine new pop songs you’re likely to hear anywhere these days. And listening to these shimmering, atmospheric tunes, filled with dreamy wide

open spaces, you can totally believe they were inspired by strolling on a beach with man’s best friend. “I find doing stuff like that quite creatively inspiring, and I need that time doing those things to fuel me up, so walking my dog is just as important to me as writing a song, the two things almost go together. It comes back to the way things go in more full time bands, when all your personal time gets chewed up, and your creative juices start to dry up because your life becomes a bit one-dimen-sional — you’re just in a band. I need things happening in other parts of my life to be able to get inspiration.” Questioned on the future plans of the Stereo Bus, Yetton responds, “Who knows?” They may or may not play live, they may or may not make another record. For now, Yetton is content to relax and see what flows. “If the band thing crystallises that would be great, if the right people come along and it feels like an enjoyable thing to do, then I’ll do it, but I don’t want to pin myself down to doing anything in particular. The only plan I have is to do exactly what I want to do.”

JOHN RUSSELL