17 May 2012

For the love of indie pop

14/09/2011 9:36:00 a.m.

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Cut Off Your Hands has grown up to be relaxed about its music.

Cut Off Your Hands has grown up to be relaxed about its music.

BRENT Harris’ saved pennies got him his first drum kit when he was just nine years old. It cost $400 and he’s got no idea how he scraped it together.
“I think my sister lent me $100,” he laughs. It’s been 15 years since then and he’s come a long way, touring extensively overseas with his indie pop band Cut Off Your Hands and working on multiple musical projects. The band is just about to start a five show New Zealand tour for second album Hollow, which Harris says is about the fun of making music.
“It’s about not taking it too seriously. In the past we had a lot of pressure to be the next Blur or something and a lot of people invested in us. We recorded and produced this one ourselves,” he explains.
The band members are old friends from school and Harris hopes there’s no embarrassing footage floating around from his years in the high school band competition Rockquest.
“I had a band with our original guitarist Michael and we got to Rockquest regionals; I think we got ‘Most Original Song,’” he laughs, “Heaps of Kiwi bands started that way.”
Music is just something you grow into once you’ve been hooked, says Harris. He was really keen on music as a young child and it’s a familiar tale: his parents made him take piano lessons.
“I’m really thankful now, though, it’s been helpful for the band,” he chuckles.
The band was originally called Shaky Hands and released an EP called Cut Off Your Hands. When they received a cease and desist letter from a US band with the same name, the four-piece swapped the EP name with the band name. Since then it’s been all go, though after performing 200 shows in 2009, the band went on hiatus. The itch to record brought them back together at the end of 2010 to create Hollow.
“We were jaded from the constant touring so we took a break, but the time apart invigorated the natural, child-like desire to make music,” explains Harris.
Each band member is now pursuing a separate career and music is a hobby not a full time job. Harris says that now he’s grown up a bit, his aim is not take the music too seriously, but he’s still going to keep his fingers in lots of musical pies.
Cut Off Your Hands, San Francisco Bath House, September 16.
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

  • A question of nutrition

    Controversial Washington-based nutritionist Sally Fallon-Morell is to speak in Wellington on March 29.
    Fallon-Morell is the co-founder of the American food lobby group the Weston A. Price Foundation and the author of Nourishing Traditions. She advocates for the consumption of nutritionally dense foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, stocks and broths, and whole raw dairy products.
    Fallon-Morell will speak at St Patrick’s College Hall on March 29.

  • Relay for cancer

    Organisers say Sunday’s Relay for Life is full to capacity with hundreds of Wellingtonians registered for the event.
    A total of 88 teams, made up of 10 to 500 members, plan to take part with a further 25 teams on the waiting list.
    The 24 hour relay, the Cancer Society’s biggest fundraising event of the year, takes place at Frank Kitts Park from 4pm on March 31.

  • Osteoarthritis awareness

    Arthritis New Zealand has launched a nationwide campaign raise awareness about osteoarthritis. 
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    The campaign features television commercials and an interactive website.


  • Wild walk

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    Walkers can choose a two, five or 10 kilometre walk catering to all fitness levels.
    Money raised will go to the Foundation for Youth Development.

  • School pool

    The opening of the new Khandallah School pool this week means hundreds of children will be able to continue their swimming lessons.
    The pool was the first to receive a grant from Wellington City Council’s Schools Pools Partnership Fund, a fund set up in 2010 to help schools improve their pool facilities.
    Grants from the fund have also been made for pools at Wellington East Girls’ College, Barhampore School and Tawa School.

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  • Ze upgrade

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    The job will take four weeks.

  • Newlands Moves

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  • Baring Head

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  • It’s a wonder

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  • Festival treats

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    White plays at Capital E from March 7-11.
    The tale of Peter and the World also promises to be a magical night for all ages. Sergei Prokofiev’s classic children’s tale is told through film and live music from the NZ Symphony Orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre on March 9.
    March 11 is Young Writers and Readers Day and readings from children’s writers and illustrators Lynley Dodd and Gavin Bishop.

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