Something to say
At various stages the lineup included members of The Black Seeds, Recloose Live Band, Olmecha Supreme, Electric Wire Hustle and Rhombus.
In 2008, now with a solid line-up and growing fan base, Harbour City left their residency and started playing fewer, but better promoted, gigs. They recorded and released an EP – and single Red Pepper held the number one spot on the Kiwi FM charts for two weeks during NZ Music Month, and stayed in the top 10 for six weeks.
“Suddenly a lot of people were showing up, and they were singing along to our songs. It was a bit strange at first,” says guitarist Paddy Bleakley.
They scored big gigs like Civic Square for New Year, Parihaka International Peace Festival and the New Plymouth Festival of The Lights. Momentum was building, the band’s future looked promising, but when several members of the band found themselves needing to leave Wellington, they decided to record an album while they were all still together.
Guitarist Simon Koziarski says, “We went up the Kapiti Coast to a bach in Te Horo with a van full of gear, completely filled the lounge with everything musical and just wrote together… That’s where the guts of the album came together and when I first really felt like we had something to say.”
They returned to Wellington, built a studio, and spent an intensive month recording and editing the album, “averaging 14 hour days most of the time. We went a bit demented… but it was a great time,” says keys player Ed Zuccollo.
From the environmental message of stripped-back acoustic track Earthship, to the unashamedly party-funk D.O.C. (“Department of Conversation”), to psychedelic love song To Give and the catchy soul of Hey Sister, a call for women to love who they are despite negative media messages, Without A Sound wears the influence of each and every band member. Harbour City may not play together again for a while – but the album is enough to tide fans over until the not-too-distant reunion.
Koziarski says, “The people in this band are my closest friends, some of whom I’ve known for more than 15 years…. We’ll make music together for a long time yet.”
Harbour City Electric: Without A Sound album release, Bodega, August 19.










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