Die! Die! Die!

Die! Die! Die! is a three-piece New Zealand noise pop/punk/post-punk band from New Zealand, formed in late 2003. They have released five albums, all backed with extensive international touring. (A sixth album is due in October 2017.) A number of different bassists (most recently Rory Attwell) have rotated through the band alongside permanent members Andrew Wilson (guitar, vocals) and Michael Prain (drums).

History

Carriage H and Rawer (1999-2004)

The band has its origins in Carriage H, a Dunedin high school band which was formed in 1999 and won the 2001 Pepsismokefree Rockquest.^[1] Band members were Andrew Wilson (bass), Tim "Tiddy" Smith (guitar, vocals), and Michael Prain (drums). Carriage H released one EP, Power of Grey Skull in 2002 and disbanded shortly afterwards.^[2][3]

Wilson and Prain formed a short-lived Wellington-based group called Rawer (with Ricky French on bass) before moving to Auckland and putting Die! Die! Die! together with bassist Kane Goulter.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} In 2004, Goulter left to be replaced by Henry Oliver.^[9]

Die! Die! Die! and Locust Weeks (2005-2006)

Their self-titled album Die! Die! Die! was released in 2005 in New Zealand, with an international release soon after (including North America on SAF Records). The album was recorded in Chicago's Electrical Audio by Steve Albini.^[7] Albini also produced the band's next release, 2006's four-track EP Locust Weeks. This two were combined as the British release of the album Die! Die! Die!, on Pet Piranha Records.

Henry Oliver, writing in 2016 about the band in 2006, said, "At the time, Die! Die! Die! existed on a kind of low-budget neverending tour. We’d leave New Zealand for as long as possible, play as many shows we could get in a row and then decamp somewhere until we booked another bunch of shows." He left the band later that year and was replaced by Lachlan Anderson.^[10]

Part Time Punks and Promises, Promises (2007-2008)

On April 8, 2007, Die! Die! Die! played a show at the Echo in Los Angeles. The resulting six-track live recording, Part Time Punks, included two songs from the Die! Die! Die! album and one from Locust Weeks. Closing track "Blue Skies" hadn't been released before, but a studio version would appear as the final track of Promises, Promises later in the year.

Promises, Promises was the band's second full-length album. It was recorded in New York and produced by Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer), then released in New Zealand in October 2007. Worldwide release dates followed. The album saw the band move away from the more hardcore tendencies of their first record towards a more bass- and drum-heavy sound, helped in part by new bassist Lachlan Anderson.^[7]

In a four-star NME review, Camilla Pia says that Promises Promises "is all squeals and yelps, tornado riffs and frantic battered drums – and if that’s not enough for you, it’s emotional, danceable and catchy to boot."^[11]

Form, first break, and Harmony (2009-2013)

After touring for almost three years worldwide, the band began working on a third album in Dunedin. After writing and rehearsing, mainly at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers, they recorded Form over nine days in Auckland with producer Nick Roughan (Skeptics) in August 2009. It was their first album recorded in New Zealand.^[8]

In 2009 drummer Michael Prain was recruited by Promises, Promises producer Shayne Carter for two tracks on Dimmer's fourth and final album Degrees of Existence.^[12]

Form was released on Flying Nun Records in July 2010 and debuted at number 1 on the independent charts and number 19 on the National Album charts. It garnered critical acclaim, including Roughan and the band being awarded Best Producer in the 2011 New Zealand Music Awards, as well as being nominated for Best Alternative Album. The release was backed by an initial 13-date tour of New Zealand, then Australia, UK, Europe, and USA.^[8]

Bassist Kane Goulter left the band and was replaced by Michael Logie, formerly of The Mint Chicks.^[7]

The band's fourth album, Harmony, recorded in France in late 2010, was produced by Chris Townsend. It wasn't released until August 2012 in New Zealand, and March 2013 in the UK.^[13] It was shortlisted for the 2011 Taite Music Prize.^[14][15]

In between recording and releasing Harmony, the group spent most of a year apart and Wilson stepped away from full-time musicianship. When it finally came out, it was on the band's own label.^[16]

“The band was sick of each other and ended. I finished Harmony on my own and there was no DDD for nine months. I didn’t know if I could be bothered releasing an album with no band. Then (new manager) Manu Taylor put the pieces back together.”
- Andrew Wilson, AudioCulture interview^[16]

S W I M (2014-2015)

S W I M (short for "Someone Who Isn't Me") was released in August 2014.^[17]. Recording of the album was split across Auckland and London, and it was mixed in Tasmania. Like Harmony, it was produced by Chris Townsend. A heavy touring schedule followed, including three trips to Europe in a year.^[7]

In 2015 the band broke up for about six months:^[18]

"We had been doing this for quite a long time, and you get in a holding pattern. Sometimes the music is not really enough, and you are too close to it to realise that you are not really enjoying it at all. It is also the nature when you are doing it more as a business than as enjoyment." - Andrew Wilson, Die! Die! Die!^[7]

What Did You Expect and Charm. Offensive (2016-present)

Bassist Mike Logie had reunited with former Mint Chicks bandmate Kody Nielson in new band Opossum, so when Wilson and Prain decided to start playing together again they recruited Rory Attwell into the reformed Die! Die! Die!. Attwell was one half of the team behind Lightship95, a recording studio on a boat moored in the Thames, where the band recorded five tracks in a single day (with Attwell producing). They were released as an EP, What Did You Expect.^[18][19]

In the latter half of 2016 the trio recorded the bulk of their sixth album at Lightship95, with Attwell both playing bass and producing. They finished the year with shows in China, Europe, and the UK before returning to New Zealand for a 10-date summer tour. After that, Attwell returned home to England while more work on the album took place at SpaceMonster in Whanganui.^[20] The album, Charm. Offensive, was first expected to have a release date in May 2017, but that was missed.^[21] In July the band released single "How Soon Is Too Soon (It's Not Vintage, It's Used)" and announced that Charm. Offensive will come out on October 6.^[22]

Members

• Andrew Wilson (guitar, vocals)
• Michael Prain (drums)
• Rory Attwell (bass, vocals)

Former bassists

• Henry Oliver (2003-06, including Die! Die! Die!)
• Lachlan Anderson (Promises, Promises)
• Kane Goulter
• Mike Logie (Harmony, S W I M)

Live shows

Die! Die! Die! have toured with Franz Ferdinand, Slint, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wolfmother and The Blood Brothers, and have played several major festivals around the world including spots at SXSW and Incubate.

Discography

References

External links

• Official
• Bandcamp
• MySpace