Golden Curtain - Photo by Nick Atkinson
Fronted by Andrew McKenzie, formerly of alt.country outfit Grand Prix, Golden Curtain is a band of Auckland and Wellington musicians who came together as a unit in their new home of Napier, quietly building a catalogue of music that’s now three albums deep.
Nick Atkinson headed to The Wine Cellar where Golden Curtain was playing a rare Auckland show. First up, he asked drummer, Andrew Gladstone, why he left town…
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“I was just sick of driving to work” says Andrew Gladstone, the drummer for tonight’s headliners Golden Curtain. Like the rest of the band Gladstone has forsaken his crowded hometown for the blossoms and shimmering brightness of Hawkes Bay. “We were living in Langholm (West Auckland) commuting to Penrose. It does your head in basically. You’re tired before you get to work. I was having to leave earlier and earlier to beat the traffic. I’d be the first one there and I’d eat breakfast and stay on the internet for like two hours and then at night I’d stay as late as possible. I’d leave at 7pm and it just got to be too much after a while. Then I had the opportunity and I thought let’s just go somewhere. We did a Garageland reunion show and literally a week later I was in Napier.”
Gladstone’s backing-vocal talents were honed on the road with his previous Flying Nun band and his harmonies from behind the drum kit are a highlight of Golden Curtain’s set tonight, but it’s a new central Auckland band Fazerdaze who’re first up in front of this cosy Wine Cellar audience. Sinuous melodic bass lines played by Goodshirt’s Gareth Thomas are held down by Andrea Holmes who some will remember from Arch Hill band Fang. Out front is a young, striking singer and guitarist Amelia Murray. After their set Fang bass player and Arch Hill boss Ben Howe tells Amelia to “turn up the guitar!” It’s the ultimate compliment from a connoisseur of shoe-gaze.
The Roulettes play a noisy set before Golden Curtain take to the stage. It’s been years since this Hawkes Bay trio played a show in Auckland. Founding member Andrew McKenzie visited a few times with his Wellington-based act, another Arch Hill signing named Grand Prix. He’s kept the motoring metaphor going with the title of his latest band’s first album English Tuning, which refers to the manner in which an English mechanic might tune an old car. “Ring it out on the open road and blow out all the smoke.”
They get rolling with hits from their debut and these songs get up to temperature more easily than the newer tunes that follow from the second album Dream City. Perhaps it’s because the band have their fingers well wrapped round the now familiar riffs, or is it that these older tracks like Everything’s Fine and Be Around possess appealing bouncing rhythms that tread a little lighter than the more deliberate chug of the new material?
The Auckland crowd is peppered with past band-mates who used to play with the musicians on stage, who’ve also been shared around a host of other Flying Nun and Arch Hill acts. They lap up the indie pop melodies and warm guitar arpeggios that sing from Andrew McKenzie’s two amps on either side of the stage. His pedals pan between the two speakers and while the effect is subtle its evidence of his caring approach to sound that complements his custom-made twelve-string electric guitar played with nimble, expressive fingers.
The late Ian Morris of Th’ Dudes and Tex Pistol will always be remembered warmly in his adopted hometown of Napier, a place where he touched many of the musicians who came to settle there. “He came up with Golden Curtain” remembers McKenzie. “It was a term Ian used for a particular part of a song. The idea that you can have an extra part that’s a bit of a surprise, maybe at the end of a tune. He called it a Golden Curtain, or opening the Golden Curtain, but since then we’ve had endure Shower Curtain and Golden Showers and all the rest of it, but I think it’s a name that people don’t forget” McKenzie smiles.
Drummer Andrew Gladstone also fondly remembers Morris, who was instrumental in relaunching the hub of the Hawkes Bay music scene, The Cabana. “I did another project with him, some drums on tracks for an album that was never released. There were some pretty desperate songs on that recording, which was kinda sad, but he was such a great guy to work with, so even tempered. He was a great guy, sadly missed” but Gladstone has never regretted the move to Napier. “It’s much easier to find guys to play with. There’s always a lack of drummers here and I’m playing more drums than I’ve ever done.” It’s a sentiment shared by McKenzie “I thought the music would take more of a back seat, but once I got here we very quickly got back into playing and recording” and it shows as Golden Curtain finish their concise set with the English Tuning track Not The End. It’s a bumping and bluesy way to wind up a rare Auckland show fluently performed by these visitors from Hawkes Bay.
Playlist
Artist: Garageland
Song: Classically Diseased
Composer: J.Eade, Garageland
Album: Last Exit To Garageland
Label: Flying Nun Records
Artist: Andrew McKenzie
Song: Be Around solo instrumental
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: Unreleased
Label: Radio New Zealand recording
Artist: Golden Curtain
Song: Be Around
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: English Tuning
Label: Private
Artist: A Twin Moon
Song: When You Were Young
Composer: Brad Gamble
Album: Welcome To Hellfire Beach
Label: Private
Artist: Golden Curtain
Song: Everything’s Fine
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: English Tuning
Label: Private
Artist: Golden Curtain
Song: Dream City
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: Dream City
Label: Private
Artist: Andrew McKenzie
Song: Dream City solo instrumental
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: Unreleased
Label: Radio New Zealand recording
Artist: Golden Curtain
Song: Dream City, Network Space
Composer: Andrew McKenzie
Album: Dream City
Label: Private
