Steriogram Concert To Celebrate NZ Music Month

To celebrate NZ Music Month, the Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Judith Tizard, is hosting a free half-hour concert by Kiwi band Steriogram.

It will be held on Tuesday 10 May 2005, from 1.00pm on the Parliamentary Forecourt.

Steriogram are:

Tyson Kennedy, 26 - Vocals
Brad Carter, 24 - Vocals, guitar
Tim Youngson, 24 - Guitar
Jake Adams, 24 - Bass
Jared Wrennall, 21 - Drums

Steriogram story:

After four years of tirelessly touring New Zealand, the five members of Steriogram suddenly found themselves of great interest to American music executives thanks to the Internet.

"An independent A&R guy from Los Angeles just happened to see our video for 'White Trash' on the Internet," remembers guitarist/vocalist Brad Carter. "He contacted us immediately and we sent him some of our songs. All of a sudden we started getting calls from him saying he had interest from big American record labels. We were so excited but at the same time kind of suspect?I mean we didn't even know what this guy looked like!"

When the smoke cleared the band signed to Capitol Records / EMI. Their debut album, Schmack!, was then released worldwide.

The story of Steriogram began in New Zealand's North Island, June of 1999. Brad and Jake, longtime friends from Whangarei met up with Tim and Tyson who had been friends for years in Auckland and they started to play shows around the area as a melodic rock four-piece. "Jake and I have known each other since we were 7 years old," says Carter. "He didn't even play bass when we started the band. But he learned really fast."

Making a name for themselves with a manic live show, the band quickly began to build a loyal local following. The band's self-released first single, "Soccerstar," gained immediate exposure when it was used by New Zealand's national soccer team for a TV commercial. Then came their second release, "White Trash."

"When we wrote 'White Trash' in 2001 I don't think any of us knew what we were getting ourselves into, it pretty much changed the nature of Steriogram and opened up a lot of new pathways for the band," says guitarist Tim Youngson. "We made a video for it with Tyson rapping and it got so much exposure that we decided to take him off the drums and bring him up front, then we asked Jared to join as the new drummer and became a five-piece. It was also then we started writing more of our songs with the hip-hop influence."

Steriogram signed to Capitol Records in November 2002 and not long after they were bunkered down in a Los Angeles studio with producer David Kahne. "He is a superstar producer," says Carter. "He's worked with The Strokes, Fishbone, Paul McCartney and Sugar Ray. But my favorite track he's ever done is 'What I Got' by Sublime. That was like my high school song!"

In 2004, Steriogram was nominated for a Grammy and their video for 'Walkie Talkie Man' was nominated for 4 MTV awards. Their single 'Walkie Talkie Man' was also selected to feature on the worldwide TV campaign for the Apple ipod.

For further information: www.steriogram.com

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