Throughout NZ Music Month we’ll be hearing stories from young musicians about the local songs they love the most. Today, Great North's Matthew Hutching talks about songs from Dictaphone Blues, Cassette, Dear Time's Waste, The Bads and Van Der Wel.
Great North. Photo: Victor Alexeyev
Earlier this year, Auckland alt-folk/alt-country band Great North took out the Best Folk Album award for Up In Smoke, making it the second time the band has won the Tui. They also recently finished up a tour with The Bads and Brendan and Alison Turner that saw them play over a dozen dates throughout the country.
Post-tour, the band’s pedal steel guitarist Matthew Hutching took a minute to run through his top five New Zealand songs.
Dictaphone Blues – ‘100 Suns Inside My Lungs’
This one always stuck in my head, in the best way. The Germans call that an ohrwurm - an earworm. Ed Castelow is really good at making earworms. He’s got that Tom Petty mastery of a good pop hook. And his live shows are always these charming, loud parties. This song reminds me of the first few years I was going to Auckland shows, seeing The Reduction Agents and Gasoline Cowboy at Schooner Tavern. Guys like Ed and Jol Mulholland were pretty mind-blowing to watch.
Cassette – ‘Say Goodbye’
I can’t remember ever seeing Cassette play live, but I got their Emo EP and loved it for its noisy slow-burning sound. Glenn Campbell on pedal steel really made it exquisite. He and John Segovia in The Boxcar Guitars really inspired me into pedal steel and Campbell gave me my first lesson. ‘Say Goodbye’ is a simple, elegant country rock song, with country lines like “I don’t want you / I just miss you”. It’s full of hazy guitar tone and I love it.
Dear Time’s Waste – ‘Blue and Gold’
Claire Duncan is a brilliant metaphysical kind of writer. When I was living overseas cycling around a freezing old city, this was a perfect soundtrack floating with me. It captured that bittersweet sense of weariness and glory. I was broke but happy.
The Bads – ‘Good Lies’
Brett Adams and Dianne Swann live near the West Coast and it’s like their sound is set out there. It’s beautiful and spacious but also makes you want to drive too fast. I played some steel guitar for them on a recent tour and loved listening to these songs while trying to keep up with them.
Van Der Wel – ‘Happy Man’
I heard this song last year at Walton St Cafe in Te Awamutu. It’s become a favourite because it’s so quietly cathartic. It makes me slow down and really draws me in. I like how Van Der Wel sings simply through those sparse telecaster tones. It doesn’t force you to feel anything, but just settles in your imagination.