August 24, 2025 • 7 mins
Kora have released their new album Fifth Season, singer Francis Kora called up to talk us through who's in the band these days, whyy it's been so long since the last one and what's coming up for them this summer.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Radio Hodar Keys Off the Record Podcast with
Jason Hoyt, Mike Minogue and Keezy Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome back your massive backbones. We are a very special
guest on the show this Friday afternoon. He's a multi
talented beast, not just music, but all sorts of stuff.
I'm talking about the man himself. Francis core a good
a matehouse life.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey you awesome? How are you guys? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good, thanks man, I love it wellly, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, so god, can you guys stop banging on about wellies?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Man was just so good man.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We had a big night last night. Francis and the
fellas are feeling a bit squeamish today, so you know
it might be slightly painful this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh well, don't well, don't it good? Isn't it proud
of you?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
You shouldn't encourage the kind of behavior, Francis. Hey, man,
So Cordter, you guys getting back together and it's been
a long time since you guys have put out like
a full fledgedlbum, right, So what's what sparked the comeback?
And you know what sparked all this?
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Oh that's a good question, man, Just wanting to release
some some material and.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Kind of just we're getting older now, you know, Yeah, yeah, man,
I do know.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
But it's the kind of the stage of the career
I suppose you could call it where you're just.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You're getting older.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
So yeah, you're just writing what you think you want
to release, and suppose you're not trying to chase the charity.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're not trying to We're past that stage now, you know, yeah, right, Yeah,
it's starting to make stuff that you love. Yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
And so the last album I was just ready here
in twenty twelve. I can't think it has been that long,
Like true, is.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
That some what's the gats Man? Is that some kind
of you know, Oasis style rift. You guys haven't spoken
to each other for years and you're finally buried the
hatchet and you're going to sell out one hundred thousand
tickets all around the world.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Oh no, well that's you know, I think when you
first start that was twenty something years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Now that's what that's what you're hoping for. But yeah,
not the case.
Speaker 6 (02:13):
I reckon you would have done over the course of
twenty years.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah, man, it's been Honestly, I can even remember
how many goods have done, but it's yeah, I definitely
just noticed just when you're older, it's different.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, I was going to I was going to ask you, Francis,
I mean, how's how's the music changed for you? I mean,
you're you're older, you're wiser, you're maybe more cynical. Has
there been a shift in the direction of the music
or is it still the same kind of vibe.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Yeah, it's the same kind of vibe. It's just a
different time now. And the difference is like you can
ask any band. You listen to Metallica and people still
want to listen to, you know, Interseeing Men. Yeah, well
they don't really want to listen to your new stuff.
They want to remember you from when you first began.
And that's it pretty much. Yeah, you know that'll be
(03:01):
true for any being we're thinking that I made it,
I'd still go back.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To the Trooper, a CDC Highway to how Bond Scott era,
you know.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Yeah, but people, for some reason, they don't gravitate to
your news stuff because it's when you start.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
It is what they remember the most. Yeah, you can't
really change.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
It, Francis, And I've still got welded into my into
my brain, you know, on my mind Politician and all
those Clark skankingsign all those classics. Man, are you guys
haunted by those songs? As you still get fizzst to
play them?
Speaker 5 (03:35):
No, there's there's still I still love playing some of them,
some of them absolutely, you know, I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
To bear those. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
But yeah, when it comes to writing new material and
releasing new material, it's just such a different time from
when we face bookin ye, sorry.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
Does it come as easily to you? You're just writing
a different kind of style and you've sort of got
you've probably got your craft down a lot better after
all of these years as well, giving the confidence to
just go ahead and write what you're feeling.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's pretty much it.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
And a lot of the time it's the demos that
are more than actual finished product because the demos.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
When you're writting a demo, it's when your energy is.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
Like the freshest that you've just come up with the
idea and you kind of can't beat that. It's like
if you're writing a script for a film or a
TV show, your first kind of scripts are the ones
that that holds you the most, and then it takes
how many drafts before you actually get to the finished product. Yeah,
and that's that's not the fun part, you know, The
finished product wasn't the fun part.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
That's the initial spark that you started with. So I'd
prefer to do those.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Yeah, right, Francis Carter, we're speaking to you right now.
By the way, Quarter have announced a brand new album.
It's called Fifth Season. As we mentioned, light Years came
out in twenty twelve, thirteen years ago. And I know Francis,
you and Lawson as well, you guys involved with heaps
of different projects. You know, around New Zealand you'll always
see concerts pop up featuring Francis Quarter or Lats and
Quarter and you know, different projects of stuff. So how
(05:09):
hard was it for you guys to find the time
to get together and you know, put the band back
together and come up with enough tracks for an entire album?
Speaker 6 (05:17):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
You know what?
Speaker 5 (05:19):
That part not so much because it's just really myself
and Dan McGrew, who lives on in Queensland.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We did most of the runnings for Quarter. It's not
the original members of the band together.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
We've had a different line up to the last maybe
twelve fifteen years now and have never stopped playing. We've
always played every summer, and it's just different. We're running
remotely as opposed to getting people in together into the
studio because everyone lives all over the country so it's expensive.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Then.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Yeah, and that's probably the biggest change, as trying to
get everyone together and the cost of trying to make
this stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
It's cheap to do it yourself.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Yeah, the that's the I suppose, the struggles of today's
things and also the blessing.
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Yeah yeah, I mean you live where you're one, I guess,
and then also still able to do the still able
to do the work. And what with this album? How
does it compare to what you've done before? I'm fizzing, man,
I'm fizzing. What what can I expect? How does it
compare to what you've done before? Where does it sit
you rank it compared to your other albums?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Question?
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Because it's the newest.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Yeah, there's same songs like not even finished demos and
one of them in particular as a song dedicated to Aaron.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, and it's not finished. I said, it's perfect. It's
kind of suits the character Aaron would have loved it
like that.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
We're actually we actually had we had the Super Jesus
in here a few weeks ago, and they're talking about
when they did their first tour in New Zealand and
they got Aaron and to be touring guitarists with them,
and they offered him the guitarists role with the band
and he just straight away went, oh, now, I'm all good.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No sweet airs man.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Just on, just on that, Francis, I believe we're going
to play that tune now. Are you referring to the
song as a yes?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So as this is a brand new tune from Quarter.
It's off their brand new album Fifth Season, which is
coming out on the twenty second, which is bloody excited. Hell,
I wasn't today the twenty second.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Hey man, thanks for your time. Francis will really appreciate it, mate,
and I hope it goes really well for you feelings.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, man, thank you a coming next time you brother.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, good on your mate.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Radio hold Aches Off the Record podcast. Why not subscribe
so they download automatically and don't forget to rate us
five stars?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Thanks mate.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Find out more about this podcast and the people who
make it at Holdache dot co dot Nz.
Welcome to Radio Hodar Keys Off the Record Podcast with
Jason Hoyt, Mike Minogue and Keezy Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome back your massive backbones. We are a very special
guest on the show this Friday afternoon. He's a multi
talented beast, not just music, but all sorts of stuff.
I'm talking about the man himself. Francis core a good
a matehouse life.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey you awesome? How are you guys? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good, thanks man, I love it wellly, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, so god, can you guys stop banging on about wellies?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Man was just so good man.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We had a big night last night. Francis and the
fellas are feeling a bit squeamish today, so you know
it might be slightly painful this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh well, don't well, don't it good? Isn't it proud
of you?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
You shouldn't encourage the kind of behavior, Francis. Hey, man,
So Cordter, you guys getting back together and it's been
a long time since you guys have put out like
a full fledgedlbum, right, So what's what sparked the comeback?
And you know what sparked all this?
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Oh that's a good question, man, Just wanting to release
some some material and.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Kind of just we're getting older now, you know, Yeah, yeah, man,
I do know.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
But it's the kind of the stage of the career
I suppose you could call it where you're just.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You're getting older.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
So yeah, you're just writing what you think you want
to release, and suppose you're not trying to chase the charity.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're not trying to We're past that stage now, you know, yeah, right, Yeah,
it's starting to make stuff that you love. Yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
And so the last album I was just ready here
in twenty twelve. I can't think it has been that long,
Like true, is.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
That some what's the gats Man? Is that some kind
of you know, Oasis style rift. You guys haven't spoken
to each other for years and you're finally buried the
hatchet and you're going to sell out one hundred thousand
tickets all around the world.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Oh no, well that's you know, I think when you
first start that was twenty something years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Now that's what that's what you're hoping for. But yeah,
not the case.
Speaker 6 (02:13):
I reckon you would have done over the course of
twenty years.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah, man, it's been Honestly, I can even remember
how many goods have done, but it's yeah, I definitely
just noticed just when you're older, it's different.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, I was going to I was going to ask you, Francis,
I mean, how's how's the music changed for you? I mean,
you're you're older, you're wiser, you're maybe more cynical. Has
there been a shift in the direction of the music
or is it still the same kind of vibe.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Yeah, it's the same kind of vibe. It's just a
different time now. And the difference is like you can
ask any band. You listen to Metallica and people still
want to listen to, you know, Interseeing Men. Yeah, well
they don't really want to listen to your new stuff.
They want to remember you from when you first began.
And that's it pretty much. Yeah, you know that'll be
(03:01):
true for any being we're thinking that I made it,
I'd still go back.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To the Trooper, a CDC Highway to how Bond Scott era,
you know.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Yeah, but people, for some reason, they don't gravitate to
your news stuff because it's when you start.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
It is what they remember the most. Yeah, you can't
really change.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
It, Francis, And I've still got welded into my into
my brain, you know, on my mind Politician and all
those Clark skankingsign all those classics. Man, are you guys
haunted by those songs? As you still get fizzst to
play them?
Speaker 5 (03:35):
No, there's there's still I still love playing some of them,
some of them absolutely, you know, I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
To bear those. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
But yeah, when it comes to writing new material and
releasing new material, it's just such a different time from
when we face bookin ye, sorry.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
Does it come as easily to you? You're just writing
a different kind of style and you've sort of got
you've probably got your craft down a lot better after
all of these years as well, giving the confidence to
just go ahead and write what you're feeling.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's pretty much it.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
And a lot of the time it's the demos that
are more than actual finished product because the demos.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
When you're writting a demo, it's when your energy is.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
Like the freshest that you've just come up with the
idea and you kind of can't beat that. It's like
if you're writing a script for a film or a
TV show, your first kind of scripts are the ones
that that holds you the most, and then it takes
how many drafts before you actually get to the finished product. Yeah,
and that's that's not the fun part, you know, The
finished product wasn't the fun part.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
That's the initial spark that you started with. So I'd
prefer to do those.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Yeah, right, Francis Carter, we're speaking to you right now.
By the way, Quarter have announced a brand new album.
It's called Fifth Season. As we mentioned, light Years came
out in twenty twelve, thirteen years ago. And I know Francis,
you and Lawson as well, you guys involved with heaps
of different projects. You know, around New Zealand you'll always
see concerts pop up featuring Francis Quarter or Lats and
Quarter and you know, different projects of stuff. So how
(05:09):
hard was it for you guys to find the time
to get together and you know, put the band back
together and come up with enough tracks for an entire album?
Speaker 6 (05:17):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
You know what?
Speaker 5 (05:19):
That part not so much because it's just really myself
and Dan McGrew, who lives on in Queensland.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We did most of the runnings for Quarter. It's not
the original members of the band together.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
We've had a different line up to the last maybe
twelve fifteen years now and have never stopped playing. We've
always played every summer, and it's just different. We're running
remotely as opposed to getting people in together into the
studio because everyone lives all over the country so it's expensive.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Then.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Yeah, and that's probably the biggest change, as trying to
get everyone together and the cost of trying to make
this stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
It's cheap to do it yourself.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Yeah, the that's the I suppose, the struggles of today's
things and also the blessing.
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Yeah yeah, I mean you live where you're one, I guess,
and then also still able to do the still able
to do the work. And what with this album? How
does it compare to what you've done before? I'm fizzing, man,
I'm fizzing. What what can I expect? How does it
compare to what you've done before? Where does it sit
you rank it compared to your other albums?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Question?
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Because it's the newest.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Yeah, there's same songs like not even finished demos and
one of them in particular as a song dedicated to Aaron.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, and it's not finished. I said, it's perfect. It's
kind of suits the character Aaron would have loved it
like that.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
We're actually we actually had we had the Super Jesus
in here a few weeks ago, and they're talking about
when they did their first tour in New Zealand and
they got Aaron and to be touring guitarists with them,
and they offered him the guitarists role with the band
and he just straight away went, oh, now, I'm all good.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
No sweet airs man.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Just on, just on that, Francis, I believe we're going
to play that tune now. Are you referring to the
song as a yes?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So as this is a brand new tune from Quarter.
It's off their brand new album Fifth Season, which is
coming out on the twenty second, which is bloody excited. Hell,
I wasn't today the twenty second.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Hey man, thanks for your time. Francis will really appreciate it, mate,
and I hope it goes really well for you feelings.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, man, thank you a coming next time you brother.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, good on your mate.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Radio hold Aches Off the Record podcast. Why not subscribe
so they download automatically and don't forget to rate us
five stars?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Thanks mate.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Find out more about this podcast and the people who
make it at Holdache dot co dot Nz.
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