The Black Seeds with The Big Show

The Black Seeds are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their second album On The Sun by releasing it on vinyl for the first time. They called in to chat about summer touring, Breaking Bad and their recent reunion with Brett McKenzie. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Radio Hold Keys Off the Record Podcast with
Jason Hoyt, Mike Minogue and Keasy.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
You know, I'm looking outside there in the beautiful Auckland City.
It's a lovely sunny day. Summer is upon us. And
when I think about summer and when I think about tunes,
I put two things together, Summer and the Black Seeds.
Do you guys do the same thing. It's like, when
I think of what kind of music do I want
to listen to and somemer, I think the Black Seeds.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
I think Fat Freddy's Drop, I think the Black Seeds,
I think Catch a Fire, I think all that stuff,
which is why it's extremely exciting to have Dan from
the Black Seeds in the studio with us right now.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Hey, fellas, get out.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
What's the deal with the Black Seeds when summer hits?
So you guys just go through the roof in terms
of streams and things, because it is very synonymous with
good weather in New Zealand.

Speaker 5 (00:45):
I guess it's like the one song that does is
so true that goes to the roof.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
What about call Me Down Down?

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (00:53):
Well and winter as well? That one man.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Yeah, I think it does make Seeds I didn't.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Want to suggest for a minute there you're just a
summer band. I mean, you guys are all round, you know,
good vibes all year round, but I mean summertime. I mean,
I just think it's because everyone's feeling great, the sun's out,
and you guys just have the tunes for that kind
of mood.

Speaker 5 (01:14):
Yeah, I think I think it does fit into summer. Yeah, yeah,
it's definitely summer music. I mean, not all of it,
but you know what we're talking about today with the
celebrating twenty years of All the Sun, that album, yeah,
that's got summer all over it.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
On the Sun for you Guys is like based off
a true story. Fat Ford his drop like for me
because I had I was given Your Guys first LP,
which had like black Sunrise and stuff like that on it.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah that's right.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
And then On the Sun came out, so True came
out had the video clip of you guys, but that's
when you guys are in the Old Hold and doing
a road.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Trip, right, that's right?

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that and Based on a true Story
came out similar times, and so it seems to be
quite synonymous with that sort of I don't know it's
just it seems to me like such an iconic moment
in New zeal music.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
Yeah, I guess you associated with summer because that video
with the Holder on the East Coast driving around in summer,
you know before we got two days popped up to
shirt that, but we were there for seven days. The
other five days. That's just persing down with ray.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is so true.

Speaker 7 (02:19):
Well when they see what you did that when that
came out Keys, it would have been about ten or eleven,
that'd be about right.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
I was thirteen, yeah.

Speaker 6 (02:28):
Or something.

Speaker 8 (02:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (02:31):
Around that time, I just moved back from from Australia
and moved to Wellington. And it was a huge time
for Wellington right across the country because you had you
had Freddy's, you had Rhombus, you had you Guys, Trinity Roots.
There was just so many bands that came out of
Wellington and influenced the entire country. It was just an

(02:51):
incredible time to be Wellington base, wasn't it.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
Yeah Yeah, Yeah, it was a great time and it
was just perfect time. And that's all of those bands
sound quite different kind of come under you know, not reggae,
but it had elements of reggae and bass heavy music
is how I would say it, and all just coming
out at the same time and succeeding.

Speaker 4 (03:13):
Yeah, it was great.

Speaker 8 (03:14):
Does it feel like twenty years Dan or do you
go twenty years? No?

Speaker 4 (03:19):
Way?

Speaker 5 (03:22):
Five years ago I think I said, whoa, that's been
twenty years. Black Seas have been together twenty six years. Wow,
But I'm just excited about We've been working on album
eight just over the weekend, and if we were working
on new music, I think I felt pretty old and
lame coming here to talk about an album twenty years ago.

Speaker 6 (03:46):
You got, sir Dave Dobbin vibes there, I was.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Going to say, because we had the Fellas from she
had in about a week or.

Speaker 4 (03:54):
So of engines. Yeah, last year.

Speaker 8 (03:56):
They're calling it last year.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
Car times moving fast, they're calling it quits.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, they're going, you know, we've done our dash, We're
still creating great music and we want to kind of leave.
Are you guys still going strong? You're still feeling good
about what you're doing obviously?

Speaker 4 (04:11):
Yeah? Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 5 (04:12):
I mean I feel I just feel a lot more complete.
Favorite day job, and then going to Wellington last weekend
and writing new music and it was a good session.
There's some great stuff there, and like I said, if
we went we're doing that and coming here just to
talk about it. An album we did which is a
great album twenty years ago.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, this is we talked to she had about a
decade ago, and they were saying that the reason they
hanging it up is because if they're not going to
keep creating new music, you don't just want to go
around playing the old stuff, even though the fans would
be totally sweet as with it. Does it go hand
in hand? You can't do one without the other.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
No, I think Yeah. We always talk about that.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
It's like, you know, there's a lot of old tunes
in there, but you've got to mix it up with
the new ones. And I mean, what are you getting inspired?
I mean I used to really put playing live ahead
of being in the studio, and and now I'm like,
I love going in there and and creating, and you've
got to When I don't have that, it's like not speaking.

(05:15):
You're not getting your ideas about out there. You're not
getting your voice out there, and it's it's just good
for my soul and I'm a better person for it.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Good, I'll tell you what we'll do.

Speaker 6 (05:24):
We'll go to a check.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
What tune are we going to?

Speaker 3 (05:26):
Of course there's a number to choose from from this
particular album that is turning twenty, but we've gone for
one that we play all the time here on Radiohodaki,
which is Fire by the Black Seeds. Quick yarn about that? Dan,
What's Fire?

Speaker 4 (05:36):
Who wrote that?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Would that come from?

Speaker 6 (05:37):
Well?

Speaker 4 (05:38):
Brett mackenzie. He came with that idea.

Speaker 5 (05:40):
Yeah, right, Yeah, it's just that phase we're just bringing in.
We're listening to a lot of funk and really wanting
to bring that in to mix in with the reggae,
and Brett's just always brought great ideas.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
So that was a great one.

Speaker 7 (05:56):
Yeah, I always remember the first time I heard that,
So I want to talk about that after we hear
the tune.

Speaker 8 (06:02):
Yeah, great.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Cheer speaking of the Black Seeds got Dan from the
Black Seeds and with us, So what's the.

Speaker 7 (06:27):
But I just wanted to talk about the first time
that song. Well, I was living down in Wellington, Man
and it was in it was in two thousand and
four and I had a place in the Row Valley
there and at that stage I was working in film.
I was working out at Stone Street, and generally when
you're working on jobs out there, you're doing huge hours.
But I managed to get an early mark and I
went home, went home, go inside to throw a surprise

(06:50):
the missus, and that song is cranking on the radio,
and I walk and walk through the kitchen, which goes
into the lounge, which goes into the bedroom, and there
she is vigorously making love to my brother.

Speaker 4 (07:04):
Is that a true story?

Speaker 7 (07:05):
And I thought to myself, God, damn it, that is
a great song. I've never forgotten that.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
Because you blasted all the time.

Speaker 6 (07:13):
The thing about music, man, is it brings back memories.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (07:16):
Yeah, and it was vigorous, you were saying, I realized
I had a thing or to learn. It's funny, isn't
it how we associate certain times of our life with
certain things that happened.

Speaker 6 (07:30):
And it is a great funny for me.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
It wasn't funny funny.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
But it was sort of You were in a situation, though, Magie,
where at least you had a good tune.

Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yeah, that's tune. It would have been a dreadful.

Speaker 6 (07:45):
It was unbelievable. Yeah, he was writing, he was right
in the know.

Speaker 8 (07:50):
Yeah, yeah, my god.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
So the reason We've got Damn for the Black Seeds,
and is because the album which that song came off
on the Sun is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. You guys
are releasing it on vinyl. A lot of people these days.
Vinyls just massively exploded, hasn't it? So getting something out
on vinyl? Did you guys have that as a release
when you actually released the album.

Speaker 9 (08:09):
Back in we see that's no, no, it's it's a
bloody expensive yeah, right, Okay, so there are only a
thousand of these pressed, and we'll see how it goes
if we're going to do anymore.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
But it's a thousand, so that's you know, limited edition.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
How hard is it to get to even get in
the queue to get vinyls press because it seems like
everyone wants to do it at the moment.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, I think it's eas off now.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
But yeah, that was a few months ago when we
came out with the idea to get it done.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (08:34):
How much is the VINYLA how much is the vinyl
to make to buy?

Speaker 6 (08:38):
There about eighty ord bucks or something crazy?

Speaker 4 (08:40):
You were shipping me.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Hang on having expensive?

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Yeah, we don't want to go to number one.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
Can get for money. It's a great album to get
two of them.

Speaker 8 (08:49):
It's eighty bucks. It's a thousand, one thousand and eighty bucks.

Speaker 6 (08:53):
Well grand, one hundred and fifty grand. That's what's your
guys cut there?

Speaker 3 (09:00):
Small Posy had like ten shillings ten peters, wasn't it?

Speaker 8 (09:07):
And you had to hand crank your vinyls?

Speaker 6 (09:09):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (09:11):
Crank? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (09:12):
Is that where you got that habit?

Speaker 4 (09:13):
From arms? Anyway?

Speaker 3 (09:15):
Damn from the Black Seeds?

Speaker 4 (09:16):
Is here question?

Speaker 3 (09:18):
So Britt mackenzie ovious he was involved back in the day. Yes,
has hen since come back to the band because obviously
went away and then came back and then pops up
here and there on different songs.

Speaker 5 (09:27):
BRIT's After Into the Dojo that was his last album.
Obviously did fly to the concores writing music for you know,
different movies and and he's also you know, got a
solo career. Yeah, he came back to celebrate last Friday
with us at the studio. It was really cool because
we'd had a few beers and a few pizzas and

(09:47):
then we're Barney was like.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
Let's have a jam.

Speaker 5 (09:51):
So there's like I think it was fourteen people and
they're having a jam, and Brett got behind the keyboards
so cool and swapped over bass players and swapped over dramas.
So we've got two jams there, which.

Speaker 6 (10:06):
It was.

Speaker 4 (10:06):
It was quite cool.

Speaker 5 (10:06):
When we listened back to it, it's like, you know,
I wasn't fueled by the booze.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
It's actually quite good because it's like we're quite surprise listening. Actually,
if we were.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
To reunite in like twenty years and then just like
he should, we have a gym and then set around
some mics and then yelled backbone and st I don't
think that would be there personally, I think it would
be k One question been meaning to ask the Black
Seeds if anyone came through. You guys were on an
episode of Breaking Bed.

Speaker 4 (10:37):
Weren't you?

Speaker 3 (10:38):
Didn't you feature on an episode of Breaking Bed?

Speaker 7 (10:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (10:40):
The song one by one was one by one? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (10:44):
How massive was that? Because that's one of the best
TV shows ever made?

Speaker 4 (10:46):
It was pretty huge.

Speaker 5 (10:47):
I mean at the time that show was just starting,
no one really knew what it was. Yes, And I
just remember telling the story today, I turned on the
TV and these these guys making to meth and our
true played not for the first time, and I was like,
what that someone's screwed up the music video?

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Guys, what's happening here? And that's how I saw it.

Speaker 5 (11:11):
It was yeah, yeah, No, I knew that it was
going to be on the TV show, but I didn't
realize what scene.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
A feeling about that after or now?

Speaker 4 (11:21):
Looking back?

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Is it awesome?

Speaker 4 (11:22):
It was probably a little bit higher myself. Probably not.
I'm goody.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
So give us some Edmund here. You ask for Edmund, read.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
The record and all that sort of jazz.

Speaker 6 (11:35):
Mate, Well it's available?

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Is it available right now?

Speaker 4 (11:38):
It's about to release? Yeah, Friday, Friday, the.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
Actual record, it's the record itself releases. That's when it'll
be available. You can also pre order the vinyl at
the moment. We'll chuck some details up correct. You know
what we'll do is we'll check a photo up on
our Instagram story as well with all the links and stuff.
And there's only a thousand copies of it.

Speaker 8 (11:55):
So do you want to go Halves? He's key me
and you go Halves. He's got eighty bucks, I mean eighty.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
But do you even have a record?

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Play?

Speaker 6 (12:03):
Oh you gramophone? Yeah?

Speaker 8 (12:06):
Hey Dan, Well that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Mate, Thanks for coming in and having a bit of
a chet chat with us and very quickly any plans
over the summer there.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
Yeah, there's a few gigs happening over the summer. A
big one is supporting the Sublime down at town.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Yeah yeah, yeah down.

Speaker 5 (12:23):
WELLI yeah, so we're excited about that and yeah there's
a few gigs. Just come and check us out at
our Instagram. It's a good place to go to and
it's all up on there.

Speaker 4 (12:33):
Yeah, good stuff, mate, beautiful. Thanks Follers.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Radio hod Aches Off the Record podcast.

Speaker 1 (12:40):
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Speaker 4 (12:45):
Thanks mate.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Find out more about this podcast and the people who
make it at hodache dot co dot nz.