Sunday, August 02, 2009

A trip down (rock & roll) memory lane...

I have been following photographer Jonathan Ganley's photo-blog for a while now as he posts his photos of bands from the '80s and '90s - a great nostalgia trip for anyone who was in the music scene or just went to gigs in that period.

The latest photos are from 1990 and feature the Cakekitchen, the band I played in as a young 'un (started when I was 17, finished when I was 19, not long after these pictures were taken). This particular gig I remember as being one of the highlights of my musical career - we packed out the Basement theatre and it was hot and sweaty and we played well. Look how serious we look! Look at my gorgeous Musicman Sabre bass!

Even though I was only 17 when I started with the Cakekitchen, it was the third band I'd been in, and I went on to play in three more after that, before I sold my bass guitar and bought my first laptop, swapping one creative endeavour for another, I suppose. But I always knew that music was a hobby for me, whereas writing was what I really wanted to do.

We recorded an EP and two albums in that line-up (CDs can be found here and here; the single, Dave the Pimp can be found on the Flying Nun box-set and on the Flying Nun video compilation DVD); drummer Robert Key and I left that year and Graeme Jefferies headed off to Germany where he recruited new band members and continued the Cakekitchen project until this very day.  

3 comments:

Vanda Symon said...

What a lovely reminder of your band days. Black and white photos capture the mood so well - you look like a very cool rock chick. Great guitar too.

TK Roxborogh said...

ahh... our other lives. For a decade I was deeply involved in the theatre scene in Auckland (as much as full time teaching would allow) with workshops with Theatre Sports troupes, drama workshops, film and telly stuff and, later, casting agents for myself and my students.

In the end, though I had a few hits, mostly it was 'misses' and I realised my talent lay in writing and directing rather than being the star.

Now, my students get so excited to view my 'funny' tapes of Zena, and Shortland Street, and ads I did. "haha look at your hair, Miss!' Why is it always about the hair?

The thing is, I was trying to tell stories.

Rachel Fenton said...

Great pictures! Best of luck with all this month, too :)