Interview /// Concrete Playground Meets Tahuna Breaks

Laters Winter, we are over you, go on, get! Summer's on its way and its time to gear up and get amongst all things sandy. We thought what better time than now to have a catch up with one of our favourite sounds to team with the sunshine, kiwi Summer icon, Tahuna Breaks. We sat down for a chat with the band's trumpet and keys player, Tim Baker, for a catch up on what has been going on with the Tahuna crew.

You guys have been a little under the radar recently. Rumour has it you're working on new material. What's in the pipeline for Tahuna Breaks?

Yeah we've been writing and working on new material for the last few months, branching out into some new sounds that'll be a bit different to our previous albums. It started out as only being 3 or 4 tracks but has now evolved into doing a full album. It'll be a fairly quiet summer, we'll hopefully get away somewhere as a band and do a few good solid writing/recording sessions.

So what is it we can we expect from this new sound?

It's a little hard to describe. We're always evolving as a band in what we listen to and what we want to put out. The new material will hopefully encompass a bit of old and a bit of new. We're still massively into James Brown, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye etc, but with new influneces like Jamiroquai and Groove Armada, who knows what will happen!

I heard you've also got Crazy P on board? How did that come about?

Yeah we're pretty excited about that! We originally approached Crazy P when we released the last album to remix We Funk The Party. They did an awesome job on it and so when we were discussing the new material and what direction we wanted to take we asked them if they'd co-produce and they agreed.  It was going to be 4 tracks, but we've since bumped it up to a whole album. From what we've heard so far it's sounding great, having a second set of hands and ears on the music to give it a solid direction has been amazing, we're all looking forward to the finished product!

Having a gig at Coroglen Tavern is probably up there with kiwi summer must dos. How's the weekend shaping up for you guys? Sounds like a bit of a boys roadie. Give us a run down.

It's going to be full on. We're playing at Coroglen on Saturday night with David Dallas. We finish playing, jump in a bus and drive to Gisborne for a 9am soundcheck! That night we're playing at the Gisborne wine and food festival with Fat Freddy's Drop (all before the Rugby don't worry!) Next morning we're on the move again to Palmy to play at Massey for the Fonterra Shout. All in all it'll be an awesome weekend.

I see Tahuna Breaks aren't playing any new years festivals this year. Where will you all be heading?

Nope, Tahuna is having a quiet one this year. The focus for Summer is writing new music. As well as this Marty and his wife are having another child, so things will be pretty busy even without the gigs! Most of the guys in the band are heading to Highlife New Years Eve in Matakana. Crazy P are playing which we're pretty excited about as well as A.Skillz, Ugly Duckling and Pete Rock, it's a pretty epic lineup!

So finally, we're interested in what the Tahuna crew reckons (cause there never seems to be an answer we in the office can all settle on..) Auckland's best spot for a Sunday Roost, lazy brunch and best small bar, go.

Hah! Right. Sunday Roost, The Horse and Trap, cheap meals on a Sunday is ALWAYS a winner!  Lazy Brunch, it's got to be Kingsland, either Roasted Addiqtion or Shaky Isles, both are top for coffee and food, and best small bar, Chapel on Ponsonby Road, Sunday sessions there are nuts!

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