Interview: The Contenders’ Cilla is Ready For Punk-O-Ween

Punk It Up is postponed til next year, but Punk-O-Ween is happening this weekend!

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda called up Cilla of Hamilton’s Contenders to scare up some more info on this historic event.

Listen to the interview here:

Or, read the transcription here:

M: You guys are doing this gig at Punk O Ween at Galatos at the end of the week here.

C: Yeah.

M: Tell me what you’ve got planned.

C: We are still deciding on the costume. We don’t really know but the set that we’ve got planned, we’re really looking forward to playing it. We just came back from Christchurch punk fest on the weekend and that was our first gig in seven months and that went really well and so we’re all feeling like super amped for this weekend and ready to play some brand new songs that we’ve been working on over the last six months and yeah, we’re really looking forward to it.

M: It must have been exciting after taking a seven month break or whatever it was to get back on stage and play a little bit. What have you been doing during that time? Anything exciting?

C: What’s that?

M:What were you doing? Were you doing anything musical or were you just kind of hanging out.

C: Over that seven months?

M: Yeah.

C: Yeah, we were. We were, because of lockdown a bit chunk of that was spent kind of in isolation but beforehand we had kind of started on a new writing project for a new album and during that isolation period we nutted out some really cool stuff and kind of just went really hard at it and then once we were allowed to catch up together we went straight into jamming and yeah and release four or five of those songs and that’s what we’ve been doing for seven months is just kind of like writing and getting ready to record a brand new album and we’re all really stoked and I think the craziness of the times I think pushed us all really creatively.

M: Oh good. That sounds exciting.

C: Yeah, it is exciting.

M: So you had a seven track EP/LP thingy out last June so this is all new stuff you’re working on from there right?

C: Yup, brand new.

M: Cool. So tell me who else is in the band. I assume you’re the vocalist.

C: Yeah, I am. So I’ve got Cam Reid is on the drums, Liam Clancy he’s on bass, Justin Willis is on lead guitar and Alex Kinnaird is on rhythm guitar. So we’ve got, I kind of just two very old school members would be Alex and Justin and the band’s kind of had a few people come and go since then.

M: How does the songwriting work? Do you all write or do you do  all the writing? How does that happen?

C: It’s different really for every song. So most of the time it’s Alex, Justin or myself that will come up with the concept of melody or riff for the song and then we all just get together in a room and we lay down what we have and kind of get the general vibe of what everyone is thinking about it and then we go from there and I found personally sometimes you can write like two or three really bad songs before you write a good song you know?

M: I’m sure you can.

C: It’s a real work in progress and also …

M: How did you become attracted to this form of punk rock type stuff? What got you into it, was there a band that you listened to and said I wanna do that?

C: I think it was definitely not just the music but also the community and the people that I was attracted to in Hamilton and like creative people and then I was introduced to a lot of really, really good music and it was kind of just like an unfolding of things that made me feel really included and excited. So my husband, he was in this really wicked band called Wizz Kids and I would just kind of follow them around like a bad smell really just soaking everything in and just enjoying meeting all these new people and watching all these great bands play and then I kind of got into playing in some bands myself with some friends, just real amateur kind of stuff. I don’t really have a lot of instrumental background like musical background  or vocals so I just picked up some drumsticks and kind of …

M: Pounded on them.

C: Yeah exactly.

M: Good on you.

C: And it was great, and it was very, very punk rock and I love that essence and I think it’s a really cool thing to have in bands is that there’s a rawness. So that’s kind of how I got into it all and when the Contenders, that kind of happened through me just showing up while they were jamming one time cause I really digged their stuff and they wanted to do a GG Allin cover and they were like well you know, are you gonna.. try do the vocals for that? I was like, “Ok”. So I learnt the lyrics and did the GG Allin You Hate Me And I Hate You, I think that’s what it’s called. So then when we recorded it actually when they heard it, they were just like, ‘oh shit yeah, let’s do this’. So that was a really cool feeling. An absolute honour to be honest and just really cool working with such talented dudes.

M: The new stuff that you’re working on, when do you expect to be in the studio laying that stuff down?

C: We are booked for recording in November.

M: Oh, good. That’s just like a week away, not even.

C: I know, I know. It’s so exciting and it was just really great to be able perform some of the songs for the first time in Christchurch.

M: I assume we’ll hear some of them on the weekend here at this Punk O Ween thingy. Are you familiar with the other bands that are on the bill with you? There’s Sit Down In Front and Die Gruwel and Morning Horns. Do you know them?

C: I’m not super familiar with the other bands but I should get familiar before the gig.

M: Yeah.

C: I’ve heard good things, especially about Sit Down In Front.

M: Yeah, I know those guys, they’re pretty cool.

C: Yeah.

M: It’ll be good fun. When was the last time you were in Auckland? Have you ventured out much yet or are you still finding your way outside of the Co-vid thing?

C: Last time, I was in  Auckland for the first in a long time was when we were just up there, Alex was working at an Auckland tattoo studio and I was just kind of wandering around Ponsonby which was really nice.

M: It doesn’t sound very punk though.

C: Yeah I know, I know it doesn’t. But it was cool. They’ve got a good second hand bookstore there, so picked up a good book. Yeah, it was really nice. I quite like Auckland you know, it’s got a lot going for it, it’s good a lot of really great people, great musicians and people that support each other which is really great.

M: Excellent. How did the thing that you released last year do? Did you press it on vinyl? Was it just digital? How did it happen?

C: We did a seven inch EP and then we released some online digital bonus tracks as well and the review was real good, the reception was real good so I’m real pleased with how that went and we’ve sold out of that now. So I don’t know exactly, I can’t really say what we’re gonna be doing like in terms of this release but we’re still kind of working on that. But I can tell you that I’m really excited about the songs.

M: Cool, that sounds good. I was trying to think, how are you gonna get seven songs on a seven inch but they’re all about a minute and a half long aren’t they?

C: Yeah, most of them.

M: That’s cool.

C: I don’t know, we were thinking either twelve or seven but we just haven’t decided yet and we kind of just want to put the best stuff forward. I mean it’s all good but I don’t know. I think we’re all kind of perfectionists if I’m being honest so it’s a cool thing, it’s a good thing but I mean, I was so, so nervous about playing in Christchurch.

M:Really? Why?

C: So nervous. I suppose it’s just been so long and also with some of the new songs, they’ve only literally just been finished on my end and I was just kind of like you know, I think I will always get nervous before getting onstage, it’s just a primal kind of thing I don’t know. But as soon as I get up there and all the instruments, like the guitars get turned on and stuff like that, It’s just like I don’t really think about anything else and it’s just the music, it’s just the music in you, you know?

M: Yup, I got it, I hear you. Yes, I believe everyone at one point should be in a punk band.

C: Oh, for sure. Absolutely. Honestly it’s great, it’s absolutely great. The creative freedom you get.

M: And it’s just good fun, feeling those guitars in your back.

C: Hell yeah.

M: Well thanks for talking to me, I appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing you guys when you come up here.

C: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for the interview, I really appreciate it.

M: My pleasure, are you kidding me? We’ll see you, have a good day.

C: Cool dude, see you soon.

Punk ‘O’ Ween
Featuring… Contenders, Sit Down In Front, Morning Horns, Die Gruwel, Rebel Truce
Saturday 31st October – Galatos, Auckland

Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1187785188243465/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%7D

Tickets available HERE via UTR (early bird passes available)