Mutton Bird follows the band

Don McGlashan with the Waitakere City Brass Band.

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Don McGlashan, of international rock band the Mutton Birds, is excited about his commission to write a feature piece for a CD by the Waitakere City Brass Band.

"Brass is addictive," he says. "You need to smell brass and valve oil on a regular basis."

In his youth, the singer-guitarist-composer played in the East Coast Bays Band and the former Auckland Symphonia.

He has kept the brass link alive in the Mutton Birds, with turns on euphonium, and written some pieces for brass bands.

The 35-player Waitakere band has a grant from Creative New Zealand to produce a follow-up CD to its Brass Magic concert album.

Its musical director, Howard Taylor, aims for a CD of New Zealand music by year's end - despite the band's busy playing schedule.

McGlashan said he was thinking of a piece of eight to 10 minutes. "It's a very open brief. They are keen for something out of the ordinary - a piece that's entirely off the top of my head, and it can mix brass with electronic."