Each week we invite music lovers to share seven songs that have shaped their life. This week, we speak to artist and musician Chris Stapp, ahead of the launch of his new Killer Goodlooks comic book at Auckland's Wine Cellar next Wednesday, December 11.
Soundtrack To My Life: Chris Stapp
NZ Herald
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Chris Stapp is launching his new Killer Goodlooks comic book at Wine Cellar on December 11. Photo / Supplied.
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This song has that super-catchy "bop bop bop" bit and I've always loved that.
I saw them play the Robbie Williams show at Western Springs in 2003. I was horrified that they were supporting Robbie Williams but I wasn't going to miss it. That was really cool.
I took an Arcadia album along (a Duran Duran side project) and got Nick Rhodes to sign it, so I was quite stoked about that. It still had the "Feeling Good" sticker that Real Groovy put on second-hand records.
2. A FOREST - The Cure
We had just one crappy radio station in Alexandra but every now and then, when the weather was right, you could tune in Radio One from Dunedin. On one such evening I tuned in and A Forest was playing and it just blew my mind.
The bassline's amazing and I was just learning to play instruments and that was a bassline I could play. That was exciting. It's such a cool bassline at the start. I've loved that song ever since.
We went nuts for The Cure as teenagers and would queue outside record stores when their albums came out. I've met friends later in life who followed the same journey of going from Duran Duran to obsessing about The Cure. It's a bit of a natural progression there, somehow.
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3. ACE OF SPADES - Motorhead
The Young Ones introduced me to a lot of music. I was just obsessed with that TV show. I could stay up by myself and it was a bit edgy and naughty and grown-up. I just loved the s*** out of it.
They had all these amazing bands on like The Damned and Madness, but the University Challenge episode, with Motorhead playing Ace of Spades, is one of my favourites.
Lemmy was just such a freak of nature and as an impressionable young kid it was like, "This is weird and cool, serious music."
For a lot of people of my generation The Young Ones was important. It set our sense of humour and sensibilities and my whole attitude during my teenage years and going into flatting.
4. SOME CANDY TALKING - The Jesus and Mary Chain
[The Cure singer] Robert Smith once said in an interview, "I'm listening to The Jesus and Mary Chain." So I immediately went out and bought Psychocandy.
At the time I'd never heard any music like it. Psychocandy sounded so amazing and abrasive. Now when I listen to it just sounds kind of cute and poppy, but at the time it just sounded like chainsaws.
I saw them play at Sammy's in Dunedin. It was one of the first gigs that I went to and I was still underage at 16.
Me and my buddy managed to skull a whole bottle of Southern Comfort and I vomited most of my way through Straightjacket Fits' set and then pulled my s*** together when The Jesus and Mary Chain came on.
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It was just incredible. They were just like silhouettes up on stage, these skinny things with big hair, and playing this phenomenal noise through wall-to-wall speakers. It was so good. That really blew my mind.
5. (YOU GOTTA) FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT (TO PARTY) - Beastie Boys
I'm Generation X, so the Beastie Boys are kind of our Beatles.
I was about 14 and that record Licensed To Ill made it to the music shop in Alexandra.
It was so new and exciting at the time because we'd never heard hip-hop and it had cool guitars and it was super-bratty and funny. Run DMC's Walk This Way was huge and we were really into that.
I tried to start our first band based on that Beastie Boys record. We had an acoustic guitar and my friend's parent's record player, and we were trying to scratch. It went horribly, but it was super fun trying.
Beastie Boys were a massive presence throughout my 20s, they were putting out amazing records and constantly reinventing themselves. I've got so much love for that band.
6. 20th CENTURY BOY - T. Rex
The greatest guitar riff I've ever heard. I often think about Marc Bolan coming up with that in the practice room and how he must have felt and what would have gone through his head. It just fascinates me thinking about that moment.
That riff is just so killer and so grunty. There's something about that sound and The Slider is such a great album.
I was a bit older when I started getting into T. Rex. The late Celia Mancini, bass player from the band King Loser, gave me a T. Rex album and it was right up my alley. I've loved T. Rex ever since.
Celia died a couple of years ago which was very sad. She was always a good sort and always cool to me and turned me on to cool tunes.
7. JESUS I WAS EVIL - Darcy Clay
This is just the ultimate Kiwi punk rock track. It's such a killer tune and it's got such a unique sound to it. It just endures. It never sounds dated and still sounds totally fresh.
I was living up in Auckland by this stage in the late 90s when we were getting into making Back Of The Y [the cult TV show he made with Matt Heath].
It's an inspiration that that dude just recorded this song on a four-track in his bedroom. It's a really incredible piece of punk rock home recording. It has so much attitude to it. The distortion on the voice is amazing, the guitar riff is cool, and his guitar sounds really unique.
That cool DIY thing that he had - that's what punk rock is about: Do it yourself, record it yourself, it doesn't matter if it's a bit s***. It's just inspiring. It has such a cool video as well, he's there in his jumpsuit and I just love that s***. It's one of my favourite Kiwi songs. People bust it out at parties and everyone always gets into it.
