Looking for love and respect with Elemeno P

By REBECCA BARRY

Think "Nashville" and rugby probably doesn't spring to mind. Nor punk rock when you think jazz. But bizarre combinations seem to work for Auckland pop-rock band Elemeno P, who once played their national sport outside the hotel room of one of country music's biggest stars.

"We've got Billy Ray's digits," boasts singer-songwriter David Gibson. "We ambushed him. He likes what we do."

Upbeat single Fast Times In Tahoe not only worked its way into Cyrus' music collection - two of the band members met him in Nashville where the album was mixed - but on to the local airwaves. Now the band are preparing to unleash their debut album, Love & Disrespect. Verona, about a girl in a K Rd cafe, Weed Out, which opens with cheesy, synthesized beats, and Bring on the Benjamins in which Gibson deadpans, "Six 'til midnight, have another flat white ... " are proof the band don't take themselves too seriously.

"We actually quite like talking about painful situations," says Gibson. "I think it's a nice juxtaposition to blend lyrics that aren't about happy stuff in a happy sounding song. Fast Times in Tahoe is not really going, 'Wicked, life is so good', it's a song about missing somebody and being burnt. But it's a happy-sounding song."

Robust drummer Scotty Pearson, who his bandmates affectionately describe as "motherly", says positivity is an essential part of pop.

"I like the connection that pop brings," he says. "It's simple, catchy, you can play it on the radio at work and it makes people happy for three minutes."

Gibson, on the other hand, used to play drums in a hardcore band and admits he would like to be part of a group such as Rage Against the Machine "to have something to fight against".

Bass player Lani Purkis agrees. She joined the band 10 months ago, and also plays the low notes for all-girl punk rock band Foamy Ed.

"You'd get to be grumpy on stage," she grins.

Today, the only grumpy behaviour seems to be light-hearted verbal jousting between Gibson and guitarist-songwriter Justyn Pilbrow, who moonlights as a bass player in jazz outfit the Relaxomatic Project. The pair first played jazz together, lived together for four years and procrastinated about forming their own band. Finally, Pilbrow insisted they record a demo which they sent to their future signatories, Universal Records.

"Justyn co-produced the album so he brings logic to songwriting," says Gibson. "I come from quite an emotional angle. It can cause problems sometimes. I'll think something is actually really great ... "

Pilbrow: And it won't be.

Gibson: Anyway, Justyn's a jazz player so he's not as hard as Lani.

Pilbrow: Shut up.

"He's still getting over the fact we broke up," says Gibson, referring to their living arrangements. "We're not really angry."

Elemeno P have left that up to scowling American pop-punk bands Good Charlotte and Sum 41, for both of whom they have played support slots.

"Good Charlotte called us A-Lemon-Op," says Purkis. "In front of like, 5000 kids."

Local band Stellar got their name right, however, when they thanked them for playing support on their national tour.

"It's hard to say who likes us because so far we've only ever played to other bands' crowds," says Gibson. "We've been getting on [radio station] The Edge, we played [teen pop gig] Summer Jam. I think Stellar helped to expose us to an older crowd."

Love & Disrespect will be released on July 3 and the band will head off the following month on their own tour, taking their punk rock-jazz-hardcore-pop-influenced hybrid with its Weezer harmonies and Ramones grit from Auckland to Invercargill.

"It would be like if you could only eat cheese for the rest of your life," says Pilbrow, when confronted with the prospect of playing one style of music. "I mean, I really like cheese but it would just bore me if that's all I ate."

Gibson nods his head in agreement.

"I really enjoy the sort of stuff Justyn plays. But there's no hope in hell I'd ever be able to sing in an appropriate way for a band like that. So given the options we've got, this is the band that turns up, you know?" * Love & Disrespect (Universal) out on July 3.