Czech street band Praguematique, with Kaikohe-born Craig Denham on accordion, is playing three dates around Northland on October 3-7.
Czech street band Praguematique, with Kaikohe-born Craig Denham on accordion, is playing three dates around Northland on October 3-7.
A Kaikohe-born multi-instrumentalist now living a street musician's life in Prague is coming home to Northland with his Czech band in tow.
Praguematique, a five-piece acoustic band playing a blend of gypsy swing, Balkan, Klezmer, ska, Latin, folk and whatever else takes their fancy, are about to embark on atour of small-town New Zealand.
In Northland they will play at Swamp Palace in Doubtless Bay, Opua Hall and the Absurdistan community in Kaiwaka.
The band's accordion player and sole Kiwi member, Craig Denham, is a former Northland College student who has been making music as long as he can remember.
He played his first professional gigs as a 12-year-old on piano, alongside his father on sax and clarinet, at the Beachcomber Hotel in Paihia.
As a teenager he played in various bands around the Mid North.
"Often I was the only Pakeha in the place. I believe I owe my groove to all the funky Ngapuhi I had the honour of playing with in my youth," he said.
Later he moved to Auckland and added Latin, Irish and Gypsy to his Northland diet of reggae, soul, rock and rhythm and blues; he also took up the accordion and tin whistle.
There, he played keyboards for Ardijah, was musical director of Ruia Aperahama's band (of What's the Time Mr Wolf? fame) and played accordion with the Mamaku Project.
Despite playing in 13 bands at one time in a bid to survive as a musician, finding one that catered to the full range of his eclectic tastes proved impossible - so he started his own, the genre-defying Beyondsemble, in Kerikeri six years ago.
"That was an attempt to have a band that at least covered 70 per cent of the styles I liked to play," he said.
His first experience of the Czech Republic was in 2010 when he joined Beyondsemble guitarist Mark Mazengarb for the last few weeks of his OE. Denham never planned to visit Prague.
"It wasn't on any list of mine. We came to Prague because we put a message out on Facebook that we were looking for gigs and places to stay, and some random guy we didn't even know organised five gigs for us."
Praguematique at home in the Czech Republic. PHOTO / LUKAS HAMACEK
A couch-surfing host eventually turned into Denham's partner and he has been progressively moving to Prague ever since.
He is now based in the Czech capital for nine months of the year and spends the other three touring with Beyondsemble or one of his other projects, Alpaca Social Club.
He formed Praguematique with three of his Czech musical mates and one Slovak.
A New Zealand tour is a huge undertaking for any Central European group - let alone a street band whose music, like Beyondsemble, defies definition - but Denham is able to call on contacts built up over six years of touring the country.
Band members will be billeted with friends almost everywhere they play. A few well-paid gigs, including the last night of the Tauranga Arts Festival, will help cover their costs.
For Denham, the tour is a working holiday, a chance to catch up with friends and family, and a rare opportunity to jump into the ocean and eat fresh fish.
But most of all it's a chance to show off his homeland.
"Its a dream for most Czechs to come to New Zealand. My friends have shown me a lot of the Czech Republic, so it's about time I returned the favour. I think they'll be blown away," he said.
Praguematique is playing at a medieval banquet at Swamp Palace, Oruru, on October 3. Tickets are $50 from the Mangonui Information Centre. The following day, October 4, they will play at Opua Hall from 5.30pm (tickets $15) and on October 7 at Absurdistan, 317A Parekura Road, Kaiwaka, from 7.30pm (pre-sales $15 from the Kaiwaka Cheese Shop, $20 at the door).
