Subversive music from Taliband

THE TALIBAND say they've been liberating women on the dance floor since 2004.
The band slipped into Wanganui under darkness on Wednesday night after their delayed ferry crossing from the South Island, and agreed to meet the Chronicle at the cannon in Queen's Park.
We saw them as they drove down Victoria Ave. It was their van that caught our attention. Taliband stylishly painted, almost in camouflage.
It was the way they were piled into their van and their assortment of hats that alerted us to something being different.
But they drove in the opposite direction, and we wondered if they were on a reconnoitre to find where they would unload their van next Saturday. At "The Studio" in Wicksteed St. Also known as the YMCA. They would hatch their plan then. More liberating on the dance floor.
On Thursday the Taliband was on a mission and had to leave town before 11.
They sauntered toward us we head-counted six. We were shaking. It was freezing. They were used to the cold down south, just not the early morning.
Two ex-Wanganui members, cousins CP Moore and Ben O'Sullivan came up to us first.
We found out they were Otago University students; although Moore has his commerce degree and is doing a graduate diploma. We found a crack. These guys are educated. Their music is a front.
Their instruments are varied.
Moore plays keyboards and keytar; O'Sullivan plays trumpet; Sam Bennett is on drums; Nick Van de Vlierd, guitar, Oli Cameron, vocals and guitar and Nic Rowland plays bass.
Their first single is fivefour and it's been captured on video: www.myspace.com/taliband.
In September the Taliband are releasing their first album, The Monkey and the Stick.
Moore said the title is the only original idea from which every single idea stems; and then he let slip a piece of inside information about proving "Roly" wrong.
These guys are about spreading their music, taking it to New Zealand.
Already they've been in the Lakes District; Wanaka, Queenstown and Cromwell.
They're now in the North Island and heading back to Wanganui on Saturday.
Be on guard for their roots mix of ska, funk, reggae, rock and a splash of punk, with a sound likened to that of the Black Seeds you'll probably enjoy Taliband.
Taliband at "The Studio" (YMCA) at 159 Wicksteed St on July 7. The doors open at 7.30pm with a $5 cover charge.
PICTURED: A Taliband attempt at a direction& Nick Van de Vlierd (guitar) at the front and from left back: Sam Bennett (drums), Ben O'Sullivan (ex-Wanganui, trumpet), CP Moore (ex-Wanganui, keyboard and keytar), Nic Rowland (bass) and Oli Cameron (singer and guitar) from Dunedin play a roots-mix of ska, funk, reggae, rock and a splash of punk, with a sound likened to that of the Black Seeds.