SunLive Competition

Recording their album in an abandoned German secret state police headquarters certainly had an impact on the new sound of An Emerald City.

“It was nice to have this mystery about it,” says guitarist Reuben Bonner.

“The engineer found this tape and it was 1980’s propaganda of a broadcast about a nuclear agreement, and he asked if we wanted it on the album. So we have about a minute of this tape talking about nuclear arms in German.”

 Coming through a tough year, the Berlin-based band are looking forward to a positive 2011, and are kicking it off with a nation-wide tour with The Checks.

“At one point, we sat at a table in a Turkish restaurant and we just said ‘are we going to get through this or not?’, but I think it is testament we have stuck it out.”

Comprised of five kiwi boys and an Israeli they met in Germany, An Emerald City is back for four months to promote their second album ‘The Fourth’.

Reuben says this album is very different from their debut as they were heavily influenced by “the country’s industry and we wanted to grow and evolve from last time so we tried new instruments and styles”.

Describing their live performances as “a very visual psycadelic experience with music you can close your eyes to”, Reuben says he is looking forward to touring around with The Checks and their “blues-rock explosion of high energy”.

“The drummer Jacob and I are good buddies. I love that band; they are hugely talented. They are just as big a part of the tour.”

An Emerald City and The Checks are playing on February 18 at Brewer’s Bar, Mount Maunganui.

Tickets are available from www.undertheradar.co.nz. Doors open at 8pm.

Win: Go in the draw to win one of four single passes with SunLive. Entrants must be aged 18 years or over. To enter, you must be logged in, if you are new click here to register for free!

Competition Results

Kristine May
Mount Maunganui

Andrew Duffy
Bethlehem

Richard Wigelsworth
Papamoa

Steve Hodgson
Welcome Bay