Not waiting Until Autumn
Until Autumn are enjoying a bountiful summer.
The band, made up of students from Aotea and Tawa colleges, have not rested on their laurels since taking out the Wellington regional Smokefreerockquest in June. They recently played to packed audiences at two stages at the Parachute Festival near Hamilton, have made a video for their song Don’t Go and are soon to release a five-track EP titled Visions.
Dont Go was co-directed by Corey Fuimaono and Linus Nelson, both 17, through youth organisation Zeal and was filmed at an abandoned college in Petone.
‘‘ A lot of planning and organising went into the project,’’ the band’s drummer Andrew Chesney says.
‘‘The production crew were fantastic, making our job easy and a lot of fun.’’
Lead singer James Gill says it wasn’t a walk in the park, because they had to sing the song ‘‘about 50 times’’.
He says the Zeal team, who edited and added computer generated imagery to the video, were ‘‘amazing’’.
The Parachute Festival opened more opportunities.
‘‘It was fantastic, meeting big US bands, talking to heavyweights in the industry and taking part in classes like songwriting was really valuable. We sold way more band merchandise like posters and T- shirts than we thought, really got our names out there and were stoked with the reaction from the crowds.’’
It’s a heady time for the five, who only came together early in 2012. The Smokefree- rockquest was their third gig together. They are trying to keep their feet on the ground and finish their schooling, all the while making plans for Until Autumn, Gill says.
‘‘ We really want to stay together and do music, that’s our focus. I think all bands want to play to big crowds and sign to a big label but we have to keep working hard to get our name out there. Getting on TV and radio is important and we want to push what we’ve done and write new material. We’re hoping the music video will become our business card.’’
Visions will be available from the bandcamp or iTunes websites later this month. Visit www. untilautumnofficial.bandcamp.com or search for Until Autumn on YouTube to watch Don’t Go.