‘Teenage, yelling punks’ no longer
Their band formed as a last-minute entry into the Smokefree Rockquest four years ago, their name was a bit of a joke that stuck, and they don’t all live in the same town anymore – but Soda Boyz are still going strong.
The Palmerston North band has chipped away on the local music scene, playing regular gigs in Manawatu¯ , recording music at The Stomach and releasing it on music platform Bandcamp.
Their gigging geography grew when band members Josh Finegan and Jules Rosenbrook moved to Wellington and this week they have taken another step by heading out on an eight-show tour of Australia.
Band member Felix Carr said forming a strong connection with James Stutely from band Carb on Carb helped get them over the ditch.
‘‘He helped us release a 10-inch lathe cut record, our album, on a little DIY record format. He’s been a pretty important part of helping us find contacts around the place and he was keen to help us get to Australia.’’
Carr said their sound had grown from when they were ‘‘teenage, yelling punks’’.
‘‘We have eased that off a huge amount and do this sort of 90s-style slow-core now.
‘‘It’s slowed down and chilled out with a lot of spoken word over it. But there are occasional, loud, heavy bits.’’
Soda Boyz have just got back from a New Zealand tour with Auckland band Yukon Era and will start their Australian tour in Sydney tomorrow.
‘‘Going to Australia has been one of our big dreams, so it’s pretty cool. The music scene there is pretty great.’’