Legend’s amp a prized possession
Groeni’s James Paul tells Mike Alexander how he ended up playing music - and owning a sandwich shop.
Wellington electronic trio Groeni are now signed to German label Project Mooncircle.
Rather than take the recording of their latest album offshore, they created it at the footstep of Mt Victoria, recording it across three home studios in Wellington, says member James Paul. Our new album Nihx. It was two years in the making and we are really proud of it. So often, by the end of the process of writing an album, it can end up stale but not this time around. We have listened back a bunch of times and are really stoked with ourselves. A few legendary Wellington shout outs however – Womb, ONONO, Girlboss, Corbin, Good Boy, Ball of Wax, Shelly Bay bakery, Clean Shirt NZ, Rich Coffee Roasters. My current situation is pretty close, maybe a bit more free time to go back to hometown Whanganui, which is so beautiful and peaceful. The Newtown Ninja. A local legend in Newtown, Wellington. He is easily the best-dressed human being that ever existed and also volunteers at a local soup kitchen – basically a hero. Too many to say. An original 1973 Fender Princeton amplifier. I bought this a few years ago from local blues legend Darren Watson and it is amazing. Best sounding amp I could ever have, I think.
In saying that, in a year or so there’s no doubt I will have bought something else which I’ll say is the best. talked about after too many beers. It’s going well somehow, though! It’s a hole in the wall shop in Newtown, Wellington, called Good Boy, where we serve delicious artisan sandwiches, soup, and coffee from Rich Coffee Roasters.
We also act as the retail store for my small record label called Ball of Wax. goodboysammies.com Idiot male musicians claiming that the active inclusion of women in the New Zealand music scene is hypocrisy and reverse sexism. Those guys really grind my gears. To Moon Bar in Newtown. Some people might think we have shares in the place but we just love the place and really enjoy beer, the staff are the best. Not keen to have kids, bad for the environment. None, I love my job. But a job that somehow magically made more than 24 hours in a day would be good. Ending oppression of minority groups. Wellington rent prices coming down. End prohibition over Easter weekend so we can go to Moon Bar. ● Nihx is out now through The Label.