Wintec | Te Pūkenga Researcher Matthew Bannister releases new book 'Songs From The Front Lawn'
Wintec | Te Pūkenga researcher Matthew Bannister will release his new book 'Songs From The Front Lawn' in Kirikiriroa/ Hamilton on Friday July 7, the latest in Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 Oceania series. The book examines the creative lives of multi-award-winning and much-loved New Zealand duo-turned-trio made up of Don McGlashan, Harry Sinclair and, eventually, Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand. All three have continued with their exceptional artistic careers in the years since.
The Front Lawn was a 1980s variety act that was part of an Aotearoa/New Zealand alternative tradition of duos that combine music, comedy, theatre and film. Both the book and The Songs From The Front Lawn album is a snapshot of '80s New Zealand, a turbulent, creative period for indie music, film and musical theatre, and new ways of celebrating local identity.
Bannister says people love music, and more specifically, they love albums as a snapshot of a place and time, both in the lives of the artists and in their own lives. “From the first time I saw/heard Blam Blam Blam, I knew that there was something special about Don McGlashan as a performer and writer,” he says.
Bannister first met McGlashan in 1982, when his band Sneaky Feelings supported the Blams at the Captain Cook in Dunedin. “They were such an impressive band live,” says Bannister. He then met Sinclair and Ward-Lealand through the connection with McGlashan.
In the book Bannister, also a songwriter, interviews McGlashan, Sinclair and Ward-Lealand to uncover the stories behind each song on the album, he analyses each track's musical inspiration, and describes the group's origins, and what became of the group after this record.
A highlight of the project was the online interview during lockdown “they were a hoot, the way they played off each other, finishing each other's sentences. I found out a lot about Harry, who isn’t as well-known as Don, but is an equally significant artist in his own way.”
Bannister says it was easy to write after transcribing the interview of the connection between Don and Harry. He also talked to Ward-Lealand, who joined the group while they were recording the album, and David Long from Six Volts, who both play on the album.
“I was provided with a box of “lawn clippings” (reviews and photographs), which was a great resource. I had also previously written about the group in my doctoral thesis.”
Of the book Bannister says he has always liked the basic idea of the 33 1/3 series – the book about the album, but admits he’d love to have seen the book published to the specification of an LP, “I just wish my book was square, like an LP! (this was originally part of the format).”
About Matthew Bannister
Dr. Matthew Bannister (PhD Auckland) is a researcher and tutor at Te Pūkenga Wintec and a musician, performer and songwriter since his first band Sneaky Feelings in the 1980s. He’s a member of APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association) and IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) and Songs From The Front Lawn is his fourth book.
Book Launch Events
Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland
Songs From The Front Lawn Book Launch
Songs From The Front Lawn Book Launch
Saturday 8 July, 4pm
Real Groovy,
Victoria St, Auckland
Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington
Songs From The Front Lawn Book Launch
Tuesday 11 July, 6pm
Unity Books
Wellington
Songs From The Front Lawn Book Launch
Friday 7 July, 5pm
R block social space Collingwood Street
Featuring MC Richard Swainson in conversation with Matthew Bannister and a live performance by The Strumbles.
