Talanoa with an Able Tasman

It was great to do a prerecorded interview with Graeme Hill yesterday afternoon for his Sunday show on Radio Live. During our talanoa my mind kept wafting from the book I was promoting to Graeme's past as a member of one of the most gorgeously melodic NZ bands of the '80s and '90s, the Able Tasmans. 

I saw the Able Tasmans live again and again, and I always thought of the lushness and warmth of their music as a sort of Auckland response to the brilliantly stark sound of the Flying Nun bands that came out of Dunedin and other southerly parts of the country in the 1980s. 

After this afternoon's interview I asked Graeme if he still made music. He said 'I play around the piano when I'm drunk'. I hope he releases some of his drunken improvisations. 

Here's Graeme and his mates in the Able Tasmans doing 'Hold Me'.

Footnote: I just watched the video again. Graeme is the guy standing rather awkwardly behind the singer doing nothing at all. I'm not sure why he isn't playing a keyboard but his still presence in the midst of the performance adds a curious tension to the clip...

Footnote (2): My mate Adrian Price has an explanation:

I could easily be misremembering this, but I'd thought it was because the video isn't live and he refused to 'keyboard sync' to the audio, so ended up just standing there.

I can believe that. 

Footnote (3): My chat with Graeme will be broadcast from 9.15 tomorrow (Sunday) night. 

[Posted by Scott Hamilton]