Payola (band)

Payola
Sophia Tupuola, Payola's lead singer
Background information
Origin	Auckland, New Zealand
Genres	folk, rock, soul
Years active	2005-present
Labels	Independent
Members	Lee Catlin Solomon Cole Sophia Tupuola Simon McDowell
Past members	Timothy William Adrian Bergman Nick Wood

Payola are a six-piece folk/rock/soul band from Auckland, New Zealand.

The band have been described as a combination of Motown meets AC/DC/The Chambers Brothers meets Funkadelic/Led Zeppelin meets Solomon Burke with Primal Scream supporting. In addition, their musical influences include Tom Waits, The Staple Singers, Neil Young and Sly Stone.

The group's first release was the album Gone To Ground in 2005. Lead vocalist Solomon Cole had exited his prior band, Auckland based Rootskonductor, to release a solo album through Wellington label Jayrem Records. The album was to be titled "PAYOLA".

Cole enlisted the help of drummer and childhood friend Adrian Bergman and jazz keyboardist Timothy William, a musician introduced through Rootskonductor manager Stephen O'hoy. UK bassist Lee Catlin (formerly of Orange Can) joined shortly after, having responded to an advert posted on the internet. He, in turn, introduced the band to Manchester percussionist Nick Wood to complement the recordings. Rehearsals took place in Mamaku, a remote suburb of Rotorua. The group of players proceeded to form a "band" as the focus of the solo record shifted. The original name of the record was adopted as the band moniker.

The band used the backing vocal services of NZ Idol finalist Indira Moala for initial recordings. However, due to a fees dispute, Moala subsequently and unsuccessfully threatened to sue the band. The dispute was settled amicably and the band recruited Sophia Tupuola to complete the recordings and finish the album.

Recordings for the Gone to Ground album took place live at York Street Studios over the course of one day to minimise the need for later overdubs. This style of recording was specifically chosen to convey Cole's adoration for the return album of Solomon Burke produced by Joe Henry. Cole contacted Henry's manager to recruit him as producer for Payola's second album. Due to differences in schedules, the collaboration never happened.