Steriogram
| Steriogram | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Genres |
Punk rock Indie rock Alternative rock Hardcore punk Indie punk Rapcore Pop punk Rap rock (early) |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels |
Independent Capitol |
| Members | Tyson Kennedy Tim Youngson Brad Carter Jared Wrennall Jake Adams |
Steriogram are a Grammy Award-nominated punk band from New Zealand that formed in Auckland in 1999. Their 2004 song "Walkie Talkie Man" was used in an advertisement for the iPod and a number of films and video games.
Steriogram was formed in June of the year 1999 by Brad Carter and Jake Adams, two friends from Whangarei, who joined with Tyson Kennedy and Tim Youngson, two friends from Auckland. They started performing as a melodic rock four-piece band with a manic live show. They released the EP Soccerstar in December that year. It had three tracks, "Chiqboom", "Soccerstar" and "Aeroplane". Only 500 copies were made.
Their second recording, "White Trash", released in August 2001, was more successful. Its b-side was "Soccerstar". They made a video for "White Trash" with drummer Kennedy rapping and it got so much exposure they decided he should stop drumming and move to the front of the stage to rap. They then recruited mutual friend Jared Wrennall as drummer and became a five-piece. From then they started writing more of their songs with a hip hop influence. Steriogram toured New Zealand in a friend's van without any support crew, doing gigs where they could.
In 2002, still unsigned, they joined several other New Zealand bands in the inaugural Boost Mobile School's Tour, playing for free during high school lunch hours to get exposure, as well as at bars at night. During the tour they released the EP Sing the Night Away, which contained five tracks: "Sing the Night Away", "Free", "Big Lady Loving", "White Trash (DLT remix)" and "West Side!". Videos were made for the songs "Sing The Night Away" and "Free".
While recording at a rented beach house in 2002 they were contacted by a scout for American label Capitol Records, who had come upon their music video for "White Trash" on the website nzmusic.com, and were signed to Capitol Records later that year. 2004 saw the release of their debut album Schmack!. In addition to "White Trash", five more tracks from it were released as singles: "Walkie Talkie Man", "Roadtrip", "Go", "Tsunami" and "On and On". Three songs from Sing the Night Away featured on singles from the album: "Sing the Night Away", "Free" and "Big Lady Loving".
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