Two Lane Blacktop

Two Lane Blacktop
Origin	Wellington, New Zealand
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	2001–2003
Associated acts	Ladyhawke, Paselode, The Accelerants
Past members	Matt Harrop Phil Smiley Pip Brown Luke Hutching Nato Hickey Ben Fraser

Two Lane Blacktop was a hard rock band from Wellington, New Zealand who formed in 2001 and disbanded in 2003. The band wrote all its songs about movies and was named after a 1971 film directed by Monte Hellman. The members of the band were Matt Harrop on vocals and guitar, Luke Hutching on bass, Phil Smiley on drums, and Pip Brown on lead guitar and background vocals.

The band was influenced by protopunk groups such as The Stooges and The MC5, and were often compared with contemporary hard rock bands such as fellow countrymen The Datsuns.

The band formed in early 2001 when Harrop's then hardcore band was looking for a second guitarist. Harrop invited Brown to audition after meeting her in a documentary film class. Harrop and Brown's mutual interest in old cinema and 70's rock inspired them to form a new band and start writing songs. Smiley, a mutual acquaintance of Brown and Harrop, was asked to drum, introducing a darker feel to the sound, and another design school student, Ben Fraser, a trained jazz musician, was called in to play bass. As a member of two other local bands, Fraser didn't have enough time for the increasing workload of Two Lane Blacktop and soon left the band. Nato Hickey, bass player in the band Paselode, temporarily filled in while the band looked for a replacement. Hickey introduced the band to their future manager Dave Benge, then manager of New Zealand bands Fur Patrol and Cassette, before Hutching, lead guitarist for the band Fore Arm of Fury, was brought in on bass about one month before their first scheduled shows in Australia.

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