The Twitch - Changing for the Future
Author: Chris Leggett
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Auckland rock trio The Twitch have a reputation as a high-energy, booze-fuelled, dirty rock ‘n’ roll kind of band. And it seems that’s the problem. With six years, a drag-clad live show, an album entitled ‘What The F**k is Going On?’ and a trail of empty bottles behind them, the members came to realise that they weren’t being taken seriously. On the eve of releasing their sophomore album ‘Time for Change’, they talk to Chris Leggett about toning back the antics and getting their music noticed.
Every write-up was that ‘The Twitch get kicked out of hotels’,” relates bassist/vocalist Fleur Jack of 2006/7. “Which was true, but they made it out to be way worse than what actually happened.”
With the ‘noughties’ coming to an end, time had come for the members of The Twitch to face up to themselves. They realised that if they intended to take the music business seriously and wanted to be taken seriously – to get their music in front of as many people as possible – then it was time for change. As such, the title of the new Twitch record ‘Time For Change’ has, she says, become something of a mantra; on an individual level and for the band as a whole.
We meet at Jack’s workplace – the Ponsonby, Auckland live-to-air studio of Kiwi FM – as her bandmates Richard Raine (aka Jesus on guitar/vocals) and Josh Crowther (drums/backing vocals) take me through the many ways in which The Twitch has become a new band. Fleur Jack’s usual weeknight show is in session, so she occasionally asks for silence so she can make a brief on-air announcement.
“In short, Josh had a kid, Jesus gave up drinking and I went blonde,” says Jack with a smile. And that really is the short version. For a start, both Crowther and Jesus have rid themselves of their famous hairstyles (no more dreads adorn Crowther’s head, and Jesus no longer resembles his rather more famous namesake). Growing up on a personal level appears to be a theme to the self-released and promoted ‘Time For Change’.
“For me personally, the lyrics were about giving up drinking and just growing up,” says Jesus. “I was a wreck on the streets and now I want to be discrete because it’s time for change,” he says, reciting a line from the title track.
“There’s one song in there called Rock ‘n’ Roll Dad about taking on this responsibility and not losing my cool,” says Crowther. “That’s quite an important track for me.”
Aside from the personal, The Twitch are also taking a more serious attitude and approach to their music. It seems that the partying came before the music in the band’s early life, but that’s certainly no longer the case.
“The first album [‘What the F**k Is Going On?’] was recorded during the process of a year just so we could make up the money,” recounts Jesus of the asterix-ridden album the three completed while students at MAINZ. “As a result, that album sounds kind of patchy, it doesn’t sound the same all the way through.”
‘Time For Change’, in complete contrast, was recorded live in one long session at Kingsland’s Killing Rooms. The Twitch recruited Jimmy Christmas, formerly of The D4 and now Luger Boa, to handle the production. The vocals were recorded later at his home studio, before being mixed by Andrew Buckton at Studio 203.
With the ‘noughties’ coming to an end, time had come for the members of The Twitch to face up to themselves. They realised that if they intended to take the music business seriously and wanted to be taken seriously – to get their music in front of as many people as possible – then it was time for change. As such, the title of the new Twitch record ‘Time For Change’ has, she says, become something of a mantra; on an individual level and for the band as a whole.
We meet at Jack’s workplace – the Ponsonby, Auckland live-to-air studio of Kiwi FM – as her bandmates Richard Raine (aka Jesus on guitar/vocals) and Josh Crowther (drums/backing vocals) take me through the many ways in which The Twitch has become a new band. Fleur Jack’s usual weeknight show is in session, so she occasionally asks for silence so she can make a brief on-air announcement.
“In short, Josh had a kid, Jesus gave up drinking and I went blonde,” says Jack with a smile. And that really is the short version. For a start, both Crowther and Jesus have rid themselves of their famous hairstyles (no more dreads adorn Crowther’s head, and Jesus no longer resembles his rather more famous namesake). Growing up on a personal level appears to be a theme to the self-released and promoted ‘Time For Change’.
“For me personally, the lyrics were about giving up drinking and just growing up,” says Jesus. “I was a wreck on the streets and now I want to be discrete because it’s time for change,” he says, reciting a line from the title track.
“There’s one song in there called Rock ‘n’ Roll Dad about taking on this responsibility and not losing my cool,” says Crowther. “That’s quite an important track for me.”
Aside from the personal, The Twitch are also taking a more serious attitude and approach to their music. It seems that the partying came before the music in the band’s early life, but that’s certainly no longer the case.
“The first album [‘What the F**k Is Going On?’] was recorded during the process of a year just so we could make up the money,” recounts Jesus of the asterix-ridden album the three completed while students at MAINZ. “As a result, that album sounds kind of patchy, it doesn’t sound the same all the way through.”
‘Time For Change’, in complete contrast, was recorded live in one long session at Kingsland’s Killing Rooms. The Twitch recruited Jimmy Christmas, formerly of The D4 and now Luger Boa, to handle the production. The vocals were recorded later at his home studio, before being mixed by Andrew Buckton at Studio 203.
