Elemeno P: Elemeno Tea

Hard to believe but true. The soon-to-be released debut album from Elemeno P - a band whose members claim to love "... dirty ass, trailer residing, bleached blond hair and fake tits rock music"- is all thanks to Shania Twain.

That's right, Shania Twain.

Back in 1999 the band's core members, singer Dave Gibson and guitarist Justyn Pilbrow, were apparently despairing of ever making a career out of music. Hearing Shania's song From This Moment On jolted them out of their depression and inspired them to get serious about writing songs.

"I couldn't believe how cool it was," admits Justyn. "It just really inspired us."

While Shania may seem an unlikely muse for any Kiwi group, Elemeno P brings together a seemingly unlikely mix of musicians. For several years frontman Dave Gibson gave house-lovers their early morning fix in his role as half of the George FM breakfast show. Justyn Pilbrow is a huge metal fan though also played bass with the jazz-based Relaxomatic Project. He contributed to K'Lee's pure pop album and can lay claim to writing the orchestral theme-song to television's Montana Sunday Theatre.

Add to that bassist Lani Purkis, who replaced Paul Gerring in 2002 after the release of Fast Times in Tahoe. Lani divides her time between Elemeno P and female rockers Foamy Ed - and the Queen St hair salon where she earns a living. Taranaki-bred Scotty Pearson who sits behind the kit is a fan of older kiwi rock, including the likes of Dave Dobbyn and The Exponents.

With a Universal Music P&D deal in place, the four are about to release their debut album in July. 'Love and Disrespect' includes four already released singles; Fast Times in Tahoe, the incredibly catchy Everyday's a Saturday, Nirvana and mostly recently Verona.

Only Fast Times in Tahoe has graced the national charts, spending three weeks floating around the mid-30s before dropping out again.

Elemeno P's rise to fame may appear to have been as fast as it has been fun, but the band members are quick to point out that it's been a hard slog.

"I've been playing in bands since I was 13," says Dave, "and we'd been thinking about this for four years."

Like true struggling musicians, the group's album demo was recorded in their flat, and if you were to listen very, very carefully you might almost hear their flatmates doing the dishes in the background.

"We recorded Fast Times in Tahoe in our living room," says Justyn. "And we had to ask our flatmates to wash the dishes really quietly. But then when we went to record it properly we couldn't make it sound as good, so the beginning of the song was actually recorded at our flat."