Stylus Nationwide Tour

22nd June 2006

This July Stylus are hitting the roads of New Zealand - in both the North and South Islands - to play people tunes from their new album 'Gain Control' (and some older favourites too we'd say).

A couple of songs on 'Gain Control' (out on Wildside records) were live favourites on the tour of their debut album, 'Painkillers', but most of the 17 tracks (including three music interludes) have been written since guitarist Aja Timu joined the band in June 2004.

Stylus recorded their second album in Auckland over 2005 and early 2006 at the Lab Studio in Mt Eden Rd (located in the old Crystal palace movie theatre). They recorded some drum tracks at York St Studio and mastered the album at Sydney's 301 Studio in May 2006 with renowned mastering engineer Don Bartley. Stylus were able to put a good amount of studio time into recording 'Gain Control' as the band members can produce, engineer and mix their own recordings.

New guitarist Aja Timu is both an influence on the songwriting and sound of the new Stylus album.

“It changed the way we played the songs on 'Painkillers',” says singer Matt Samuels. “Aja brought a lot of energy to the live show. It shows on 'Gain Control.' He came from a more metal background. His energy translated into writing for 'Gain Control.'"

For “Gain Control” Stylus selected from a large number of songs. “What's there are the songs we couldn't leave off,” says Paul Matthews.

The band have enjoyed getting royalties from the 2004 use of their song Sick Of This on the soundtrack of MTV Road Rules Challenge Gauntlet. It was used for an ice cream eating competition.

Australia is a bit of a challlenge for Stylus as there has been a popular band using the same name for several decades. Although unknown in New Zealand the Australian band Stylus has two pages in an Australian rock encyclopedia.

“We'll just have to come up with a new name for Australia,” says Matthews.

The members of Stylus have been involved in other musical ventures. Most notably, drummer Dave Rhodes won a Tui Award for Best Engineer at the 2003 NZ Music Awards for his work on the Blindspott debut album that was produced by Paul Matthews.

Sat July 8 -- Auckland, Hysteria, K' Rd.
Wed July 12 -- Queenstown, Dux De Lux
Thurs July 13 -- Dunedin, Refuel @ Otago University
Fri July 14 -- Christchurch, Jetset Lounge
Sat July 15 -- Timaru, Bar Xcel
Thurs July 20 -- Palmerston North, Guvnors
Fri July 21 -- Wellington, Bar Bodega
Sat July 22 -- New Plymouth, Basement Bar
Thurs July 27 -- Hamilton, Diggers Bar
Fri July 28 -- Rotorua, Grumpy Mole
Sat July 29 -- Napier, venue to be confirmed
Fri August 4 -- Masonic Tavern, Devonport
Sat August 5 -- Mt Maunganui, Brewers Bar