No one can say Auckland guitar-pop band Leonard haven't paid their dues. Over the past five years the band have self-funded two EPs and are now about to release their debut longplayer, 'An Implied Desire', a 12 track album recorded and produced without the financial backing of a record label, major or minor.

"What a lot of people don't realise is that whatever a record company advances to you, you've got to pay back from album sales," points out James Clark, Leonard's singer.

"And it's difficult for a New Zealand band to make that money back with their first album," continues bassist and vocalist Mark Stebben.
"Doing it this way," finishes James, "... if we don't sell anything it's our own fault, but if we do really well then we can say we did that by ourselves."

James and Mark, along with bandmates Matt Barnett (guitar, vocals), Erik Johansen (guitar) and drummer Andrew Parkin shared the $18,000 it cost to produce 'An Implied Desire' and are more than happy with the decision to pay their own way.

"It sounds like a lot of money," says James, "... but we had a bit of that money put away from selling EPs and T-shirts, and then split the balance up between five of us. I was talking to NZ On Air earlier today and they were saying: 'Funding is quite tough these days, so don't get too despondent' and I thought, 'despondent?'. We're six weeks away from having a full album out, and not a lot of people even get this far, so we're not despondent, we're stoked."

Recorded with long-time producer Andrew Buckton at York Street Studios, 'An Implied Desire' is teeming with the catchy, melodic songs that are Leonard's trademark. The album is so consistently good the lads are having trouble deciding on which one to use as the first single.

"There'll probably be a punch-up about that tomorrow at practice," laughs Mark. "There's a possibility of about five songs that could be singles, but the first single is important – you want to put your best foot forward."

Leonard will press 1000 copies of the album, and are optimistic about even bigger sales. That optimism is well founded, given the strength of their songwriting and the fact that their first two EPs – 'The, How Does That One Go?' in 1998 and 'Looking Up' released two years later – each sold more than 500 copies. The Paul Weller single from the first EP enjoyed ample airtime on the Channel Z network.

The album, which includes one song from each EP, will be distributed through Global Routes. The official release party will be held at Auckland's Kings Arms on May 1, which also happens to be the first day of NZ Music Month, a spot of luck the band is taking as a good sign.

"It's fair to say that we had a bit of a lull after our last couple of EPs," says Mark. "Everyone was just sort of doing other things, and the whole momentum died down a bit."

"Yeah," agrees James. "So we've been through that down phase and now we're starting to amp up again!"

Throughout that lull Leonard have stuck together and credit their current achievements on unambitious beginnings in Oratia on Auckland's west coast. In fact the band is named after the beer fridge brand from one of those first practice rooms. The guys enjoyed meeting up a few times a week and decided to play some songs as well.

"Probably one of the reasons we've stayed together is that we were five mates that got together to play music," says James. "As opposed to five musicians that got together to try and be mates – 'cause we've played with some reasonably high-profile bands, and the arguments that they have!"
Leonard also still practice in 'The Shed', their headquarters for the past few years, the merest mention of which causes good-humoured discomfort for the band members.

"It's way out in the middle of the bush, in Oratia," says James. "From the outside it looks like the shittiest, most rundown shed ever."

"And on the inside," laughs Mark. "It is the shittiest, most rundown shed ever!"
"It has cream shagpile carpet on the floor," says James, grimacing. "Brown and orange shagpile on the walls, with a blue velvet curtain on the back wall. The only problem is that when it gets a bit colder you get bush rats coming in. Big mofos!"

But giant rats and dilapidated sheds aside, Leonard look forward to reaping the benefits of their hard work and joining the growing list of Kiwi acts taking on the charts and airwaves.

Inside Leonard's Shed: Matt (lead guitar): Peavey Special 112 amp, '73 Gibson SG, Ibanez Roadstar II, Fender semi-acoustic Erik (rhythm guitar): Peavey 5150 amp, Gibson Les paul, Ibanez Roadstar II, Yamaha acoustic Andrew (drums): Premier 5-piece with Paiste cymbals Mark (bass): Paevey T Max amp, with 4 x 10 and 1 x 5 cabs, Gibson '87 Thunderbird James (lead vocals/guitar): Mesa Boogie Nomad 55, Fender Telecaster