3.

footnotes

The Walking Monks

Named as the antithesis to Flying Nun, Walking Monk was a small label set
up by Mark Webster and Jonathan King in Auckland in the late 1980s. It was
inspired by other Auckland-based indies like Industrial Tapes and the
supportive DIY community in Holland that Mark had been a part of before
returning to Auckland. Drawing mainly from the Auckland music scene at the
time, the five compilations released by the label have fallen into total
obscurity but demonstrate enormous variety and breadth for what was a
fertile but generally poorly documented period for music in the countrys
largest city.

Flak: Mark (bass, vocals), Larry (drums) and Dieneke (guitar, vocals). Live at SPAM in
December 1983. Photo by Jonathan Ganley (www.pointthatthing.com).

Mark had first started playing music in 1979 in The Committee, a North
Shore high school punk band before it evolved into The Bombers and then
Flak with his partner Dieneke Jansen and Larry de Zoete. As Flak, Flying
Nun released a split 12 EP with Eight Living Legs despite neither band
being in the country, liking the results or wanting it to come out. After
moving to Amsterdam in 1984, Mark and Dieneke formed If who played and
recorded in Holland and Switzerland. After returning to Auckland in 1987,
Mark and Dieneke formed Teeth with Peter Moerenhout, who released an EP on
Flying Nun. Mark found a music scene that lacked the support they
experienced in Holland:
Dieneke and I had played in bands in Auckland from 1980 together, and went
to Holland in 1984 arriving back in New Zealand at the beginning of 1987.
Dieneke and I (as If, with drummer Rob Bleuz) came from a very supportive
Dutch scene where bands helped each other. Also there was government and
council money around for culture which the more liberal Dutch authorities
didnt try and fit into old fashioned guidelines like New Zealands did,
especially under Muldoon. So, all around, it was more supportive and
productive. It was jumping, actually. But back in Auckland, anyway, it felt
like it was back to square one. There was quite a lot going on but a very
unsupportive scene, as it was before we left, with bands not helping each
other, no way to get played even on the alternative station and hence no
way to get a buzz going that might get you onto a label eventually, if the
planets aligned, or further on in music in some way. And virtually no
venues again.

Before leaving for Holland, Mark had been involved in supporting younger
bands in the early 1980s when he started an under-age club in Symonds
Street called SPAM Society for the Promotion of Alternative Music.

K4: Peter (bass), Helen (vocals), Ray (vocals), Hugh (drums), Stephen (guitar). Live at SPAM
in December 1983. Photo by Jonathan Ganley (www.pointthatthing.com).

Wanting to continue to help bands get their recordings heard, and inspired
by the supportive DIY community in Holland, Mark formed Walking Monk Tapes
with Jonathan King (of Fish for Life) in 1987. At the time there were major
difficulties in getting airplay for bands not on a label, even on Auckland
student radio station BFM:
when I got back to Auckland, BFM had this stupid policy where if it
wasnt a professional recording, they wouldnt play your demo tape. On
investigation it seemed that the only criteria for them judging what was
professional was if you were on a label or not. I discussed this with
the boyfriend of one of Dienekes sisters at that time, Jonathan King.
Anyway, me and Jonathan said fuck it, lets start a label and we called
it Walking Monk Tapes as a dig, really, as against Flying Nun Records,
coz I was so sick of Flying Nuns utter ineptitude. I know Im not supposed
to say that, but its true. So then we had a platform, knowing all these
demos were out there, to get the bands that existed taken more seriously.
Cassettes were the format of choice because they were cheap and
compilations provided the best opportunity to expose the most bands. The
material for each release was sourced from anywhere they could find it
studio recordings, outtakes, rarities, oddities, unreleased demos and live
recordings in any location; they were all fodder for the label. Aside from
the contributions of the bands themselves, each release was a collaborative
effort involving a cast of friends (like Nat Curnow of Fish For Life), who
helped with everything from mixing and mastering to artwork and
distribution. Paul McKessar in Rip It Up in June 1987 noted the emergence
of the label:
With the demise of Paul Lukers Industrial Tapes, now back in the dim and
distant past of Auckland rock and roll, the emergence of Walking Monk Tapes
may come as a welcome outlet for recorded alternative music aside from
the hefty expense of independent vinyl. The Walking Monk people are Nat
(ex-Fish For Life) and Mark (most famously ex-Flak, If) who are currently
preparing the labels first release, A Bit of a Strange Tape, a
compilation of Auckland bands from the Committee (self-admitted worst band
of 1979, 80) to Goblin Mix. They hope to follow that with a Battling

Strings tape of a Dutch Konkurrent label compilation and are

contact bands interested in utilising the Walking Monk service

keen

to

Insect: Leon (guitar), Larry (drums), Jonathan (vocals) and Brett (bass). Live 1986 at the
Windsor Castle. Photo by Jonathan Ganley (www.pointthatthing.com).

As indicated in Rip It Up, the first Walking Monk release was the A Bit
Of A Strange Tape compilation in July 1987. It set the tone of future
releases which featured older material alongside recordings by newer bands.
Of the newer bands or those that still existed at the time there were the
Suspenders, Paradox, Insect and Fish For Life:
The Suspenders were Ben Curnow (Nat Curnows brother), and a guy
Kruppers on drums who was replaced by Karen Hunter, and Nick Hansen from
Spelling Mistakes. Paradox were Helen Goudge, Ray (I never did know his
surname!), Peter Denniston, Hugh Thompson and Steven Bolton (whose younger
brother Daniel later surfaced as Darcy Clay). Nat was Nat Curnow (Bens
brother) who I met as a snotty punk on the North Shore when I was 17. Well,
we were both snotty punks, and Fish For Life who were Nat, his brother
Barney (there were four Curnow lads, all creative), with Jonathan and
drummer Russell Gibb, who was later replaced by Matthew Heine, the
incredible guitarist from Solid Gold Hell.

Eight Living Legs: Huw (drums), Robert (bass, vocals) and Bryn (guitar). Live at SPAM in
December 1983. Photo by Jonathan Ganley (www.pointthatthing.com).

While it was a mixed bag, the only compelling strangeness was provided by
Green Eggs and Ham, a Spelling Mistakes offshoot. Many of the other
highlights were provided by excellent and previously unreleased recordings
of those bands that didnt exist at the time like The Committee, Flak,
Eight Living Legs and If. Paul McKessar reviewed the compilation in Rip It
Up in April 1988:

The first release on Mark Websters Walking Monk label is the Auckland
compilation A Bit of a Strange Tape. On side one (bands that still
exist), Fish For Lifes Instrumental stars and also their None Of
That. The Arrogant Song by Nat is a fun, clear recording but the
Suspenders otherwise diverting songs suffer the fate of a live-to-walkman
recording. The A-side runs from the Committees Jets, recorded in 1979,
through the most strange stuff in the form of 1983s Modern Reverie by
Green Eggs and Ham, plus Flak, K4, Goblin Mix and Exploding Budgies
outtakes. The last four tracks were all recorded by NZers in Europe Eight
Living Legs Sham Paradise and Dont Do That Near Me and Ifs
Soldiers Sing and bloody wonderful Eat Yourself.
Also released in 1987 was the Beatrix (Is A Lul!!!) compilation.
Something of an oddity even for Walking Monk (and for that matter any other
New Zealand label then and since), the compilation exclusively featured
Dutch bands from Amsterdams squat movement, many of whom Mark and
Dieneke had shared stages with while they were living and playing in
Holland. The release came about through a connection Mark had with a Dutch
music magazine:
Konkurrent was an indie music magazine run by this really nice guy called
Johannes who died tragically young a few years later. Actually, Konkurrent
is one of the things that Anton Corbijn, who made the Joy Division film,
got his start at. Johannes was connected to all those Dutch bands so we
used him to get permissions from those little indie labels. Bands like
Svtsox, whose main guy Ferrie Heyne is still going in the famous (in
Holland and Europe, anyway) De Kift, a sort of Dutch alternative folktradition band with attitude. Also The Ex, which is still going strong I
stayed with Jos Klei from the Ex last year when I went back for the first
time since 1986. Scene-wise, The Ex were as important in Holland as Toy
Love was here, except The Ex never broke up. And they sure pushed musical
boundaries a lot more.
The compilation is an interesting mix of Dutch punk, post-punk and
experimental sounds and often in the same song. Although there is a
strong consistency to the compilation, the standouts are provided by The Ex
(including their classic Bouquet Of Barbed Wire) who are probably the
most well know band on the release, Morselpronk, Zowiso and Svatsox.

Rex
Visible
(NRA)
live
(www.pointthatthing.com).

Monk III AD
following year.
left off and is
there are many

at

the

Gluepot

in

1987.

Photo

by

Jonathan

Ganley

1987 was the labels third release and came out in the
The compilation continued where A Bit Of A Strange Tape
another eclectic affair. Although a little dated in parts,
standouts from classic guitar-based indie rock from the

likes of Letter 5, Go to Sleep and Not Really Anything (with two brilliant
live tracks demonstrating their menace on stage) to more electronic,
sampled and layered delights from the massively under-rated Massive Stereo
Sellout, Steve Roach (Silver is stunning), Rex Visible and Tinnitus. The
compilation was reviewed in extremely detailed and overly long fashion in
BFMs magazine BiFiM in 1988:
Another fine collection of mostly Auckland bands/people, and a good
representation of what was going on during 1987 there is definitely no
depression on the local music scene according to Walking Monk (Amen). Of
the tracks on this tape, some are live some are recorded in living rooms,
garages and studios. The quality throughout is consistent and with the
immense variety, this must be essential listening for anyone who is a fan
of new interesting, vital, alternative NZ music. A quick run through anyway
of whats here starting at track 1: Fish For Life, Words In The Air,
good powerful guitar pop. Peter and Nick, Simone Simone ex Prime Mover
Nick sings on this simple Beatle like song. The Table Committee, sparse
music and a stringing together of words and phrases in Vicious Hell.
Paradox leave us (as they have now split) with 2 songs Thinline and
Fact the latter being my favorite. Their Joy Division approach is intense
and there are some great moments. Not Really Anything a manic pop thrill
that is constantly changing and challenging. Both songs Fear and Im A
Poet, were recorded live at Wellingtons Cricketers and they give us a
taste of what potentially this band has bloody excellent. Mayas
Machine; - neo goth with some nice vocals. The Suspenders, Colour Me; a
meandering cocktail with plaintive vocals from Nick Hansen. Something
completely different next, Massive Stereo Sellout Your Countries Duty
sampled hysteria, wonderful intense, provocative listen to loudly for
your (in)sanitys sake. In the same vein Steve Roach (of Massive Stereo)
give us Silver; a collage of music, rhythm and subliminal vocals
massive. Drone finishes off side one with Nothing Dominating, slow,
simple and very Drone. And thats the first half of the tape.
Side 2: Crunchy Somethings Jesus Is Coming feedback, rough RnR from
a garage. Chris Knoxs Baby Youre A Rich Man a screaming madman does
Beatles classic in his lounge complete with Pete Sinclair in the background
thoroughly enjoyable. Prodigies, Sense of Fear back to normality,
formula pop from 1 of the 2 Christchurch bands on this tape. Cuban War
Poets Whisper The Hate, no poetry here, nice melody that doesnt change
much. Jumping Bones Sugar Pie Lane Country rockabilly at its finest.
Letter 5 Cmon neat little tune, sixties rule. Next two songs from the
short lived but prolific Burning Jeep both songs recorded live at the City
Hotel this is hot. Their Secret Agent Man is stunning and the Peter
Gunn theme is mixed in there as well. Big Jeep has a great guitar and
guts its rocknroll. Chris Knox I Wanna Die With You, a more
subdued madman does a living-room love song. Go To Sleep, The Butchers
Daughter is an eerie lovely tune, great guitar and vocals. Rex Visibles
Hang Ten Off A Lemon an odd, sparse, absurd, seawashed ditty
essential. And what better way to finish off a great tape than with
Tinnitus and their Central Delivery. This duo from Christchurch
experiment with sound, voice, rhythm and tone, they require max volume.

The Able Tasmans: Peter Keen, Graeme Humphreys and Stuart Greenway. Live at the Gluepot in
1987. Photo by Jonathan Ganley (www.pointthatthing.com).

Walking Monks fourth release was a live compilation Never Mind The
Trellis The Last Night At The City Hotel. It was recorded by BFM on the
final night of the City Hotel on New Years Eve in 1987. At the corner of
Victoria and Hobson Streets, the City Hotel emerged as an important venue
in Auckland for live music at the time. Friendly management, nice bar staff
and bouncers and cheap drinks contributed to the small venues appeal:
The City Hotel was run by this guy Greg who liked New Zealand music and he
used to employ musicians as bar staff. Bevan Sweeney worked there, from the
Headless Chickens and that great band NRA, and also Mikey from Jeep and
NRA. Dieneke even got a job on the door for a while. It was pretty much the
only place bands could play at consistently and no apartments nearby in
those days. But it got closed down, I think the building was due for
demolition, so we made it into an event and a release, and by then we had
some sway with BFM
The release featured Chris Knox, The Able Tasmans, Teeth and Not Really
Anything. The Sombetones and Headless Chickens also played on the night,
but were not included, and according to BiFiM:
...Of the six bands two decided not to have anything on the cassette The
Sombertones, because they played without one of their regular band members
for the hell of it, and the Headless Chickens because bad isnt novelty
value.
All the acts featured make strong contributions and, although too
simplistic, there is some truth to side one of the tape (featuring Chris
Knox and The Able Tasmans) being the poppier one, and side two (with
Teeth and Not Really Anything) providing the noise and power. It was
reviewed in BiFiM in 1988:
New Years Eve 1987 and the punters say goodbye to the City Hotel as the
alternative band venue. The party was big, drunk and one of the best New
Years parties ever (or so Im told). Six bands played that evening of
which four are on this tape. Chris Knoxs three songs are intense, maybe a
bit sad but oh so good. Doreen and I Will Cry run into each other
beautifully and its a pleasure to have these songs recorded finally.
Hibakusha is essentially listening. The very Able Tasmans inject their
fun and sparkling pop with 2 songs from their album - What Was That Thing
and Virtues Asunder, finishing with a cover of Seattle which suffers a
bit from the recording but is never the less always a highlight when the
Tasmans play live. Teeth, on the other side attack you. The combination of
Dienekes and Marks vocals, some impressive guitar and good songs
Lion, Things Fall Apart and the best version Ive heard of Summertime
Blues. Teeth have only gotten better and better. Lastly, Not Really

Anything are impressive. Their three songs, Collapse, Roast, and Port
of Call are all diverse and interesting-biting words that mean something
and music that is abrupt, exciting and a little bit different. The tape
comes with a great foldout cover with photos and info. This was the City
Hotel and many memorable evenings were spent there by many different people
it is sorely missed. Never Mind The Trellis essential nostalgia.
The labels final and most diverse release was The Old Tape compilation.
The liner notes provide a glimpse into the intent:
From the aural legends and brave attempts collected here, many of the
musicians in these dead bands have gone on to better (and indeed, worse)
things and many are still playing today. In the groups gathered here are
representatives of such bands around now as the Tall Dwarfs, Fish For Life,
The Bats, Massive Stereo Sellout, the 4Ds, Schnell Fenster, the Cake
Kitchen, Teeth, the Beads and Drone, to name but a few. Some of the tracks
here are the finest (indeed, for some the only) recorded moments of the
bands they represent.
The Old Tape is a fascinating collection of rarities from the B-side of
The Suburban Reptiles classic and long out of print 1979 single Saturday
Night, Stay At Home and a live track from Toy Loves 1980 Sweetwaters
performance to two tracks from 1983 by Taurangas Rome and the only known
recording of the strange and anonymous, 500 Shrubs. And thats only side
two! Other highlights included The Stridulators, Eight Living Legs, The
Merkins, This Sporting Life, The Battling Strings and Skank Attack. Matthew
Hyland reviewed the compilation in Rip It Up in 1989:
Old is of course, a subjective term. No-one would question its
application to Toy Love or The Suburban Reptiles, but this tape also
includes material by more recent groups such as Battling Strings, Paradox
and Crunchy. Not that this is any reason for complaint; it only serves to
highlight the immense variety amongst New Zealands lesser-known bands over
the last five or 10 years. There are curios from earnest provincials Rome
and the mysterious 500 Shrubs, creators of the classic song title Otis
Mace Sleeps Early In A vengeance. Theres some delightfully trashy pop
from Toy Love and North Shore legends the Merkins, as well as stuff of real
quality from Battling Strings, IF, Skank Attack and many others. At $11
including postage its less than 50 cents a song and its more than worth
that money.
Although there were more Walking Monk releases in the pipeline, including
an album by Paradox and two more compilations (AD 1988 and Monkin
Around In The Deep South) these never saw the light of day before the
label ran out of puff. In less than two years, the label was responsible
for some of the most interesting compilations (tape or otherwise) in the
late 1980s. In the end, Walking Monk had simply achieved what it set out to
achieve:
We took a punt on the first Walking Monk compilation, then we put the
money back in from sales till it was all gone, a few releases later. Then
stopped. Simple, really. with diminishing sales, it just became untenable,
but I think we made our point and the scene sure picked up again for a
while.

Discography
WM1 Various Artists A Bit Of A Strange Tape (1987)

A Side - The Committee - Jets/Green Eggs and Ham Modern

Reverie/Flak St Tropez/K-4 Chauvinistic Convictions/Exploding
Budgies Cowbell Symphony/Goblin Mix Dont Just Believe/Eight Living
Legs Sham Paradise and Dont Do That Near Me/If Eat Yourself
Side One (Bands That Sill Exist) - The Suspenders Colour Me/Paradox
Only Portray/Nat The Arrogant Song/Insect Autumn Here/Fish For
Life None Of That/Nat Always
WM2 Various Artists Beatrix (Is A Lul!!!) (1988)

Side One - Ijsbrand Koudvuur Beatrix/The Ex Bouquet Of Barbed

Wire/The
Ex

White
Shirts/Vacuum

Aerobic
Pogo/Vacuum

Fakoum/Zowiso Blacks Prison/Zowiso F.A.O Show/Alberta Park

Avenue
Side Two - Svatsox Midway Gorf/Svatsox Busy Weeks/N.V Le Anderen
Who Is The Enemy/N.V Le Anderen Facists/Morselpronk Meep/Nogwatt

Copy
Life/Grrr

Brave
New
World/Naa
a
Da
Fink
Sa

Shadowalz/Kakies Milda

WM3 Various Artists Monk III AD1987 (1988)

Side One - Fish For Life Words In The Air/Peter and Nick Simone
Simone/The Table Committee Vicious Hell/Paradox Thin Line/Not
Really Anything Fear/Not Really Anything - Im A Poet But I Didnt
Know It, But When I as 15 I Submitted My First Poem To The Hearld But They
Didnt Print It/Maya Machine/The Suspenders Colour Me/Massive
Stereo Sellout Your Countrys Duty/Paradox Fact/Steve Roach
Silver/Drone Nothing Dominating
Side Two - Crunchy Something Jesus Is Coming/Chris Knox Baby Youre
A Rich Man/The Prodigies Sense Of Fear/The Cuban War Poets Whisper
The Hate/Jumping Bones Sugar Pie Lane/The Letter 5 Cmon/Burning
Jeep Secret Agent Man/Burning Jeep Big Jeep/Chris Knox Wanna Die
For You/Go To Sleep The Butchers Daughter/Rex Visible Hang 10 Off
A Lemon/Tinitus Central Delivery
WM4 Various Artists Never Mind The Trellis The Last Night At The
City Hotel (1988)

Side One - Chris Knox Doreen, I Will Cry, Hibakusha/Able Tasmans

What Was That Thing?, Virtues Asunder, Seattle
Side Two - Teeth Lion, Things Fall Apart, Summertime Blues/Not
Really Anything Collapse, Roast, Port Of Call

WM5 Various Artists The Old Tape (1989)

Side One - The Suburban Reptiles 45 Single/Flak Rags and

Tatters/Crunchy Something Cant Explain/Crunchy Something Waiting
For You/Eight Living Legs Fitland/The Merkins Buried In The
Sand/Freudian Slips Iced Tears/This Sporting Life Failsafe/This
Sporting Life Shooter/The Stridulators Inside Track/Paradox
Screen
Side Two - Toy Love Yummy Yummy Yummy Ive Got Love In My
Tummy/Positively 4th Street/Toy Love Jingle/The Battling Strings
The Rain/500 Shrubs Otis Mace Sleeps Early In A Vengeance/Rome
Authoritarian Mother/Rome Jasna Gora/K4 Plans To Escape/Corners
Children Of The Cold/Green Dogs Demo/If Esmerelda/Skank Attack
Hermaphrodite/Skank Attack Limbs Akimbo
Many thanks to Mark and Jonathan.

TV Eye from Say Yes to Apes, some profound eccentricity and some actual
shit. Fascinating and dont be put off by the first track...

TV Eye Records
APES-001 Say Yes to Apes Whos That? LP (1983)

The first TV Eye record was also the first full length album by Say Yes To
Apes and featured songs mostly recorded in Dunedin in 1983.
Side A Electric Toothbrush Simulator/Man Alive/Green Beach/Let
Them Eat Cake/The Burma Sun/Balloon Party Maelstorm
Side B Rubber Footprints/Blood Song/Say Yes to Apes
TV Eye:
Now, the records..First of course was Whos That by SYTA, recorded in a
damp little room with an angled floor and Carlos geetar noise, mainly in
April 83 in Dunedin.
Russell Brown in Rip It Up:
I was disappointed with this record at first. As an aficionado of the TV
Eye tapes Id been looking forward to the first real Godallmighty kickass
vinyl thang. But initially this didnt seem to have the perverse genius to
be found on the Picnic Boys (for these are a mutation of them) albums and
subsequent tapes like Weirdcats and The Hamburg. But after a couple of
listenings it starts to make sense. Well, as much sense as its meant to
make. Kevin Smiths songs are my favorites. The last chaste man in the
Western world has much to communicate it pours from him in quite
disquieting fashion. I like Man Alive, Let Them Eat Cake, Bloodsong
and The Burma Sun. Throughout Smith sings, still apparently uneasy with
his voice. Steven Watson gets multi-instrumental and Patrick Faigans
drumming ensures things never get predictable. But I cant really describe
this music other than to say that it sounds like the cover design. Which
isnt much use to you if you cant see it, is it? There are many clowns in
this world to whom you couldnt play this but if you can forget ideas about
tune, tempo and decorum there is much here. These are prodigiously creative
people. Give yourself a Christmas present.