Local teens tell compelling stories with new album
For the 2nd consecutive year, a group of Mercury Bay Area School students took part in Creatives in Schools, a well-being initiative funded by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Creative New Zealand.
Local music producer Dave Rhodes returned as the ‘creative’ to guide a group of music students aged 15 to 18 through the writing, recording and production of a 13-track album of eclectic original music.
Saltwater Frequency ‘23 features songs composed by passionate and talented young emerging artists from the Mercury Bay area, covering a range of musical genres and subject matter. The album release was celebrated with live performances by the students at the Monkey House Lounge & Cabaret on 21st September.
I asked the artists to share the inspiration behind their song/s:
Habitless
Track: ‘Runaway’
“The song was written from the point of view of an individual who was at a divide with themselves and their mental health. Throughout the song, the character is unsure about what to do and doesn’t know if the struggle will ever end. This idea is amplified in the bridge where the individual refers to the inescapable struggle as the ‘endless tunnel’. The song is aided with catchy riffs and a powerful two-guitar track”.
Emma’s Abs
Tracks: ‘Peace In Time’ & ‘Mermaids and Hand Grenades’
“It’s our last year at school, and so our last opportunity to record songs for a school album. We aimed to have one fun, upbeat song to contrast our other song, which is a bit more personal. We really valued this experience and the chance to visit Dave Rhodes’ studio was certainly memorable and pretty awesome. The songs were so much fun to write. We sincerely hope everyone can enjoy listening to one or the other.”
Reapercussions
Track: ‘Infinite Diamonds’
“The moody guitar partnered with haunting lyrics makes up our song ‘Infinite Diamonds’. It’s about knowing what’s hurting you but you keep going back. It’s all open for interpretation. Being able to make our ideas come to life and getting to work with people like Dave Rhodes has been a really cool experience. We are so proud of what we’ve all made and are excited for everyone to hear it!”
Poppy Carpenter
Tracks: ‘Rendezvous’ & ‘Flaking on me’
“‘Flaking on me’ is a song I wrote for all the times anyone had done something that really irritated me. I really loved coming up with the character in this song, and experimenting with song structure. It’s definitely one of my favourites! ‘Rendezvous’ is an older song I wrote as a ‘feelings dump’, and it’s the first song I wrote that I was truly proud of. It still has a special place for me in my book of songs.”
theband.com
Tracks: ‘Tuck Shop Inflation’ & ‘Living in Paradise (Apparently)’
“We as a band write songs that mean a lot to us such as the price of the food at the tuck shop or living in paradise … apparently. We really just write about topics that affect us as being 15 and 16 year old high school students and the best genre to show this emotion about these topics is punk – playing distorted guitar, having a loud drum beat and the bass lost through it all and shouting as loud as possible.”
Prisoners of War
Tracks: ‘Parasite’ & ‘Fear’
“Our first song ‘Parasite’ was originally written for the music competition Rockquest. The song was well received and we made it to the regional finals. Our second song ‘Fear’ was also played at Rockquest, although it was a shorter version that featured different lyrics. We thought ‘Fear’ could sound even better, so we made some changes for the recording while ‘Parasite’ remained the same. We are really proud of the music we have created and hope you enjoy it.”
Screw
Tracks: ‘Lifeline’
“Our band has been inspired by many 90’s nu metal bands like Korn and Slipknot. Our goal for Screw was to bring back that 90’s nu metal sound while incorporating modern touches to put the cherry on top.”
Francie Lidgard
Tracks: ‘Coffee Dregs’ & ‘Cynical’
“For me, songwriting is storytelling. It allows me to channel my emotions and experiences in a therapeutic way. It has helped me to process challenges in my life, to celebrate my positive experiences, or to help me just get creative, making up songs about totally fictional scenarios. It is such a cool opportunity to share some things I have written this year – I hope you enjoy them.”
Listen to MBAS Saltwater Frequency ‘23 on Spotify, Bandcamp and other streaming platforms.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Dave Rhodes Productions.
Album artwork by Emma Jones.
words by Anusha Bhana
