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It is just on two months since Christchurch's top pop band, the Echophonics disbanded. Last weekend, after a month of practice, three of the Echophonics members appeared with a new group, The Funny Feeling, at a night spot on the West Coast. Rob Carpenter, Dick Whatson and Wayne Allen have joined forces with David Chapman, who played with Me and the Others, and vocalist Pat Kearns, to form the new band which will be appearing on the West Coast for the next four weekends before hitting Christchurch, where they will have a permanent engagement at a new dance hall opening in the city in a month. The intention is to make this band better than the Echophonics, said Rob. "The volume will be down and we will be depending on the drive of the musicians", he said. "We're going to be a lot more polished, we're going to have better vocal harmony, we're going to have a better act on stage, and we hope to project our personalities into the whole show." Emphasis on way-out clothes? "No," they agreed. "That's been done too much, although we will wear something that will attract attention. Our clothes will be 'on the brink' so as not to offend anyone." The boys said that they already had a repertoire of sixty good numbers, and in an effort to appeal to everyone they were playing everything - pop, commercial and R & B. They want to build up music in Christchurch. "You hear so much about the wonderful night life in Auckland, but when you look at it, Christchurch has just as many good groups and most of the talent in New Zealand has come from Christchurch." The boys have been practising three nights a week, with a special double bass drum kit and 'mikes' from Austria, their aim is the top — not only in Christchurch, but throughout the country. |
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