Super 8 Home Movie
Together, White Swan Black Swan are Sonya Waters and Ben Howe formerly of Fang, Ricky McShane from The Chainsaw Masocist and Ben Furniss from Surrealistic. White Swan is the songs of Sonya Waters and Black Swan are the songs of Ben Howe; different songs and a different sound - but the people making them are the same.
“Castle of Useless Junk†is the second EP release from White Swan Black Swan. Their first self-titled short player was deliberately low key, mostly distributed among friends, sold at gigs and on the Arch Hill website – though a couple of tracks did sneak onto the radiowaves on National Radio, the b-net and Kiwi FM.Like the first, “Castle of Useless Junk†was recorded at the home of Sonya Waters and Ben Howe, tucked away from the city on a small hill beside a volcano, among overgrown gardens and rooms filled with collectables and old Super 8 movie projectors, flickering lamps and faded paintings of imagined places. The wooden floors echo with the sounds of warm vintage equipment, analogue technology, and the occasional bark from Jefrey (with one F) the resident Border Collie.
“Castle of Useless Junk†is in fact a taster for the more ambitious forthcoming project of a ‘double mini-album’. One side will have the songs of Sonya Waters (White Swan) and the other side the songs of Ben Howe (Black Swan) – similar sounds but different song writers. Joining Sonya and Ben (both known from previous groups such as Fang, Superette, The Instigators and others) are Rick McShane on drums (formerly of the Chainsaw Masochist, The Broken Heartbreakers and others) and Ben Furniss on bass (Surrealistic, The Broken Heartbreakers and others)
Both the ‘double mini album’ and the “Castle of Useless Junk†EP were mixed and given a nice understated touch at the Beech House in Nashville USA by none other than the legendary Mark Nevers, producer and engineer (and occasional band member) for artists such as Lambchop, Calexico, Will Oldham and of course our own David Kilgour.
White Swan Black Swan have been playing out live a bit recently, including a recent thirteen date acoustic tour of New Zealand with David Kilgour, and other shows with Grand Prix, SJD, Pine and all kinds of other top shelf operations. Earlier in 2007 White Swan Black Swan also played a handful of shows in Melbourne.
Below is the Artwork by Henrietta Harris from the double mini album to be released on 4th of August 2008 in New Zealand
