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Strange Beast

Strange Beast Radio

Biography

Through an opaque darkness a dim pulsating strobe beckons you closer. Cautious, you wade through the dense howling fauna to a raised clearing. Before you lies an ecosystem of electricity, a forest of florescent cables creeping across a stage like vivid vines, a haze of incandescent glow-worms dangling across silhouettes of metallic branches. The tranquility of humming LED insects scattered amongst manmade foliage... BROKEN. An abrasive synthesized roar provokes relentless waves of adrenaline that flood through your body calling every hair down your spine to attention. A flash of light. A thunderous tremor resonates within the marrow of your bones. Strange Beast has awoken.

Emerging from the volcanic ranges of West Auckland, Calum Salmond (Guitar, Vocals), Daniel Barrett (Synthesizer, Vocals) and Liam Mertens (Drums, Samples) create a three headed leviathan of sound. A misunderstood creature hiding behind a wall of intensity, armed with a “hard and heavy electronic-rock arsenal of sonic reducers” (Debate Magazine). Take a dive into the tangled caustic crunch and you’ll reveal intricately woven instrumentation, persuasive dance rhythms, dueling vocal hooks and emotive soundscapes.

Conceived mid 2007, the trio completed their first North Island tour playing Auckland, Whanganui, New Plymouth and Palmerston North before the year was out and continued to perform indiscriminately at bars, house parties, highschools, university campuses, main-roads, car-parks, art-galleries, warehouses and movie sets. Their relentless gigging resulted in a smashed guitar, torn drum skins, two destroyed mic stands, chipped teeth, dozens of bloodied fingers and more importantly, the shaping one of the most engaging live acts in Auckland. Distinguished events include the Zeal West grand opening, Titirangi Festival of Music (08, 09 & 10), Cuba Street Carnival 09, Teenage Kicks 1st Birthday, charity gigs for Project Twin Stream and Amnesty International, a DJ slot with Teenage Kicks at Rhythm n' Vines 2010 plus interviews with Juice TV, Alt. TV, Love Music, Under The Radar, NZ Musician and 1am Magazine.

In October 2010 Strange Beast released their independently funded and self produced debut titled, "Mise-en-Scène EP" recorded by Jason Huss at Roundhead Studios and mastered in L.A. by Dave Cooley of Elysian Masters. "Mise-en-Scène EP" has been described as "A mixture of guitar flourishes with really fat, heavy synth stabs. Indie, electronic and rock n’roll – very contemporary but redolent of the popular sound that’s firmly in the now." (NZ Musician Magazine)

Live Videos

Booking & Management

Amy Pollard: amy@strangebeast.co.nz

Live Reviews

"The final band of the night was Strange Beast... and were the band much of the crowd had waited for. Proceeded to blitz the crowd with their hard and heavy electronic rock arsenal of sonic reducers."
- Debate Magazine

Album Reviews

NZ Musician Magazine (December/January 2010)
By Ania Glowacz

"Strange Beast is Callum Salmond, Daniel Barrett and Liam Mertens, and this is their debut release. They seem to be really pleased to have got it out – the CD cover is almost entirely made up of an exhaustive thank you list – so there’s already a crowd of people involved! Formed in 2007, they’ve been active on the live front including charity gigs for Amnesty International, the Cuba Street Carnival and more. They are young, energetic and mix it up with the style and ideas, but the influences that can be heard are things like the Mint Chicks, LCD Soundsystem and Kids Of 88. Recorded in the Brick Room at Roundhead, they’re off to a good start. A mixture of guitar flourishes with really fat, heavy synth stabs. Indie, electronic and rock n’roll – very contemporary but redolent of the popular sound that’s firmly in the now. With four tracks, one an instrumental, they make a good impression."

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