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Arch Hill Recordings

Arch Hill Music is an independent record label, management and publishing company.

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David Kilgour

David Kilgour has released three albums on Arch Hill, Frozen Orange (2005), The Far Now (2007) and Falling Debris - featuring the poetry of Sam Hunt (2009)

As a teenager in the late 1970's David Kilgour and his brother Hamish, inspired by the independent do-it-yourself spirit of punk rock and the simple yet dissonant songwriting of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, formed The Clean in their hometown of Dunedin. The Clean went on to become one of New Zealand’s most popular and most respected bands. Their legend as one of the founding fathers of one of the most influential "scenes" in underground music quickly spread to all corners of the globe.

In 1992, Kilgour struck out on his own and recorded his first solo CD (Here Come The Cars), which received much critical acclaim and is a bona-fide New Zealand classic. Two more solo LPs followed, Sugar Mouth in 1994 and David Kilgour and The Heavy Eights in 1997. Kilgour followed that up in 2002 with his fourth solo LP, A Feather In The Engine.

All along the way, over a career that spans the course of two decades, David Kilgour has come to be known as one of the most respected and admired songwriters of his generation. His signature guitar style and languid, carefree melodies are readily identifiable. The canon of work he has amassed is stunning in its grandeur and depth. In January of 2001, David was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, to recognize and honor his contributions to the arts and cultural heritage.

Frozen Orange was a slight departure for Kilgour - not so much in style as in method. The idea for the record came about as David was touring the States with both the Clean and solo in late 2001 and early 2002. The 2002 tour in support of A Feather In The Engine featured David as the opening act for his American label Merge mates Lambchop. For the tour, Kilgour recruited several members of the eclectic Nashville collective to serve as his backing band. The experiment was a huge success. During rehearsals in Nashville, David also met Lambchop producer/engineer Mark Nevers, who convinced David that perhaps he should come to Nashville to record. It was an intriguing proposition as Kilgour had never dreamed that he would ever get the chance to record in Music City USA.

David had already written several songs that he was planning to use for his next album, but the plan had been to record the album back in New Zealand with his long-time collaborators, The Heavy Eights (Taane Tokona, Alan Haig, Tony De-ard and Thomas Bell). But the lure of a chance to record in Nashville with his new American friends was strong. In June of 2003 Creative New Zealand provided a small grant for the Nashville "experiment". The result is Frozen Orange. The album was recorded almost entirely by Mark Nevers at his Beechhouse Studios in Nashville (2 tracks-"Dogs Barking" and "A Head Full Of Rolling Stones"- were recorded with the Heavy Eights back home in New Zealand), over the course of two visits in the summer and late fall of 2003. Frozen Orange features the contributions of Lamchop members Matt Swanson, Tony Crow, William Tyler and Sam Baker. There is even a surprise appearance by Jason Loewenstein. The album showcases a sublime combination of Kilgour's signature guitar lines and shambolic, quirky melodies with an added twist of country twang and a little bit of R&B/soul courtesy of his friends in Nashville. Frozen Orange also marks the first time that Kilgour has relinquished control in the studio to an outside producer; such was his faith in Nevers and his vision for the project.

01 Sep

DAVID KILGOUR & SAM HUNT Gig Photos: Montecristo Room

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David Kilgour & Sam Hunt with the Heavy Eights at the Montecristo room in Auckland. 23rd of August 2009

 

20 Aug

DAVID KILGOUR & SAM HUNT Auckland & Leigh Poster

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It's a pretty pretty poster, its going to be a pretty darn good show

29 Jul

DAVID KILGOUR & SAM HUNT Auckland & Leigh

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Come and celebrate the release of their album "Falling Debris" with Sam Hunt and David Kilgour & The Heavy 8's - two of New Zealand's most iconic and enigmatic performers together on one stage for a very rare appearance.


Mystery Girl Presents David Kilgour & The Heavy 8's with Sam Hunt

* Friday 21st of August - Leigh Sawmill Cafe - Leigh - 9pm
* Saturday 22nd of August - Montecristo Room - Auckland - 7pm (table seated)

In Auckland, this very special evening kicks off at 7.30PM SHARP (doors at 7pm) with the following order of events


* An acoustic set from David and band, mostly playing songs from "Falling Debris".
* Poetry with Sam Hunt.
*
An electric band set; David Kilgour, Sam Hunt and the Heavy 8's


The Montecristo show is TABLE SEATED and RESTRICTED TO 250 TICKETS - so get in quick or risk missing out. The table seating is first in first served.

Tickets $30 +BF from Real Groovy and Under the Radar - available from Friday 31st of July. You can also buy an album and ticket package for $50 from Under the Radar.

Photos taken at Sammys in Dunedin by Deano Shriffs

David Kilgour,Sam Hunt,Sammmys______________________________________________________
15 Jun

David Kilgour & Sam Hunt on Campbell Live TV3 and Gig

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Check out this video of David Kilgour and Sam Hunt talking about the album they recorded together on Campbell Live for TV3

And for those of you needing a live fix of David Kilgour and Sam Hunt and lucky enough to live in Dunedin then make sure you don't miss them live

David Kilgour & the Heavy 8s with Sam Hunt

Thursday 16th of July

Sammys - Dunedin

20 Apr

David Kilgour & Sam Hunt - Falling Debris - out Today

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Arch Hill is super excited to be releasing a collaborative project by David Kilgour and one of New Zealand's best known/loved poets Sam Hunt. The album is called "Falling Debris". David Kilgour & his band The Heavy Eights sing and perform the songs, while Sam Hunt provided the words. Together Sam and David oversaw the creative process and saw the album come to fruition.

David Kilgour has made a video to the fist single "River Plateau" that can be viewed here

David writes about meeting Sam and Recording the album

Back in October 2007 I was flying from Dunedin to Los Angeles to meet up with my backing band The Heavy 8s to begin a tour of the USA promoting The Far Now LP. Genevieve took me to Dunedin Airport and there’s Sam Hunt being cornered by an elderly lady in the bookstore. Mmmmm, I thought to myself, maybe today’s the day I get to meet Sam again.

Flashback to 1972 I’m 10 years old and have only been in Dunedin a few months, if that. My father managed the Captain Cook Hotel and we lived upstairs. By chance, one day I meet Sam while he was visiting the Hotel. I knew he’d been spotted at the Hotel and about town. He is dressed in white denim, head to foot. I’m impressed, he looks so bloody cool and even at this stage I know who he is. He asks me “how are you going”, I tell him “good”. Meeting over. As an other aside, in the mid 80’s my brother Hamish had spent a day with Sam at Sam’s boatshed, sent by Hamish’s advertising bosses to see if Sam would sell tyres for Firestone Tyres. Also once on the tour with the Clean in the early 90’s we had visited Sam’s boatshed but he wasn’t home.

So there he is in 2007, in the bookstore, Dunedin Airport. Genevieve brings coffee over to the table we are sitting at, I look down and notice I’ve dropped my boarding pass. I pick it up and see that its Sam Hunt’s boarding pass, the pass he has used to get to Dunedin. I get seated on the plane and then I’m moved to another seat due to some mix up. And then once I’m seated they move Sam next to me, due to some mix up. Sam leans over and asks me if I’m David. Before we know it the flights over and on parting I mention to him that back in the late 80’s (while making Here Come The Cars) engineer Nick Roughan and I talked about making an LP with Sam. Sam immediately suggested that we should still give it a go.

A few months after getting back from the USA we talk on the phone about making some kind of music/spoken word LP. At this early stage I had no intention of singing any of his poems/lyrics. I was into the idea of trying to make a GOOD spoken word LP with music. Possibly a hard call, but I like a challenge. I now think the way to make a good spoken word LP is to perhaps record it live, whatever form it may take. So we agree in principal to give it go.

About a month later, one rainy Sunday afternoon, purely out of boredom, I had a go at singing some of Sam’s poems. In the next two days I wrote about seven songs. Three of these made the final cut. So after being so encouraged, whenever the fancy took me I started chipping away at more songs. At this stage I’m thinking maybe a spoken word and song LP. Over the next 4 months I write about 20 songs to some old Sam poems and some brand new poems, which he start’s regularly sending down the wire.

The usual approach was to flick through one of Sam’s books and if a poem caught my eye Id have a stab at singing it. If it wasn’t working within ten minutes or so, I’d move on to another. Whenever I wrote and demo’d a new song I’d send it to Sam and get his feedback etc. Later we spend three days together on the edge of the Arapaoa River, Kaipara Harbour, mid winter, getting to know each other and doing some recording. Early spring 08 Sam comes to Dunedin as part of the Otago Arts Festival. We do some more recording. By this stage we are starting to think the LP should be songs only.

Most of the lp was recorded by Thomas Bell at my house over three days in September, with the Heavy 8’s in tow. We kept overdubs to a minimum, all the vocals, bar one, are live. The basic set up for most of the songs was two acoustics, drums, bass and vocal. I think Thomas has given the LP a particular sound, I’m very happy with it. Of course the band, as usual, contributed a lot to the arrangements and feel of the LP.

The making of the LP really has been an organic process. As opposed to a pre planned idea. I also think of the word serendipity: finding pleasing or valuable things in unexpected places. It’s been a great pleasure making this record. Sam has brought us a lot of joy.

dk09

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