Young band Zephyr are on cloud nine after playing to thousands of people at Selwyn Sounds and securing a regular gig slot at a popular Christchurch bar.
The members are all in year 13, with drummer Mya Cawood, 17, at Avonside Girls’ High, guitarist Reuben Anderson, 17, at Christchurch Boys’ High, and bassist Scarlett Robson, 17, and singer Cleo Cavell, 16, both at Christchurch Girls’ High.
Cawood said playing to between 4000 and 5000 people at Selwyn Sounds was “bloody brilliant.”
“We played well as a band and met a lot of amazing people – Dave Dobbyn, Mi-Sex, Greg Johnson, he was a bit of a favourite, he was a really nice man. Sometimes I pinched myself and thought: ‘What are we doing here?’
“It was such an amazing opportunity, really.”
Cawood had a great time in the band’s engine room, keeping her mates in time from her throne on the drums.
“We played perfectly, everything went as planned, it was a really good experience being here. All thanks to David Parlane.”
The band was chosen to open the day-long Selwyn Sounds music festival at Lincoln Domain on Saturday by promoter and festival director David Parlane.
Cawood said it was an exciting experience.
“It really does amp you up playing to a bigger crowd, gets you really excited, it is so good.”
Said Anderson: “It went about as well as it could have, we all played really well, I’m proud of the rest of the band.
“We’re really thankful to him, we really appreciate it.”
Robson said playing in front of a big crowd was a big step forward for the band.
“The energy is completely different, it was full on – so much fun.”
They estimated 4000 to 5000 people when they went on stage at 10.50am.
“It was about 10 times bigger than the biggest crowd we played to when we played at the Rockquest finals last year,” Anderson said.
Said Robson: “When we were playing, we got some good claps and ‘whoops’ and whatnot.
Then afterwards, when we went out into the crowds, people stopped us and gave us really nice compliments. That was really nice to hear.”
They agreed playing on the same stage at Sir Dave Dobbyn, Gin Wigmore, Stellar*, Greg Johnson, and Hoodoo Gurus was the definite highlight of their career to date.
The band plays at The Bower in North New Brighton each Sunday as part of a three-month residency.
Playing at Selwyn Sounds and at The Bower every weekend will help their career.
Said Anderson: “I think it’ll really help us get out into the local music scene.
“A lot of people who watched us were from Christchurch and the surrounding area. I think it’ll really help our publicity. As Scarlett said, so many people came up to us afterwards and said how much they enjoyed our set.
“We had a lot of people say they’re going to come to our next gig and they’re going to look out for us. It is really encouraging to hear that people are digging the sort of music we’re playing.”
Zephyr played some Led Zeppelin and Blondie covers, as well as their own originals during the 40-minute set at Lincoln.
- Zephyr is due to play at The Bower beer garden from 1pm on Sunday.
