Cloudboy was an

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

group from

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, that recorded and performed between 1995 and 2003. Their music is described as dark and introspective, mixed with occasionally upbeat songs. The band had three main members,

Demarnia Lloyd Demarnia Lloyd is a New Zealand musician, known for her work with the group Cloudboy. She has also produced comics. Lloyd was the inaugural artist in residence at Smith's Grainstore, Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in ...

as lead vocalist, Johannes Contag on keyboards, and Craig Monk with other instruments. Chris O'Connor was with the group on drums between 2001 and 2003. They then moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

for their debut studio album '' Down at the End of the Garden''. The band developed as a continuation of the group Mink. Lloyd in 2001 stated that "Mink was more poppy and loud and dance, whereas Cloudboy was a bit more introspective. Mink was a collective, Cloudboy is a band."

Early recordings

Demarnia Lloyd began writing music for Cloudboy in 1994. This was released in a self-titled mini-album in 1995 and the single "Little Prince" in 1996, both through the Infinite Regress label. In 1996, they also released the singles "Pet" and "You Set Me on Fire" through

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringin ...

''Down at the End of the Garden''

They then spent the next five years working on their next album '' Down at the End of the Garden'' which was released in 2001. The album was well received by critics. Sales were significant and some of the songs received a high degree of radio play. Russell Baillie and Graham Reid from ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' rated it number 12 on their top 20 albums of the year. The album was released by Dunedin's Arclife Records. The album was associated with a national tour from March to May 2001 and a later tour to Europe. The tour went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Czech,

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, and the

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. The group typically performed with other artists, sometimes with eight people on stage. Their performances were a mix of music and theatre, with elements of live and electronic music, film, and acting. This style of performance included the ''Shape of the Land'' a collaboration with the

New Zealand Film Archive The New Zealand Film Archive was established in 1981. On 1 August 2014 the archive was amalgamated with Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero and the Television New Zealand Archive to form Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. 2009 lost film recovery In earl ...

, which toured internationally, where they interacted with various films from the 1920s. In 2013 ''Cloudboy Unauthorised'' was released containing live recordings and demos.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{Reflist New Zealand indie rock groups New Zealand electronic music groups New Zealand musical trios Flying Nun Records artists