The Electric Confectionaires were a four-piece musical group from Auckland, New Zealand. Their music is a diverse fusion of styles ranging from rock to garage,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, surf and jazz. The band formed in 2005 at

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

where original members Jaisi Sheehan, Haddon Smith, Rob Fenton, Calum Gunn and Toby McLeanan shared a music class. The group gained nationwide recognition when they won the 2005

Smokefree Rockquest Smokefreerockquest (SFRQ) is an annual music competition for intermediate and high school bands throughout New Zealand. The first Rockquest was held in 1988, and was organised by Christchurch radio station C93FM as a local event. The following ...

Formation and signing

Sheehan, Smith and Gunn hail from Devonport and first met in primary school after Gunn emigrated from Scotland. Fenton (originally from Wellington) and Smith, bonded at school over a mutual love of jazz. In their music class at

they formed the Electric Confectionaires with McLeanan. Later that year the group entered and won the

, an annual high school music competition. Similar to other Rockquest participants, such as Bic Runga,

Evermore Evermore may refer to: Books * ''Evermore'' (anthology), an anthology of short stories about or in honor of Edgar Allan Poe * ''Evermore'' (novel), a 2009 novel in The Immortals series by Alyson Noël * ''Evermore'', a short story by Julian Bar ...

and Nesian Mystik, the band gained nationwide recognition from the win, which led to a record signing. In December 2006 they signed with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, and in November 2007 their debut album ''Sweet Tooth'' was released, following the singles 'Late Night Shopping Spree' and 'Sweet Tooth'. The album was recorded at Montage Studios in Grey Lynn with Murray Grindley (ex member of The Underdogs) in charge of production and Nic Manders in charge of engineering. In 2009 'Piece of My Heart' was used as the theme music for '' Go Girls'', a prime-time Comedy-drama which currently aired across New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for 5 seasons from 2009 to 2013.

Influences

The musical style of the Electric Confectionaires is predominantly influenced by bands of the 1960s and 70's, such as The Beatles, the Doors, the Kinks and Funk Brothers. This is reflected by their use of vintage instruments, such as a '73

Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...

drum kit, '80s

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and Wurlitzer pianos. "The band also frequently uses distinctive and complex arrangements influenced by their backgrounds in jazz; and close-harmony vocals, honed by

barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...

and choral singing during their schooldays."

Band members

* Jaisi Sheehan ( guitar and vocals) * Jesse Sheehan (guitar, lead vocals) * Haddon Smith (keyboards,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, trumpet, backing vocals and guitar) * Rob Fenton (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals) Former members include Toby McLennan, Hamish Bode and Calum Gunn.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Sweet Tooth'' (2007)

Singles

* 'All My Love' (2006) * 'Late Night Shopping Spree' (2007) * 'Sweet Tooth' (2007) * 'Piece of My Heart' (2007)

References

External links

Official Myspace page
New Zealand rock music groups {{NewZealand-band-stub