Justin Harwood is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist, notable for his work with several

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

bands of the 1980s and 1990s,

The Chills The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed a ...

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin * Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon Luna may also refer to: Places Philippines * Luna, Apayao * Luna, Isabela * Luna, La Union * Luna, San Jose Roma ...

, and

Tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...

. He worked alongside New Zealand's Martin Phillipps (The Chills),

Dean Wareham Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He left Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and founded the band Luna. Since Luna's breakup in 2005, Wareham has released albums with fellow Lun ...

(

Galaxie 500 Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums: ''Today'', '' On Fire'' and '' This Is Our Music''. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon ...

, Luna), and

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

(

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

Early life

Harwood was born in

Taradale, New Zealand Taradale is a suburb of the City of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a predominantly middle-upper class residential suburb, located 10 kilometres southwest of the centre of Napier. The Taradale w ...

Career

Harwood was a member of the Chills from 1986 to 1990, during which time they had their biggest commercial success with the singles I Love My Leather Jacket (a New Zealand top 5 single) and

Heavenly Pop Hit ''Submarine Bells'' is an album by New Zealand group the Chills, released in 1990. This was the band's first album on a major label, as Martin Phillipps signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Slash Records, to release the album in the U.S. The ...

, which went to number 17 on the U.S.

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

chart). During this time, The Chills also performed before their largest audience ever. They drew 60,000 people at the 1987

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. After leaving The Chills, Harwood moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he became a founding member of Luna. In 1996, Harwood joined forces with several noted members of indie rock groups to form a side-project, the semi-experimental band Tuatara - named, at Harwood's suggestion, after a type of reptile from his native New Zealand.

Filmography

* 2013-2016: ''High Road'' (TV series short) – Writer, Director, Editor, Composer * 2017: ''Wilde Ride'' (TV series) – Writer, Director * 2019: ''The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps'' (Documentary) – self

Works and publications

* *

References

External links

* * * New Zealand bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Living people The Minus 5 members Tuatara (band) members Luna (1990s American band) members The Chills members Year of birth missing (living people) People from Taradale, New Zealand New Zealand male guitarists New Zealand guitarists {{NewZealand-musician-stub