Matthew Bannister (born 1962) is a Scottish-born New Zealand musician, journalist and academic. Originally from

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...

in Scotland, he moved to New Zealand with his family when he was 17.

Musical career

Bannister had a stint as a teenager in the late 1970s playing rhythm guitar in working men's clubs and other unlicensed venues with Gavin Keen (lead guitar), Graeme Dooley (drums) and Spike Quinn (bass) in the 1960s covers band Feedback. In 1980, while he was a student at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

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 ...

, he co-founded the band

Sneaky Feelings Sneaky Feelings are a New Zealand pop rock band which releases on the Flying Nun Records music label. The band formed in 1980 with the line-up of Matthew Bannister (guitar & vocals), David Pine (guitar & vocals), Kat Tyrie (bass guitar & vocal ...

, for which he was a vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter. After the band dissolved in 1989, Bannister formed

Dribbling Darts Dribbling Darts (originally Dribbling Darts of Love) were a New Zealand band based in Auckland which existed from 1989 to 1993. The name is a quote from William Shakespeare, '' Measure for Measure'', Act I, Scene III: "Believe not that the dribbl ...

and worked as a journalist and

reviewer A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indi ...

. Both bands had music released on the

Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

record label. He has also worked briefly with

The Mutton Birds The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart ...

. He released a solo album, ''Moth'', in 2007 as One Man Bannister. In 2008 he released an album with The Weather called ''Aroha Ave'', and in 2011 a self-titled album with The Changing Same. The next two One Man Bannister albums, ''Evolver'' (2013) and ''Rubber Solo'' (2019) are re-recordings of entire Beatles albums (

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

and

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work ...

respectively).

''Positively George Street''

In the mid-1990s, Bannister began writing a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

about his experiences as a musician in the 1980s Dunedin scene. Partly, this was a response to concerns he had over being "written out" of New Zealand's indie music history: "I published a book ... about Sneaky Feelings because I felt we were being written out of the label's history and indeed out of indie history, for example, our non-appearance in various articles about Flying Nun, in indie discographies, and in local ... rock polls". This book, ''Positively George Street'', was published in 1999.

Academic career

In 1998, Bannister returned to full-time study as a PhD candidate in the Department of Film, TV and Media Studies at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, graduating in 2003. His thesis was titled ''White Man's Soul: Pakeha masculinities in the popular music of New Zealand / Aotearoa''. A revised version of the thesis appeared as a book, ''White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Guitar Rock'', in the

Ashgate Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

Popular Music and Folk Series in 2006. He now works at the

Waikato Institute of Technology The Waikato Institute of Technology, also known as Wintec, is an institute of technology based in New Zealand's Waikato region. Wintec offers over 130 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Wintec specialises in applied tertiary training for nurses ...

(WINTEC) as a Theory/Post Graduate advisor in the School of Media Arts. In 2021 his book ''Eye of the Taika: New Zealand Comedy and the Films of

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

'' was published.

Personal life

Bannister's father

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

was a botanist working at

Otago University , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

. Bannister is married to

/The Weather bandmate Alice Bulmer.

Bands

1981–89, 1992 *

(originally Dribbling Darts of Love) 1989–1993 *

(played the guitar on tour in 1999) *The Weather 2004–2009 *The Changing Same 2009–present

Solo albums

*''Moth'' (2007) *''Evolver'' (2013) * ''Rubber Solo'' (2019)

Publications

*Bannister, Matthew (1999). ''Positively George Street.'' Auckland: Reed Books. *Bannister, Matthew (2002). ''White Man's Soul: pakeha masculinities in popular music of New Zealand / Aotearoa'', PhD thesis, University of Auckland. *Bannister, Matthew (2005). "Kiwi Blokes Recontextualising White New Zealand Masculinities in a Global Setting," ''Genders Journal'', no. 42. *Bannister, Matthew (2006a). "'Loaded': Indie Guitar Rock, Canonism, White Masculinities," ''Popular Music'' 25, no. 1: 77–95. *Bannister, Matthew (2006b). ''White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Guitar Rock.'' Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

References

External links

Department of Film, TV & Media Studies, University of Auckland

i
Genders OnLine Journal

Matthew Bannister
a
New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre (nzepc)Powertoolrecords – NZ LabelThokei Tapes – German Tape-label
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Matthew 1962 births APRA Award winners Living people Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Dunedin Sound musicians Musicians from Dunedin University of Auckland alumni Musicians from Auckland People educated at Logan Park High School