The Mint Chicks were a New Zealand

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...

group (the band began to refer to their style of music as "troublegum" and have been referred to as anything from neo-punk to schizo-pop to the only half-serious genre definition of shit-gaze (along with groups like

No Age No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, ''S ...

and

Wavves Wavves is an American rock band based in San Diego, California. Formed in 2008 by singer-songwriter Nathan Williams (born June 12, 1986), the band also features Alex Gates (guitar, backing vocals), Stephen Pope (bass guitar, backing vocals) an ...

). The band is originally from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

who relocated to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, USA in 2007. They are known for mixing pop hooks and structures with elements of noise rock and experimental music and also for their exciting live performances, where Kody and Ruban Nielson have been known to climb P.A. stacks, hang from lighting rigs, destroy guitars, engage in self-harm and even attack the stage with a chainsaw.

History

Meeting in high school, the band formed in 2001, and began by playing punk house parties and low profile shows before being discovered by acclaimed New Zealand independent record label

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 ...

. They released two EPs and three albums under the

banner: '' Octagon, Octagon, Octagon'' EP (2003), ''

Anti-Tiger ''Anti-Tiger'' is the second release by The Mint Chicks on Flying Nun Records and is their follow-up to the well-received '' Octagon, Octagon, Octagon''. ''Anti-Tiger'' was issued in three formats: a 2-track 7"-single, a 6-track 10"-EP and a 6-t ...

'' EP (2004), '' Fuck the Golden Youth'' (2005), '' Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' (2006) and ''

Screens Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which m ...

'' (2009), as well as one EP on a minor label, ''

Bad Buzz ''Bad Buzz'' is the third EP by The Mint Chicks, released in February 2010 by MusicHy.pe. Title track "Bad Buzz" was featured on 95bfm's "Newsgood" segment co-hosted by guitarist Ruban Nielson in January 2010, and it was revealed by website Musi ...

'' (2010). All were produced and recorded by the band's core members Ruban and Kody Nielson, with the exception of ''Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' which was produced by the Nielson brothers and their father Chris Nielson at two different home studios. All four original band members met at

Orewa College Orewa College is a state coeducational combined intermediate and secondary school located in Orewa, on the Hibiscus Coast north of Auckland, New Zealand. A total of students from Years 7 to 13 (ages 10 to 18) attend the school as of History ...

Orewa Orewa is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. It lies on the Hibiscus Coast, just north of the base of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, Whangaparāoa Peninsula and 40 kilometres north of central Auckland. It is a popular holiday destin ...

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 ...

, although the band starting moving between

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and Auckland, as the Nielson brothers have dual citizenship in New Zealand and the U.S. In 2006, the band played support for the

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complem ...

. The volume of the show was reportedly so loud that part of the St James theater complex fell down, injuring two concert goers. They have also played support slots for

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

Death From Above 1979 Death from Above 1979 (also known as Death from Above) is a Canadian rock duo consisting of bassist Jesse F. Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band released their debut album, '' You're ...

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...

, The Blood Brothers,

The Black Lips Black Lips is an American garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia formed in 1999. History The band formed in Dunwoody, Georgia after guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley left the Renegades, and guitarist Ben Eberbaugh left the Rer ...

, and

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. They were also part of the New Zealand line-up for

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009. In 2005, it was notable that Kody Nielson wielded a chainsaw on stage and destroyed a corporate sponsor's overly prominent sign with it. At the 2007 New Zealand Music Awards the band won five Tui awards including best rock group, best album, best rock album as well as winning best album cover and best music video for the single "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!". On 24 October 2007, it was announced on the band's website that their bassist Michael Logie would leave the band when they relocated to

. The group continued as a trio, with Logie relocating to London, England. The band played a free show in Portland on 29 June 2008, in which they played their then-upcoming third album from beginning to end live. The band later supported

Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), ...

on the July 2008

Beautiful Machine ''Beautiful Machine'' is the seventh studio album by Shihad and was released on 21 April 2008 in New Zealand and 17 May 2008 in Australia. The album is much softer than previous Shihad releases, including many electronica elements and '80s back ...

Tour and tested their new songs in front of a home audience. As a result of their bass player having left the band, the Mint Chicks weren't able to play hits from earlier songs, angering some fans. To counter this Shihad's bass player,

Karl Kippenberger Karl Brenton Jamie Kippenberger (born 26 August 1973 in Wellington, New Zealand), grandson of Captain E.T Kippenberger, great nephew of Major-General Sir Howard Kippenberger, is the bass guitarist of the New Zealand band Shihad. Kippenberger g ...

, filled in for several more popular songs. On 25 December 2008, The Mint Chicks released the Mintunes EP consisting of "8-bit versions" of both previously released songs and tracks from the upcoming album. The band also released an iTunes-only single during 2008, "Life Will Get Better Some Day", a teaser for the album "

", which was released in New Zealand on 16 March 2009 after having been recorded sporadically over the preceding two years. In October 2009 the Mint Chicks performed a rendition of

Ray Columbus and the Invaders Ray Columbus & the Invaders were a rock group from Christchurch, New Zealand that was active from 1964 to 1966, fronted by the lead vocalist, Ray Columbus, a musician, television host and manager. Part of the new surf music craze, they were the ...

' classic hit She's a Mod at the New Zealand Music awards as a four-piece band, later released as a standalone single. Shortly afterwards on 16 October 2009, it was announced Michael Logie would be rejoining the band in a post on the band's Twitter. The band joined with New Zealand music website MusicHy.pe to promote their next record, the

Bad Buzz EP ''Bad Buzz'' is the third EP by The Mint Chicks, released in February 2010 by MusicHy.pe. Title track "Bad Buzz" was featured on 95bfm's "Newsgood" segment co-hosted by guitarist Ruban Nielson in January 2010, and it was revealed by website Musi ...

, released in February 2010. Shortly after the release of the EP, the band played their final show on 12 March 2010. The show, originally a fundraiser for MusicHy.pe, ended in chaos after Kody Nielson destroyed the two drumkits and equipment, imploring the crowd to "start your own fucking band".

Post-breakup activity

Singer Kody Nielson is making music under the alias Opossom with former bassist Michael Logie and

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the Recording Industry Association of New Ze ...

and also as a solo artist under the name Silicon. Guitarist Ruban Nielson now fronts

Unknown Mortal Orchestra Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) is a New Zealand psychedelic rock band formed in Auckland, primarily composed of singer, guitarist, and songwriter Ruban Nielson, and bassist Jake Portrait. The band is currently based in Portland, Oregon, United ...

with producer Jacob Portrait. Michael Logie continues his solo project F In Math as well as playing bass for fellow New Zealand band

Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! (sometimes styled Die!Die!Die!) is a three-piece New Zealand noise pop/punk/post-punk band. Formed in late 2003, they have released seven albums, all backed with extensive international touring. A number of different bassists hav ...

. Paul Roper plays drums in Portland band

Blouse A blouse (blau̇s, 'blau̇z, ) is a loose-fitting upper garment that was worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by tight hem, pleats, parter ...

Band members

Ruban Nielson Ruban Nielson (born 20 February 1980) is a New Zealand musician, singer and songwriter, best known for being the frontman of the psychedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra. One of the most acclaimed New Zealand musicians of his generation, he ...

(guitar, vocals) *

Kody Nielson Kody Seti Kimbulu (born 23 January 1978), known professionally as Kody or Kody Kim, is a Belgian television host, comedian, and radio personality. Kody was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium to a Congolese family. He attended the Université catholique ...

(vocals, keyboards, drums) *Paul Roper (drums) *Michael Logie (bass) (except 2008)

Discography

*'' Fuck the Golden Youth'' (2005) *'' Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' (2006) *''

'' (2009)

Awards

, - , rowspan="6" , 2007 , ''Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' – The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Album of the Year , , - , The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Group , , - , ''Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' – The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Rock Album , , - , Sam Peacocke – "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!" (The Mint Chicks) , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Music VIdeo , , - , Chris Nielson, Kody Nielson, Ruban Nielson – ''Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' (The Mint Chicks) , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Producer , , - , Ruban Neilson – ''Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!'' (The Mint Chicks) , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Album Cover , , - , rowspan="5" , 2009 , ''Screens'' – The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Album of the Year , , - , The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Group , , - , Sam Peacocke "I Can't Stop Being Foolish" (The Mint Chicks) , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Music Video , , - , ''Screens'' – The Mint Chicks , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Rock Album , , - , Ruban Neilson – ''Screens'' (The Mint Chicks) , New Zealand Music Awards – Best Album Cover , , -

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mint Chicks, The Flying Nun Records artists New Zealand punk rock groups Musical groups from Auckland