Kids Of 88 come to Nelson

Kids Of 88 come to Nelson

The Kids of 88 - an electro/new-wave/pop duo based in Auckland are set to play at the Nelson School of Music in early March. Jordan Arts on synths and Sam McCarthy on vocals make up the Kids of 88. Their debut single ŒMy House¹ released in 2009 was certified Platinum, and last year they really hit the music scene. They signed a worldwide record deal through NZ label Dryden Street to Sony Music, their album ŒSugarpills¹ was released in August, and has spawned two more hit singles, ŒJust A Little Bit¹ and ŒDowntown¹.

At the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards, they won Single of the Year and (with Tim Van Dammen) Music Video of the Year for their single Just A Little Bit. They were also nominated for the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards Vodafone People's Choice Award, as well as winning Electronic Video Of The Year at the Juice TV Awards.

The band has spent much of the last year touring Worldwide including a sold NZ tour of the main centres with fellow kiwi indie band The Naked and Famous in October, three sell out shows at CMJ Festival in New York, and in December they headed to Europe as main support for US #1 singer Ke$ha. They recently returned from the massive Big Day Out tour across Australia, and after their show in Nelson they head back to America for the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin before embarking on a US tour.

Jordan Arts says they take no short cuts when performing live.

³The idea is to re-create the power and grit in our live performances,² he says. ³We build a hybrid of rock & roll and dance - a four-piece, consisting of live/electronic drums, electric guitar, live and programmed synth, plus vocals."

Jordan and Sam say they maintain their excitement for writing songs by keeping everything as fresh as possible: ³Whether that's finding the oldest synth known to man on eBay just to spark a melodic hook, or dressing up in fur coats to encourage a particular drum rhythm - it keeps us excited."

The Kids of 88 are touring under the Top of the South Arts Consortium programme. They play at the Nelson School of Music on March 10, 7.30pm supported by local band Recommended by Your Mom. Tickets are on sale now from TicketDirect or from the Nelson School of Music Ticket Office, check out www.nsom.co.nz Ends

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