Rugby fans aim to get their country singing

MEDIA RELEASE
7 June 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE WORLDWIDE RELEASE

New Zealand rugby fans aim to get their country singing

Hamilton, New Zealand -

A couple of diehard, Kiwi rugby fans have put together a song that they reckon has the potential to get New Zealand singing about the Rugby World Cup tournament that is about to hit their shores.

The fans’ song, “I Was There,” aims to capture the emotion and magic of being at the Rugby World Cup, and the artists involved are hell-bent on getting everyone singing.

Artist Chris Martin (not from Coldplay), a Wellingtonian who is currently based in London, and Hamilton business owner and musician, Chris Williams, came up with the song last year. “Chris Martin was in our office one day and he ran the idea and lyrics to ‘I Was There’ past me,” says Chris Williams. “I immediately thought there is something in this and wrote the music that night.”

Chris Martin reckons we all have “I was there memories” that we share with our friends and family: “I was with a group of people and we were talking about rugby and great matches. The game being discussed was when the All Blacks demolished England in the 1995 World Cup semi-final. Someone in the group said “I was there” and talked with great passion in the way only someone who was actually there could. Those memories will last forever. That’s how the song started.”

What’s interesting about this song is that it doesn’t even mention the words rugby or world cup. In fact, there is not a single reference to the game and it avoids all the usual clichés you associate with rugby songs. But it definitely has a rousing, anthem feel and could be sung by people of all ages.

“That’s why we believe it will really catch on”, says Williams. “It’s not about the actual game – we know there is going to be some amazing rugby – it’s about the magic of being there and the memories everyone will go away with.

“But the main thing is, it’s time we started singing about the rugby. We’re in for a hell of a party, so what better way to liven it up than to sing from the bottom of our hearts at the top of our voices?”

Williams sent the song out to his database last week and got immediate impact. “I had 1000 hits on the website over five days, and some great feedback including a couple of local businesses who said they are going to play it at their own Rugby World Cup functions. This told me we are on to something,” he says.

The song is available for free download on Williams’ band’s website www.middleman.co.nz.

“Let’s start singing about the rugby and relive the memories for years to come”

-ENDS-

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