13th Floor MusicTalk

The Buzzcocks  are returning to Auckland for a 3-date tour in November. Founding member  Pete Shelley  died in 2018, but fellow-founder  Steve Diggle  is keeping the music alive. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to Steve about “moving over to the middle”, respecting the band’s legacy and making new music.

Phoebe Rings re-release their self-titled debut album today with added bonus track Daisy . Why the reissue? And is there a full album on the way. Crystal Choi tells all right here right now. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Crystal who was in Hobsonville prepping for the band's Australian shows happening this weekend. Crystal reveals why the EP has been reissued and why she considers herself a...

Mousey is the nom-de-plum of Christchurch-based artist Sarena Close and she is just about to release her very personal third album, The Dreams Of Our Mothers' Mothers! The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Mousey, who stopped in to our 13th Floor Studio while in Auckland to perform with the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra . This 8-song collection addresses issues that are very close to Sarena such as f...

You may know  Caleb Landry Jones  for his work as an actor in films like  Dogman, American Made  and  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  But have you heard his music? Turns out Caleb is a man of many talents. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to Caleb about his latest album,  Hey Gary, Hey Dawn,  originally released in April, but fortified wit...

The Half-Cubes are one half of veteran power-pop band The Flashcubes who formed in Syracuse, NY way back in 1977. The original band is still going strong while drummer Tommy Allen and bassist Gary Frenay have split off to crank out another 24 power-pop classics as The Half-Cubes on their new album titled Pop Treasures. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Gary and Tommy about making Pop Treasures...

Los Bitchos  have released their second album, titled  Talkie Talkie , and here is guitarist  Serra Petale  to tell us how the band has evolved since their acclaimed debut disc. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to Serra, the Australian member of the quartet, who is in London to reveal how she and her bandmates added a new, “sparkly edge” to this collection of exotic inst...

Shihad frontman Jon Toogood is just days away from releasing his first solo album, Last Of The Lonely Gods . Jon visited The 13th Floor and shared his thoughts and  insights on making this very personal record. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Jon about the 'personal carnage' that motivated the songwriting behind this record

Its been a dozen years or so since Nashville-based singer/songwriter Mindy Smith has released a new album. But now we have Quiet Town , 12 new songs that she calls "a meditation on overcoming adversity". The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Mindy about making Quiet Town, a record that was informed by her meeting of her birth family and discovering her Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountain roots. 

Modern English  formed in 1977, signed to 4AD and hit it big in 1982 with  I Melt With You . The original band is back together and they’ve done just about everything over the past 40 years except perform in New Zealand. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to  Modern English  front man  Robbie Grey  about what we can expect when the band finally gets here for thre...

Blues belter Shemekia Copeland is back with Blame It On Eve an album she calls, "a vacation from all the heaviness" of the trilogy of records that preceded it. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Shemekia somewhere in California where she was quite happy to talk about working with Will Kimbrough, Luther Dickinson and Alejandro Escovedo .

The Bug Club are a three-piece band from Wales who have been described as sounding like the Modern Lovers meet Nuggets-style garage rock. We think they just rock and so do the good folks at Sub Pop who have just released their new album titled, On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System . The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Sam Willmett and Tilly Harris in South Wales and talked to them about Jam...

Kiwi singer-songwriter Molly Payton is now living in London where we found her after coming off a European tour promoting her debut album, YOYOTTA, or You're On Your Own This Time, Again. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Molly who was up early...7am with a cup of tea... with plenty to talk about including how she rebounded after being dropped by her manager and label and why she's obsessed wit...

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Randall Bramblett has just released his latest collection of original songs titled Paradise Breakdown. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Randall in his home studio in Athens, Georgia and talked to him about songwriting, aging, politics and anything else that came to mind. With a 50 + year career in music playing and writing for the likes of Bonnie Raitt,...

Ash is coming back! The Northern Irish trio finally played New Zealand last year after a 20-year hiatus. Now they are coming back with The Singles Tour and a few tunes from their latest album as well. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Ash front man Tim Wheeler about the band's favourite singles...both their own and by others....and how the band Garbage took them under their wing when Ash were g...

Amy Rigby has just release a new studio album. Its titled Hang In There With Me and it was made with her husband Wreckless Eric. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Amy about making music post-covid, aging, Dylan, bangs and baseball. All the pressing topics of the day!

At age 75, Jerry Phillips has just released his debut album. Jerry is the son of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and his album, For The Universe , captures the feel of rock & roll as it was born, because Jerry was there at the beginning. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Jerry Phillip s about making his album with the help of his daughter Holley and the inspiration from his father, Sam and...

The Brant Bjork Trio have just released their debut album titled Once Upon A Time In The Desert . Here is Brant, direct from California, to tell us how he and his new bandmates...who are also old friends...made this thing happen. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Brant about making this new music with bass player Mario Lalli and drummer Ryan Güt. Brant also ruminates on his time spent touring i...

Steve Forbert has just released Daylight Savings Time an album that touches on the changing of the seasons. "It's all about time" Steve tells us. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Steve Forbert just ahead of the release of Daylight Savings Time. We found Steve on the Jersey Shore where he was happy to share his insights into the songs that make up this latest in a long line of beautifully-craft...

Blues-rocker Colin James has just released his new album, Chasing The Sun , for Stoney Plain Records. We caught up with Colin last month just as he was about to celebrate a birthday and a release day. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Colin James at home in Vancouver, British Columbia, having just finished a string of live dates before releasing Chasing The Sun which was recorded in Nashville a fe...

The Dip is a six-piece neo-soul/funk band based in Seattle, Washington. They've just released their 4 album, titled Love Direction, and here is horn man Levi Gillis to give us the inside scoop. Marty Duda spoke to Levi a couple of months after Love Direction was released and wanted to know, among other things, how the response has been to their unique brand of Soul/Funk/Jazz.

The Crash Test Dummies are coming to New Zealand, finally. The Canadian band top the NZ album charts back in 1993 but its taken until now for them to book a show in Auckland. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to lead singer Brad Roberts about the reason that led to their 30+ year delay. Along the way we find out the truth about Talking Head Jerry Harrison's role as producer of God Shuffled His Fee...

The Jesus Lizard  surprised everyone, including themselves, by releasing a new album 23 years after their previous record. Here is front man  David Yow  to try and explain just how this happened. Marty Duda  spoke to  David Yow  just days before  Rack , The Jesus Lizard’s 7th studio album, was released. David explains why it took 23 years to make the record and l...

Tony Levin is one of the most recorded musicians in recent history having played on over 500 albums for the likes of John Lennon, King Crimson, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Peter Gabriel . Tony has found time in his busy schedule to release a new album of his own, titled Bringing It Down To The Bass. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda was lucky to manage to share some time with Tony to talk abou...

Ruthie Foster has just released her new album titled Mileage . Its her 10th studio album and her first for Sun Records, the Memphis-based label that put Elvis on the map. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Ruthie, who happened to be in Memphis and had just recorded at the legendary Sun Studio. Here she is to tell us how this collection of 10 songs came to be. 

The Deslondes have just released Roll It Out, an album that captures the crackling energy of the band’s early days but also reflects the new perspective of age and maturity and a new drummer. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to founding member Riley Downing about making Roll It Out, breaking in a new drummer and his favourite 50s rockabilly label...hint, it's not Sun.