Artist description Alternative guitar based swamp rockt

Music Style Swamp Rock

Musical Influences 3Ds, The Subliminals, The Jesus Lizard, Mudhoney, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, HDU, Pavement, Fugazi, Frayden, Joy Division

Similar Artists 6ft8 have had their sound compared to King Loser and Fugazi. However their influences remain many and varied.

Artist History 6ft8 came about when long time underground Wanganui icons Frayden, keepingtadpoles and Beam all happened to become defunct around late 1999. They emerged like many alternative bands through the demise of their predecessors. Natural selection required a mu tual desire for the survivors to continue to create music. After a couple of jams, songs came together rapidly and a sound emerged that was in many ways a continuation of where their former bands had left off. 6ft8 instantly had their own blend of high e nergy brutality, morose strangulation and melodic sensibility. S

Group Members Hayden Fritchley - Bass, vocal; Guy Scoullar - Guitar, vocal; Damon Belchambers - Drums; Sean Jeffery - Guitar, vocal.r

Instruments guitars(2), bass guitar, drums & cymbals.

Albums e.p. one:cactus II

Press Reviews Rip It UpNovember 2000: 6ft8:Cactus II. 8isenough6ft8 is a five-piece 'contemporary noise rock' ensemble who recorded this four-track EP in their hometown of Wanganui earlier this year. Although the mastering was done at Auckland's York St, the Cactus ro o ts lie very much in the sands of it's birthplace, the band itself gigging around the lower North Island in support of it's release. The first prickly spike is Faker - noise rock indeed. Dark and bassey but with big catchy riffs, Faker retains a nicely m el odic stance that isn't a world away from rock radio. Vertigo is again quite dark and heavy - think Doors/Tool/skate punk. Ride sees the guys having abit of fun with the guitars, injecting some worthwhile noises into the mix. Refund is humourous, inco rp ora ting great use of (guitar) noises and hinting at a slight Devo influence - a comparison I'm sure the guy's will be surprised at. The four tracks that make up Cactus II come as short, sharp bursts, and as long as you can accept the EP for what it i s (low b udget, limited resources) there is plenty to like about it. Review by Shaun Chait. Rip It Up is New Zealands premiere music publication. Real Groove. December 2000. Issue 89: This raging rock five-piece is a tight noise unit, with a tidy mixtu r e of humour and howls for their chosen sound. 6ft8 are one more provincial treasure in the mine that is fast and loud fun. Pavement.June/July 2001: Idiosyncratic pervert power-pop from down the line.What sounds like the bastard son of Pere Uba and T he Fall is alive and ill and squatting in a damp practice room in Wanganui.While this four track EP is almost lyrically impenetrable and musically obscure,it definitely grows on you after a couple of listens and clocks in at a refreshing eight minutes,giv- ing you t ime to take another shower before signing on at the dole office. Review by Sean J.Donnelly,aka SJD. The Package.12-18 July 2001: For the few who managed to brave the sub-arctic conditions,Valve cer- tainly managed to host a show which warm ed the spirits o f many an indie-guitar geek in attendance on Saturday night.I arrived just as things got underway,where 6ft8 were playing to an intimate crowd. Hailing from Wanagnui they played what can only be discribed as fuzzy-guitar-meets-tortured-kid-in-seedy-bar ro ck.They had these catchy rock riffs and reminded me of a blend of early SST-type bands, and mid-nineties ‘post-punk ’,like Mudhoney or Bluetip,sorta. Tearaway Magazine.January 2000: If you ’re after originality this is where it ’s at. 6 ft8 are a five piec e rock band from Wanganui who have taken a more experimental stance,which they seem to pull off quite well. It ’s hard to describe,but basically they have grunty-as bass lines and drum beats,guitar sound which could be compared to C hri s Heazelwood from Ki ng Loser and psychedelic vocals from lead vocalist Ryan Cockburn. Finishing just under eight minutes after you put it in the CD player it isn ’t exactly a long E.P.but it is definitely worth a listen. The song that I liked the bes t wa s Ride which could be described as ‘One that sounds like King Loser.’Another good song is Vertigo which has a good solid catchy chorus and contrasting verses. It is short but who ever said that short wasn ’t good?Contact: band_6ft8@yahoo.com for a copy. Review by Warwick M.«Ë‡

Additional Info ALBUM NEAR COMPLETION February 2002 saw 6ft8 record new material for their first full- length album,independently,in their own studio,under the critical guise of engineer and friend Nigel Regan (HLAH)

Location Wanganui, North Island - New Zealand

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