Mike Chunn: The Seven Voices of Split Enz
This week, Suite 101 New Zealand Music talks to Mike Chunn, former bass player for legendary New Zealand bands, Split Enz and Citizen Band. Last November I had occasion to speak to Mike for an article on the 25th Anniversary of Split Enz, so what follows are some highlights from that interview which didn't make it into the original article.
Here Mike (who is now the Director of New Zealand Operations for APRA) talks about Split Enz, his latest book Seven Voices: Tales of Madness and Mirth, growing up in New Zealand in the 1960's and....what it was really like when he and Eddie Rayner dressed in drag to sneak into a Daryl Braithwaite concert in London one winter many years ago!
Your biography of Split Enz, Stranger Than Fiction, came out in 1992, which was the Enz 20th Anniversary. Did the release of Seven Voices have anything to do with the 25th Anniversary?
"Actually no it didn't- I didn't plan it that way- but I suppose you're right."
Do you have anything planned to celebrate?
"No, we've sort of forgotten about it. I just don't think anybody thought of it because everybody's sort of doing different things now. But oh well, there's a thread of a thought there flying around- we'll see."
How easy was it to write the book?
"It was pretty easy. I sort of just did it like some people play golf on a Sunday afternoon so I would sit down and just write, and I enjoyed just telling the story. It just kind of built round chasing the woman down Kensington High St, dressing up with a woman with Eddie Rayner and all that. The stories are kind of a road to travel down, but there's all the other stuff that leads it together and it sort of slowly evolves. But I enjoyed doing it, yeah, I love writing."
Does Daryl Braithwaite know about the "incident"?
"No, I don't think he does, and I don't think he ever will! But we did see him afterwards, we went back stage, but I don't think they would remember. I do remember Eddie's hairs sticking out of his stockings..."
No one was suspicious?
"Well you never know what they were thinking. I think they thought we looked a bit odd, but that's sort of the way it was."
I've seen a lot of interviews with Tim Finn where he refers to the writing of "Dirty Creature" as an exorcism of demons, is writing books something similar for you?
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