The Axemen

The AXEMEN
The AXEMEN
	The AXEMEN
Background information
Origin	Christchurch and South Dunedin, New Zealand
Genres	Indie rock, rock, punk rock
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Sleek Bott, Flying Nun, Siltbreeze
Members	Bob Brannigan; Steve McCabe; Stu Kawowski;
Past members	Dragan Stojanonovic; Johnny Segovia; George D. Henderson; Mick Elborado;

The Axemen is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in 1983.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] They played at the protests for homosexual law reform in 1983, where member Little Stevie McCabe was severely beaten up in the Christchurch Cathedral Square toilets.

The Axemen's founding members, Bob Brannigan, Little Stevie McCabe, and Stu Kawowski, had been members of various bands in the South Island cities of Christchurch and Dunedin. Brannigan and McCabe played together in Christchurch under many names including The Whining Plums, Hey, We're Wolves and The Twins in the early 1980s. Kawowski played in a two-piece band at Cashmere High School called The Gorillas with Peter Rees, a classical guitarist. Kawowski joined the band The Twins at the Empire Tavern in Dunedin in 1983, when he jumped on stage to play the drums.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2009, US record label Siltbreeze re-released the Axemen's 1984 protest album Big Cheap Motel ^[5] on 12-inch vinyl. Originally the album was released as a cassette packaged in a small bubble sleeve with a straw, mimicking the milk drink Big M. Big Cheap Motel included a recording of a live performance^[6] at the Summer Times festival^[7] in January 1984, a public music stage set up in Hagley Park, Christchurch. The band observed sexism in the Big M advertising surrounding the main stage, and subsequently wrote protest songs targetting the Christchurch City Council.

The Axemen toured the United States for five weeks in October and November 2009, opening for Times New Viking^[8] playing 26 shows including Sacramento (October 27), New York and Chicago (November 28).^[9]

The Axemen's debut double LP Three Virgins :: Three Versions:: Three Visions was re-issued and released on June 7, 2011 by Siltbreeze. This album was originally released on New Zealand label Flying Nun Records in 1985. A mint copy of the 1985 vinyl was transferred to digital files at Shadoks Music Studio, Amrum, Germany.^[10]

The Axemen featuring McCabe, Kawowski, Stojanovic and newcomer William Daymond toured Australia^[11] in December 2011. William Daymond played bass guitar, allowing Dragan Stojanovic to play lead guitar. The Axemen played 10 shows starting in Brisbane and ending in Adelaide on December 23.^[12]

The Axemen recorded a new vinyl album Sac Tap Nut Jam in Wellington in 2013, which was released through Spacecase Records, California.^[13]

2014 saw the re-release of 1989's Derry Legend^[14] on vinyl by Luxury Products USA.^[15]

Members

Little Stevie McCabe – songwriter / singer / guitarist / keyboardist / vocalist / percussionist / bassist / recording technician
Bob Brannigan AKA Robert Cardy – songwriter / singer / guitarist / keyboardist / vocalist / percussionist / bassist / music teacher / librarian
Stu Kawowski AKA Stuart Page – drummer / percussionist / photographer / screenprinter / promotions, hustling for gigs, award-winning documentary film maker^[16]
Johnny Segovia AKA Rent Hamilton – seminal Christchurch session musician and member of just about every band in Christchurch at the time including The Axel Grinders and The Connoisseurs
Doug Hamilton – songwriter and member of The Connoisseurs
'Shorty' Hamilton – bass player, The Axel Grinders and The Connoisseurs
Patrick Faigin – songwriter and drummer, Say Yes To Apes, The Axel Grinders
M. S. Agro AKA Mick Elborado – taxman, bass player for almost every original rock band in Christchurch including The Renderers, The McGoohans, Ritchie Venus and the Blue Beetles, Scorched Earth Policy, The Terminals, Shadow of the Valley.
Gordon Baird – fruitarian, square jawed bass player, formerly of White Noize, legendary radical Dunedin vegan band, animal rights activists and motorcycle enthusiasts where he played with brother Martin
B.B. Ryan – guitarist of White Noize
Gary Scott – session horn player
Arthur Sheep – sax appeal
Al Wright – sax appeal
Peter Hall-Jones – communist, writer, trumpet-player
Joanne Billesdon – bassist of The Thunderbirds, Demolition, Loliners
Sharon Billesdon – Loliners
Bev E. Rage – guitarist and singer, The Thunderbirds
Screamin K Hawkins – guitarist, of Shoes This High
Jessica Walker – violist, Shoes This High
Lisa Preston – keyboards, backing vocals Nux Vomica, Loliners
Angela Dawson – vocalist, Scab Union
Reta le Quesne – vocalist, Axel Grinders, The Wrongdoings
Haydn Jones – drummer, The Renderers
Dragan Stojanovic – Guitarist, backing vocals Vas Deferens
Lissa Bruce – Singer, keyboardist, muse
George D. Henderson – Keyboards and backing vocals And Band, The Puddle
Chris Knox – The Enemy, Toy Love, Tall Dwarfs
Peter Gutteridge – Keyboards, of The Clean, Snapper
Richard (Dick's Riff) Cotton of EOE
Billy Naylor of EOE
Elron Hubbard AKA Zeberdee Holdall of Nux Vomica, also The National Sex Grid
Brent Hayward – Dancer, vocalist of Shoes This High
Davey G – Dancer, of Gestalt, The Rainy Days, Marty Sauce and the Source, EOE
Gaylene – percussion, of Gaylene and the Undertakers
Rich Mixture – Drums, supplementary guitar, bass, of Gestalt, The Rainy Days, Marty Sauce and the Source, The D4
Larence Shustak(1926–2003) – recording engineer 3 Virgins, School of Fine Arts (Univ of Canty) Photography professor, musicologist, Stu's muse, subject of Stu's multi-award-winning documentary 'Shustak'^[17]
Nick Roughan – recording engineer, producer Derry Legend, The Skeptics
Jed Town – producer, 3 Virgins, Peter Wang Pud, Fetus Productions, JedEye, The Invisible Man, Ghost Town, ICU, Sawtooth Recordings, The Features
Z. Bob – producer, recording engineer of Frisbee Records
Matt Middleton – Sax, Keyboards, The Aesthetics
Russel Covini – Drums, Loliners, the Aesthetics
William Daymond – Bass, Guitar, keyboard, drums, other duties as required under employment contracts act Terror of the Deep, The Pickups, Green Eyed Owl

Brannigan currently plays in Shaft, the band he formed with Kawowski, Johnny Segovia and Danny Mañeto in Auckland 1992. (Kawowski, Segovia and Mañeto are no longer in the lineup, which is ever-changing but is currently made up of members of The Situations).^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ "THE AXEMEN Sac Tap Nut Jam (LP)". Flying Out. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^ "The Axemen 1983 – present : press release" (PDF). Theaxemen.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^ "Axemen One-Sheet – Album Out Next Week". Spacecaserecords.com. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^ "Axemen, Lo-Liners, Dark Matter & Cranks". The New Zealand Herald. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^ [1] ^{[dead link]}
^ Collett, H. (1984). p. 34, "Adverts inspire Axemen", The New Zealand Times. 4 November 1984
^ "DIRT GAME MIX". Theaxemen.org. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Matador Records". Matadorrecords.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Times New Viking / Axemen Tour 2009". Google.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Welcome Shadoks Music Studio". 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Axemen Australian Tour". Google.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Axemen Tour Diary 2011". Axementour2011.wordpress.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Spacecase Records". Spacecaserecords.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Axemen – Derry Legend". Discogs.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Luxury Products | Axemen – Derry Legend". Luxuryproductsusa.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "SHUSTAK: STUART PAGE, 2008 | MIC Toi Rerehiko". mic.org.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
^ "home.html". Stuartpage.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

References

External links

[1] "THE AXEMEN Sac Tap Nut Jam (LP)". Flying Out. Retrieved 1 February 2014.

[2] "The Axemen 1983 – present : press release" (PDF). Theaxemen.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.

[3] "Axemen One-Sheet – Album Out Next Week". Spacecaserecords.com. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2014.

[4] "Axemen, Lo-Liners, Dark Matter & Cranks". The New Zealand Herald. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2014.

[5] [1] ^{[dead link]}

[6] Collett, H. (1984). p. 34, "Adverts inspire Axemen", The New Zealand Times. 4 November 1984

[7] "DIRT GAME MIX". Theaxemen.org. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[8] "Matador Records". Matadorrecords.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[9] "Times New Viking / Axemen Tour 2009". Google.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[10] "Welcome Shadoks Music Studio". 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[11] "Axemen Australian Tour". Google.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[12] "Axemen Tour Diary 2011". Axementour2011.wordpress.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[13] "Spacecase Records". Spacecaserecords.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[14] "Axemen – Derry Legend". Discogs.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[15] "Luxury Products | Axemen – Derry Legend". Luxuryproductsusa.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[mic_shustak-16] "SHUSTAK: STUART PAGE, 2008 | MIC Toi Rerehiko". mic.org.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2022.

[shustak-17] "home.html". Stuartpage.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

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