Bilders

The Bilders Is The Professional Appellation For Numerous Groups Of Musicians Led By New Zealand Singer-Songwriter Bill Direen And Performing His Material. Direen Began Recording In 1978 When Working As A Community Reporter And DJ For A Provincial Radio Station Radio Marlborough . He Is Known For Literate Lyrics Challenging Song-Subjects And A Lo-Fi Recording Style That Has Produced “many Genuine Classic Compositions”. 1 The First Group Performing Publicly Under The Appellation Appeared In 1980 Performing Material Assembled Or Recorded Between 1975 And 1980. The Most Recent Group Promoting Itself Under The Appellation Completed National Tours In 2007 And 2008. However Direen Has Always Worked Freely With Independent Musicians And Collaborations Are Usually United Under The Appellation The Bilders. In 2008 He Worked With Jon Evans In Berlin On A Project Involving Original Texts Framed By The Beats Of Parisian DJ Fred Morvan With Further Musical Ambience From Evans Dave Allen The Nasty Party And Guest Thomas Geigenschrey. Since 2009 He Has Been Developing A Concert Set Of Thirty Songs Presented In Both English And French With Guitarist Nikolas Kapétanovic. The Duo Are Known To French Audiences As Bill & Le Killer. The Songs In These Sets Are Poetic In Nature And Brechtian In The Sense Of Inviting A Discursive Response. Many Are Original Or Authorised Translations From The French Or German Or Old English. Contents Hide * 1 History * 2 Touring NZ Members 2008 * 3 Former Members And Collaborators Earliest Date * 4 Current Project Collaborators * 5 Discography * 6 References O 6.1 Sources * 7 External Links Edit History The Training Ground For The Bilders And Some Other Flying Nun Groups Was Christchurch Band Vacuum First Performance NZ Students Arts Festival 1977 . In 1979 A Collaboration With Allen Meek Was Fruitful But Not Exclusive Meek Went On To Record With Others Including Members Of Defunct Vacuum Peter Stapleton And Stephen Cogle Of The Terminals . In 1980 Direen Worked With Campbell McLay In Christchurch To Release Four Songs On An Onset Offset Label Compilation Under Invented Band Names Then With Malcolm Grant And Ivan Rogers To Record Four Songs Under The Title Six Impossible Things On The Sausage Label In Wellington New Zealand. Back In Christchurch He Continued To Work With Meek And This Resulted In The Seven Inch Singles And EPs Later Collected By Flying Nun On The CD Bilders Volume 1 Max Quitz FNCD 274 1993 . Max Quitz Was And Remains A Heteronym Of Direen. After Winning The Christchurch Battle Of The Bands In 1982 With Yet Another Line-Up Featuring Campbell McLay On Bass And Willie Dobinson On Drums Direen And McLay Went North To Auckland With Malcolm Grant To Record Flying Nun's First Ever Company-Financed Album Beaten Hearts Reissued By Flying Nun As Bilders Volume 2 Beaten Hearts FNCD275 In 1993 . This Project Was Overseen And Greatly Aided By Chris Knox Who Took Part In Some Of The Recordings Enlisting His Former Enemy Drummer Mike Dooley For A Recording Of The Song Alien. Direen Remained In Auckland For Some Months During Mixing And Four-Track Recordings To Complement The Studio Tracks. The Album Was Released In 1983. In 1984 Direen Suspended His Ph.D Studies Into Total Theatre And Group Psychotherapy And Took A Lease On A Disused Space In The Heart Of Christchurch. This Became The Blue Ladder Theatre Where The Mimes Of James K. Baxter An Adaptation Of The Cenci By Percy Bysshe Shelley And Antonin Artaud Adaptation Titled Bride Of The Wheel A Play By Direen About Reminiscence The Rockinghorse Timon Of Athens By Shakespeare And Many Medieval Farces Were Performed Or Workshopped. 2 A Gallery Space Also Exhibited Artists. In A Four Track Recording Studio In Rear Of The Rehearsal Space Direen Worked With Alec Bathgate Tall Dwarfs And Recorded More Four-Track Songs For His Third Album CoNCH3 South Indies. Direen And Flying Nun Could Not Agree On What The Next Album Should Contain. A Selection Of Recordings Made By Various Musicians Including Former Vacuum And Earlier Bilders Members Was Deemed By Flying Nun To Be Unreleasable. Direen Set Up The Label South Indies To Release It Split Seconds An Edited Version Of This Was Released By Flying Nun As Bilderine Split Second FNCD 276 In 1993. CoNCH3 Stuart Page On Drums And New Bass Player Greig Bainbridge Followed. Sales Were Good And Further Bilders Albums Let's Play And We Are The Coolest Cats In The World Enabled Theatrical And Label Activities To Continue Till 1988. The Bilders Musical Style Changed Dramatically During This Period Of Intense Experimentation. Harmonically And Formally Their Music Moved Through From Psychedelic Garage To Poetic Rap Thematically Focused And Experimental Sound From Progressive Grunge-Rock To Free Improvisation. Members Such As Stuart Porter Saxophones Primitive Art Group Tanja Peckelharing Chanteuse Jonathan Besser Keyboards Free Radicals John McDermott Drums And Bainbridge Himself Had A Big Influence In Situations That Were Essentially Democratic. The Theatre Continued To Nourish Direen And To Inspire Songs Which Found Their Way Into The Bilders Repertoire. Between 1989 And 1994 He Would Direct Or Act In Performances Of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Bremen Freedom Bremer Freiheit With Paul Lee On Clarinet And A Further Cast Of Actors Singers And Musicians Loot By Joe Orton And Three Song-Operas Written By Direen Fawkes Alive Dial A Claw And Raoul Prince Of Jeans. Some Of These Were Toured Nationally In New Zealand. 3 In 1989 Direen Had Visited New York For Several Weeks In Order To Experience The Theatre And Music Climate There. While There He And Hamish Kilgour Realised A Long-Held Wish To Play Together And This Resulted In Twelve Songs Being Recorded In A Mid-Town Manhattan Studio With Further Musicans Tony O'Blaney Acoustic And Electric Bass Steve Cournane Percussive Solo Lisa Siegel Percussion Liz Silver Backing Vocals With The Surprise Arrival Of Allen Meek Who Flew In From His Studies In Gainsville Florida. He Played Synthesiser And P.P.I. Studio's Baby Grand Piano. Given Kilgour's Close Connection With Flying Nun The Album Was Really Destined For Flying Nun And Kilgour Completed A Collage Cover For It. However Roger Shepherd Was Moving Out Of Flying Nun And The Album Appeared On Cassette Through South Indies. It Was Later Reissued By Powertool Records As Bill Direen And Friends "New York Sack". In 1994 Geoff Columbus's Short-Lived Label IMD Under The Auspices Of Peter Jefferies Financed The Album CUT The Bilders IMDCD 10030 . This Time Direen Worked With Drummer Derek Champion With Whom He Would Make A Short Tour Of The USA. Due To Matters Of A Personal Nature Direen Then Moved To Berlin Which He Had Visited Repeatedly Before In 1994 And Remained There Until 1997 Performing Regularly In The Small Clubs And Bars He Prefers And Recording In Small Clubs Or Radio Stations Or When The Opportunity Arose. This Resulted In The Vinyl And CD Release Human Kindness With The Corazoo Label Of Zurich. This Was Recorded In A Studio Organised By Christian Aebi In Langenthal And Master Thanks To Daniel Backes. This Re-Released In New Zealand Only By Powertool Records In 2007 PTO 70 . Powertool Records Requested The Right To Release More Of Direen's Accumulating Material Resulting In CD Releases Of The Songs From The 'opera' Dial A Claw Further Songs Songs For Mickey Joe Written To Lyrics By New Zealand Poet Alan Brunton D. 2002 And "Yes Today No Tomorrow" Fourteen Lo-Fi Home Recordings Made In Europe While On The Move Including An Anthem Inspired By Events At Guantanamo High Are The Mighty. A Return To New Zealand In 2007 Resulted In A National Bilders Tour And A Second Return In 2008 Yielded The Recording Sessions For Chrysanthemum Storm A Coherent Bilders Album Comprised Unlike All Previous Releases Only Of Recordings From One Series Of Sessions. An Independent Filmmaker Accompanied The Bilders On Their Last Tour And It Is Possible A Short Film Of Those Concerts May Appear In Years To Come. Meanwhile Direen Is Currently Involved With Three Projects Which Could Be Categorised Under The Appellation The Bilders. A STRIKE Quartet Recorded Berlin 2008 Bill Direen Jon Evans Fred Morvan And Dave Allen. Awaiting Mastering. B Bill's Most Recent Home-Recording Work With Past Bilders As Guests. Currently Being Mastered. C Bill Et Le Killer Direen And French Artist-Guitarist Nik Le Killer Performing Work In English And French In France Mainly In Galleries And Small Venues. Songs Are Currently Only In Live-Recording Form And May Be Released As That. Edit Touring NZ Members 2008 * Bill Direen - Vocals Guitar * Andrew McCully - Keyboard * Brett Cross - Bass * Andrew Maitai - Drums * Richard Anderton – Vocals * Stuart Porter - Drums * Greig Bainbridge - Bass read less