New Gum Sarm features Sophia Lawler-Dormer on drums, Dave Weir on bass, Durham Fenwick on guitar and Oscar Dowling on vocals & guitar. Fenwick and Dowling started writing songs together two years ago, shortly after moving South to Auckland city. After Dave and Sophia fleshed the songs out, the band borrowed two van loads of gear from a variety of friends and recorded the album live over a weekend in Puhoi with Oscar’s brother Sam Hamilton, a longtime Auckland artist. The album was mixed in both Portland, Oregon and Auckland. Most of the guitar parts were written by Dowling or Fenwick. Dowling wrote the riff for the first single ‘Money Talks’ while traveling in France at 18. ‘Anxiety Nap’ was a piano piece Dowling was working on around the same time and when the band started jamming he took the right hand and Durham took the left hand. Originally called Small Boys, the band changed their name to New Gum Sarn last year. They are named after a supermarket just off K Road in Auckland. It means “New Gold Mountain”, which is what Chinese immigrants called New Zealand when they came to New Zealand during the goldrush.

https://soundcloud.com/spunkrecords/new-gum-sarn-money-talks-radio-edit

Dowling also releases music under his own name, while Weir and Durham play in another band The Nightshades. Inspiration for the record comes from long term heroes Television, Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers, Neil Young and Talk Talk and NZ/AUS artists Seth Frightening, Sharpie Crows, Rowland S. Howard, and East Brunswick All Girls Choir.

NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN TOUR

New Zealand Dates
Thursday 2nd July at Whammy Bar, Auckland
Friday 17th July at The Darkroom, Christchurch
Sat 18th July at The Sherwood, Queenstown
Thursday 23rd July at Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers
Friday 24th July at Eyegum Music Collective, Wellington
Saturday 25th July at Moon, Wellington
Saturday 1st August at Winecellar, Auckland