St Lucy
Mark Tupuhi's St. Lucy began life with the split in 2001 of Jah'na and the subsequent re-release of acoustic pop songs intended for Jah'na, repackaged as Why We Hate Decaff (and assorted tales) by St Lucy in 2002. The same year Mark performing solo as St Lucy won the York Street Acid Test singer/songwriter competition at Auckland's Temple, signed to Jody Lloyd (of Trillion-fame)'s She'll Be Right Records (self-described as "New Zealand's only natural accent record label"), commenced recording St Lucy's actual debut EP Loyal? at York Street Studios, and, in early 2003, started putting together a new live band. In an interview with NZ Musician (the Feb-March 2003 issue) he said:
"The plan was always to build St Lucy from a solo thing into a band thing... at the moment we're putting together a superband, made up of people from bands that I like... But don't mention any names, 'cause I'm the star"
The live band comprised Tweeter's Paul Fitness on drums, Holdfast guitarist Joe McNamara, and Mark's former bandmate Zed Brookes who joined on bass when the Brookes/Tupuhi-fronted Wonderbug (formerly Schrodinger's Cat) disbanded.
For recording at York Street, however, Tupuhi and Brookes played alongside session drummer Paul Atkins and backing vocalist Rebekah Williams.
The first 50 copies of Loyal? had already sold by January before it was even released. It was officially launched on March 21st of 2003, with a release party at Auckland's Temple Bar, which Mark himself failed to turn up at for "health" reasons.
Later in 2003 a second EP, Bio-Psycho-Social was also released on She'll Be Right. Taken from the same York Street sessions as Loyal?, Bio-Psycho-Social is perhaps best described as the Driving to Mary single/remix EP; containing 4 new versions of the "hit" from its predecessor, including remixes by She'll Be Right labelmates Trillion and Deadly, and a Barbershop vocal arrangement and performance by another former Wonderbug cohort, Otis 'Odee' Williams (also husband of the aforenamed backing vocalist, Rebekah).
The writer of this article is awaiting further biographical information concerning the band’s activities in the year 2003.
Inspired by the possibilities suggested by the inclusion of bonus mp3s of every song he'd ever recorded since 1997 on the previous year's Bio-Psycho-Social CD, in 2004 St Lucy became increasingly focused on his own unique brand of "DIY multimedia" (or perhaps "antimedia" would be the correct term). St Lucy releases during the year 2004 included videos, computer games, publications and beverages.
The loosely termed "promotional video clips" for a proliferation of Lucy tracks were assembled and disseminated all over the internet with crazed abandon, most notably several alternate clips for Bio-Psycho-Social's uncharacteristically loud, dark and gritty Armpits (and other bits). These clips were composed largely of (surprisingly engaging) PLAIN BLACK AND WHITE TEXT in which Tupuhi rants, raves and swears at great length about his personal hardships, shows a mutilated and profusely bleeding Four Square man (his misappropriation thereof in logos, flyers and CD cover artwork now having become synonymous with Lucy), makes use of Twin Tower footage for fun, and pays homage to the local broadcasting industry, thus: "Thanks for all your fucking help New Zealand On Air... fuckers". Another "promotional" video closely resembles a terrorist hostage video, in which Tupuhi threatens to assassinate TV presenter Jason Gunn unless granted State funding to produce more St Lucy music and videos. During the same year the St Lucy Times was released in response to the publication of the Chuganaut News, recalling events surrounding a 'rogue' issue of Clinton. By this time Tupuhi, who was having a spot of bother with a member of a certain motorcycling enthusiasts' club, had fled to the refuge of number 9 Kitchener Street, whereupon the kitchen table was the St. Lucy Times published. Here also Lucy was mentored by another controversial publisher Malcolm Hutchinson - not in Gonzo journalism, but in the art of home brewing shortly before Hutchinson departed Hamilton, entrusting his beloved brewery to the care of Tupuhi and one Michel. Paying little if any attention to the stern cautions on the delicate balance of a good home brew, the result was instead the (somewhat unofficial) release of St. Lucy WORLD FAMOUS! ARSE BEER, with the subtitle alc. content may vary on the label. Troubling times for Number 9 were ahead.
A new live St Lucy was assembled during this period. Odee (also resident of Number 9) now filled Zed Brookes' shoes on bass and backing vocals; a budding young sound-designer, producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist by the name of Morgan Samuel joined on guitars, treatments, keyboards and sound-tech; and another fresh talent in the guise of 15 y/o Mack Lynn took up the drum-stool. Undoubtedly the loudest incarnation of Lucy, number 9 was soon regularly besieged by Noise Control. Between late '04 and early '05, St Lucy Mark II appeared at The Vampyres Ball (apparently the result of absurdly labelling themselves a "goth" band so often that people started to believe them), played support for the Malcolm Hutchinson-led Runt (who didn't show up) at the 1 year birthday party for the newly revived Contact FM, and made regular (misad)ventures to Auckland and Wellington.
At the inaugural Circle Jerk of May 2005, which Tupuhi organised, St Lucy made irreverently tactless reference to equally controversial goings on at Kitchener Street with their infamous rendition of Dragon’s Are You Old Enough?.
As 2005 progressed St Lucy also teamed up with Bregiz to produce a St Lucy shockwave game. Inspired by real life attempts to promote and manage St Lucy live shows, using your mouse, the object of the game is to keep Tupuhi from falling over, long enough to play an entire St Lucy song (Armpits).
If you think you can keep me up all night..
In September of 2005 the St. Lucy song Keep Away, produced and reworked by Jody Lloyd, appeared on the Trillion album The Gray Between Shadow and Shade – a project falling half-way between an original album by one artist and a compilation of many, showcasing both Lloyd’s solo work and collaborations with many others from the She’ll Be Right stable.
Tupuhi also appeared as a guest musician on two albums by Christchurch’s legendary Hip Hop pioneers Dark Tower released simultaneously by She’ll Be Right in 2005; The Dark World and the instrumental album The Pacific Scandal.
St Lucy meanwhile recorded their own album, The Lost Art of Self-Destruction, produced by Morgan Samuel and released on She’ll Be Right in 2005. The band proved that the art was not lost at all, promptly imploding upon the album’s release.
- Mark moved to Maunganui but regularly returns to Hamilton for Lucy shows, both solo and with guest musicians.
- Mack Lynn also continues to play with St Lucy at times.
- Morgan Samuel graduated from Media Arts Music Production Degree with honours in 2004, moved to Wellington and went on to work as an effects and dialogue editor with Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post on the award winning feature film No.2 and TV series Frontier of Dreams. He now works for Marmalade Audio, one of NZ’s leading post production and music recording facilities, and has been critically acclaimed for his original scores and sound design in a number of Wellington theatre productions. He also plays guitar and keyboards alongside singer/songwriter Tony MacIver in the duo Nine Signals.
- Odee remains with his own band Rose Petals and Confetti.
As of 2006, St Lucy is, as s/he always has been, Mark Tupuhi.
Members
St. Lucy is sometimes Mark Tupuhi solo (acoustic guitar, vocals) and sometimes Mark Tupuhi and others. The following are some of the more regular line-ups:
St. Lucy Mark I (2003-2004):
- Mark Tupuhi: guitar, vocals
- Joe McNamara: guitar
- Zed Brookes: bass
- Paul Fitness: drums
St. Lucy Mark II (2004-2005):
- Mark Tupuhi: guitar, vocals
- Odee: bass, backing vocals
- Mack Lynn: drums
- Morgan Samuel: guitars, treatments, keyboards
St. Lucy 2005-2006 is sometimes St. Lucy Mark II, and sometimes:
- Mark Tupuhi: guitar, vocals
- Bregiz: drums
or other times:
- Mark Tupuhi: guitar, vocals
- Mack Lynn: drums
Other performers have included Pete Fountain, Rebekah Williams, Paul Atkins, Chelsee Woolaston, Jody Lloyd, and possibly others.
Releases
- Why We Hate Decaff (and assorted tales) - CD EP - (self-released, 2002)
- Loyal? - CD EP - (She'll Be Right, January 2003)
- Bio Psycho Social - CD EP - disc also features multimedia - (She'll Be Right, November 2003)
- The Lost Art Of Self Destruction - CD Album - disc also features multimedia - (She'll Be Right, 2005)
