Kitchener Street
An example of Hamilton's pervasive forces of Psychic Geography, Kitchener Street has probably impacted upon every band in Hamilton music history in some way.
The street itself is unassuming, a narrow side-street in the Claudelands West Special Character Area, lined with imposing oak and liquidambar trees and characterised by a mix of 1920s bungalows and cinderblock flats. Owing to the peculiar restrictions on building development in the area (essentially, old houses cannot be torn down to make way for more profitable medium-density townhouses, making them unpopular to all but disinterested landlords), the older and more derelict houses on the street provided an attractive and affordable flatting options for bohemian types.
21 Kitchener street has a long and infamous past, being the home of Daniel Mancini, notorious Irish drunkard John Kennedy and even Janna from Grande Cobra in the 1990s.
Around the middle of 2000, Tania Smeaton from Slip Of The Tongue theatre company and cabaret act Sexual Chocolate, and Stan Jagger of every second band in Hamilton ever, moved from 20 Kitchener Street to number 24. Mark Servian, local street theatre provocateur and The McGillicuddy Serious Party's Thane of Gordonton, took over number 20 with Martin Fisher (of every other band in Hamilton). Soon after, Paul Tregilgas (also in every second band in blah blah) and partner Maria Eaton (who was in Hell's Belles and the Hamiltones with Tania, Stan, Martin and Paul T...you get the picture?) moved into a cleaned and family-friendly number 21, with Accordion Mistress Susanne McNair occupying the shack in its garden, while number 7a was taken up by fellow Helle's Belle and Slip Of The Tongue actress Alida Steemson, Gavin and Tracy. 19 Piako Road, home to actress and McGillicuddy Leanne Ireland, Sandra Jensen and David from Sexual Chocolate/Reg & Arch/Barnstonworth United, and Chris Paki, Jo Davies and Penny Cantlon's Thames Street house became satellite states of 'The Republic Of Kitchenerstan'. Gentleman Adventurer and former Nexus editor Malcolm Hutchinson returned to Hamilton in 2001, adding Number 9 to the community in late autumn of that year, purloining Sandra from Piako Rd and Petra Jane then of 7a as flatmates. Bodies tended to swap between houses freely and relationships seemed to bounce like pinballs amongst Kitchenerstan neighbours to the point that its 'incestuousness' and 'cultishness' became a topic for Hamilton music community humour.
Under the influence of Mark Servian, Kitchener Street became a hive of counter-cultural and bohemian artistic activity. Slip Of The Tongue, Free Lunch street theatre company and innumerable bands came to consist primarily or entirely of street residents. Regular street pot-luck dinners were held in the early years, and a street Christmas Card photo was taken from 2001 to 2004 (?)
