Quirky, colourful, funky and free rockers, Genre Fluid, are bringing their high-energy theatrical music to Arrowtown.
The duo, Max Duncan and Bo Ade-Simpson, are currently midway through a 20-date Arts on Tour odyssey through Aotearoa, which is bringing them to the Athenaeum Hall on Wednesday.
Duncan, a former Massey University fashion student, goes by the stage name of ‘Silk, Satin, Suede’; Ade-Simpson is ‘Bosho’.
Duncan says they’ve cultivated a dedicated following in the Nelson/Tasman region but are keen to connect with audiences in new centres.
Past gigs in Queenstown were at Yonder and Zephyr but this will be their first time in Arrowtown.
Their set and performance has evolved for this tour — Duncan notes 90% of it’s improvised — with a dance focus, plenty of groove and improvised stories and poetry, too.
The pair, who released their debut album, The Groova Meista (Part One), last April, have been creating music together for four years after Duncan’s dad heard Ade-Simpson tearing up an electric guitar while he was in a cafe in Nelson.
He walked around the corner to investigate and discovered ‘‘a man in barefeet, ripping a Jimmy Page solo’’, Duncan says.
‘‘He said ‘you gotta meet my son’.’’
Duncan was in London at the time, but looked up Ade-Simpson on Facebook and the pair connected — the timing, Duncan says, was ‘‘perfect’’.
‘‘I needed a guitarist, and he needed a vocalist.
‘‘By the end of 2020 we had six original songs, four of which are in the current set, which is cool.
‘‘We are playful and expressive together and there’s a lot of synergy between us when we perform … We’ve got a lot of melody rocking through our veins … and we are heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads and Fat Freddy’s Drop.’’
The duo’s name’s a play on Gender Fluid — Duncan says he and his bandmate are ‘‘all about freedom of expression’’.
‘‘How you dress, how you identify yourself, you do you — that’s beautiful, empowering and bold.
‘‘We cross dress, we put on make-up, we embrace our masculine/feminine side.’’
Genre Fluid, Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall, Wednesday, March 20, 7.30pm. Tickets $20, via eventfinda
