Search
Top » Bands and Artists » B » Brunettes, The » Biographies
Biography: The Brunettes
Formed, Auckland, New Zealand in 1998 by musical couple Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield who were in love and very fond of their pet cat Bunny, and the Shangri-La's. Both could empathise with and find refuge in each other's stylistic isolation; being as they were lovers of great pop music, amidst the intravenous smack rock haze of late 90s Auckland. So, as mentioned before, they shacked up, made music and produced a firstborn: a 7-inch EP called "Mars Loves Venus," which was true. The short run quickly sold out and Jonathan set to work demo-ing up the band's first six albums. Heather and Jonathan's relationship suffered, understandably. Heather was seen often in New Zealand's society pages with champagne flutes in each hand and the grin of the hardened socialite etched upon her face. Jonathan however, was never seen by anyone. After finishing what may have been the band's first album in 2000, Jonathan broke down. Deciding it was impossible for him to make their bedroom 4-track recordings sound as good as that of his heroes, defeated he began working in a downtown record store. It took the attentions of manager Melinda Olykan to drag Jonathan away from the store counter and get the band out on the road. They soon developed a reputation for performances that had all the drama of Phil Spector catching Lou Reed in bed with Ronnie. The Brunettes finally released their debut album Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks in the spring of 2002, and six months later put out a mini album, The Boyracer E.P. The uniqueness of these releases and the magic of their live show, gained them a swooning national fan base in New Zealand, made them darlings of its college radio stations, and placed them as the nation's undisputed number one bubblegumpop band. In June 2004 they release their second album, Mars Loves Venus. Not unlike previous releases it's sure to tackle subject matter rarely (if ever) sung about. Whether they're singing about self-abuse, physical defects, pets, love or lust, these two feel what they're singing and sing what they feel. They are loved by art school girls, drug casualties and ex-Beach Boys. They have played with Jad Fair, The Breeders, The 5678's, Ken Stringfellow, The Postal Service, The Go-Betweens, The Datsuns and Gene Pitney. One day they hope to be written about in hefty biographies, for now this four hundred word synopsis will have to do.Contributor organisation: Lil' Chief Records
This category needs an editor