If you are a regular GONE reader you will probably know who the Datsuns are and appreciate what they have achieved overseas in the last few months.

The Datsuns are fully independent. Just like the suspension in a 1980 Datsun Bluebird.

As far as the New Zealand music 'industry' is concerned The Datsuns have broken all the rules.

For our overseas readers the rules go like this.

1. You suck heaps of cock to try and get a NzonAir video grant. (Please note your ability to polish rockets and imitate overseas commercial stuff is way more important than being original and having a live following).

2. You join the amazing self turning wheel of hype and nepotism that is able to lick it's own ass. Commonly known as the New Zealand music media. You may even get on TV!

3. You sign a real stupid deal with a local branch of a major and hope you make some money on the door at gigs.

That same media will probably try and paint the Datsuns as wild assed rock and roll mothefuckers. They aren't.

The Datsuns are super nice guys. "Real sweeties" as my friend Maria would say. Well maybe young Matt is a bit of an apprentice wild man but you get that. Everybody who has ever met them or played a gig with them would say the same thing.

The thing which strikes you about Dolf is his total lack of any 'primadonna' attitude. He is humbleness personified.

Maybe that comes from knowing how much hard work he has had to put in a world where talent alone will get you nothing but admiration from your peers.

Seeing your musical heroes working menial day jobs and getting bogged down just getting by makes you humble. That's all part and parcel of not playing the game or being in the loop I guess.

Which is why I want to make it clear Dolf is not being bitter in this interview.

Dolfs message I think is that Kiwi music is as good as anywhere and why the fuck shouldn't it be? We are human.

GONE : Dolf, things have gone pretty well for you since we last interviewed you. Unreal even. The states went well and then Europe went even better.

DOLF : Yeah the States was good. We started down south in Texas. It was some wild and crazy shit you know? The people there have got guns on their hips and shit. Man, one of the dudes had a cowboy hard hat! Just a dude working you know, on the side of the street going 'jigger-jigger-jigger' (jack hammer impersonation). You know like the leader of the dudes had a cowboy hat and we were like 'imagine if it's made out of that plastic shit!' and it was! He had a cowboy hardhat.

GONE : The East Coast White Stripes shows were pretty good I heard.

DOLF : Yeah New York was good. We did some shows with The White Stripes which were real good. Then we played to like 4 people in Brooklyn one time in the middle of this fucking scary, fucking dodgy little 'burb. It was like 'oh man', but it was real fucking cool.

GONE : Those 4 people would have dug it though?

DOLF : Well if you play to four people and sell four seven inches then that's got to be pretty good.

GONE : Did London happen for you guys straight away or did it take a couple of shows?

DOLF : Our first show we did was with The D4. Opening for them and it was sold out anyway. So we were like 'Sweet. Cool. Nice work guys.' We just did our thing you know? And then the next show was pretty full and then just more and more people kept on coming. They are into their rockin' at the moment. A bit of a fashion type thing for the UK but hey . . .

GONE : Your not complaining!

DOLF : That's right.

GONE : So Dolf down to the bizzo side of things. You've signed a distribution deal for the album in the UK and Europe and that's all through your 'Hellsquad' label here in NZ.

DOLF : Kind of like that but it's not a distribution deal. If it was we'd have to pay to make all the records and shit. We just pay to actually record it and they pay to manufacture it and get it into stores.

GONE : A licensing deal?

DOLF : Yeah, we license them the rights to the album.

GONE : You can obviously set limits on the time and volume of the deal.

DOLF : Yep and best of all cause it's a licensing deal they don't have any input on the creative side of it. Just the finished thing that is delivered to them.

GONE : Hellsquad must have got some sort of advance though.

DOLF : Well we needed money to record it so yeah they gave us some money. That's there gamble though, they could make that back or they might not.

GONE : So it's not a loan?

DOLF : Kind of but if we don't sell the units it's their problem! Good on them, they obviously have some faith in what we do.

GONE : The 'they' that we are referring to is of course V2?

DOLF : Yep, for the Uk & Europe. They're cool, really into the music.

GONE : I wouldn't really know but you must meet some real wankers when you are being chased by the major record labels?

DOLF : I wouldn't say wankers Ox, but yeah I met some interesting characters. We met Steve -------, who produced the first three U- albums. He was a big shot.

GONE : What did he want?

DOLF : He was out to sign the Dato's mate!

GONE : Did he bust out the 'nose candy'?

DOLF : Laughs. Nah but people were trying. Anyway he took us out to this swanky restaurant. We sat down you know and had a bit of lunch. Then he starts telling us "Bono's out on a limb you know, he's getting political with his music." Then I'm like " Man I'm 22 you know, I really don't give a shit. I'm a shallow man. I just care about playing music and smiley things. Maybe one day I'll get a social conscience you know. Maybe one day I'll give a fuck but not right now. This is what I'm about" Then he goes " Man that's a shame cause corporations run the world now" I said like " that's really interesting. I agree but you work for Universal mate!". They are one of the very biggest corporations in the music world. They own about 10 other labels and they are one of the biggest publishers. Anyhow he got all defensive after that and . . .

GONE : Asked for the bill?

DOLF : Laughs.

GONE : Is the rumour that the album is going to come out in New Zealand on FastFood true?

DOLF : Nah the Skinny man is probably just gonna be doing our merchandise. Tee shirts, seven inches and all that kind of stuff. The album will probably be out on whoever does it in Australia. We'll sort that out in Australia this week hopefully. Hey Ox when it comes time to write this out and you get to the Steve ------ bit could you cross out his last name? Can you do that for me?

GONE : Maybe.

DOLF : Go on.

GONE : Maybe. We'll see what you can do for me!

DOLF : Laughs. I was approached by a journalism student for comment on the music industry and various other guff and I put him on to Dolf for some serious scoop action that the budding young journalist was not really ready for! That is the fellow we are referring to in the next bit.

DOLF : Yeah he tried to talk to me about NzonAir and that kind of stuff. Well what could I say? Good on them and I understand what NzonAir is about but it's just really got nothing to do with what were about. I mean we've gone down that road. We've tried it and it doesn't work. Obviously it works for some bands. It doesn't work for the Datsuns.

GONE : Does it work for them?

DOLF : Yeah does it work for them? I don't know.

GONE : I was gonna use Bic Runga as an example because she's got so much media coverage at the moment but she's not the right example at all. She is way to talented and capable of doing it within that global commercial market.

DOLF : Nah she's cool, she's got a real soulful voice. She probably sells the units and she's an export. She writes good songs. She's got a great voice and she looks good. There is other shit that they give fifty grand to that is utter shit. Some of that stuff is pretty bad.

GONE : That NzonAir give money to?

DOLF : Hmm, yeah but I'm not naming names..

GONE : Well some recent signings to a well known NZ label have made me wonder too? Taking inoffensiveness to new heights! Lets just say I can see how that particular airline went under in the late eighties . . .

DOLF : Laughs. Anyway he asked me about quotas and I'm in 2 minds about quotas you know.

GONE : Fishing quotas weren't that good for fishermen!

DOLF : Exactly.

GONE : What do we need that for ? It's kind of like saying we are lame and need help.

DOLF : Yeah, it's kind of like lets help the little handicapped kid up the stairs. We can run up the stairs. Really. But people will probably argue that 'yeah we are handicapped, our industry sucks.'

GONE : That's cause they're comparing it to some multi-national mega dollar marketing and production value based industry and . . .

DOLF : Yeah, you see the thing is, people should get it through their skulls that our shit is as good as anywhere else. New Zealanders I mean and I don't think a quotas gonna do this.

GONE : A quota implies that it's inferior.

DOLF : Exactly. All you've gotta do is get past that and I don't think quotas is going to force that on people. Maybe it would work. I don't know. The other side of that is you get this whole thing of "Kiwi music!! Yay!! It's so good!!". But to me it's just like you should like a song because the song is good. You should like the band because the band is good. Full stop. It shouldn't matter if the band is from Timbuktu or Cambridge mate!!

GONE : Moving right along. You guys have been having a lot of fun over there by the look of those photos I saw the other night.

DOLF : Yeah some funny shit. Laughs. The party on the last night man. I'll email you those photos.

GONE : What about the little 'homecoming tour' with The Bloody Souls. Wellington/Hamtown/Auckland. We better give that a plug.

DOLF : Yeah that's the 11th, 12th & 13th of July.

GONE : Pretty low key promotion?

DOLF : Yeah, just some posters mate. Laughs. Same shit we always do! Oh and I think Bfm might give it a plug. They're good cunts anyway you know? They've been playing the Datsuns for as long as the Datsuns have been around anyway. One of the only radio stations that would so that's cool. That's the cool thing about student radio in New Zealand I guess.

GONE : I've been meaning to take some Palace of Wisdom into the B but I'm fucking useless at that shit.

DOLF : Get it in there Ox they'll play it. We've played the Palace of Wisdom. We played it on the radio in Australia and freaked them out.

GONE : You cats are just heading to Australia for a few days to check out 'some deals'. Ha ha! Then what? This little tour with 'The bloody souls' and then back overseas for a "6 month tour from hell!!!!!!" (Sung to the tune of 'Motherfucker from hell").

DOLF : We did another version of that man! It's like 10 times as powerful, faster, and more like Motorhead than ever!

GONE : How many new songs have you got?

DOLF : Fuck I don't know? It depends on what you'd class as new. We wrote some last week and hopefully one of them will be on the album and we wrote some in the studio (in the UK).

GONE : How many songs are going to be on the album?

DOLF : Probably only nine or ten. I don't want it to be more than forty minutes.

GONE : So you'll have some other tracks left for singles and compilations and stuff?

DOLF : Yeah so you know like for this 'Fastfood' compilation of Skinny's.

GONE : What track are you putting on there?

DOLF : We're not sure yet. What are you guys (the Palace o Wisdom) putting on there?

GONE : We were going to give him "Pills" but he wants "Car stereo".

DOLF : What!!! I don't get it man? Sorry Skinny I'm going to have to put this on the interview. Pills shits on car stereo!! Not that there is anything wrong with car stereo. (sings) "Hey car stereo . . ." But that bit (in Pills), you know the chord change where it goes (sings) "girl I just can't stop now they might . . . ". That's just like . . . nah man it's done, it's sewn up. It's Pills. It's off the Pills ep isn't it?

GONE : Yeah it's the Pills ep but Car Stereo is on there too . . ..

DOLF : Then again if people like car stereo and then they get the Pills ep, they'll be like 'Fuck, how about Pills!!'. (The new Fastfood compilation should be out in early September. Check out www.fastfood.co.nz for details)

GONE : Thanks for the plug but lets get back to the Datsuns, what track are you guys going to put on there?

DOLF : I don't know, it could be one of these new ones. It could be one called 'got glue'.

GONE : This 'tour from hell', who all are you going to be doing that with. Do you know who any of the other bands you'll be touring with are?

DOLF : Some shows with the D4 to start things off. Then a band called 'The BellRays.' They are pretty cool, they've got this awesome soul singer out the front. She's a real cool singer. Then this band 'The Sahara hot nights'. They are from Sweden, people say they look like the female Datsuns! Obviously they are better looking. In fact they are real good looking. All girls. I think the lead singer goes out with the guy from The Hives. Anyway we are hopefully going to tour with them. Their drummer is fucking amazing. It's like seeing the Runaways or something but wilder.

GONE : Speaking of drummers, how's your drummer going?

DOLF : He's good mate. Still pounding away!!

GONE : I bet!

Both: Laughs.

DOLF : He's a hit with the ladies I'll put it that way.

GONE : Is it hard to take the NZ media that has largely ignored you seriously now? I mean the editor of Rip It Up was on . . .

DOLF : 60 minutes?

GONE : Nah, that guy, the editor (of RiU) was on breakfast Tv the day after your Peel session. Well because of the error in the Listener article ( that had the date for your Peel session as being a week later than it was) he was on Tv the day after your session saying how great you are and that your Peel session was on the next Thursday !! He mustn't have even listened to the Bfm simulcast.

DOLF : Laughs. Owwhhh so obviously he didn't know shit! That's fucking funny.

DOLF : The funny thing is he was on '60 minutes'. I don't know the guy and I am not out to give him shit but he was on 60 minutes. Anyway he goes "People don't like K'Lee, New Zealanders like cool music like the Datsuns and the D4." I was just sitting there going 'No they don't. If they did we would have had top 10 singles in New Zealand.' We wouldn't have had to go overseas to get any recognition. You know, what are you talking about? It's unfounded. And you know like K'Lee has got 4 top ten singles or something and she's good looking so good luck to her.

GONE : You were just reading that NZ Musician review of a Hamilton comp with 'supergyration' on it and . . .

DOLF : It said you know another one of their popular riffing tunes. I just read it and once again was like 'what do you mean?'. Because man we've never been popular here. It's just that the way people perceive you changes because you do well overseas. All of a sudden people think you are popular here. It's not as if we have ever sold out a show in New Zealand before. We have played some great shows and we've got like fifty people that always come and see us in every town or whatever. I mean three cities. Or maybe we will get popular here but it'll only be because we were popular overseas first.

GONE : What do you think of the media in general now things are happening for you guys?

DOLF : You mean over here?

GONE : Yeah.

DOLF : I think it's really funny because umm some of them used to . . . what's a good way of putting it? The difference between the media here and in the UK is that the media in the UK are interested in a story but the people over here think they are doing you a favour. The media people in the UK think your doing them a favour because they want a fucking cool story. You know like over here, they can patronize you. They can do whatever the fuck they want and they go ' but we're getting you in the newspaper, we're getting you on TV'.' I don't give a fuck anymore. I don't really mind if we are on it or not, because when it comes down to it there's only gonna be like a thousand people in New Zealand who'll want to buy our record anyway.

GONE : I think you'll easy sell 10,000 copies.

DOLF : That's not really the reason it's just that when it comes down to it, doing interviews and that kind of stuff (here) doesn't interest me too much.

GONE : I think you'll be sweet, the media here are idiots. They get everything from overseas. They won't be able to do anything but follow the trend. I see what you mean with the NZ media there is heaps to lose and not much to gain. They love to build people up so they can cut them down.

DOLF : I like doing interviews with certain people and I like answering questions about our music and what has happened overseas.

GONE : What about John Campbell off TV3's news?

DOLF : I reckon he's pretty cool actually.

GONE : He's a rocker mate. He loves Motley Crue !! The chicks were paying him out about it on the air and he pulls a sulky little boy face, taps his papers on the desk and says passionately " I like Motley Crue!! ", and that was the end of the news.

DOLF : Fuck yeah, I saw him go ' I wanna be in The Datsuns!!" and rah rah ra ree'el (air guitar solo noise). Actually he left a message in our guest book someone told me. He obviously took time out of his day to check out something cool he'd heard about so good on him. On the whole I kind of think people in the media are patronizing here though. It's all a 'good on you' and a big pat on the back and don't get me wrong I really like that when it comes from my friends like you guys who have cared for a while but it can be patronizing..

JULIAN : It's a shame John Campbell hadn't been to one of your shows before you went away ? At least he's trying to check it out now though.

DOLF : Oh yeah. Good on him. I kind of sound bitter and angry, I'm not and why the fuck should I be? I'm in quite a cool position at the moment, I get to do what I love and I shouldn't bitch about it. It's just really interesting more than anything. I don't want to sound too cynical or bitter or anything, I just think it's really funny that all of a sudden people care!!!

JULIAN : How are you finding everyone wanting to have a piece of you know that your back?

DOLF : I think it's fucking hilarious! You know just people ringing us. That's good you know? You shouldn't ever have to ring press people and go 'yeah, we're gonna do some shows and we'd really like you to promote us'. It's a lot more fun when people ring you and you have like TV people wanting to do a documentary on the band and stuff.

GONE : Cool Dolf. That'll about do. I'll get 'R S fucking I' typing this shit out anyway so we better stop right now. Thank you young man.

DOLF : No, thank you.

photos by GONE