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Bigger Things
Sparse gigs and a long period of incubation probably mean you haven’t heard of Cyanide City yet, but it’s a strategy that’s set to see the young four-piece living the dream and touring the United States well before their older peers. Cyanide City joke that I’m a good omen when I meet them. It’s more lucky coincidence – scant minutes before I arrive, the band have been told that they’re playing Taste of Chaos, the premier emo and punk event on Auckland’s annual calendar, only three days out. Neck and neck in a Frontier Touring poll to determine which local act would open the evening, they’d assumed their campaign had come to nothing. Now of course, they’re trying to sell the tickets they went out and bought, and guitarist/vocalist Vaughn Mittens is thanking his lucky stars he booked a trip to Australia just after, rather than just before the gig. All more than simple twists of fate, though – the fact the band are about to embark on a coast to coast tour of the United States at an average age of twenty can be put down to the savvy cultivation of an Internet fanbase, the tireless management of Ganelle Djarlo, and as always, good tunes and performances to match. “We’ve been told we play like caged animals that are allowed out once in a while!.” explains rhythm guitarist and vocalist Chris Cash, aptly summarizing Cyanide City’s few but ferocious shows. The quartet met on the Rock Shop website’s message boards, Vaughn and Chris, both recent arrivals from South Africa, meeting their match in drummer Jack the Ripper and rhythm-cum-lead guitarist (“He always makes dumb claims in interviews that he plays bagpipes and things, though!”) Ricochet (Pseudonyms maketh the band). “We were really rusty – half of us hadn’t been in bands before…so we started out with easy covers to keep in time…All-American Rejects, stuff like that.” Vaughn began to nudge the group towards original material. “I had a few songs from my old band that we hadn’t really gotten started on. We managed to flesh it out and went from there.” A July 2007 single coupled “Sympathy”, one of Vaughn’s holdovers, with “Clean The Blade”, one of the first group efforts and a pointer to a sound that tempers an old-school metal assault with the urgent melodic sensibility of the better pop-punk. “We’ve decided to concentrate on the songwriting over the gigging,” Chris explains. “Working on it…and perfecting it…we’re getting everything right before we go out there.” Come January, ‘out there’ will be a stretch of dates between L.A and Miami. Ganelle, so confident in the band that she made a future US tour a clause in their contract, explains the philosophy. “When I first came to New Zealand, I noticed local bands would exhaust themselves playing everywhere. Our idea with going over to America before that happened was to keep them fresh.” Which means the group are now putting their jobs and studies on hold and counting down the weeks. They’re not heading out into the void, either. Their Myspace page is followed by an array of fellow bands and fans here and abroad, and their regular video blogs have a sense of humour and attention that no amount of slick photo shoots can generate. Already, a handful of likeminded troupes are offering their services as touring buddies across the states. “Words can’t really express what it feels like, getting this close.” Any trepidation is countered by a determination to swim when it happens, rather than sink. “We won’t settle for any less – we want that broad age-group and crowd, to matter like, say…Guns N’ Roses mattered.” It’s the most dead serious the band get – all joking aside, for Cyanide City, the time is now. 
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