- Shayne Carter
Infobox musical artist
Name = Shayne Carter
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Background = solo_singer
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Born = July 1964
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Origin =Dunedin ,New Zealand
Instrument =vocals ,guitar
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Years_active = 1981–present
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Associated_acts =Straitjacket Fits
Dimmer
DoubleHappysBored Games
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Notable_instruments =Shayne Carter (born in July 1964 in
Dunedin ,New Zealand ) is best-known for being theStraitjacket Fits ' principle singer/songwriting/guitarist in the late 80s/early 90s, and later on a founding member of Dimmer.Carter comes from a musical family. He was born to a Caucasian mother and a
Maori father who was adopted by aPakeha family cite web |title=Shayne Carter interview at the New Zealand Listener |url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3356/features/2513/shayne_carter.html |date=September 4-10, 2004] .Musical history
Early career
Carter attended school at Kaikorai Valley High School. While at Kaikorai, he had initially formed the rock group
Bored Games as a vocalist along with Wayne Elsey and Fraser Batts on guitars, Jonathan Moore on Bass and Jeff Harford on drums cite web |url=http://thebigcity.co.nz/artists/b/boredgames |title=Bored Games Biography at The Big City] . The group debuted at Kaikorai's talent quest in 1979, then went on to play a gig supporting Toy Love. Elsey was tired of being in the band and went on to form The Stones. He was replaced by Terry Moore. In 1981, the Bored Games eventually broke up. The group recorded an ep "Who Killed Colonel Mustard", which was relased byFlying Nun Records in 1982. Terry Moore would later joinThe Chills cite web |url=http://thebigcity.co.nz/artists/b/boredgames |title=Bored Games Biography at The Big City] .After finishing high school, Carter worked at Radio 4XO as a journalist for 2 1/2 years, and later worked for fledgling
campus radio station Radio One Fact|date=August 2008.The Double Happys & The Straitjacket Fits
In 1983, Carter reunited with Wayne Elsey after the demise of The Stones to form DoubleHappys, along with a temperamental drum machine called "Herbie Fuckface" cite web |url=http://thebigcity.co.nz/artists/b/boredgames |title=The DoubleHappys Biography at The Big City] . Carter and Elsey eventually recruited their high school friend John Collie to replace the machine. The band toured New Zealand with other Flying Nun bands in 1984. The same year they recorded "The Other Way" 7" single. In 1985, the group released the "Cut It Out" Ep. While on tour later that year, Wayne Elsey, was killed in a freak accident on a train cite web |url=http://thebigcity.co.nz/artists/b/boredgames |title=The DoubleHappys Biography at The Big City] .
Carter and Collie continued on with band after Elsey's death, but they decided to change the name to
Straitjacket Fits . David Wood joined on bass in 1986 andAndrew Brough joined on guitar and vocals in 1987. The band then recorded their first ep, "Life in One Chord". The Straitjacket Fits were considered the best of the bands to emerge from Dunedin at that time, although they had built more of a solid following overseas than in New Zealand. Brough, who also contributed songwriting, had a style that contrasted Carter's. Brough's songs concentrated on melodies and pop-hooks while Carter's songs were more guitar-driven and edge-y.The band moved then moved briefly to Christchruch before settling in
Auckland . They had released their first album Hail in 1988. They recorded Melt in 1990. Due to musical difference with Carter, Brough left the band and was replaced by Mark Petersen. By the time they put out Blow in 1993, the band signed to Arista records to a potentially lucrative worldwide deal. However, by 1994, they had broken up. Straitjacket Fits reformed for a reunion tour during April and May 2005 without Andrew Brough.Dimmer
Following the demise of
Straitjacket Fits , Carter formed his current group Dimmer in 1995.References
External links
* [http://www.dimmer.co.nz Dimmer Website]
* [http://www.flyingnun.co.nz/archive_site/bands/straitjacket/sjfs_bio.html Straitjacket Fits biography on Flying Nun website]
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