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Q. How long have you been playing bass?
A. I started playing bass at school, I have been playing bass and guitar for around 12 years. Wow that’s a long time! I remember the first time I saw an electric guitar and bass - I was totally mesmerised by it, like it was calling out to me. It was the coolest thing out. I would rush through all my work so I could play bass before the end of class. I have a twin sister, Zaneta who also learnt guitar and drums so we would always practice together.

Q. Tell us how Kingston got together…
A. I met Dan (Gibson, vocals) in Christchurch five years ago at a Primal Youth camp, we became good friends [and] a year later I moved to Auckland with my family. Dan and Scott (Cleary, guitar) went to the same high school and had been writing songs together for a while and wanted to form a band - they invited me along to a practice. We heard about Ben Barter (drums) through the local music scene. He was a big name and a wicked drummer and he was keen to play with us, so we formed ‘Kingston’ and had our first practice together in Ben’s mum’s sewing room. We have been together for just over three years now.

Q. What’s the band been up to lately?
A. 2009 was a big year for us! We released our second single ‘Round We Go’ and travelled to America, Canada, Germany, Japan and Australia playing shows and partnered with the Smokefree Rockquest in NZ [to mentor] high school bands and played a bunch of school shows. Most recently we came back from a two month trip away in Perth, Australia playing at One Movement Festival; New York at CMJ Festival and other local shows; Toronto, Canada recording our first album with Grammy nominated and multi-Juno Award winning music producer Brandon Friesen, and another trip to LA where we finished up the album as well as playing showcases and a show at the Viper Room. We’re back in New Zealand now though and will be embarking on a summer tour, the dates are listed on our MySpace.

Q. You played a show in New York (CMJ) with a bunch of other Kiwi acts. What was it like visiting NY for the first time? And how was the gig?!
A. New York was amazing, so much history and culture. It was all I imagined it to be, from skyscrapers to statues to subways. I was super excited hailing down my first yellow cab, it was all so surreal, just like the movies! We visited the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, Ground Zero and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. Dan was inspired to write a song about New York City, look out for it on the album! We were really excited to take part in CMJ, I wore this gorgeous sequin dress that my twin designed and made especially for the show, it looked awesome under the stage lights. The show went really well, high energy and crowd engaging, at one point Dan was singing while piggy backing on Tyson (Steriogram)’s back in the crowd.

We received really positive reviews and it was cool to be playing alongside some top NZ acts at a festival where a lot of now famous bands were discovered.

Q. 2009 was a rough year for you personally in a lot of ways. Can you tell us a bit about it?
A. Yes the last few months have been really hard - I had an accident while the band was in San Diego in April 2009. The boys, being adrenaline thrill seekers, decided to check out this spot called La Jolla Cove, where there is a massive cliff jump into the ocean. The guys were all jumping and encouraged me to go for it too. On my first jump I landed awkwardly into the water and burst fractured my L1 vertebra (in other words, I broke my back). It was quite a serious break, I lost a bit of power in my legs. The guys took me to the hospital, where I spent a week in intensive care and was told the worst - that is, if I moved in the night I could become paralysed, and that I could not fly home for three months. As it happens, I was able to be discharged after a week, and flew home business class on my back, and had to spend six weeks all up on strict bed rest (watched a heap of movies and TV!). I had to wear a brace that covered my whole torso for three months (lucky it was winter). I was extremely fortunate to have full travel insurance as I racked up one million NZD in hospital fees!! It was heartbreaking to have to leave the tour early, missing out on Germany and Japan. Tim (our manager) had a few days to learn all of my bass lines and he filled in for me for the rest of our shows. The lowest point for me was when I was on my bed rest back home in Auckland. I didn’t know if I would be able to play bass again in the band, or if I would ever make a full recovery. Also during this time someone did a hit and run on my car while it was parked on the street and wrote it off. Not long after I had finished my bed rest, I was rushed to hospital with severe stomach pains, the doctors discovered that I had appendicitis so I had an operation to have my appendix removed. It took a couple of weeks to recover from that.

All up I took 10 weeks off from playing with Kingston. I have been in an intense rehab recovery programme with Functional Physio and am back playing shows now. I still have to take it easy for another five months and am not allowed to do any heavy lifting, so the guys have to carry my gear around (ha!).

Q. How have you stayed positive?
A. To be honest it has been hard to stay positive at times. I have had so much down time to think. I have tried to keep my mind focussed on the good things rather than the bad, like how lucky I was to have full travel insurance and the fact that I can still walk. My life was put on hold for a bit and I was able to chill out and get loved on! I totally got to experience A LOT of LOVE from some pretty amazing people, like my twin sister, friends, family, my Kingston brothers and fans. They showered me with hugs, encouragement, gifts, baking, flowers and dvds. When you’re in a helpless situation you realise the value of good friendships.

The physio team who treated me after my bed rest have been a vital part of keeping me positive too. They gave me the reassurance and peace of mind that I would recover in time. I do believe I am a stronger person today because of all this.

Q. What do you love about what you do?
A. I really enjoy the travelling side of it, going to new places and meeting new people, the excitement of it all - it’s one big adventure! I love playing my bass, being in the groove, creating music and playing live. Shopping for outfits to wear on stage is so fun, my twin helps me with my styling and if I ever want to see what I look like in an outfit she will try it on as we have the same figure. I love fashion and makeup and enjoy getting all dressed up for shows (which can take me a while!). But mostly, what I really LOVE about playing in Kingston is the die hard fans who are so cool and into our music and keep coming out to our shows. It means so much to me and the band, it really stokes us out. I have been given amazing poems, songs, photos and artwork inspired by our music by some really awesome, talented young people which just blows me away! I love it!

Q. How is it being in a band with three boys?!
A. There have been quite a few smelly moments while on tour in the van…pretty gross. I have often had to block my nose, shut my eyes and cover my ears. Sometimes they are so funny, crazy and random that I’m like - HOW did you even think of that? It keeps me entertained. They are all actually SUPER nice guys and we get along well, we’re like family! They are protective of me too and look out for me like a sister. Because I’m the girl I usually get the best place to sleep when we go away. He he. I miss girl company on the road sometimes, but I always seem to meet nice girls whenever we travel. Sometimes my twin comes along, that’s always a treat.

Q. What’s in the works for Kingston over the next few months?
A. We are about to embark on a NZ Summer tour. We hope to release our debut album in March, around that time we are heading over to Austin Texas to play at South by South West, and will make our way to Canada, LA and New York playing shows and touring the album. Ultimately we want to sign to a major US label and become the best band in the world!

Keep watching our MySpace for our NZ album release show dates.

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