Carb On Carb is Nicole and James who met a few years ago in 2009 along with their friend’s Giles Thompson in Wellington band called Mammal Airlines. Not long after Mammal Airlines went on hiatus, Nicole and James decided to carry on playing together as Carb on Carb’s, which influenced by popular culture from three different ages and generations artists.

We saw them performed live last weekend as the opener for Mac DeMarco at Home Club, Singapore so we decided to dig more about the band and their Asian touring.

Tell us a little bit about the history of the band- how Nicole and James decided to make music through something called Carb on Carb?
We used to play together in a band called Mammal Airlines where I (Nicole) played drums and james played guitar along with our friend Giles who also played guitar. I joined by lying that I could play the drums when I hardly knew the guys at a festival. After that band was put on hold, we decided to form a two piece and swap instruments. I had music I had written after my high school band broke up sitting around so we tried some of those songs first. We’ve been playing as carb on carb for around 2 years now!

As a new young band, what do you think about music nowadays back home? and what influence you the most when making music?
We are really lucky to have come from New Zealand, even though its a very small country, the music scene is amazing and very supportive of young musicians. James and I have both been playing in bands since we were 14 and have been very lucky to play with some of our favourite bands from New Zealand. The people we meet and the bands we get to play with really influence our music. We learn a lot from our friends in bands and share music through them, resulting in a communal music scene. We like to tour a lot so we are constantly being exposed to different bands from around the world and meeting new people who always have something different to offer for inspiration!

Have you ever counter strange situation / crowds / environment while on tour?
The China tour was a big culture change to New Zealand, at one of our shows a group of very drunk men kept heckling us in Mandarin and coming onto the stage taking the mic from us which was really confusing and hilarious, they looked like the mafia so we tried to be as friendly as possible…

After your Eps (Ladies Mile and No Body Perfect) have you decide when are you going to make studio album?
We plan to write and record a new album next year but will probably do it DIY, as with our eps we record most of it at home and mix and master it ourselves.

Stay tune to hear the next Mxitape Monday made by them next week!

With her unique voice, a bit of electric James Blake-y sounds, and her tricky wordplay, We are pretty sure that Lorde will be the Next Big Thing from NZ after Kimbra.

Earlier this month (01/02) her song Royals made to number one on The George FM (NZ Local Radio) top 5. The good news is you can download The Love Club for free on Lorde’s soundcloud. Seriously, go download it before its too late.