Black Seeds take a plunge with John Brown's Body

The Black Seeds kicked off a New Zealand tour in Invercargill on Wednesday night to coincide with the release of their first live album. RACHEL PINDER of NZPA caught up with frontman Barnaby Weir in Queenstown.

Doing a bungy jump off the Kawarau Bridge seemed like the best way to introduce US reggae act John Brown's Body to New Zealand.

Well, that's what Black Seeds frontman Barnaby Weir thought when he talked their support band into doing a bungy jump off the bridge near Queenstown yesterday.

Weir and Black Seeds vocalist Daniel Weetman decided to show them how it's done, ahead of their gig in Queenstown last night.

Despite already ticking off the Nevis highwire bungy, Weir admitted he was scared about doing the Kawarau one but said it had to be done.

The Black Seeds and John Brown's Body played the first gig on their New Zealand tour at the Saints and Sinners in Invercargill on Wednesday night.

"There were probably about 300 people there, and it was an up for it crowd. It was a good start to the tour," Weir said.

It's been at least a year since the Black Seeds toured New Zealand, although they have done sporadic gigs around the country.

"We wouldn't usually go to Invercargill on tour so that was a little bit different," Weir said.

The tour is a great way to show off the country to their support band.

"We're trying to give a good experience to these guys, so Opononi (in Northland) will be a beautiful place to end it," he said.

"We're just going to throw lots of things at them, like different Kiwi food and Kiwi-isms. They'll meet heaps of people, and they already met a bunch of people in Invercargill," Weir said.

The Black Seeds got involved with US reggae act John Brown's Body through the latter's record level, Easy Star Records.

"They kind of discovered us," Weir said.

"They suggested to their label that they look at us, and our managers started talking. Before we knew it, we had a tour of 13 shows in America just before our European tour.

"That was just an amazing fun time with them, a good eye-opener and a good start for us in America," Weir said.

The Black Seeds finished up their American tour six weeks ago. They played across the country, from New York to Los Angeles.

After the tour, John Brown's Body did some UK shows, while The Black Seeds headed to Europe, where they played in Dublin, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Paris, before continuing through France, Germany and Switzerland.

But now they've teamed up again for their New Zealand tour, which also takes in Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Napier, Whakatane, Hamilton and Auckland before Opononi.

Weir said fans could expect a lot from the tour, and he says he's excited about bringing new music into the country and sharing it with their fans. "We're playing stuff off Solid Ground and Into the Dojo, with a few other bits sprinkled in.

" We don't necessarily change what we do that much. We've got a good set and that's what people want to hear.

"We're not going to change our style to fit the fashion. We're hopefully progressing forward in our own direction, and I think that generally, people have a great time at our shows, and nothing's changed.

"People expect to have a boogie and come with an open mind , " Weir said.

The Black Seeds have also launched their first live album to coincide with the tour, which is available at the shows or through their website.

"We spent a lot of time selecting those songs, then mixing and mastering them over three or four months.

"The earliest recording is from 2003 so it's been an ongoing thing and we've wanted to do it for a long time ," Weir said.

So what's it like touring with John Brown's Body?

"We all get on really well. They are an eight piece band and we're an eight piece band. We've got a very similar line-up.

"They've just got a good attitudes, and they're quality players.

"Our band's learning off them, and we really enjoy watching them play.

"It's been an ideal scenario that you couldn't plan, actually. It's just happened the way it's happened.

"We've been lucky, very lucky," Weir said.

With the US experience under their belts, The Black Seeds will definitely return there, he said.

"I'm probably more excited about the States than any other territory at the moment.

"Next year, we'll look at least one American trip, and we're doing an Australian tour in March. We'll probably head back to Europe again next year as well .

"We also hope to work on a new album," Weir said.

Sounds like a busy year ahead, but then again this year has hardly been a slow one for Weir, who also keeps himself busy with Fly My Pretties.

"Fly My Pretties is a big project for me, and there's another two Fly My Pretties shows coming up in December.

"The first half of the year was focused on Fly My Pretties, and the whole second half of this year and next year is all Black Seeds gigging and stuff.

"Aside from that, I've just been living and trying to do a few other things like playing Texas Holdem and hanging out with my girlfriend," Weir said.