With a gold selling album in New Zealand and several years of successful touring, Wellington band The Phoenix Foundation have gained the reputation as being one of New Zealand’s finest acts.
The Phoenix Foundation were formed in 1997 by Samuel Flynn Scott (vox/gat), Luke Buda (vox/guitar/keys) and Conrad Wedde (guitar/keys). Having jammed for a couple of years, recorded “This Charming Van” and releasing the China Cove EP in 2000, they were joined by Richie Singleton (drums), Will Ricketts (percussion) and Tim Hansen (bass) in 2001.
In the winter of 2002 The Phoenix Foundation recorded their debut album Horsepower with Lee Prebble (The Black Seeds, Trinity Roots) at The Surgery in Newtown, Wellington. The grueling late nights and scurvy resulted in one of the most acclaimed New Zealand albums of 2003. Horsepower was the only album to be nominated for ‘Best Album’ at both The New Zealand Music Awards (aka the Tuis) and the bNet NZ music awards. It was also voted the ‘Best NZ Album’ of 2003 by nzmusic.com and was the only New Zealand album selected in The Listener's ‘Top Ten Albums of 2003’ by Nick Bollinger (Listener/Radio NZ). In 2004 Horsepower was released in Australia on Remote Control Records and, following a quick tour of ‘the lucky country’, received strong reviews and radio play.
The Phoenix Foundation long awaited 2nd studio album Pegasus was again recorded and produced by Lee Prebble at The Surgery in Wellington and features new bass boss Warner Emery. Pegasus has gone on to become one of the most acclaimed New Zealand albums. After debuting at # 10 in the New Zealand album charts, Pegasus has reached gold sales status and was recently nominated in the ‘best album’ category at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards.
Singles ‘Hitchcock’, ‘Damn The River’ and ‘All In An Afternoon’ reached the top spots on the New Zealand Alternative Charts and b.net stations and the video for ‘Hitchcock’, directed by esteemed producer Rueben Sutherland, was nominated in the ‘best video’ category at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards.
Renowned for their strong live show, The Phoenix Foundation have played with the likes of Calexico, SJD and Evan Dando and play regular slots at some of New Zealand’s biggest festivals including The Rippon Festival and The Big Day Out. Recent highlights included a sell out Pegasus NZ album release tour, a support slot on the NZ Finn Brothers tour and the sell-out NZ Theatre Tour. In June 2006 the band completed a highly successful 7-show tour of the U.S and will return again in November 2006.
2006 will also see The Phoenix Foundations music released in Australia and the USA. The band has also written the score for feature film ‘Eagle Vs Shark’ which will be released through Miramax in late 2006.
