| Goodshirt | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Years Active: | –, 2012–present |
| Label: | CEMENT Records, Hark Entertainment |
| Associated Acts: | Gareth Thomas, Rodney Fisher & The Rest |
Goodshirt are an alternative/pop/rock band from Auckland, New Zealand. The band formed when keyboardist Gareth Thomas left his computer recording setup with the Fisher brothers, Rodney and Murray, for safe keeping.[1]
While still a three piece, the band submitted their song "Green" to a track competition run by radio station 9inety6dot1. Subsequently, station manager Grant Hislop became their manager, and the band was rounded out with drummer Mike Beehre joining the fold.
"Sophie", the fourth single from their debut album Good, was a number one single in New Zealand.[2] Good was released in Canada, Australia, and Japan.[3]
A second album, Fiji Baby, was released in 2004. Like its predecessor, it reached number 5 in the New Zealand charts.[4]
The band went on hiatus in 2005 when Rodney Fisher moved to London to work with Breaks Co-Op,[5] but reunited in 2011,[6] and in early 2012 they began playing again with support gigs for Hall & Oates and Icehouse as part of the A Day on the Green festival. In May 2012 Goodshirt released the new EP Skinny Mirror and including the singles "So Charming" and "Out of Our League".[7]
In 2014, the band released a cover of "Sierra Leone" originally by Coconut Rough. It was made available as a free download through their SoundCloud band page, along with the release of an official music video on YouTube.[8] [9]
Five videos were directed by Joe Lonie, including some that were shot in a single take.[10] Lonie notes that at the height of their close creative relationship, "they even talked about me being an unofficial fifth member of the band."[11]
| Year | Music video | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Green" (version 1) | Florian Habicht | Set at a beach, the band are buried up to their necks in sand, surrounded by hula-hooping schoolgirls. Filmed in black and white. | |
| 2001 | "Green" (version 2) | Joe Lonie | Filmed in one continuous take and upside down and sped-up. The band take turns using the sink in a bathroom, with all objects and liquids falling up.[12] | |
| "Blowing Dirt" (version 1) | Set at a car wrecker and filmed backwards and in one continuous take, Rodney sings while a Mazda 929 is "un-smashed-up" in the background. | |||
| "Blowing Dirt" (version 2) | Set at a car wrecker and filmed backwards and in one continuous take, Rodney sings while an Austin 1300 is "un-smashed-up" in the background.[13] | |||
| "Place to Be" | Shot in a continuous take and slowed down, the camera follows Rodney through an old building as he eats fruit while singing, coming across a series of unusual situations.[14] | |||
| 2002 | "Sophie" | Filmed in a continuous take, a young woman listens to music on headphones, unaware that burglars (played by Goodshirt) are behind her, stealing everything in her flat.[15] "Sophie" won Best Music Video at the 2003 New Zealand Music Awards.[16] | ||
| "Monotone" | Shot in a continuous take, with the camera circling a badminton court. The band are dressed as "Good" and "Evil" teams of badminton-playing beekeepers who seem unable to score a point.[17] | |||
| 2003 | "Buck it Up" | Kezia Barnett | A bullied schoolboy experiences strange visions one day at school. "Buck It Up" won Best Group Video at the 2004 Juice TV Awards.[18] | |
| 2004 | "Cement" | After pursuing his Rapunzel-like dream woman, Gareth finds himself trapped in a domestic gothic nightmare.[19] | ||
| "Fiji Baby" | Wade Shotter | Filmed primarily in a single hotel room set. Rodney checks into a fleabag hotel and messes around for a few hours.[20] | ||
| "Lucy" | A current affairs show host (played by former 60 Minutes host Amanda Millar) profiles three men who are smitten with Lucy, a famous model.[21] | |||
| 2011 | "So Charming" | Helena Brooks | Dressed in sharp suits, the band members commit a number of anti-social acts and misdemeanours.[22] | |
| 2012 | "Out of our League" | Rodney Fisher | Rodney plays a man whose two young children build a giant kite around him and fly him in the sky, with Goodshirt playing the "pro kite champions" team.[23] | |
| 2014 | "Sierra Leone" | Tim Brown | Depicts a man struggling through a nightmarish, psychedelic desert environment. Heavily stylised and a departure from their previous video styles, combining film and animation techniques, with a nod to the original music video by Coconut Rough. |
| Year | Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ[24] | ||||
| 2001 | Good |
| 5 |
|
| 2004 | Fiji Baby |
| 5 |
|
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||
| Year | Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ | |||
| 2002 | E.G. |
| — |
| 2012 | Skinny Mirror |
| — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ | ||||
| 2000 | "Green" | 12 | Good | |
| "Blowing Dirt" | 13 | |||
| 2001 | "Place To Be" | 50 | ||
| "Sophie" | 1 | |||
| 2003 | "Monotone" | 31 | ||
| 2004 | "Buck It Up" | 14 | Fiji Baby | |
| "Cement" | — | |||
| "Fiji Baby" | 25 | |||
| "Lucy" | — | |||
| 2012 | "So Charming" | — | Skinny Mirror | |
| "Out of Our League" | — | |||
| 2014 | "Sierra Leone" (Cover) | — | — |
Goodshirt has appeared on many compilations and soundtracks in both New Zealand and Australia.