Openside
Openside was a band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed in 2012 by Jen Newton, PJ Shepherd, Harry Carter and George Powell. The original singer, Jen Newton, left the band in 2014 and was replaced by Possum Plows. Openside was originally known as Maybe Rave; however, they later changed their name to Openside,[1] inspired by the sport Quidditch where one of the positions is Openside Chaser. In 2016, the band released their debut EP Album "Push Back" which reached number twelve in the New Zealand Charts and number two in the New Zealand Music Charts.
OpenSide | |
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Origin | Auckland, New Zealand |
Genres | |
Years active | 2012–2020 |
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | openside |
Past members |
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Maybe Rave, 2012-2014
Before being signed, Maybe Rave started in 2012 and launched themselves in 2013. In 2013, they did covers from artists including Lorde[2] while also releasing original music. They released a song called "Here Me Now" [3] and an EP "At Peace In Pieces".[4] In 2014, Jen Newton left the band[5] and Possum Plows became the lead singer. Maybe Rave released a new song called "First Time" with Possum Plows as lead vocals.[6] After releasing the song they toured in Australia, doing shows in Sydney, Melbourne, and Gold Coast.[7] In March 2015, the band announced that they had changed their name to Openside.[8]
Name change and Push Back, 2015-2017
They signed with a new management company called CRS Management, who also manage New Zealand artists like Brooke Fraser, The Naked and Famous, and Maala.[9] In March 2016, the band signed with the record company Warner Music NZ.[10] Later that year, Openside would release their debut EP, Push Back. Push Back would peak at #2 in the New Zealand Music Albums charts[11] and #12 in the New Zealand Album charts.[12] A single from Push Back, "Letting it Out", also reached #2 on the New Zealand music Heatseeker Charts.[13] In September 2016, they were chosen to open for Ellie Goulding,[14] All Time Low,[15] Ladyhawke, Fall Out Boy,[16] Twenty One Pilots and Panic! at the Disco.[17] In August 2017, the band released their single "I Feel Nothing".[18] The single had some local success reaching 11th in the New Zealand Music Charts. After releasing the single, Possum Plows wrote an article with Spin Off about coming out as gender-nonbinary.[19] In April 2018, Openside released the single "No Going Back", which peaked at #1 in the New Zealand Hot Single Charts.[20] With the success of the single, they toured New Zealand, playing shows in Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington and Palmerston North.[21]
Character Flaws,Waiting for love, Break up 2018-2020
In early October 2018, Openside released the single "Character Flaws" which peaked at #2 in the New Zealand Music Hot Single Charts and #23 in the New Zealand Hot Single Charts.[22] The band later announced that they will be releasing a comic book at the 2018 Auckland Armageddon.[23] In the first week of their single "Episode One: Character Flaws" being released, "Character Flaws" re-entered the NZ Music Hot Charts back at number 2, with their song "Work Out" entering the same charts at 8th and "Tuesday" entering at 19th. On the 31st of December 2018, the band performed on the third day of Rhythm & Vines.[24] In February 2019, the vocalist Possum Plows was verbally abused by a homophobic man at a Countdown Supermarket in Ponsonby.[25] The abuse came after Possum was kissing their girlfriend in public. Possum stated that they feel less safe in public spaces.[26] That same month, the band performed at Big Gay Out for the second time.[27] At Big Gay Out, the band performed their new song "Waiting for Love", which was later released as a single on in March 2019.[28] Openside performed their first headline show for 2019 on 6 April at Avondale Hollywood Cinema in Auckland.[29] On 16th January 2020, Openside announced their breakup via their Facebook page.
Discography
Extended plays
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NZ | NZ Music | ||||
"Push Back" | 2016 | 12 | 2 | ||
"Episode One: Character Flaws" | 2018 | — | — | — | |
"Episode Two: Waiting For Love" | 2019 | — | — | — | |
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NZ | NZ Hot | NZ Music | NZ Music Hot | ||||
"Worth It" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
"Lean On" | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
"Letting It Out" | 2016 | — | — | — | 2 | Push Back EP | |
"I Feel Nothing" | 2017 | — | — | 11 | — | Non-album single | |
"No Going Back" | 2018 | — | — | — | 1 | Non-album single | |
"Character Flaws" | — | 23 | — | 2 | Episode One: Character Flaws EP | ||
"Waiting For Love" | 2019 | — | — | 11 | 1 | Episode Two: Waiting For Love EP | |
"I Just Wanted You" | — | — | — | — | |||
"Kiss Me" | — | — | — | 10 | |||
"FCK U" | — | — | — | 20 | Non-album single | ||
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |
Other charted songs
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
NZ Music Hot | ||||
Work Out | 2018 | 8 | Episode One: Character Flaws EP | |
Tuesday | 19 | |||
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |
Music videos
Title | Year | Director(s) | Location |
---|---|---|---|
"Worth it" | 2015 | Tim van Dammen | New Zealand |
"Branches" | 2016 | Mikey Rockwell | Auckland, New Zealand |
"Letting It Out" | Paul Innes | ||
"I Feel Nothing" | 2017 | Shae Sterling | California, USA |
"No Going Back" | 2018 | Auckland, New Zealand | |
"Character Flaws" | Guangzhou, China | ||
"Waiting For Love" | 2019 | Auckland, New Zealand | |
"Kiss Me" | |||
"FCK U" | Carolina Cortella | Los Angeles, California, USA |
Concert tours
Headlining
- Maybe Rave at the Ellen Melville Hall (2013)
- MAYBE RAVE Australian Tour (2014)
- Openside Lot23 (2017)
- No Going Back Tour (2018)[30]
- Openside live at Life Pharmacy Kelston
Opening Act
- All Time Low (as Maybe Rave) (2013)
- Hurricane Kids (as Maybe Rave) (2013)
- Neck Deep (as Maybe Rave) (2014)
- Swifts and Sparrows (as Maybe Rave) (2014)
- Marianas Trench (as Maybe Rave) (2014)
- Blurryface Tour (for Twenty One Pilots New Zealand Dates) (2015)
- Ladyhawke (2016)
- Delirium World Tour (for Ellie Goulding New Zealand Dates) (2016)
- All Time Low (2017)
- Mania Tour (for Fall Out Boy New Zealand Dates) (2018)
- Pray for the Wicked Tour (for Panic! at the Disco New Zealand Dates) (2018)
- Anne-Marie (2019)
Festivals
- Auckland Council Music in Parks: PleasePlease (2016)
- Auckland City Limits Music Festival (2016)
- Silent Sound (2016)
- Going Global (2016)
- Rainbow's End Night Frights (2016)
- Seamless (2016)
- Big Gay Out (2017)
- Edgefest (2017)
- Jim Beam Homegrown Music Festival (2017)
- Armageddon (2018)
- Rhythm & Vines (2018)
- Big Gay Out (2019)
Bibliography
Comics
- Openside Episode One: Character Flaws (art by Inzunza, written by William Geradts & Possum Plows, Ink by Danny Jimenz, Lettering by Christian Docolomansky, Warner Music New Zealand, 2018)[31]
References
- "Fresh Talent: Openside". NZ Musician. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Maybe Rave - Royals (Pop Punk - Lorde Cover)". Youtube. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "Hear Me Now". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "At Peace In Pieces". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "Very Sad Announcement". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "First Time". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "Tour". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "New Name". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- "Management". CRSManagement. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside the next big thing". NZHerald. 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "NZ Top 40". New Zealand Music Charts. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "NZ Top 40". New Zealand Music Charts. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "NZ Top 40". New Zealand Music Charts. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Auckland band Openside no longer on the outside thanks to Ellie Goulding". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Auckland group Openside release electro-pop gem 'I Feel Nothing'". Music Insight. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside on Fall Out Boy and dealing with impostor syndrome". NZHerald. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Artist Biography by Marcy Donelson". All Music. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside - I Feel Nothing". The Hits. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside's Possum Plows on coming out as gender-nonbinary". The Spin Off. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside - No Going Back". ZM Radio. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Kiwi band Openside puts acoustic emo-pop spin on Lorde". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside - Character Flaws". ZM Radio. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "New Openside Music Video!". Radio 13. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "OPENSIDE PLAYS: 31 DEC". rhythm and vines. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- "Kiwi Openside singer Possum Plows feels 'less safe' after homophobic abuse". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- "Kiwi singer doesn't feel safe after homophobic abuse". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- "BIG GAY OUT 2019". NZMusician. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- "Openside". Under the Radar. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
- "Waiting for love - Openside". Spotify. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
- "Openside - No Going Back Tour". Under the Radar. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
- "Openside Releases New Comic At Armageddon Expo". Radio 13. Retrieved 2018-11-10.