Supergroove
New Zealand funk rock band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Supergroove is a New Zealand funk rock music group. Their debut album Traction was released in 1994. The group disbanded in 1997 but reformed in 2007.
History
The band was founded on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, having previously been named the Low-Down Dirty Blues Band.[2]
Prior to Supergroove's second album Backspacer, singer Che Fu and trumpeter Tim Stewart were fired from the band.[3][4][5]
Solo careers
Notable former members include Che Ness, aka Che Fu, now with a successful solo career, Paul Russell, who still studio drums with Che Fu. Two other ex-members, Tim Stewart (trumpet) and Ben Sciascia (guitar) formed a new band in late 2005 called Svelte[6] with Stewart on Lead vocals and Bass. Stewart went on to form Hopetoun Brown, a two-piece band, with fellow ex-Groover, Nick Atkinson - they released their first album in 2015 and also often appear together as the horn section for other performers including Tami Neilson, Dave Dobbyn and Don McGlashan.[7]
Reunions
Supergroove continued in 2007 on a summer tour, playing alongside popular New Zealand bands such as Atlas, Elemeno P, The Feelers[8] and were one of the headline Kiwi acts of the Big Day Out 2008 in Auckland.[9] The band featured in the University of Otago's, the University of Canterbury's and the University of Waikato's 2008 orientation weeks.[10][11]
Supergroove played at the Groove in the Park 2010 festival held on New Zealand's Waitangi Day (6 February), at the Western Springs in Auckland. Supergroove also played at the Homegrown Festival in Wellington on 14 March 2009.[12]
Supergroove returned for another reunion tour in April 2025, featuring the original lineup (saxophonist Nick Atkinson, vocalists Karl Steven and Che Fu, drummer Ian Jones, bassist Joe Lonie, guitarist Ben Sciascia and trumpeter Tim Stewart). This tour started on 7 April 2025 in Rotorua and ended 27 April, with 14 shows in 9 venues. Apart from the main centres, they also had shows in Whanganui, Nelson, Invercargill and Havelock North. Troy Kingi, Rubi Du and DJ King Kapisi joined them, not so much as support as "intertwined" into the shows.[13] Support from the public was so strong that several extra nights had to be added.[14]
Members
Current
- Che Ness – vocals (1989–1995, 2007-present)[3]
- Karl Steven – vocals, keyboards, harmonica (1989–1997, 2007-present)[15]
- Ben Sciascia – guitar (1989–1997, 2007-present)
- Joe Lonie – bass (1989–1997, 2007-present)
- Tim Stewart – trumpet (1989–1995, 2007-present)[16]
- Nick Atkinson – saxophone (1989–1997, 2007-present), keyboards (1995–1997)[16]
- Ian Jones – drums (1994-1997, 2007-present)
Former
- Paul Russell – drums (1989–1994)
Timeline
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [17] |
AUS [18] | |||
| 1994 | Traction
|
1 | 46 |
|
| 1996 | Backspacer
|
2 | — |
|
| 2003 | Postage
|
10 | — | |
EPs
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [17] | |||
| 1994[19] | Tractor | 2 |
|
| 1996 | GreatMixes
|
34 |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [17] |
AUS [18] | ||||
| 1992 | "Here Comes The Supergroove" | 21 | — | Non-album single | |
| 1993 | "You Gotta Know" | 4 | 57 | Traction | |
| "Scorpio Girls" | 3 | — |
| ||
| 1994 | "Can't Get Enough" | 1 | 32 |
| |
| "Sitting Inside My Head" | 6 | — |
| ||
| 1996 | "If I Had My Way" | 7 | — | Backspacer | |
| "5th Wheel" | — | — | |||
| 2003 | "For Whatever Remix" | — | — | Postage | |
Awards
New Zealand Music Awards
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Malcolm Welsford – "You Gotta Know" | Best Engineer | Nominated | [20] |
| 1995 | Traction | Album of the Year | Won | [21] |
| "Can't Get Enough" | Single of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Supergroove | Best Group | Won | ||
| Jo Fischer and Matt Noonan – "Can't Get Enough" | Best Video | Won | ||
| Karl Steven & Malcolm Welsford – Traction | Best Producer | Won | ||
| Malcolm Welsford – Traction | Best Engineer | Won | ||
| 1996 | Supergroove | International Achievement | Nominated | [22] |
| Sigi Spath and Jo Fisher – "You Gotta Know" | Best Video | Won | ||
| 1997 | Sigi Spath and Joe Lonie – "If I Had My Way" | Best Video | Won | [23] |
| Malcolm Welsford and Karl Steven – Backspacer | Best Producer | Won | ||
| Malcolm Welsford – Backspacer | Best Engineer | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Supergroove | Legacy Award | Awarded | [24] |