Meet the Makers: Stud Farm

Published: Wednesday 19 June 2024

 

Stud Farm is a pop punk band from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland who created the original soundtrack for Nicola Cheeseman is Back.

 

Introduce yourself and your arts practice

We are Stud Farm. We’re pioneering the genre of dad punk by singing songs about not wanting to stay up late to wait in line at Golden Dawn, working hard and never having any money to show for it, how great it is when the kids are over at their grandparents’ place, that cough you just can’t shake, and our dream of opening a bar at Bunnings.

 

What’s your favourite thing about what you do?

We revel in the pop-punk sounds of the turn of the millennium. When we were young, we were too crap at our instruments to do the genre any justice. We’ve enjoyed coming back to it now that we’ve got a bit of mileage. It’s been revelatory.

 

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Kevin Kelly released an entire book of the best advice we’ve ever received called Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier. There are hundreds of pieces of advice in there, and they’re pithy and profound. Perhaps the most practical is his advice on untying knots: “The best way to untangle a knotty tangle is not to “untie” the knots, but to keep pulling the loops apart wider and wider. Just make the mess as big, loose and open as possible. As you open up the knots, they will unravel themselves. Works on cords, strings, hoses, yarns, or electronic cables.”

 

Who are your favourite artists/theatre companies/musicians etc. and why?

We love bands like Blink-182, Green Day, Hot Water Music, Sum 41, NOFX, Frenzal Rhomb, Millencolin, and Kitsch. They’re loud, they’re catchy, and they’re pure fun.

 

Tell us about the show

Nicola Cheeseman’s life is falling apart, and she attempts to salvage it by getting her punk band back together. Stud Farm was commissioned to create that band, the Cherry Slits. We wrote a bunch of songs that challenge the way women are valued and regarded as they age and try to figure out why women aren’t treasured as the vital, sexy, wild, creative, and relevant beings they are.

 

What can audiences expect from Nicola Cheeseman is Back?

The show is a rollercoaster of emotions, from the hilarious to the profound. The tough choice is whether to go with the girls to laugh along knowingly, or to bring along the men in your life, so they can quietly gain an insight or two. And needless to say, there’s a few good tunes in there.

 

Cherry Slits’ debut album Cherry Slits are Back is now streaming on all platforms.

 

Image credit: Troy Goodall