#notthefestival

matt stone

Acoustic Guitar | Lead Vocals | Lyric Adjuster

If you’re looking for an 80s glam-rock heartthrob, you’ve come to the wrong place. Fortunately, what Matt lacks in terms of hair on his head, he makes up for with musical ability and a sense of what the crowd wants. He loves the music that Coachella play and that helps him to project his enjoyment on to the audience.

When he’s not doing gigs, he’s teaching music and audio engineering at the local college or looking after his 2 little rascals, Gus & Koko and he enjoys a good coffee or craft beer as much as the next man.

Matt is the main point of contact for Coachella and also takes care of the earlier parts of the day with his solo repertoire, where he has been lucky enough to play at wedding ceremonies all over New Zealand in some of the most amazing locations you can imagine.

“Have guitar, will travel”

Matt’s better-looking half, Kirsty Peta Stone, is also a highly successful New Zealand wedding photographer and they relish being able to work and travel together (and have a night off from the kids!) so get in touch if you want the package deal!

russell mcnaughton

Upright Bass | Backing Vocals | Sarcasm Samurai

If you were stuck on a desert island with a matchstick, an old leather boot, and 14 litres of coconut water, Russell would somehow manufacture a raft to take you to safety. Of course, in that case, you’d also be stuck with him so maybe you’re better off taking your chances alone. This innate ability to fix or create anything from whatever is lying around is a highly useful skill though. Many times, Russell’s inventiveness has saved both the band and our clients from near disaster - fixing broken generators, creating new cables out of old scraps, and lending a spare microphone he just happens to have under his passenger seat to replace the venue’s broken one so that everyone can still hear Uncle Bob’s magnificent speech - he’s done it all!

Did I mention he can play this magnificent instrument too?

“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a bassoon? Is it a cello?”

We’ve had many uneducated guesses along the way but it is, in fact, an upright bass AKA double bass. Besides looking pretty cool, it sounds great and really adds to the country/folk vibe of the band too. Russell also joins in for canapés on guitar occasionally and sometimes switches to electric bass for Coachella lite (duo) gigs so he really is a Jack (or Russell) [or Jack Russell] of all trades.

But let’s face it, the only reason he is in the band is because he drives the Coachella-mobile - don’t tell him that though!

jono sawyer

Drums | Backing Vocals | Clap Moderator

Jono has a fascination with good coffee - not that any of us are complaining - and this is probably his most useful skill. Whether it be on the way to a gig, when he’s touring with bands such as Avalanche City, Julia Deans or Hollie Smith, or to wake up the band again the morning after a wedding, you can count on Jono to find the best local coffee shop.

Besides this, and his pet lime tree, the only thing Jono cares about is creating a great groove and keeping his drums out of the sun. Fortunately, we usually play at night time when his lime tree is sleeping so it’s not usually an issue. Jono also knows A LOT of songs, which is really useful for a drummer who plays the same thing in every song.

Jono loves all kinds of music, from jazz to heavy metal, folk-rock to prog-rock, europop to Brazilian samba (seriously, he was in a band!) and brings all of these influences into his drumming style.

“One of his most unique qualities as a drummer though, is the ability to play quietly and not speed up”

This is particularly useful for canapé/dinner sets, at noise restrictive venues & also just to keep his neighbours, wife, & limey happy. We can even serve him up as an electrified option, which is a requirement at some particularly sensitive venues. One thing is for certain though, he WILL make you clap in time whatever he’s playing.