Biography
As drummer in New Zealand’s early-’80s trio the Clean, Hamish Kilgour helped shape the raw template for indie rock and pop. The group kept issuing records and playing shows across subsequent decades while Kilgour lent his drumming to additional ensembles, launched the Mad Scene during the first half of the 1990s, and finally stepped forward with his own debut, the 2014 album All of It and Nothing. Its 2018 successor, Finklestein, again found him working alongside Ladybug Transistor’s Gary Olson on understated, lo-fi indie pop edged with psych textures that echoed the Clean’s earlier approach.
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the drummer-vocalist-songwriter assembled the Clean in 1978 alongside his brother David on guitar and Peter Gutteridge, also on guitar; Gutteridge soon gave way to bassist Robert Scott, who would later join the Bats. Their first single appeared in 1981 on the fledgling Flying Nun imprint, followed by a string of EPs and singles that secured the trio’s lasting reputation. Although the band dissolved in 1982, periodic reunions for further albums and tours became the pattern. Outside those commitments, Kilgour explored wistful, jangly sounds akin to the Clean’s with the Great Unwashed alongside David in the early ’80s and later joined Bailter Space.
In 1990 he formed Monsterland in Auckland, taking up guitar with Lisa Siegel, who handled both guitar and bass. After relocating to New York City the following year, the group discovered another local act already using the Monsterland name and promptly rechristened itself the Mad Scene. Across the remainder of the decade the band issued several EPs and three full-length albums. Kilgour continued appearing with the Clean whenever needed and contributed to recordings by the Moles, Dean Wareham, Cakekitchen, and, in the 2000s, Samara Lubelski. The Mad Scene returned with the 2012 album Blip, after which Kilgour turned to his first solo project. Assisted by Gary Olson and Miggy Littleton, All of It and Nothing emerged on Ba Da Bing in 2014; that same year he released the standalone single “Crazy Radiance”/“Window Washers.”
Even after establishing himself as a solo artist, Kilgour maintained an active collaborative streak. In 2015 he joined Tiny Ruins for the Hurtling Through EP, and in 2017 he supplied drums for Roya’s self-titled album. Also in 2017 he began shaping another set of songs with Olson drawn from a bedtime story he had invented for his son. The resulting dreamlike, subtly psychedelic Finklestein appeared on Ba Da Bing in 2018. The following year brought the remix EP Franklestein. No further solo or Clean recordings surfaced before Kilgour’s death in late 2022.
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the drummer-vocalist-songwriter assembled the Clean in 1978 alongside his brother David on guitar and Peter Gutteridge, also on guitar; Gutteridge soon gave way to bassist Robert Scott, who would later join the Bats. Their first single appeared in 1981 on the fledgling Flying Nun imprint, followed by a string of EPs and singles that secured the trio’s lasting reputation. Although the band dissolved in 1982, periodic reunions for further albums and tours became the pattern. Outside those commitments, Kilgour explored wistful, jangly sounds akin to the Clean’s with the Great Unwashed alongside David in the early ’80s and later joined Bailter Space.
In 1990 he formed Monsterland in Auckland, taking up guitar with Lisa Siegel, who handled both guitar and bass. After relocating to New York City the following year, the group discovered another local act already using the Monsterland name and promptly rechristened itself the Mad Scene. Across the remainder of the decade the band issued several EPs and three full-length albums. Kilgour continued appearing with the Clean whenever needed and contributed to recordings by the Moles, Dean Wareham, Cakekitchen, and, in the 2000s, Samara Lubelski. The Mad Scene returned with the 2012 album Blip, after which Kilgour turned to his first solo project. Assisted by Gary Olson and Miggy Littleton, All of It and Nothing emerged on Ba Da Bing in 2014; that same year he released the standalone single “Crazy Radiance”/“Window Washers.”
Even after establishing himself as a solo artist, Kilgour maintained an active collaborative streak. In 2015 he joined Tiny Ruins for the Hurtling Through EP, and in 2017 he supplied drums for Roya’s self-titled album. Also in 2017 he began shaping another set of songs with Olson drawn from a bedtime story he had invented for his son. The resulting dreamlike, subtly psychedelic Finklestein appeared on Ba Da Bing in 2018. The following year brought the remix EP Franklestein. No further solo or Clean recordings surfaced before Kilgour’s death in late 2022.
Albums
