Strawpeople

Formed during the early 1990s, Strawpeople quickly established themselves as New Zealand’s leading electro-pop outfit. Founders Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney blended electronic textures with live strings, trumpets, and double bass, lending both refinement and extra weight to a rotating cast of vocalists that has featured Stephanie Taueuihi, Fiona McDonald, Leza Corban, and a then-unknown Anika Moa. Casserly’s background writing advertising jingles shaped the group’s polished sound, yet the results avoided the emptiness often associated with commercial music. Their choice of covers reflected broader tastes, encompassing the Church—whose “Under the Milky Way” became one of the band’s major successes in 1994—and John Hiatt. Additional touchstones ranged from the chart-savvy approach of Beats International and the stylized elegance of St. Etienne to the atmospheric depth heard on Massive Attack’s Blue Lines era.

Although Hemisphere, their debut album, appeared in 1990, it was the third release, 1994’s Broadcast, that marked their breakthrough; the record remained on the New Zealand charts for more than twelve months. Tierney exited in 1996 to explore other ventures, among them A&R duties for the kindred group NV. Casserly continued under the Strawpeople name alongside Fiona McDonald, who soon left to launch a solo career. The remix collection 100 Street Transistors paved the way for No New Messages, which included a version of the Cars’ “Drive” performed by Bic Runga—the same artist who had scored her own hit with a different song bearing that title. A retrospective compilation closed out the year 2000.