Biography
With a guitar-free configuration and material that veers from anti-consumerist statements to tributes for science-fiction icons, Wax Chattels have forged a distinctive, high-impact version of post-punk. The Auckland, New Zealand trio distilled the force of their concerts—and sustained the harsher, more confrontational thread of their country’s musical heritage—on their 2018 self-titled debut. On the 2020 follow-up Clot they refined that same volatile approach with greater exactness.
Bassist/vocalist Amanda Cheng and keyboardist/vocalist Peter Ruddell first connected during jazz-performance studies at the University of Auckland. Their paths crossed again at a 2016 Preoccupations concert, prompting them to start a band together. Ruddell, whose university work centered on saxophone yet who commands several instruments, drew influence from vintage horror films and the uninhibited ethos of Tokyo’s music community, where he lived after graduation. Cheng’s focus on confronting hardship, especially the obstacles facing young women of color, supplied an equally fertile foundation for the project.
Cheng and Ruddell initially composed with a drum machine, yet they recruited former classmate Tom Leggett on drums to heighten the physical impact of their performances. Leggett, guided by the approaches of Mark Guiliana, Paul Motian, and Deantoni Parks, reduced his kit to its essentials. After a year of rehearsal the trio issued their first single, “Gillian”—a salute to The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson—in August 2017. Shortly afterward they delivered a ferocious set at The Others Way festival that secured contracts with Flying Nun Records and Captured Tracks; the latter released “Stay Disappointed” that December. Cut in just a few days, the self-titled debut appeared on both imprints in May 2018. While the group toured internationally for six months, the album climbed to number seven on the Official New Zealand Album Charts, earned a shortlist nod for the Taite Music Prize, and received a nomination for Best Independent Debut at the 2018 New Zealand Music Awards.
Each member subsequently pursued outside endeavors: Leggett joined the feminist post-punk outfit Miss June, whose debut Bad Luck Party surfaced in September 2019, while Ruddell unveiled his solo outlet Sulfate, whose self-titled record arrived the same month. Throughout 2019 Cheng, Leggett, and Ruddell also shaped Wax Chattels’ second album, Clot. Released in September 2020, the set benefited from the input of engineer Ben Greenberg—also of the Men and Uniform—and producer James Goldsmith, both of whom helped sharpen the band’s already incisive attack.
Bassist/vocalist Amanda Cheng and keyboardist/vocalist Peter Ruddell first connected during jazz-performance studies at the University of Auckland. Their paths crossed again at a 2016 Preoccupations concert, prompting them to start a band together. Ruddell, whose university work centered on saxophone yet who commands several instruments, drew influence from vintage horror films and the uninhibited ethos of Tokyo’s music community, where he lived after graduation. Cheng’s focus on confronting hardship, especially the obstacles facing young women of color, supplied an equally fertile foundation for the project.
Cheng and Ruddell initially composed with a drum machine, yet they recruited former classmate Tom Leggett on drums to heighten the physical impact of their performances. Leggett, guided by the approaches of Mark Guiliana, Paul Motian, and Deantoni Parks, reduced his kit to its essentials. After a year of rehearsal the trio issued their first single, “Gillian”—a salute to The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson—in August 2017. Shortly afterward they delivered a ferocious set at The Others Way festival that secured contracts with Flying Nun Records and Captured Tracks; the latter released “Stay Disappointed” that December. Cut in just a few days, the self-titled debut appeared on both imprints in May 2018. While the group toured internationally for six months, the album climbed to number seven on the Official New Zealand Album Charts, earned a shortlist nod for the Taite Music Prize, and received a nomination for Best Independent Debut at the 2018 New Zealand Music Awards.
Each member subsequently pursued outside endeavors: Leggett joined the feminist post-punk outfit Miss June, whose debut Bad Luck Party surfaced in September 2019, while Ruddell unveiled his solo outlet Sulfate, whose self-titled record arrived the same month. Throughout 2019 Cheng, Leggett, and Ruddell also shaped Wax Chattels’ second album, Clot. Released in September 2020, the set benefited from the input of engineer Ben Greenberg—also of the Men and Uniform—and producer James Goldsmith, both of whom helped sharpen the band’s already incisive attack.
Albums
Singles
Live
