Tes pas de danse dansaient vers moi
Mes yeux criaient, c'est mon cœur qui bat
Les autres se mouvaient pour tes tendresses
Mais c'est moi à qui tu t'adresses
Everyone that I know
Want to dance with you
Everyone that I know
Want to dance with you
And I do too
Ava and I are in Hamilton (New Zealand), and it made me think of Arkells, who are from Hamilton (Ontario). And as I can never resist dancing with my girl, like last week, when we rose from our plush velvet seats in our new favourite speakeasy in Auckland and twirled to 1920s, I thought of this song, too. I put on Dance With You in the tiny house we call our home this weekend, and we very happily danced to it!
"Livin' on a Prayer" is a song by the American rockband Bon Jovi, and is the band's second chart-topping single from their third studio album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, the single was well received at both rock and pop radio and its music video was given heavy rotation at MTV, giving the band their first number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and their second consecutive number 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit. It also hit number four on the UK Singles Chart.
After Bon Jovi performed in New Zealand on January 28, 2008, while on their Lost Highway Tour, the song re-entered the official New Zealand RIANZ singles chart at number 24, over twenty years after the initial release. In 2009, the song returned to the charts in the UK, notably hitting the number one spot on the UK Rock Chart. In November 2013, the song made its return to the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 25, due to a viral video.
"Livin' on a Prayer" is the band's signature song, topping fan-voted lists and re-charting around the world decades after its release. In 2013, the song was certified triple platinum for over 3 million digital downloads and has since sold over 13 million worldwide making it one of the best selling singles of all time. The video reached 1 billion views on Youtube (the band's second song to do so) on February 1, 2023. The song describes two characters, Tommy and Gina, who are also referred to in Bon Jovi's 2000 single "It's My Life".
"Livin' on a Prayer" received a total of 88,6% yes votes!
Rhys Darby has ‘not an ounce of scaredness’ about son’s band dreams
NZ actor Rhys Darby and his musician son Finn interview each other. VIDEO CREDIT: David White/Stuff
Rhys Darby is proudly listing career moments - but they’re not his own.
He’s recalling watching his son Finn’s band, Great Big Cow, “absolutely rock” iconic LA venue Troubadour to sold-out crowds.
As a parent, “you worry about a bit of nepotism,” he admits.
“Are we just ‘yay, our boys!’ when really they’re dreadful?”
But, he says, the band’s indie folk rock is “brilliant”, and keeps getting better. And, he insists, people are paying attention.
“We’re shocked as parents a little bit,” he jokes.
The band, Rhys and I are nestled between a Street Fighter arcade game and a pinball machine, in a dark corner of Auckland’s Whammy Bar. The US-based teen band has been sound-checking for their first international show.
Rhys has donned weathered jeans and a plaid jacket - approved by Finn. His son is wearing Dad’s socks for the night. While Rhys talks, Finn pulls faces and shares quiet in-jokes with his band mates. There are plenty of laughs.
Finn, Paolo Pesce, Will Angarola and Wyatt Nash originally played together in a school jazz combo, and went on to form Great Big Cow in 2022.
Rhys Darby, left, watches his son Finn’s band dreams without “an ounce of scaredness”. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
Now, Rhys insists, they have a growing fanbase. Some of whom “[do] that thing where you dance really closely … Moshing”. He points to my notebook.
“Put down there that I did know what moshing is.”
Sure, Rhys Darby - one of New Zealand’s most well-known comedy exports - helped the band get bums on seats and lock in bigger venues, but they were also recently featured on LA public radio station KCRW’s Young Creators Project, can be found on Spotify and their mainstay is house parties.
“I think because I'm a bigger deal [in NZ], it might have been a little different. In LA, no-one really gives a shit about who I am,” he laughs, looking over at Finn who’s patiently had his hand raised while Dad spoke.
There are people and groups in LA that have helped the band too, says Finn, and he’s not sure those opportunities would have happened back in NZ.
“I would have got you on bFM for sure,” Rhys quips back.
He looks on at Finn’s creative path with, “not an ounce of scaredness”.
“Obviously as a child I had many different dreams, but at the base of everything was art and performance,” he says, describing his younger self as a “dreamer” who wanted to entertain.
Rhys Darby with son Finn before Great Big Cow played Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
“When it comes to [my kids], I see different ambitions, but they have the artistic talent - I’m completely open to whatever they want to do. I’ll always be there for them.”
Where New Zealand has a bit of a reputation for tall poppy syndrome and an air of negativity, LA is hugely positive, says Rhys - especially for fostering young talent.
And it was in LA, at a house party, that Finn recalls being caught up in the “electric energy” of playing live.
“The whole audience was moving. And I think two people got lifted up above the crowd and surfed around above the crowd,” he says.
Finn’s not the only Darby putting in some work while in Aotearoa. Following Rhys’s joint 50th celebration with wife Rosie, he’ll be returning to the local stage, performing his Rhys Darby 25 Years stand-up show at Waiheke Island’s Wild Estate on April 3.
It encompasses the best bits from his previous shows, but performing it at Waiheke is “just another excuse to put on a show, really”, and to show his US mates another part of Auckland.
Rhys Darby, following a stint in the army and then university, kicked off his career with stand-up, before becoming a household name with an impressive TV and film CV, including Flight of the Conchords, Yes Man, The Boat that Rocked and Our Flag Means Death.
As for whether he still loves stand-up, “love is a strong word”, he laughs.
“I still enjoy it. But it's it's less of a thrill than it used to be.”
What he’s really loving is throwing himself into acting, and challenging himself with more dramatic roles - different to the very physical, crazy “shenanigans on stage”, requiring more focus for the comedian and “not just being a silly bugger”.
Plus, he’s 50 now.
“It’s much easier to do the stuff where I'm just sitting down,” he laughs.
Still, there’s no denying he’s been part of a movement that threw New Zealand comedy into the wider world, and he speaks proudly about his own work, but also that of other Kiwis such as filmmaker Taika Waititi and actor Rose Matafeo.
It’s a type of comedy, he says, that “has a signature” and can’t be copied.
Rhys Darby and son Finn at Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF
“I think it’s that positivity thing, which is ironic coming from a place with tall poppy syndrome. We don’t like each other but you guys love us, eh?”
It’s one of the reasons Darby is still living in LA, “still waving the flag [and] not changing my accent”.
And while Darby’s big break may have been the role of band manager Murray, when it comes to Great Big Cow he and Rosie “don’t want to be helicopter parents too much”.
“We're there when they have a question.”
And while Rhys says he can’t talk about any of his own projects, Finn interrupts with a quiet word about vague plans for a comedy musical theatre show featuring Rhys and the band.
Looking back at his own career, the highlight was breaking into the US market - name-dropping X Files and Our Flag Means Death as highlights.
“What's next? It's all peaks and troughs,” he says - mentioning Hollywood is turning to AI, but “thankfully, there's no one that can do a better robot impression than me”.
Still, the changing industry is worrying.
“People are losing their jobs, and AI is having a lot to do with it,” he says - dropping the quips and gags for a moment.
“After the strikes, I know, it's taken a while to get the industry back on its feet, but I'm hoping that it will get there,” he says.
“But it is worrying. It's really worrying the moment.”
420,000,000 Reefer Fans Can’t Be Wrong
Punk Gunk, Garage, Psych & Other Wild Shit — Volume 420
Our annual 4/20 holiday mix — 19 "New Rockophonic" HIGH Fidelity Recordings for your holiday (or any day) listening pleasure. Featuring musical joints from Th' Losin Streaks, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, The Cavemen, Astral Magic, Sonnyskyes, Drunk Mums, Mean Jeans, Bass Drum of Death, and 11 more bands who can’t be wrong.
Apologies to The King (still America’s favorite pillhead/narc/rock icon). Legalize Marijuana Everywhere Now! End the War on Drugs!
▶︎🎶 Listen on Mixcloud
Running Time: 59 minutes, 53 seconds
Tracklist
I Mean You (2:50) — Th’ Losin Streaks | Sacramento, CA
This Generation (2:55) — Opinion | Occitanie, France
Flowers On My Grave (2:57) — The Cavemen | Auckland, New Zealand †
The Boy Had It All (3:22) — Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds | Tucson, AZ
Echoes All Around (3:36) — Sun Dial | England, UK †
Let's Take a Ride (4:02) — Astral Magic | Finland †
Clean My Head (3:43) — The Brooms! | Portugal
I'm Flying Too (2:57) — Sonnyskyes | Long Beach, CA
L.S.D. (2:30) — Acid Tongue | Seattle, WA
Something You'll Never Find (3:18) — The Cripplers + Alicja Trout | Memphis, TN
He Lost His Mind (2:47) — The Revox | Switzerland †
Last Day on Earth (2:34) — The Satelliters | Germany
Saturday (1:48) — Drunk Mums | Melbourne, Australia
I Don't Give a Shit Anymore (2:24) — Mean Jeans | Portland, OR †
Mindwater (3:45) — Still Animals | St. Louis, MO
And Here We Are (4:34) — Misty Lanes | Sydney, Australia
Revelations (3:43) — Levitation Room | Los Angeles, CA
White Vine (3:12) — Bass Drum of Death | Mississippi †
This Might Be The End (2:57) — The Decibels | Sacramento, CA †
All tracks released in 2024, except those marked † released 2023.
Name: Viktor Ivanov
Book: Immortal Desires
Orientation: Bisexual
Pronouns: He/him
Birthday: 12th October 1997
Sign: Libra
Born: Dunedin, New Zealand
Raised: Sydney, Australia, and Inverness, Scotland (with some short stints in both NZ and Croatia)
Heritage: Croat
More under the cut! 🖤✨
Family
Henrik Ivanov (younger brother)
Mother (name tbd)
Father (name tbd)
Viktor’s closest family member is his younger brother Henrik (Henri, as a diminutive), who is eight. Henri attends boarding school, so they do not see each other much, but Henri idolises his big brother and Viktor would do anything to keep Henri from being hurt. He believes his parents treat Henri as the “do-over” child, and that they think Viktor “lacks ambition” and “refuses to take anything seriously”. There is a lot of pressure on Henri to perform well academically and to follow in his father’s footsteps, career-wise.
Viktor’s father’s career remains something of a mystery to him — he knows it is a somewhat high-ranking governmental position that requires him to travel a lot, so his father is only home for short stints every few months. When he was around 12 or 13, Viktor decided he would ask his dad outright what his job actually was the next time he showed an interest in one of Viktor’s hobbies or interests.
To this day, Viktor has no idea what his father does for a living.
His mother is a stay-at-home housewife. She is the family member Viktor sees the most often, and also the one he has the worst relationship with.
Skills / Hobbies
Sketching, painting, singing — frontman and founder of grunge/rock band Your Bisexual Awakening. Also plays bass
YBA cycles through names often, all of which have a story attached. They choose a new name via the following system: if a band member says something stupid or memorable in conversation, and two or more members simultaneously say "band name", they must change it to whatever was just said. I.e.
Cal: seriously, guys? again?
Ava: my bad. Angel's refractory period is more like a Refractory Comma
Angel, Viktor, and Luca, simultaneously: band name
Ava: aw, fuck.
Random Trivia
Moved a lot as a child — growing up jumping between Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and Croatia has left Viktor with the weirdest accent. Its mostly Scottish... ish? Kinda?
Enjoys anime — once described watching Tokyo Ghoul as the purest spiritual experience of his life (and then sulked inconsolably for a week when he found out the final season was copaganda)
Scared of dogs (was bitten when he was younger)
Loves having his photo taken, but also can’t look at photos of himself sometimes, because they often bring on depersonalisation episodes
Huge collection of slogan t-shirts he crops and alters himself.
Can do overtone / polyphonic singing (but not well)
When he shared a dorm room with Luca at Avalon, for a while his alarm was this Marc Rebillet song (until Luca threatened to beat him to death with a pair of socks unless he changed it)
Has a crush on Kylo Ren
Is deeply ashamed of his crush on Kylo Ren
Favourite movie is Sucker Punch (will rant AT LENGTH about how people completely miss the feminist read)
His fashion sense is varied and questionable. One day he’ll be in gritty, black techwear, the next he’s full flower-boy poet. Then he’ll be Grandma-chic, and the next day he might be wearing a three-piece suit patterned exclusively with cobs of corn.
He does really love garments that drape and flow, though, and is a bit of a sucker for glitter and fun textures. No matter how loud, he somehow manages to always wear the outfits, and not have them wear him.
Viktor’s goals are informed by an odd mix of wanting a sense of agency and independence, while also just wanting to be taken care of and not have to think
Pathetic Babygirl of All Time
Personal Life
cw!! for talk around mental illness, suicide, and substance abuse
Viktor’s childhood was extremely difficult in that his mother simply does not believe that mental illnesses and neurologic disorders are legitimate conditions, and denies that Viktor’s many conditions are real. She believes he is making everything up for attention. Viktor has had this rhetoric drilled into him since childhood — there is nothing wrong with him, he’s just weak, lazy, a failure, a troubled child.
As such, he has never been diagnosed with anything on record.
He is quite mistrustful of authority figures as a result of his upbringing.
The first real, healthy parental influence in his life was Terri O’Rinn. She was the one to refer Viktor to a specialist doctor — she called in a favour from a friend/colleague, who was able to confirm Viktor’s diagnosis of mild to moderate Tourette Syndrome. This diagnosis remains strictly off-record. He primarily has motor tics, but he does have some verbal ones too — many of his tics are indistinguishable from the way he carries himself and his usual, somewhat eccentric mannerisms of speaking and moving.
Viktor also suffers from depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Luca has “diagnosed” him with “ADHD by peer review.” Viktor also deals with frequent bouts of passive suicidal ideation. Luca has had to talk him down on two separate occasions when he has threatened attempts. He has attempted once, on his own, and has never told anyone about it. Viktor loves Luca like a brother, as they do him, and their bond is fundamentally unshakeable.
Viktor fell into performing initially as a means to cope with his Tourettes — music helps to help him feel in control of his symptoms, so he can often be found singing, humming, or whistling to himself as he goes about his business. Alcohol and weed incidentally dial back his premonitory urges as well, allowing him to more easily suppress his tics, so there have been patterns of substance abuse throughout Viktor’s life when he’s been in a bad place mentally.
In classes at school, he was something of the class clown — Viktor quickly realised he liked dictating the kind of attention that was on him (and that he actually really loves attention when its the kind he has sought out himself). So rather than people staring at him because of his tics, he’d rather enrapture them on purpose with beautiful and hypnotic performances. Leaning into his role as the band’s vocalist and frontman did wonders for his self-confidence and overall quality of life.
Also — he’s just really, really, good at singing 🖤🖤🖤
You can find out more about Viktor via my masterlist, or read about him in my longfic, snow in crimson, starlight in gold on AO3! 🖤(direct link, fic is rated Explicit)
frankieromustdie: This cabinet and i have a long history…
in the 90’s when my band Pencey Prep was first starting i went to Robbie’s music in Little Falls? Wayne? Totowa? 🤷♀️New Jersey. i traded in a bunch of gear i had acquired and with a little supplemental cash i had saved up bought a full rig, a brand new Marshall JCM 900 and this Fender Sunn Cabinet. This cab came with me on my first tour, was used on the first Mychem show i ever played (and probably thousands since), and now is in New Zealand on our last leg of the MCR tour. It’s still the best sounding cabinet i own, and i’ll never part with it. Thank you rock & roll.