Blu Fish

Blu Fish above Anthology K Road in 2018.

**Blu Fish** is a psychedelic rock band from Titirangi, West Auckland. The band is composed of Cameron McCurdy (vocals, drums, trumpet), Mitchell Baber (vocals, guitar) and Josh Rundle (bass). The trio also performed as a five-piece with psychedelic duo Ripship under the name Fish & Ships.

## History

### Pre-formation (2012-2017)

McCurdy and Rundle had played together in high school in alternative rock band Title Pending from June 2012 to February 2018, and played manygigs alongside Baber's indie rock band The Big Gus from October 2013 to January 2016. Baber would regularly get up on stage to sing for Title Pending's cover of "I Got Mine" by the Black Keys at the ends of their sets. Both bands saw relative success in the Auckland all-ages music scene, with The Big Gus becoming 2015 Smokefreerockquest finalists and Title Pending opening for bands such as The D4 and Guitar Wolf.

### Formation and *Shments* (2018-2019)

Blu Fish formed at the University of Auckland campus bar, Shadows, on the 26th of February 2018 and were booked to play a gig before they had written any songs. The half-hour set they wrote for the Frick Yeah Festival 2018 became the songs they would use for their debut EP.The EP, *Shments* was produced by rapper Mr•O6OO and self-released on the 30th of November 2018 following the release of singles "The Party" on the 28th of September and "Scenic Drive" on the 31st of October. It is a concept album chronicling their youth in Titirangi with the story of a single hypothetical 2016 party in Woodlands Park.

Following the release of *Shments*, the band won the 2018 NZ National Battle of the Bands, winning the prize of a recording session in Brisbane and a tour of New Zealand, Australia, The Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore. On the 18th of January 2019, the band released "Fresher," the final single from *Shments*.

### BOTB Tour and *Up/Down* (2019-2020)

The band performed at the 2019 Titirangi Festival of Music on the 29th of March alongside SJD, where they debuted new songs "Idle Chatter", "Seedy" and "Beech Forest". On the 26th of April the band played the first of 16 shows as part of their NZ Battle of the Bands winners' tour with Wellington pop rock band Pale Lady. The first show of the tour saw the live debut of Fish & Ships, a collaborative supergroup formed from the members of Blu Fish and Ripship. The band's next single, "Up/Down", was released on the 28th of September 2019, one year after the release of "The Party". The track was recorded at Red Engine Studios in Brisbane by Grammy-nominated producer Steve James from the 7th to the 8th of May - and pays homage to "I WIsh You Knew Jim Morrison" by Heroes for Sale.

### Hiatus (2020-Present)

On the 9th of May, the band announced via their facebook and instagram pages that they would no longer be active as a band.

## Members

### Blu Fish

* Cameron McCurdy – vocals, drums, trumpet, artwork (2018–2020)
* Mitchell Baber – vocals, guitar (2018–2020)
* Josh Rundle – bass (2018-2020)

## Discography

### Singles

* *The Party* (2018)
* *Scenic Drive* (2018)
* *Fresher* (2019)
* *Up/Down* (2019)

## Links

* Facebook
* Instagram
* Twitter
* Bandcamp
* Spotify
* Apple Music/iTunes
* Soundcloud
* YouTube

## References

1. ↑ "Bandstanding," The Fringe, page 20, issue 152, September 2016, 02/02/201 https://issuu.com/fringemedia8/docs/1609?workerAddress=ec2-52-201-252-3.compute-1.amazonaws.com
2. ↑ SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST: THE BIG GUS, 11/09/2015, https://tearaway.co.nz/smokefreerockquest-the-big-gus/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Introducing: Blu Fish, 02/02/2019, https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/introducing/audio/2018676287/introducing-blu-fish
4. ↑ Green Bay bands Courtney Hate and The Big Gus hit Smokefreerockquest high notes, 10/08/2015, https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/70928831/null
5. ↑ 13th Floor Uncovers Secret D4 Show in West Auckland, 26/01/2019, https://www.13thfloor.co.nz/13th-floor-uncovers-secret-d4-show-in-west-auckland/?fbclid=IwAR34ni3iWJR8epsJdNWtgxigST0UQeHE\_OfQ8TG14by9yqFeM7sOr2HStrY
6. ↑ Guitar Wolf/Title Pending Lounge Gig, 29/11/2017, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155925633567838&set=a.10155925633507838&type=3&theater
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Bandstanding," The Fringe, page 14, issue 178, February 2019, 02/02/2019 https://issuu.com/fringemedia8/docs/1902
8. ↑ Fancy New Band: Blu Fish, 16/01/2019, https://95bfm.com/bcast/fancy-new-band-blu-fish
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Shments - EP, 16/01/2019, https://blufishband.bandcamp.com/album/shments-ep
10. ↑ Blu Fish’s debut EP Shments is a slice of dynamic surf-rock goodness, 16/01/2019, https://hhhhappy.com/blu-fish-shments/
11. ↑ Blu Fish Swim in Success, 16/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/concert-review-blu-fish-swim-in-success/
12. ↑ Kiwis Blu Fish stream debut EP 'Shments', 16/01/2019, http://littleindieblogs.blogspot.com/2018/12/kiwis-blu-fish-stream-debut-ep-shments.html
13. ↑ At The Party With Blu Fish, 16/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/concert-photos-at-the-party-with-blu-fish/
14. ↑ Blu Fish: Scenic Drive, 16/01/2019, https://nzmusician.co.nz/music/blu-fish-scenic-drive/
15. ↑ Blu Fish - Shments (EP), 16/01/2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIkn1ITQdUs
16. ↑ Blu Fish - New Zealand Musicians & Bands, 04/02/2019, https://www.muzic.net.nz/artists/4363
17. ↑ Battleofthebands - Results from the National Final, 15/02/2018, https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandbattleofthebands/posts/2128257433900526
18. ↑ Blu Fish Just Got Fresher, 18/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/blu-fish-just-got-fresher/
19. ↑ Titirangi Festival Of Music Line-Up Announced For 2019 3-Day Festival, 02/02/2019, https://radio13.co.nz/articles/titirangi-festival-of-music-line-up-announced-for-2019-3-day-festival/
20. ↑ Titirangi Festival of Music line-up announced, 04/02/2019, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1902/S00002/titirangi-festival-of-music-line-up-announced.htm
21. ↑ Titirangi Festival of Music line-up announced, with Sola Rosa joining Bic Runga and Cha Wa as headliners across three nights, 04/02/2019, http://www.greatthings.co.nz/announcements/tfm2019
22. ↑ Titirangi Festival of Music line-up announced, 01/02/2019, http://auckland.scoop.co.nz/2019/02/titirangi-festival-of-music-line-up-announced/
23. ↑ Pale Lady and Blu Fish - live in BICOL, bandstand.ph, https://bandstand.ph/events/pale-lady-and-blu-fish-live-in-bicol/#.XWOZhugzbD4
24. ↑ Pale Lady & Blu Fish in Cavite, Duro Cabeza de Cavite, 18/5/2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aqGPtiVzC0
25. ↑ TOUR VLOGS, Blu Fish, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7AjjzkdXIr1tgsUA8bJDpGerwPsRnHA
26. ↑ https://themousai.co.uk/post/184476029556/gig-review-pale-lady-blu-fish-anthology
27. ↑ "Single Review: Blu Fish - Up/Down", The Mousai, 29/9/2019, https://themousai.co.uk/post/188018047471/single-review-blu-fish-updown
28. ↑ "Blu Fish Release New Single 'Up/Down'", New Zealand Music Commission, 30/9/2019, https://www.nzmusic.org.nz/news/artist/blu-fish-release-new-single-updown/