Josh Rundle

Josh Rundle playing with Blu Fish at Anthology K Road for their Shments EP release in 2018.

### Genres

Alternative rock, indie rock, indie pop, psychedelic rock, post-rock

### Groups

* Blu Fish
* Fish & Ships
* Title Pending
* Cameron McCurdy
* Long Boy

### Associated acts

* Munkhouse
* Ripship
* Barracuda Swim School
* The Big Gus
* Courtney Hate
* Joe Says No

### Notable instruments

Bass guitar

**Josh Rundle** is a bass guitarist from Titirangi, West Auckland. He is the bassist of alternative rock trio Blu Fish, and of psychedelic supergroup Fish & Ships. He was previously the bassist of alternative rock band Title Pending from 2013 until the band's breakup in 2018, and was a member of alternative rock group Long Boy.

## History

###  Formation (2012)

Title Pending began at Green Bay High School, after Cameron Mason McCurdy saw Heroes for Sale perform at an assembly and decided to start a band. After pressuring Ruben Mita, whose seat he had stolen in art class, the two started making music together, regularly improvising instrumental songs in the school's music department and making iPod recordings. The two would switch instruments constantly, and Mason McCurdy began to sing because Mita didn't want to.

### Change of lineup (2013)

Tasked with covering "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles for a school group performance, Josh Rundle joined on rhythm guitar and Marieke van Orsoy de Flines joined on bass. Mita became the main guitarist and Mason McCurdy became the main drummer. This lineup wrote one song together, "Blink", and regularly covered "Breezeblocks" by alt-J.

### *In-Sync Hallucinations* (2014-2015)

In separate music classes for the year, van Orsoy de Flines left the band to form Courtney Hate, and Rundle took over on bass. The band played their first gig at UFO on the 10th of October 2014 alongside Courtney Hate, The Big Gus and Death By Butterflies. In December of 2014, Mason McCurdy and Mita recorded an album worth of material from 2012 while Rundle was on holiday in Sri Lanka. The album, *In-Sync Hallucinations* was released on the 31st of December 2014, and is no longer available.

### All-ages gig scene & *Murder in the Modern Day* (2015-2016)

The band released several singles, "February", "Blink", "Yesterday's Bread", "15" and "Faith Coat" while playing regular gigs as part of the Auckland all-ages scene, including the ZEAL Festival of Noise alongside Courtney Hate, The Big Gus, and Joe Says No. On the 31st of December, the band released their second album, *Murder in the Modern Day,* which is also no longer available.

### First final show & continued activity (2017-2018)

The band played the first of two "RIP TP" gigs on the 21st of January 2017, after Mason McCurdy decided to move to Wellington with Long Boy bandmate Leon Molyneux. He didn't move and instead the band continued to play gigs through to 2018, notably opening for Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf in a secret Titirangi house show.

### Breakup & second final show (2018)

Mita transferred to Victoria University in Wellington, and on the 15th of February 2018, Title Pending played their second final show, a secret house gig where The D4 opened for them as practice for their own reunion tour. They played a song they had written the day before, which eventually became "At the Roundabout" by Blu Fish.

### Other projects (2016-Present)

Mason McCurdy and Rundle went on to form Blu Fish with Mitchell Baber from The Big Gus, the band won the 2018 National Battle of the Bands and have released one EP, *Shments.*

### Pre-formation (2012-2017)

Mason McCurdy and Rundle had played together in high school in alternative rock band Title Pending from June 2012 to February 2018, and played many gigs 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-Present)

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*. The band is set to perform at the 2019 Titirangi Festival of Music on the 29th of March alongside SJD, where they will debut new music.

## Discography

### With Blu Fish

#### Singles

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

### With Title Pending

#### EPs

* *Murder in the Modern Day* (2015) - Self-published
* *RIP TP EP* (2019) - Self-published

#### Singles

* *February* (2015)
* *Blink* (2015)
* *Yesterday's Bread* (2015)
* *"15"* (2015)
* *Faith Coat* (2016)

### With 50 to Meld

Singles

* *Earth Burning* (2014)

## References

> Bandstanding, The Fringe, page 21, issue 152, September 2016, https://issuu.com/fringemedia8/docs/1609?workerAddress=ec2-52-201-252-3.compute-1.amazonaws.com
>
>
2. ↑ "Bandstanding", The Fringe, page 14, issue 178, February 2019, *https://issuu.com/fringemedia8/docs/1902*
3. ↑ Concert Review: Blu Fish Swim in Success, Radio 13, https://radio13.co.nz/articles/concert-review-blu-fish-swim-in-success/
4. ↑ Blu Fish’s debut EP Shments is a slice of dynamic surf-rock goodness, Happy Mag, https://hhhhappy.com/blu-fish-shments/
5. ↑ "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
6. ↑ SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST: THE BIG GUS, 11/09/2015, https://tearaway.co.nz/smokefreerockquest-the-big-gus/
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Introducing: Blu Fish, 02/02/2019, https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/introducing/audio/2018676287/introducing-blu-fish
8. ↑ 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
9. ↑ 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
10. ↑ Guitar Wolf/Title Pending Lounge Gig, 29/11/2017, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155925633567838&set=a.10155925633507838&type=3&theater
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Bandstanding," The Fringe, page 14, issue 178, February 2019, 02/02/2019 *https://issuu.com/fringemedia8/docs/1902*
12. ↑ Fancy New Band: Blu Fish, 16/01/2019, https://95bfm.com/bcast/fancy-new-band-blu-fish
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Shments - EP, 16/01/2019, https://blufishband.bandcamp.com/album/shments-ep
14. ↑ Blu Fish’s debut EP Shments is a slice of dynamic surf-rock goodness, 16/01/2019, *https://hhhhappy.com/blu-fish-shments/*
15. ↑ Blu Fish Swim in Success, 16/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/concert-review-blu-fish-swim-in-success/
16. ↑ Kiwis Blu Fish stream debut EP 'Shments', 16/01/2019, http://littleindieblogs.blogspot.com/2018/12/kiwis-blu-fish-stream-debut-ep-shments.html
17. ↑ At The Party With Blu Fish, 16/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/concert-photos-at-the-party-with-blu-fish/
18. ↑ Blu Fish: Scenic Drive, 16/01/2019, https://nzmusician.co.nz/music/blu-fish-scenic-drive/
19. ↑ Blu Fish - Shments (EP), 16/01/2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIkn1ITQdUs
20. ↑ Blu Fish - New Zealand Musicians & Bands, 04/02/2019, *https://www.muzic.net.nz/artists/4363*
21. ↑ Battleofthebands - Results from the National Final, 15/02/2018, https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandbattleofthebands/posts/2128257433900526
22. ↑ Blu Fish Just Got Fresher, 18/01/2019, https://www.radio13.co.nz/articles/blu-fish-just-got-fresher/
23. ↑ 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/
24. ↑ 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
25. ↑ 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
26. ↑ Titirangi Festival of Music line-up announced, 01/02/2019, http://auckland.scoop.co.nz/2019/02/titirangi-festival-of-music-line-up-announced/