Payola (band)

Payola (band)

Payola are a six-piece folk/rock/soul band from Auckland, New Zealand.

The band have been described as a combination of Motown meets AC/DC/The Chambers Brothers meets Funkadelic/Led Zeppelin meets Solomon Burke with Primal Scream supporting. In addition, their musical influences include Tom Waits, The Staple Singers, Neil Young and Sly Stone.

The group's first release was the album Gone To Ground in 2005. Lead vocalist Solomon Cole had exited his prior band, Auckland based Rootskonductor, to release a solo album through Wellington label Jayrem Records. The album was to be entitled "PAYOLA".

Cole enlisted the help of drummer and childhood friend Adrian Bergman and jazz keyboardist Timothy William, a musician introduced through Rootskonductor manager Stephen O'hoy. UK bassist Lee Catlin (formerly of Orange Can) joined shortly after, having responded to an advert posted on the internet. He in turn introduced the band to Manchester percussionist Nick Wood to complement the recordings. Rehearsals took place in Mamaku, a remote suburb of Rotorua and the group of players proceeded to form a "band" as the focus of the solo record shifted. The original name of the record was adopted as the band moniker.

The band utilized the backing vocal services of NZ Idol finalist Indira Moala for initial recordings, however due to a fees dispute Moala subsequently and unsuccessfully threatened to sue the band. The dispute was settled amicably and the band recruited Sophia Tupuola to complete the recordings and finish the album.