Either the success of their second album, Communicate (and accompanying singles Astronaut, Communicate and Fishing For Lisa) has yet to translate to wardrobe budgets, or the feelers just like to dress down for the big occasions. With the spotlight and TV cameras on them as they arrived at the NZ Music Awards last month, they emerged from their limo and onto the red carpet wearing brown boxers, singlet and sweatband (Hamish Gee) and an old Guns N Roses T-shirt (James Reid). "Yeah, to be honest I just wore what I"d had on around the house all day," explains Hamish. Perhaps they just can't afford to get dressed up, their pay docked to cover hotel room damage caused on the recent Edge SummerJam series and the subject of various tabloid reports. "It was difficult to deny," says Hamish. "The hole in the wall was suspiciously James Reid-shaped." Even when James attempted, feebly, to weasle out of responsibility by describing an unknown offender (a 6ft skinhead) to hotel staff, they promptly pulled aside Hamish's brother who had just arrived. He's a 6ft-plus and balding, worse luck. Add a recent incident in which the feelers played a home concert in Christchurh for a winning ZM listener, after which Hamish was seen leaving. carrying the winners" television set. ("I would've got away with it too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!") and it seems the band are living the rock 'n" roll lifestyle. But they"re working for it too. A solid tour itinerary, both here and across the Tasman, shows little sign of letting up as the album is released in Australia next month. After Astronaut received solid airplay, the next single will be As Good As It Gets, which was released here prior to the album being finished to coincide with the film Savage Honeymoon in which it featured. Over here meanwhile, Fishing For Lisa is zooming up the charts. The soaring ballad, with its unmistakable hooks, was identified early for its cross-format potential and has so far proved to have exactly that.
