Combine the purest elements of old school rock and funk and blend them in with the finest intricate grooves in the land and you have the infectious sound of Miscreant. This Auckland five piece have been storming live venues since forming in 2004 and have grasped every live show with a vigour and passion that is gaining them the reputation of one of the country’s finest acts on the rise. It was back in late 2004 while living together guitarist David Edtmaier and vocalist Chris Brebner begun to write and collate a collection of songs which were developed, torn apart and pieced back together again to make the bones of Miscreant’s debut album Complicated Characters, released in 2008. While writing Edtmaier and Brebner sought out drummer Damian Hilt and bassist Alan Treanor to make the band a live force to be reckoned with. It was not until 2007 after a self released EP, a marathon of shows and the trialing of a dual vocalist and extra guitarist that Miscreant returned to the four piece format and went into York Street and Studio 203 with legendary engineer Andrew Buckton. It was six months in the making with Buckton recording, mixing and producing, and the end result (and the goal of Miscreant) was to have a debut album to tear your ears off and make you get up and dance all in one moment. Complicated Characters is out now and is an eclectic blend of rock, funk, soul and contemporary grooves. It was mastered by Ryan Smith at New New York (Live, Paramore, Talking Heads). This album with mainstream appeal tinged with an edge of menace always needed to be something that Miscreant could replicate live. In June 2008 the band enlisted keys specialist Nathan Cooper to be able to sustain and expand upon the huge amount of keys work used on Complicated Characters then performed by Stephen Small (Autozamm). Cooper also provided another facet to the songwriting arsenal which was timely as the band had already started creating new material. Their first single from Complicated Characters ‘Fight For Me’ showed the sound of a band with old school rock running through their veins and rightly so: picked up by the Rock, C4 and Juice networks ‘Fight For Me’ was a good stepping stone into the release of the funk-soaked ‘Rhythm Child’ which has recently stormed it’s way on to the Rock, Kiwi FM and Radio Hauraki and is currently in the NZ Music Top 40 airplay charts. With over three years of crafting Complicated Characters amongst a variety of musical styles and influences, Miscreant have begun focusing on creating new songs for a follow up album. One that promises to be more of a rock-focused explosion and less ‘eclectic’ than the debut. As long as it sounds like Miscreant as a live band and doing what they do best. 'Complicated Characters' is out now in all good record stores, and available digitally on iTunes, and Amplifier.co.nz For more information about Miscreant please contact dave@miscreantband.com