58 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019
frombands;thestringoffriendsand
flatmateswhodiedalongtheway.Dead
PeopleI HaveKnown.
“Ifindmybookveersbetweencome-
dyandtragedy,withnotmuchinbe-
tween,actually,” Carter says. “But that’s
allright.”M
uchofthedramaandtragedy
involvesCarter.He’ssoblunt
abouthisfailingsandabra-
sivenessandtheoffencehe’s
caused(NeilFinn,Jordan
Luck,DaveDobbyn,SharonO’Neill,
MartinPhillipps,etc),heknowssome
peoplemightreadthebookandthink,
“ThatShayneCarter,whatanarsehole.”
“CozI putit alloutthere,man.But
thenagain,whatI thoughtaboutthat
is,I’vebeenputtingmyselfoutthere
sinceI wasa kid.Togetupandplay
music is a really vulnerable thing to do.iewaitingforthechancetogetanauto-
graph.“IalwaysknewI’dwritesome-
thing.I thought,I’vegota goodstoryto
tell.Andbecauseallmyparentshad
passedaway,I feltI couldactuallywrite
honestlyaboutmyfamily.”
Soforthebestpartoftwoyears,Carter
stabbedawayatthestoryofhislifeand
40 yearsofmusic,withtwofingersona
12”MacBookProina cribatAramoana,
threehousesdownfromwheregunman
DavidGrayusedtolive.He’dkeptdiaries
butdidn’tdrawonthem.“Theywerejust
soboring.Quitelaughablyso.Stuffthat
justseemedsoimportantatthetime,but
yourecognisetheabsurdityofit later.”So
heburntthem.
Therewerebandscrapbooksthat
helpedwithchronologyanddetail,but
thebookislargelyCarter’smemoryof
itall– thesongs;thetours;theshits
from record companies; the good peopleW
eknowmuchabout
Carter’supbringingand
muchoftheshittinessit
contained,becausehe
detailsit inhisnewauto-
biography,DeadPeopleI HaveKnown.
Aboutthephysicalviolence;aboutthe
drinking;aboutthehidings;hisparents
splittingandthenewfather;thedepres-
sion;loathingschool;thesexualabuseon
thefamily’sfringes;thegrimcontoursof
lifeontheslopesofa working-class
Dunedinsuburb.
Punkrockrescuedhim.Withitsmes-
sageofkickingagainstthepricks,it gave
hima waytokickagainsthispast,and
alsogavehimsomekindofdirectionout
ofit all.
“Iwascompletelyripeforthepluck-
ing,”Cartersays.“Ithought,yeah,this
isfucked,andI wanttosingaboutit.I
wasliterallytryingtofinda waytocope
andsurvive,anddefiancewastheway
tosurvive.Anyartneedssomethingto
reactagainst,andI hadplentytoreact
against.”
Hisparentshadplayedandsungin
bands,sointhatrespectitwasonlya
smallstepforCartertogetonstage
himself.Hehadtheattitude,thelooks,
themoves.Butitwasneverrock-star
charadeswithCarter,becausehecould
write.Itwas1978,it waspunk,andbe-
ingshockingwasimportant,buteven
then,thereweremelodies,hooksand
smartlyrics.
Hehadbands:BoredGames(“These
kidslookedliketrouble.”Musichistori-
anJohnDix);TheDoublehappys(“Two
franticguitaristsanda retardeddrum
machine.”Dix);anda coupleofcollab-
orationsinfreezingDunedinflats.Then
thegroupthatlaunchedCartertoa wid-
erworld,StraitjacketFits(“Sounded
great,lookedgreattoo.Geektochic
ratiospoton.”MusicwriterGrant
Smithies).Thegreatestguitarbandin
theworld,MelodyMakerdubbedthem.
Theygotsignedtoa biglabel,toured
AmericaandEurope,gotamazingpress,
andwroteblisteringsongs.Butthen,
becausethisisrock’n’roll,itallwent
weirdandsortofwithered.
Carter,bynowinAuckland,wentqui-
etandemergedwherenobodyreally
suspected,withthesparsegroovesand
electronicsofDimmer,whichlasted
until 2012 – thena piano-basedalbum,
Offsider. Whenhismotherdiedin2015,
heshiftedbacktoDunedin.Theideaof
a book had been hovering, like a group-
Ripefortheplucking:Carterandhiscelebrated mullet
at theShe Speeds video shoot in 1987.JOHN COLLIE