Chipstorm


When Chris McCullough isn’t studying Communications at Massey in Wellington, reading comics, or generally being the nicest guy you will ever meet, he’s Old Grey Wolf. And when you put Old Grey Wolf on a stage, it all comes out in a storm of chiptune – a chipstorm, if you will. As far as inspiration goes, he draws from FuturNari, Never (Zach from Bang! Bang! Eche!), Fauxhound… the list of local chiptune influences go on long enough to deserve their own CPU. And if you’re not familiar with chiptune music, it might be worth hiring out an old video game – it’s basically the kind of music you’d expect to hear when you play all the old ’80s favourites. His Facebook page has it down: “Members: Chris McCullough + Gameboy.” Some will be tempted to brush it all off as gimmicks and cheap nostalgic laughs – but thankfully, Old Grey Wolf doesn’t give a shit.

The pigeonhole is only 8 bits wide, but Chris engineers his way (mod chips and all) onto a dancefloor which itches even the most firmly planted of feet in Wellington. It’s a wonder how his reserved demeanour and his outrageous stage presence manage to co-exist while contradicting each other to the fullest. You’ll realise this by the way Old Grey Wolf unashamedly dances to his own music and pounces into the crowd without any second thought. Nothing like mild-mannered Chris McCullough. It’s just one guy on a stage, thriving on audience connection – getting up there and ripping apart every social defense mechanism in the room… and usually, no matter how empty the show is, people will move. One of his best memories is when, “I was doing a cover of Eagle Eye Cherry’s ‘Save Tonight‘ and there was a guy in front of me who looked like he was singing along, so I handed him the mic and he just busted out some mad screamo screams, it was the best thing I’ve ever seen/heard!” His songs call on a sentimental cry that fittingly compliment his on-stage fearlessness: “I hate/ How all we do is die”.

Old Grey Wolf- OK!: MP3

Old Grey Wolf- Starfriend: MP3

Old Grey Wolf- Myspace

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under New Zealand, Wellington
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