WMM 2026 Day 16 — The Beths

The Beths

I thought I was getting better but I’m back to where I started
— Elizabeth Stokes, from, “Straight Line Was A Lie

Jonathan Pearce talks about his Board to Death HERE

Benjamin Sinclair has a blog about what he had for breakfast HERE

Any final tips for beginners or anyone thinking about playing drums?

Set realistic practice goals and focus on being regular with practice more so than the volume of practice. Make friends with as many other musicians as you can, it’s never too early in your drumming career to start playing music with others!
— Tristan Deck, from interview at Melodics.com

The Beths are a New Zealand indie rock band.

Elizabeth Stokes – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (good interview with her at Under the Radar)
Jonathan Pearce – lead guitar, backing vocals (Vintage Guitar interview with him here)
Benjamin Sinclair – bass, backing vocals (Creative Culture podcast with him here)
Tristan Deck – drums, backing vocals, percussion (interview with him @ Melodics.com)

Band Formation
Elizabeth and Jonathan originally met in high school, and they met Benjamin and original drummer Ivan Luketina-Johnston when all four attended classes at the University of Auckland, studying jazz.

Prior to the Beths, Luketina-Johnston was performing swing under the moniker of Sal Valentine, where Stokes, Pearce and Sinclair were all part of his backing band, The Babyshakes, for various tenures.

The Beths formed in Auckland in late 2014 and released their first single “Idea/Intent” via SoundCloud in July 2015. Stokes said that she named the band using her own name, after being inspired by Gilmore Girls’ Lorelai Gilmore naming her daughter after herself. In March 2016, the band independently released their debut EP, Warm Blood. The EP spawned a single, “Whatever,” which was released with an accompanying music video in May 2016.

The Beths received financial support from the NZ on Air and NZ Music Commission. In September 2015, the band received money to make the single and video for “Whatever” from NZ on Air. In May 2016, NZ on Air funded a video for “Lying in the Sun.” Through their Outward Sound program, the NZ Music Commission funded three tours as part of their international music market development grants.

Discography and Videography
Studio albums = 4
Live albums = 1
EPs = 1
Singles = 22
Split singles = 1
Other charted songs = 10
Guest appearances = 3
Music videos = 18

artist’s official website

Source: wikipedia

24 Comments Add yours

  1. Carol anne's avatar Carol anne says:

    Never heard of this band but like what I’ve heard now so far! X

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

      CA, I’d heard of them and heard them but I learned some while researching. They are good, I agree!

      Like

  2. I really liked the first video, Lisa.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

      Happy you did. I like the energy of this group.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Aww Good stuff. I love this band with all my goofball enthusiasm worn on my chest. This is inside rock perfection

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

      Steve, I like what I’ve heard of them so far. Glad you are a big fan.

      Hey, on another matter, I see you’ve been writing up a storm. Not purposely ignoring you, just not enough time to read. I will be busy through April then plan on looking at what you’re writing. Promise. I hope you have some kind of index at your blog that makes it easy to navigate the stories (I see several going with parts, which is confusing to me.) Or just send me an email so I can navigate them — pretty please?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. A lot of that is stuff from @Shredbobted’s writing group A Writers Shindig. So the multi part stuff is not all mine (we’re on Teds story at the moment, there are six writers involved over all. All very different. All very talented. Well… and then there’s me) but if you go to my front page SteveForTheDeaf.WordPress.com and scroll down you can see lots of one shot bits from me. Annnnd. Oh yeah. I’m three chapters into a new novel called Car Trouble.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

          OK good. That helps me bigtime. Question: are you going to continue your story about the group the person joins that has the killer equipment to fight against …. ? Sorry forgot the deets but I really enjoyed what I read.

          Yes on a new novel!!!!!!!

          Question: will your “A Writers Shindig” be publishing in hard or e-copy beyond the blogs?

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Do you mean The Suffolk County Council Raygun Department?

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

              Yes! I love that story!

              Liked by 1 person

              1. Oh thank you so much. I had a lot of fun writing it and when I was writing it, I had in my head that it was like writing the pilot episode of a TV show. It’s actually based on a real event that a friend and I once witnessed coming back terribly late on a drive home from Scotland. We turned into a side street in the town where we lived. And we confronted with something some large piece of municipal equipment on the back of a flatbed and we both cracked up laughing because we both thought it looked like a 1950s Raygun. To this day for the life of me, I can’t imagine what it really was.

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

                  Omigosh, Steve. I’m glad it was the seed for a story. Would you care to say what the new book is about?

                  Liked by 1 person

                  1. It’s about a man who loses almost everything and buys a broken down old car… then falls into an obsession

                    Liked by 1 person

                    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

                      Sounds gritty, but it will depend on the obsession. All kinda things can be found at the rock bottom… Looking forward to it.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    2. It’s mostly about listening to the radio. It’s a comedy

                      Liked by 1 person

                    3. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

                      After reading that I just finished chapter 1. Hella good!

                      Liked by 1 person

  4. I love this band…I posted them a few years ago and got the best reponses…Expert in a Dying Field is the one I posted…clever written song.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

      Max, I think I remember when you posted on them. I think Liam is a big fan of their music. They are good!

      Hope you are enjoying your week. I’m working through some bad news, plus we have several inches of snow on the ground again.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Yes they are! Sorry about the news… I can’t believe…well I should were you live…that you got more snow. We have been very very cold here in the past few days…but no snow or sleet.

        Liked by 2 people

  5. memadtwo's avatar memadtwo says:

    Nice pop sound. They remind me a bit of Fountains of Wayne. (K)

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar Lisa or Li says:

      K, I can def hear FoW in their music also.

      Liked by 2 people

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