Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Supergroove is a New Zealand funk rock music group. Their debut album Traction was released in 1994. The group disbanded in 1997 but reformed in 2007.
HistoryEdit
The band was founded on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, having previously been named the Low-Down Dirty Blues Band.<ref>Chunn, Mike and Chunn, Jeremy. The Mechanics of Popular Music, GP Publications, 1995, Template:ISBN.</ref>
Prior to Supergroove's second album Backspacer, singer Che Fu and trumpeter Tim Stewart were fired from the band.<ref name="chefired">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Solo careersEdit
Notable former members include Che Ness, aka Che Fu, now with a successful solo career, Paul Russell, who still studio drums with Che Fu. Two other ex-members, Tim Stewart (trumpet) and Ben Sciascia (guitar) formed a new band in late 2005 called Svelte<ref>[1] </ref> with Stewart on Lead vocals and Bass. Stewart went on to form Hopetoun Brown, a two-piece band, with fellow ex-Groover, Nick Atkinson - they released their first album in 2015 and also often appear together as the horn section for other performers including Tami Neilson, Dave Dobbyn and Don McGlashan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
ReunionsEdit
Supergroove continued in 2007 on a summer tour, playing alongside popular New Zealand bands such as Atlas, Elemeno P, The Feelers<ref>[2] </ref> and were one of the headline Kiwi acts of the Big Day Out 2008 in Auckland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band featured in the University of Otago's, the University of Canterbury's and the University of Waikato's 2008 orientation weeks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Supergroove played at the Groove in the Park 2010 festival held on New Zealand's Waitangi Day (6 February), at the Western Springs in Auckland. Supergroove also played at the Homegrown Festival in Wellington on 14 March 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Supergroove returned for another reunion tour in April 2025, featuring the original lineup (saxophonist Nick Atkinson, vocalists Karl Steven and Che Fu, drummer Ian Jones, bassist Joe Lonie, guitarist Ben Sciascia and trumpeter Tim Stewart). This tour started on 7 April 2025 in Rotorua and ended 27 April, with 14 shows in 9 venues. Apart from the main centres, they also had shows in Whanganui, Nelson, Invercargill and Havelock North. Troy Kingi, Rubi Du and DJ King Kapisi joined them, not so much as support as "intertwined" into the shows.<ref>https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/supergroove-the-phenomenon-tour-starts-with-two-shows-in-rotorua/IWYERWMEZNG25C7LZ3YHPFK72M/</ref> Support from the public was so strong that several extra nights had to be added.<ref>https://nzmusic.org.nz/music-industry-news/supergroove-the-phenomenon-tour-new-dates-added/</ref>
MembersEdit
Current
- Che Ness – vocals Template:Small<ref name="chefired" />
- Karl Steven – vocals, keyboards, harmonica Template:Small<ref name="sciasciaconz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Ben Sciascia – guitar Template:Small
- Joe Lonie – bass Template:Small
- Tim Stewart – trumpet Template:Small<ref name="allmusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Nick Atkinson – saxophone Template:Small, keyboards Template:Small<ref name="allmusic" />
- Ian Jones – drums Template:Small
Former
- Paul Russell – drums Template:Small
TimelineEdit
<timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:90 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:1990 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1990 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:sax value:yellow legend:Saxophone id:trumpet value:pink legend:Trumpet id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:harm value:lavender legend:Harmonica id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:ep value:gray(0.57) legend:Extended_play id:bestof value:gray(0.9) legend:Greatest_hits_compilation id:bars value:gray(0.97)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
LineData =
layer:back color:studio at:07/05/1994 at:09/13/1996
color:ep at:09/27/1994 at:06/19/1996
color:bestof at:11/06/2003
BarData =
bar:Che text:"Che Ness" bar:Karl text:"Karl Steven" bar:Ben text:"Ben Sciascia" bar:Joe text:"Joe Lonie" bar:Tim text:"Tim Stewart" bar:Nick text:"Nick Atkinson" bar:Paul text:"Paul Russell" bar:Ian text:"Ian Jones"
PlotData =
width:13 bar:Che from:start till:06/06/1995 color:vocals bar:Che from:01/01/2007 till:end color:vocals bar:Karl from:start till:01/01/1997 color:vocals bar:Karl from:start till:01/01/1997 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Karl from:start till:01/01/1997 color:harm width:7 bar:Karl from:01/01/2007 till:end color:vocals bar:Karl from:01/01/2007 till:end color:keyboards width:3 bar:Karl from:01/01/2007 till:end color:harm width:7 bar:Ben from:start till:01/01/1997 color:guitar bar:Ben from:01/01/2007 till:end color:guitar bar:Joe from:start till:01/01/1997 color:bass bar:Joe from:01/01/2007 till:end color:bass bar:Tim from:start till:06/06/1995 color:trumpet bar:Tim from:01/01/2007 till:end color:trumpet bar:Nick from:start till:06/06/1995 color:sax bar:Nick from:06/06/1995 till:01/01/1997 color:keyboards bar:Nick from:01/01/2007 till:end color:sax bar:Paul from:start till:08/05/1994 color:drums bar:Ian from:08/05/1994 till:01/01/1997 color:drums bar:Ian from:01/01/2007 till:end color:drums
</timeline>
DiscographyEdit
AlbumsEdit
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ <ref name=nz>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
AUS <ref name="aus">Australian (ARIA) chart peaks"
|
CitationClass=web
}}
|
CitationClass=web
}} N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.</ref> |
| 1994 | Traction
|
1 | 46 |
|
| 1996 | Backspacer
|
2 | — |
|
| 2003 | Postage
|
10 | — | |
EPsEdit
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ <ref name=nz/> | ||||
| citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Tractor | 2 |
|
| 1996 | GreatMixes
|
34 |
SinglesEdit
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ <ref name=nz/> |
AUS <ref name=aus/> | ||||
| 1992 | "Here Comes The Supergroove" | 21 | — | Non-album single | |
| 1993 | "You Gotta Know" | 4 | 57 | Traction | |
| "Scorpio Girls" | 3 | — |
| ||
| 1994 | "Can't Get Enough" | 1 | 32 |
| |
| "Sitting Inside My Head" | 6 | — |
| ||
| 1996 | "If I Had My Way" | 7 | — | Backspacer | |
| "5th Wheel" | — | — | |||
| 2003 | "For Whatever Remix" | — | — | Postage | |
AwardsEdit
New Zealand Music AwardsEdit
Template:Awards table ! Ref |- | align="center" | 1994 | Malcolm Welsford – "You Gotta Know" | Best Engineer | Template:Nom | align="center" | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | align="center" rowspan="6" | 1995 | Traction | Album of the Year | Template:Won | align="center" rowspan="6" | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | "Can't Get Enough" | Single of the Year | Template:Nom |- | Supergroove | Best Group | Template:Won |- | Jo Fischer and Matt Noonan – "Can't Get Enough" | Best Video | Template:Won |- | Karl Steven & Malcolm Welsford – Traction | Best Producer | Template:Won |- | Malcolm Welsford – Traction | Best Engineer | Template:Won |- | align="center" rowspan="2" | 1996 | Supergroove | International Achievement | Template:Nom | rowspan="2" align="center" | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | Sigi Spath and Jo Fisher – "You Gotta Know" | Best Video | Template:Won |- | rowspan="3" align="center" | 1997 | Sigi Spath and Joe Lonie – "If I Had My Way" | Best Video | Template:Won | align="center" rowspan="3" | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | Malcolm Welsford and Karl Steven – Backspacer | Best Producer | Template:Won |- | Malcolm Welsford – Backspacer | Best Engineer | Template:Nom |- | align="center" | 2014 | Supergroove | Legacy Award | Template:Yes2 | align="center" | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |}