Gestalt Switch

"The city of Dunedin was settled by Scots, so the streets are laid out almost identically to those in Edinburgh. It was also settled by the separated-at-birth siblings of the Killers. If you can't get enough of them, get to Dunedin and you can get Gestalt Switch. It's not that blatant, as someone in the band clearly listened to Bob Stinson as much as Television, but there's a neo New Wave via post-punk vibe in this one that might just be irreducible to its parts." - Austin Chronicle

It was also settled by the separated-at-birth siblings of the Killers. If you can't get enough of them, get to Dunedin and you can get Gestalt Switch. It's not that blatant, as someone in the band clearly listened to Bob Stinson as much as Television, but there's a neo New Wave via post-punk vibe in this one that might just be irreducible to its parts." - Austin Chronicle

Fighting the good fight, battling the demons of short attention spans and chronic indifference, Gestalt Switch is a rock band with heart, equipped with a sword rated Ogre +8.

Formed in 2003, Gestalt Switch has released two EPs on their very own: 2003's Low and 2005's Nothing. "Nothing Has Changed", the first track on Nothing has received ridiculous amounts of bNet airplay, has featured on the weather on Nightline, and has received a NZ On Air Video Grant.

All this from a song that never grew up.

Gestalt Switch has played with acts like The Violent Femmes, Straitjacket Fits, Goodshirt, Die! Die! Die!, Operation Rolling Thunder and Pan Am. They played at the Big Day Out 2006, appeared on TV2's National Anthem music marathon, and have even served as the house band when Sports Cafe came to Dunedin (NB: the Sports Cafe dancers didn't like us very much).

This from a band who couldn't get a support slot for Prehensile Foot.

They've undergone two national tours, several South Island mini-tours, hundreds of Dunedin very-mini-tours, and have played in Invercargill twice. Gestalt Switch was invited to SXSW 2006 in Austin, Texas, but forgot to have enough money to go.

This from a band that finally got their own practice room in February 2006.

Ashley, Blair, Rachael and Sam take their influences from the Dunedin winter smell, fingerless gloves, bands like No Idea Monkey Monkey and Isaac and the Freebies, and Playstation RPGs.

All this from a band that just wants a hug.

The band:
Ashley Hinton - vocals, pop-culture references
Blair McPhee - angles
Rachael Botur - groove
Sam Brookland - loud(ness)