“We were called Service 42 after the local bus route in Mt Wellington,” says Goodison. “We played our first gig in Third Form [Year Nine] and by age 15 we were playing places like the University Café. Jamie Vodanovich was the second guitarist in Service 42, Ross Gardener was on bass, and Chris Kemp was the drummer. Later, Jamie and Chris were both in All Torn Up, Swampland, and the first incarnation of Labretta Suede and the Motel 6.”
The Alternative Metal Years
Near the end of high school, Goodison connected with bass player Simon Nicholls, who’d arrived after being expelled from Auckland Grammar School. They both loved punk, and found the same fast-paced energy in the new style of thrash metal, so with drummer Mark Queenin they formed AnigmA.
Goodison was the only one with a driver’s licence so he did the driving. They gained a manager, Steve Watson, who suggested they add singer Geoff Wright (host of the Hard, Fast, and Heavy show on bFM), so Goodison could focus on playing guitar.
AnigmA started six months before Shihad, and were the established thrash metal act on the scene when Metallica needed a local support act for their New Zealand tour. By this stage, AnigmA had added a second guitarist, Peter Hay. He turned up late to their last practice before the big show, but had a good excuse – he arrived with Metallica’s soundman Big Mick with him, whom he’d befriended at a pub, as a fellow Englishman. They invited Mick to join them at Wildlife nightclub the night before the show.
“Mick said, ‘I'll bring a couple of guys along.’ I thought he just meant the crew,” says Goodison. “He turned up with Jason Newsted and James Hetfield. They sat either side of me in the booth. I was still underage and it felt so cool being there with them. James was so down to earth. He called over their tour manager, then the next thing the whole table was filled up with beers for us to drink.”
The AnigmA set went well the following night, with Big Mick mixing their set for free and Goodison was chuffed to see Jason Newsted headbanging side of stage to their cover of ‘Black Magic’ by Slayer.
AnigmA lasted long enough to release a six-song cassette, World of Fear (1989), but were stymied by a run of departures. Geoff Wright left for the UK first, leaving Goodison to cover vocals and guitar duties, then their manager Steve Watson also moved to the UK.
Goodison was increasingly feeling put off by the competitive nature of the metal scene, which was all about who could do the flashiest guitar solo. He and Nicholls were more excited about alternative bands, such as Jane’s Addiction, The Pixies, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The pair formed a new group, Rumblefish, with Goodison focusing on singing, while the guitar playing was done by Colin Belfit from LA-style glam rock act, Nine Livez. Drum duties were handled by Mike Preveziotis from metal band Circus. Nicholls retained his knack for precise double-strumming on a single string, and added an aggressive slapping style that pushed them in the direction of funk-metal.
Rumblefish were picked up by Wildside Records and did a cover of Grace Jones’ ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’, with the majority of recording sessions at Airforce Studios and some pick-ups done at Mountain Studios (owned by AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd). The single only made No.34 in the New Zealand chart, but it hung around for 10 weeks.
Rumblefish scored a support slot for band-of-the-moment Jane’s Addiction
Rumblefish scored a two-night support slot for band-of-the-moment Jane’s Addiction at the Auckland Town Hall. They also joined Anthrax at the same venue, but Goodison found that having a gig near Guy Fawkes night caused problems.
“Someone in the crowd threw a string of double happies onstage and it landed on our drummer's back. They stuck to his sweaty back and exploded. Our guitarist Colin had a Marshall amp with a standard cabinet, but he borrowed my four-by-four cabinet to make a little stack. The trouble was the amp no longer had a matching ohmage to the speaker set-up, and instead it was put under way too much stress and died after about four songs. Though it probably worked for the best because the fireworks kept being thrown and Anthrax ended up finishing early.”
Rumblefish gained further profile through doing a cover of ‘Be Mine Tonight’ by Th’ Dudes for an L&P television ad.
Studio costs were high and there was a limited career path for a local alternative group, so they took the cheaper option of releasing a live album, Freak Dog Live (1992), which included covers of ‘Turn Me Loose, I'm Dr. Feelgood’ (James Brown) and ‘Fight For Your Right’ (Beastie Boys). The group was already on its last legs by this stage and broke up soon afterward.
Goodison and Nicholls reconnected with AnigmA bandmate Mark Queenin and added singer Carlos Walburg (ex-My World Crazy) to form Culture Stone. Goodison enjoyed the opportunity to focus back on guitar playing, and their track ‘Mexican Walking Fish’ was included on the Wildside compilation Raw 1 (1995). However, they were a short-lived group and Goodison already had a reliable career doing offset printing, so he let music take a back seat for a few years.
Gun For Hire
Goodison didn’t set out to be a session player, but his willingness to put up his hand when he saw a gap he could fill drew him in this direction. His neighbour on First Ave in Kingsland was Earl Robertson, who’d recently been playing drums in The Chills. Robertson struck up a conversation after seeing Goodison in a Bad Brains T-shirt.
Robertson played in the Peter Stuyvesant Hit List, which specialised in lounge music covers. Goodison was impressed by the hilarious stage persona of singer Chris Anderton and riffing of guitarist Dave “Davey Beige” Bishop. The low-end was filled out by the skilful playing of keyboardist Dominic Blaazer, but Goodison suggested they needed a bass player and auditioned for the role (playing Robertson’s bass plugged into his Marshall guitar amp).
Goodison was rechristened “Sweet Baby Dave” and slotted into their hectic playing schedule, which included many weddings and private parties. In 1998 they released a full self-titled album of originals under a less litigious name, The Hit List.
Just as The Hit List was fading out, Goodison found a new opportunity. Garageland had returned from the UK without their guitarist Andrew Claridge and Goodison was excited to take his place.
“I felt like they were the first professional band I joined. They’d put out multiple albums through Flying Nun and they took it seriously. I joined ahead of the Scorpio Righting album and soon after I went with Jeremy on a seven-week promo tour through the US, doing acoustic versions of the songs.”
Goodison admired Jeremy Eade’s songwriting, so enjoyed the opportunity to write together, which included bringing the central ideas for ‘Get Some’ and ‘Shine’ as well as contributing parts to the singles ‘Gone’ and ‘Who The Hell Do You Think You Are?’ Goodison had begun studying at MAINZ, and found he could bring this knowledge to the studio; he was given the opportunity to write horn and string arrangements.
Garageland was just coming to an end when Goodison was asked to add a guitar solo to the debut single by singer Carly Binding, who wanted to adopt a rock edge to distance herself from her time in manufactured pop group TrueBliss. The track ‘Alright With Me (Taking It Easy)’ reached the Top 10 then Goodison contributed to her subsequent album and its followup, So Radiate, and toured as part of her live band.
Goodison shared a studio space with experienced producer Simon Holloway, which led to the opportunity to help record some rock-orientated tracks for the eventual winner of the first series of NZ Idol (with the album completed by a set of hip hop/R’n’B style tracks supplied by John Chong-Nee). This led to Goodison appearing on Ben Lummis’s No.1 single ‘They Can’t Take That Away’ alongside two of New Zealand’s other regular musical stalwarts, keyboardist Godfrey de Grut and drummer Wayne Bell. It became the title track of Lummis’s album, which also hit the top of the charts.
He was also the guitarist on Dane Rumble’s first album, including on the No.1 single ‘Cruel’ Goodison did soundtrack work too, contributing music to the film I’ll Make You Happy and the documentary Squeegee Bandit.
Goodison was gaining a reputation as a guitarist who was reliable and energetic
Goodison was gaining a reputation as a guitarist who was reliable and energetic as a live performer, but who could also supply a bit of fancy fretwork when required. It was no surprise to find him popping up on a Strawpeople album (Count Backwards from Ten, 2004) or touring as a sideman for Che Fu and Boh Runga (including a combined tour she did with Greg Johnson, where they shared a backing band).
He also reconnected with his first love, punk rock. He first saw singer Matt Rew fronting the band Slambodia at Auckland venue Rocks In The Attic/POD. Rew was hard to miss: he had a two-foot tall mohawk at the time. Goodison later met Rew again through his flatmates and found the pair shared a love of cricket, spending a carefree night with a bottle of vodka and a PlayStation loaded up with the Shane Warne cricket game. It wasn’t long before they were playing in the same cricket team in real life, as well.
One summer Goodison and his then-girlfriend decided to hold a party at Te Henga Bethells Beach, with instruments set up for attendees to jam on. Goodison slotted into an impromptu group with Nicholls on bass, Robertson on drums, and Rew on vocals. After knocking out some enjoyable renditions of numbers by the Sex Pistols and The Clash, they decided to form a group, City Newton Bombers. Goodison loved the spontaneity of the group.
“Half the time we never wrote a set list. I’d just started playing or Matt would yell something out. We supported the UK Subs and their singer Charlie Harper said we were one of the best bands he’d played with. He did an interview on bFM and just raved about us the whole time. He ran this touring circuit through Europe and he suggested we go over there to tour for a couple of months. It sounded amazing, but at that stage we couldn’t just pack up our lives and leave like that – some of us had kids. So we had to turn it down.”
In 2006 City Newton Bombers released a self-titled album before finally calling it quits two years later, though they have reformed multiple times in the years since. Goodison become the touring guitarist for Elemeno P for two years, after their guitarist Justyn Pilbrow moved to the US. He also toured with Andrew Fagan and the People to promote the album Admiral of the Narrow Seas (2011). Goodison seemed to be settling into the life of New Zealand’s go-to guitarist, but his life was about to be turned on its head.
Gin Wigmore’s righthand man
Goodison was overseas when was contacted by Brett Adams (The Mockers, The Bads) to see if he wanted to take Adams’ place as live guitarist for Gin Wigmore. Goodison leapt at the chance, arrived back home and immediately went into two days of rehearsals with Wigmore’s band of Australian musicians.
His first show with Wigmore was an appearance at the NZ Music Awards. The stage manager told him not to touch his gear between soundcheck and the performance, since they didn’t want noises interrupting the show’s hosts. When it came time to play, Goodison struck the first chord but was greeted with silence. He did his best to mime along, while he tracked back to his amp, finally discovering that the volume had been lowered to zero.
The subsequent tour had its own difficulties with Wigmore losing her voice and having to cancel multiple shows, much to the annoyance of her Australian band. Goodison was more sympathetic and when it came time for Wigmore to tour again, he found himself the only remaining band member. The show was accompanied by large scale visuals, so it required certain cues to be met; he was given the job of teaching these to the new, entirely-local line-up of the group.
After touring with Gin Wigmore, Goodison won a Green Card to work in the states
Then Goodison received some surprising news – he’d been successful in the Green Card lottery. He decided the chance to live in the United States was too good to pass up, so he apologetically quit Wigmore’s band and moved to New York, where he initially slept on Justyn Pilbrow’s couch.
A few months later, Goodison received a second surprise. “Gin messaged me and said, ‘Put together a band, I’m coming to the US’.”
Working through mutual acquaintances, Goodison signed up Joey Secchiaroli from The Reign of Kindo, then added the band’s drummer, Steven Padin aka “Tito”. They added a second guitarist, but six days out from a tour of Germany he suddenly quit, saying his Christian beliefs meant he had trouble with songs like ‘Devil In Me’. Goodison pushed back his flight by two days and hurriedly recruited a new guitarist.
Goodison thrived as Wigmore’s musical director and contributed parts to her 2015 album, Blood To Bone. His touring with Wigmore took him to six of the seven continents, including a performance in Antarctica in 2017, when Wigmore and Goodison were flown over to perform as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Scott Base. Goodison lists this alongside many other highlights.
“Touring Germany was definitely amazing. They love music there and they really support it with all their heart. Another time we did a tour supporting the band Train and they’d lined up all these famous rooms across the UK – the Hammersmith Apollo in London and the Ulster Hall in Belfast. Playing on US TV shows was also pretty amazing. We did Leno twice, Kimmel once, and appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Wigmore’s career carried on at full pace up until the release of Ivory (2018), after which her output slowed to occasional singles and a compilation, Rattle My Grave (2023). Goodison turned his attention to setting up his own studio, where he recorded some solo tracks and worked with bands such as Sleepers Union (the US version of the New Zealand band led by expat Mark Anderson, who was living in New Jersey at the time).
Eventually it was Goodison’s encouragement that got things rolling once more.
Goodison and Wigmore recorded in a studio surrounded by desert in Joshua Tree, California
“Gin had lost her interest in touring and wanted to work in one place so she could focus on her family. At one point, we had written a song together, but it was left sitting on the shelf. I had a recording on my iPhone, with her singing and the two of us playing it on piano and acoustic guitar. I thought it was too good a song to abandon, so I got one of those stem separating software programs and pulled out her singing. I produced a whole song around her vocal part, then I sent it to her as a present. She called me back straight away and said, ‘What the hell is this? This is great, we have to do it properly!’ We started talking and she sent me more songs, so we decided to record them with me producing.”
They booked time at Gatos Trail Studio in Joshua Tree, California, staying in accommodation nearby and soaking up the atmosphere of the surrounding desert. Goodison and Wigmore played most of the musical parts, and brought in her live drummer Tito, who also played piano and keyboards. Goodison thought they’d only manage a seven-track EP, but Wigmore kept bringing out more song ideas which they were able to flesh out, eventually creating a full 14-track album, releasing the first single ‘Country Diamond’ in April 2026.
By this stage, Goodison’s long and widely varied career had proved the value of always being the one in the room willing to put his hand up for any new project, especially since he usually had the skills to back it up. He might have spent much of his career to one side of a more well-known lead singer, but his impact on the local music scene has been immense.
