The Exponents - Give It A Whirl Interview

Interview – 2023

The Exponents (formerly The Dance Exponents) are one of New Zealand's most beloved live bands. Their long line of hits includes 'Victoria' and 'I'll Say Goodbye' and 'Why Does Love Do this to Me?'.

In this interview, recorded for 2003 TV series Give It A Whirl, (left to right) band members Brian Jones, David Gent, and Jordan Luck cover many topics, including:

Self-management versus external management
Hard times: cold Dunedin housing, getting stranded in the Aussie mountains, and a riot in Napier (1 minute in)
Making a living off live gigs, brotherhood and pranks (4 minutes in)
The pros and cons of moving to Australia (10 minutes)
Touring with Christchurch band The Wastrels and writing 'I'll Say Goodbye', song names from Aotearoa (12 minutes)
Rediscovering success in the United Kingdom (14 minutes)
The Dunedin music scene and their favourite local bands (15 minutes)
Band worries about the 'Victoria' music video (18 minutes)
Happy memories of significant performances (19 minutes)

Read more about The Exponents, on AudioCulture (NZ On Screen's sister website)

This interview was recorded for the 2003 season of TV series Give it a Whirl. All audiovisual content is copyright to Visionary Film & TV, and may not be reproduced.

The live thing was the main thing then. We sort of rushed in and did the records, and didn’t really pay much attention — I mean, we should’ve probably paid more attention, especially at the start. But we were just having fun playing. Brian: Actually, those are the best ones, though.
– Bass player David Gent, early in this interview