Thela

Thela began in early 1992 when Dean Roberts and Dion Workman started playing together and coalesced as a band when they met Paul Douglas (later aka Rosy Parlane) in September of that year. Thela sprung to prominence in 1995 from the then‐burgeoning Auckland, New Zealand free‐music scene; Their discography up to that time consisting of just three extremely limited, self-released recordings: a s/t cassette [approx. 50 copies], a s/t 12" Peter King lathe [??? # of copies], followed by a s/t triple 8" Peter King lathe [20 copies] released on the Crawlspace label. These recordings were made by Dean Roberts and Dion Workman, both on guitar. In 1995, after unsuccessfully persuding Forced Exposure's Jimmy Johnson to distribute their lathes, Thurston Moore contacted the band about releasing a CD on his Ecstatic Peace! imprint after hearing their 12" and a cassette sent to Lee Ranaldo from the band. There was an American tour in early 1996 supporting the Thurston Moore/Tom Surgal duo, during which they recorded their second (and final) album. Friction between members began to develop, and on return to New Zealand, Thela unofficially disbanded.