Edmund Cake is the musical solo project of Edmund McWilliams, an
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. Formerly of
Bressa Creeting Cake in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the band in 1997 he released the 2004 solo album ''
Downtown Puff'' on
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
. In 2009 he released another album with the band Pie Warmer.
Early years
Edmund McWilliams was born and raised in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand, where he attended school.
From a young age he was interested in music and recording, at one point modifying his father's "prized
Pye radiogram" by disabling the turntable, all so he could turn it into an amplifier for a new keyboard.
Music career
Bressa Creeting Cake
Bressa Creeting Cake, a New Zealand rock band originally named Breast Secreting Cake, formed in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
around 1991 around the nucleus of Cake and his school-mates Geoff Maddock and Joel Wilton. They played together on songs while at school, but the first line up to gig and release music included Dave Neilsen.
The band's first recordings were made by McWilliams on four tracks and Ed and Dave at a 16-track studio the band was lent. A few of these songs were being played on local college radio station
bFM by 1994.
They played live irregularly, often in monk costumes. At the request of Flying Nun Records' parent company
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...
, the band changed its name to Bressa Creeting Cake. McWilliams, Maddock and Wilton each took on a part of that name as their own stage name.
By the time the band recorded its first
EP and album in 1996/7 Dave Neilsen had left and the record was made by the original three members only.
The self-titled debut LP
was produced by Edmund Cake and engineered by Edmund and Joe.
It was called "one terrific bizarro-pop album" by ''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
''.
Through this period the band played live rarely.
By 1999, the band had ended, with Maddock and Wilton playing in
Goldenhorse
Goldenhorse is a pop and folk-pop band from New Zealand. The group was formed in 1999 by lead vocalist Kirsten Morrell and guitarist Geoff Maddock, who brought in Joel Wilton and Ben King from other projects to found the initial lineup.
Go ...
.
Solo period
After the dissolution of the band, Cake went on to work as a solo artist under various monikers.
In the studio he collaborated with
Neil Finn
Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...
on the soundtrack to Christine Jeff's film ''
Rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
'',
also working on various other film and short film soundtracks. He also served as a sound designer for theatre projects.
;''Downtown Puff'' (2004)
In 2004 Cake released his solo album ''
Downtown Puff'' on the label
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
.
Much of the material on the album was devised while McWilliams was living in a third-floor studio space on Gore Street in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
's red-light district.
Although ''Downtown Puff'' was released as a solo project, it represents a multitude of musical collaborations, including
Anna Coddington
Anna Coddington (born 14 June 1981) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. She has released four albums. Her previous band 'Duchess', for whom Coddington was songwriter, singer and guitarist, also released a 6 track EP in 2005. In 2015, Coddington ...
as well as
Neil Finn
Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...
and
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...
. Two of the other collaborators were Geoff Maddock and Joel Wilton of
Bressa Creeting Cake.
''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
'' gave it 4/5 stars, calling it "an album that is as genuinely eccentric as it is truly inspired."
Pie Warmer
In summer of 2007 it was reported that Cake was in a new indie pop band, Pie Warmer.
The group had been assembled in 2005 after Cake was released from a mental health clinic in Auckland. It includes Cake on vocals, Jason Smith (keys), Tamasin Taylor (violin, vibraphone and vocals) and Cole Goodley (drums).
Their first album, ''The Fearsome Feeling,'' was released in 2009,
and was included in
Nick Bollinger's '100 essential New Zealand albums.'
As of 2009 Cake has been featured as musician, producer, or engineer on albums from Tim Guy,
Anika Moa
Anika Rose Moa (born 21 May 1980) is a New Zealand recording artist and television presenter. Her debut studio album ''Thinking Room'', was released in September 2001, which reached number one on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, New Z ...
,
Herriot Row
Herriot Row is the musical moniker of New Zealand songwriter Simon Comber who has also recorded and performed under his own name. The moniker references the street Heriot Row in Dunedin, which in turn references Heriot Row in Dunedin's counterpar ...
,
Don McGlashan
Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
,
Duchess
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...
,
The Brunettes
The Brunettes were an indie pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 and lasting until 2009. The group consisted of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and ...
,
The Chills
The Chills are a New Zealand indie rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band were fronted by founding mainstay singer-songwriter, guitarist Martin Phillipps (singer), Martin Phillipps (2 July 1963 – 28 July 2024). During the mid-1 ...
and Brand New Math.
Discography
Studio albums
*1997: ''Bressa Creeting Cake'' by
Bressa Creeting Cake
*2004: ''
Downtown Puff'' as Edmund Cake (
Lil' Chief Records
Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002 in music, 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a ...
)
*2009: ''The Fearsome Feeling'' by Pie Warmer
References
External links
Lil' Chief Records: Edmund CakeEdmund Cakeon MySpace
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cake, Edmund
Living people
Lil' Chief Records artists
Musicians from Auckland
1972 births
21st-century New Zealand male singers
20th-century New Zealand male singers