The Bilders

Bilders (or Builders) is a New Zealand music group of varying lineups that produced a string of self-recorded 7-inch vinyl releases between 1980 and 1982 leading to Beatin Hearts, the first studio-album from fledgling New Zealand independent record label 'Flying Nun Records'.

Known variously from pre-internet times as Die Bilder (German, for "The Pictures"), Bilderbergers, bilderine, Soluble Fish, Feast of Frogs, and High Thirties Piano, their alternative band names reflected a playfulness that challenged priority branding. The band does not maintain a steady profile. Months or years may pass without a performance, however 2018 was a prolific year for remastering and re-releases, with many live performances. New material of the spoken word and improvisation show Expendable Animals, however, was not recorded, unless on iPhones.

Labels such as Grapefruit Sophomore Lounge, Zelle Records (Austria), Unwucht (Germany), Grapefruit (USA), Siltbreeze (USA), Powertool (NZ) and SmartGuy (USA) have issued or reissued vinyl releases since 2010. Latest releases are a vinyl remaster of 1994 CD "Cut", vinyl remaster of 2008 CD Chrysanthemum Storm, vinyl reissue and remaster of the 1982 recorded LP Beatin Hearts, a 7-inch EP of new songs Measly (Grapefruit, USA), 'Cell Songs' (on a vinyl compilation by SmartGuy Records), participation in two compilations of music by Dunedin (New Zealand) bands based on poems by Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) with Zelle Records, a spoken word side project Ferocious on (Rattle Records, and the original soundtrack of the film Bill Direen, A Memory of Others released by Sophomore Lounge.

Early to mid-career Bilders' material was known for 'rough' music making (often live in the studio), and a lo-fi recording style that has produced "many genuine classic compositions". The 1985 song "The Alligator Song" gained a cult following on New Zealand student radio stations. More recent compositions have been attempting to integrate lyrical and musical processes into true collaborative shaping. The last albums (Grapefruit/Sophomore Lounge, 2024) present 32 new songs from two different groups. The new material overruns geographical or national boundaries, having members from Canada, USA and NZ.