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Opshop
Opshop at the TechFest, Auckland in 2008
Background information
Origin	Auckland, New Zealand
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Music
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Siren Records
Members
Jason Kerrison Bobby Kennedy Matt Treacy Clint Harris
Past members
Tim Skedden Ian Munro

Opshop is a New Zealand rock band formed in 2002. Their first album, You Are Here was released in 2004. Their second album, Second Hand Planet was released in 2007 and received Triple Platinum certification. It produced the successful single, One Day. Their third album, Until The End Of Time was released in 2010 and debuted at number one on the New Zealand Album Charts.

History[link]

Opshop was formed by Invercargill born, Christchurch raised, singer/songwriter Jason Kerrison. He based himself in Auckland, writing music while at a residency in a backpacker's bar in Auckland.

Growing tired of the solo shows, he invited guitarist and old school friend, Tim Skedden to join him and share the acoustic vibe that the club and its punters had come to enjoy. In the following year, Kerrison met up with another old school mate and long time jamming drummer, Bobby Kennedy (also from Christchurch) and invited him to join the very young band. In the following few months, another long-term friend crossed Kerrison's path. The band's name was GST (Goldfish Shopping Trolley), but was soon changed to Opshop.

Guitarist Matt Treacy (yet another Cantabrian) was also living in Auckland and was soon to be a member of this emerging act. So with four members in place, jamming, interacting, along with plenty of nostalgia and catching up on the Christchurch days, the Opshop bandwagon was now rolling.

It was then that the band recruited a friend of Jason's that he had met while studying ethnomusicology at Auckland University. English born Ian Munro became Opshop's bass player.

Some of Opshop's success is thanks to the ZM radio station where during the winter of 2003, Opshop were the winners of Project NZM a competition designed to help small bands make it big. Project NZM helped Opshop with the release of their single Saturated by giving the song airplay on the ZM network.

As the band remained behind closed doors, a demo recording of their work found its way into the hands of Adrien de Croy and Tracy Magan, of the newly founded label Siren Records, who are also the record label of Goldenhorse, who liked the band's music.

Siren then offered Opshop an opportunity to record some of their material at York Street Studios in a 'live' demo session. The following night, Opshop played their first ever gig alongside Che-Fu and Ted Clarke at the then Leftfield Bar on the Viaduct in Auckland.

In the weeks that followed, Siren approached Opshop with a deal that would provide both opportunity and artist integrity with the benefits of an independent label, alongside the distribution capabilities of major label Capitol/EMI.

They became a signed act and they continue to receive a good deal of support from NZ on Air and New Zealand's broadcasting community. Opshop finished their new album You Are Here in 2004 and have done many large concerts all over the country. Their first single "Nothing Can Wait" was recorded by Malcolm Welsford at York St Studios.

The single "No Ordinary Thing" did very well in the charts and made it on to Now That's What I Call Music Volume 16.

The Band went through some drastic changes that proved to be very challenging to deal with. Tim Skedden unfortunately had to leave the band due to family commitments and Ian Munro decided to head back home to his native Britain.

This left a void that was eventually filled by Bobby Kennedy's former band mate Clinton Harris on Bass guitar. Clint and Bobby first teamed up as part Christchurch's Hornby High School rock band called Outer Control. The lead singer of this band was Pearl Runga (sister to Boh Runga and Bic Runga). Outer Control was the first ever winner of the New Zealand National High School Rock Quest competition. Bobby and Clint carried on together on the Christchurch Music scene in another band called Gorilla Biscuit with Jason Kerrison singing lead vocals.

Jason Kerrison, the singer, auditioned for Rock Star Supernova but even though he impressed, he wasn't selected for the finals. At the auditions, he was talking to Tommy Lee, who was saying that he loves Snow Patrol, which inspired Jason when making Second Hand Planet (He said this during an interview with The Rock radio station). Coincidentally, Opshop supported Snow Patrol in September 2007 for their 2 New Zealand shows.

With the single "Maybe", they are the first New Zealand band to go to the #1 position on iTunes New Zealand in its history. Beating out Mika, Regina Spektor, Avril Lavigne, Beyoncé & Shakira, The Fray, Silverchair, Fall Out Boy, Justin Timberlake and Snow Patrol. "Maybe" is the first single off the album Second Hand Planet, released in April 2007.

When they were on tour with Luke Thompson in New Zealand in 2008, they came up with a song for each place they visited on the day of the concert. In Auckland, they forgot the words to it and made it up on the spot.

Opshop have been voted New Zealand's favourite band according to readers of the EDC magazine. The poll was conducted on the 19th April, 2010. Two days after they released their newest single "Pins and Needles" which was released 17 April 2010.

Opshop's latest album was released in August, 2010, and is called 'Until the End of Time.'

In 2011, Kerrison was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to music.^[1]

Discography[link]

Featured appearances[link]

The group have appeared on a few compilations since 2002. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by the Opshop.

• (2004) - State Of The Nation: Fresh New Zealand Rock (EMI) - "No Ordinary Thing"
• (2005) - Broken Dreams (Warner Strategic Marketing) - "No Ordinary Thing"
• (2005) - Lazy Sunday 5 (EMI) - "No Ordinary Thing"
• (2005) - Now That's What I Call Music 16 (EMI) - "No Ordinary Thing"
• (2007) - Now That's What I Call Music 24 (EMI) - "Maybe"
• (2007) - Outrageous Fortune Westside Rules (WM New Zealand) - "No Ordinary Thing"
• (2009) - Merry Christmas Baby (Plunket/Rhythmethod) - "No Room, No View (Only You)"

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• OPSHOP artist website

Brendon Hartley
Brendon Hartley at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1989-11-10) 10 November 1989 (age 22) Palmerston North (NZ)
2012 GP2 Series
Debut season	2010
Current team	Ocean Racing Technology
Car no.	24
Former teams	Scuderia Coloni
Starts	12
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	19th in 2011
Previous series
2009–11 2008–09 2008 2007 2006–07 2006 2005–06 2003–04 2002–03	Formula Renault 3.5 Series Formula 3 Euro Series British Formula Three Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Toyota Racing Series Formula Ford New Zealand Formula First New Zealand
Championship titles
2007	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989 in Palmerston North) is a New Zealander race car driver.

Career[link]

Hartley won the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship in 2007.

Hartley driving for Carlin Motorsport at the Croft round of the 2008 British Formula Three season.

Hartley driving for Tech 1 Racing at the Silverstone round of the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.

Hartley driving for Ocean Racing Technology at the Monza round of the 2011 GP2 Series season.

Hartley was born in a family well integrated within motorsport. His father, Bryan, had raced in many forms of motorsport, most notably Formula Atlantic. At the age of six, Hartley began his motor racing career in kart racing, following his brother, Nelson's footsteps. Six years later, the young New Zealander competed in his first full–scale race championship, competing in the Formula First category. Up against many seasoned veterans, Hartley finished the season in seventh. In 2003, the thirteen year old got his first major break as he won that year's New Zealand Formula Ford Festival which resulted in him getting a drive for the following year's Formula Ford championship. In a car his brother used the previous year, he started four races and won two of them.

After a season in Formula Toyota New Zealand, Hartley moved to Europe, competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (NEC). The New Zealander finished 14th and 10th in the Drivers' Championship in the Eurocup and North European Cup respectively, taking a podium position at Anderstorp in the latter. His second year in Formula Renault saw him stay in the Eurocup, but move from the NEC to the Italian championship. That year saw him take three wins in the Eurocup and three podiums in the Italian championship, and took championship title in the Eurocup. In 2007 Hartley also made his Formula Three debut in the Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder event. He finished an incredibly respectable 4th. This resulted in a test with A1 Team New Zealand and the role of the rookie driver for the series.

In 2008, Hartley competed in the British Formula Three Championship for Carlin Motorsport winning five times and eventually finished the championship in third. He would have placed higher up, due to a greater amount of retirements compared to that of his team-mates Jaime Alguersuari and Oliver Turvey. They had two each, while Hartley had six. He also competed in eight races in the Formula Three Euroseries for Carlin and RC Motorsport, and achieved two finishes in the points, although he was ineligible for points. In non-championship races, Hartley finished fifth at the Masters of Formula 3, and a sensational drive at the Macau Grand Prix to finish third, after crashing in the qualification race. He started 20th on the grid and recorded the fastest race lap. He stayed with Carlin for the full F3 Euroseries in 2009,^[1] finishing eleventh despite missing two rounds due to Formula Renault 3.5 Series commitments. In that series, Hartley competed for the defending champion Tech 1 Racing team,^[2] and ended fifteenth in the championship.

He has been confirmed at Tech 1 for a full season of Formula Renault 3.5 in 2010, where he was partnered by Australian and fellow Red Bull Junior driver, Daniel Ricciardo. During the series' summer break it was announced that Hartley had been dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team.^[3] His seat was taken by British Formula Three championship leader Jean-Éric Vergne.

Despite the loss of his Red Bull backing, Hartley made his GP2 Series début at Monza in September, replacing Vladimir Arabadzhiev at the Coloni team.^[4] He scored a point in the season finale at Yas Marina to place 27th in the championship.

For 2011, Hartley returned to Formula Renault 3.5, driving alongside Jan Charouz for the Gravity–Charouz Racing team. He also returned to GP2 for the eighth round of the series at Spa-Francorchamps, replacing Kevin Mirocha and driving alongside Johnny Cecotto, Jr. in the Ocean Racing Technology team, for whom he had tested before the start of the season.^[5] He finished in fifth place in his first race with the team, and 19th in the overall championship.

Hartley began the 2012 season without a drive, but returned to Ocean for the second round of the championship in Bahrain in place of Jon Lancaster.^[6] After the two rounds in Bahrain, he was in turn replaced by Víctor Guerin.^[7]

Formula One[link]

In February 2008, aged 18, Hartley got his first taste of Formula One. He was invited to perform a show run for Red Bull Racing in Riyadh. From here he performed the initial three-day shake-down test for Scuderia Toro Rosso's 2008 spec car, the STR3.

In November 2008, it was announced he would be providing cover for Mark Webber, who had broken his leg in a cycling accident, by performing testing duties alongside permanent test driver Sébastien Buemi for Red Bull in the 2008 RB4 F1 car.^[8]

For the 2009 season, Hartley was appointed as official reserve driver for both the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso teams.^[9]

However, unable to get his mandatory superlicence approved until April 2009, he was replaced in this role by retired F1 driver David Coulthard for the first races in Melbourne and Sepang.^[10] Hartley made his debut as reserve and test driver at the Spanish Grand Prix on 8 May. He is the first New Zealander to achieve F1 driver status since Mike Thackwell in 1984.^[11] He was replaced in the role by fellow Red Bull Junior driver Jaime Alguersuari for the second half of the season.^[12] However Hartley didn't return to the reserve driver role with Red Bull and Toro Rosso following Jaime Alguersuari's promotion to a race seat, preferring to focus on his F3 and Renault World Series season. David Coulthard again took over the role.

For the 2010 season, Hartley was again appointed official reserve driver for both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. He shared the reserve driver duties with his Formula Renault 3.5 team-mate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo. The two drivers shared the duties on a race-by-race basis until round six of the championship.^[13] Following this race, Hartley's support from Red Bull was dropped, based on the fact he had not won a race in his season and a half in the championship.

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

* Season in progress.
† – Hartley was ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season in progress.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brendon Hartley

New Zealand portal

• Brendon Hartley official website