New Zealand 1990s rock stalwarts, Shihad, are hard at work again. Two years have passed since the release of the band’s last album – the politically charged, Love is the New Hate. There’s been the odd tour, with Shihad supporting the likes of the Datsuns and Evanescence. But it has left fans wondering whether there will be any new material. Bassist Karl Kippenberger gives Fasterlouder the inside word.

“We are looking at going into the studio around July.” Kippenberger confesses. “Our drummer Tom has a studio and we have been locked up in there writing songs and doing pre-production. Hopefully by the end of the year, the record will be out.”

Beautiful Machine is tipped to be the album’s title. Taken from a song of the same name, Beautiful Machine is optimistic. It lacks the anti-war undertones of Shihad’s post-September 11 work. Kippenberger compares the band’s latest effort to its previous release.

“_Love is the New Hate_ was definitely an angry record. I think that Jonny has got a lot of that out of his system! I think he’s trying to be more optimistic with this record. There’s always been a political theme going on throughout our records, whether it’s been a bit subliminal or not. You can’t not be affected by what’s happening around us – especially in these times.”

Beautiful Machine has taken a melodic turn. Experimentation with keyboards has seen the band move away from its classic guitar heaviness. Kippenberger attributes the shift in sound, to a more relaxed attitude and Phil’s ‘freaky loops’.

“I think with Love is the New Hate, we were on a mission to arm ourselves with an arsenal of riffs to play live. We wanted it to be heavy… We’ve been telling Phil to leave his guitar at home and bring a keyboard in. We had a week where we called it ‘Phil’s Freaky Loops’! He came into the studio with a bunch of loops that he’d done at home and we played along with them… It was just a different way to inspire a song. The classic Shihad way is to start with a guitar riff and move on from there. This time around, we’ve been trying to come from different places. It’s been fun.”

As the band’s inherent graphic designer, Karl has been searching urban landscapes for ideas. The New York Stock Exchange may seem an unlikely source of inspiration. But awestruck by the financial district’s statues, the impression they left on him is creeping into the album art.

“There’s something quite amazing I find in the things that have been moulded out of… bronze or something else. There’s something I find quite awesome about that. A huge animal or a person who has died, can live on in a great statue. I’ve got about six ideas at the moment. It will be more of a focus when we start recording and after I do my bass tracks. Once I’ve done my tracks, I’ll spend most of my time behind a computer. Doing the artwork while the record is being made, you get a closer theme going on with the visuals.”

With Shihad approaching its 20th anniversary, the band has witnessed the rise of the internet and MySpace generation. Kippenberger reflects on the media that left the music industry reeling.

“There’s still something quite exciting about it! There’s freedom on the internet that just doesn’t exist in real life. There are obviously some bad things going on but in some ways, it’s like people taking power back… Things like MySpace are probably the most powerful for small bands. They give people a place to exist.”

While the band is focusing on finishing the new album, it will emerge from the studio to take part in Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom’s 10th birthday celebrations. At the June 7th gig, fans may get a glimpse of the new songs. An eager Kippenberger concludes: