Simone has a Cook Islands heritage to add to this rich ethnic mix, and she still owns traditional land in Rarotonga, that most pleasant of capitals which they frequent many times a year.

By day Simon is a whizz software marketer with Microsoft and by night a talented songwriter and vocalist of The Sand Spiders.

I’d call the Spiders’ musical genre punk, heavily influenced by the big issues of our time - pandemic, climate and that modern fascism, neo-liberalism, looming large.

I’ll let a mob who knows what they’re talking about, Songtradr, take it from here:

The Sand Spiders are a mix of pop punk, alternative rock and indie with a determination for high tempo, guitar based music.

In the USofA, Spidey J (June Biancalana) is a recognised writer and performer in her own right.

Across the Pacific, in Aotearoa/NZ, Spidey Si (Simon Jackson) is a long time writer and musician and producer.

With influences from Blondie to The Ramones, the band thrives on up tempo driving songs with a determination to avoid clichés and find different things to express. Their music is sometimes eclectic but never boring.

Spidey J and Spidey Si hope the band attracts followers who share their love of fast, hooky music, and to crack a Spotify playlist someday!

In the meantime, they're busy writing and producing their next songs outside their day jobs.

Whatever happens, the rock won't stop. Distance hasn't slowed them down and the band has already released many songs with more always on the way.

And to give you a taste of the Spiders’ songwriting and performing genius, link here to their latest hit, 'We All Fall Down', and here are the lyrics:

We All Fall Down

1

one by one we're going over
like dominos
they say that it'll get better
but nobody knows
I gotta get away from this plague
escape the danger
they say it'll be OK
(gonna get you sooner or later)

on and on
more headstones
let's pretend
we don't know
we close (our eyes)
and hope (and pray)
it goes (away)

then we all fall down
face down on the ground
ruins all around
never be found

2

temperature keeps on rising
like rigs on the mines
as long as they're making their money
everything's fine
carry on like nothing's strange
(no one wants to say it)
they promise they're gonna fix it
(but it could be too late)
We All Fall Down

on and on
drilling holes
let's pretend
we don't know
we close (our eyes)
and hope (and pray)
one day (they change)

3

the fascists getting stronger
bleeding us weak
conspiracy taking over
a war on society
but we've got ends to meet
gotta pay the banker
maybe if we wait a bit longer
it'll all go away

on and on
hate explodes
let's pretend
we don't know
we close (our eyes)
and hope (and pray)
one day (they change)

You can link to PNG Attitude’s earlier articles on The Sand Spiders here – Musos War on Tyranny and Journoganda - and a selection of their other original songs here from Bandcamp and here SoundCloud.