Shoeless recession-core D-beat punx straight outta the Turret.

Rogernomix were a twin-vocal d-beat punk band from Aotearoa New Zealand. They played raging, high-speed crust in the Scandinavian tradition of Totalitär and Mob 47, with anarcho-punk politics aimed at the free-market reforms that gave the band its name. Active from 2009 until 2020 Rogernomix billed themselves as “New Zealand’s longest running, male/female duelling vocals, Newtonian D-beat destrukt band of ALL-TIME!”

The band formed in late 2008 at Turret House in the Wellington suburb of Newtown. Sam Thurston played guitar and vocals, Tanya Jeffries sang (her first time performing music), Sarsha Leigh-Douglas played bass, and Ben Knight played drums. Sam and Sarsha had both been in Sparkle Motion and Shortlived, which was winding down in 2009. Ben came from Auckland band The Wrongmen after moving to Wellington.

Their name refers to Roger Douglas, finance minister in the 1984 Labour government. His deregulation programme, “Rogernomics“, fed a boom-bust cycle that ended in the 1987 stock market crash. The band’s songs mostly pick apart those policies and their effect on ordinary people. They also take on political dishonesty, corporate power, climate inaction, prejudice, punk culture and some bar in Hamilton that “done them wrong”.

Rogernomix played their first gig in April 2009 at The Adelaide, on a bill with Scab, Drug Problem and Sleeping Dogs, releasing a demo tape that same month. In May they toured the North Island with Cult of the Cobra, a band Sarsha also played guitar in.

Later that year they recorded their first EP at Smoko with engineer Vanya Vitali, with whom they would have an ongoing relationship across a further five releases. Put out on 7″ by Always Never Fun Records in February 2010, the self-titled EP was promoted with a tour of the South Island in February with Drug Problem, followed by a North Island run in March.

Four more 7″ EPs followed: The Trickle Down Effect (2011), III (2012), Big Stinking Pile (2014) and Punch A Nazi In The Face (2018). Each one captures elements of Aotearoa’s social and political zeitgeist at the time with public figures such as Kim Dotcom, Bob Jones, Paul Henry and the politics of neo-liberal capitalism all coming in for a spay.

In 2016 they embarked on a tour of Australia and South-East Asia playing Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines playing some rungusly crushing shows with bands such as Tactical Attack, Canine, Lubricant, Pacman and Eyes of Fire. Two separate anthology releases were put out at the time collecting their recorded work to date and on returning to Aotearoa they released a split 12” EP with Welly mates Bonecruncher, which Sarsha also played in.

In 2017 they returned to Australia for Such Is Life where Ben’s other band Unsanitary Napkin also played. Meanwhile, Tanya had also started playing in a new band, Ayn Randy. Over the years they’ve played Neil Roberts Day, Christchurch Punkfest, Newtownfest and Dark Days festival in Hobart. Covid stopped a lot of momentum in 2020 and they played their last show on 14 November 2020, at a birthday bash for Razored Raw’s Matai, with Bowel Rupture and “singer of songs” Wayne Anderson on the bill.

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Origin	Newtown, Wellington
Genre	D-beat, crust
Years Active	2009 – 2020
Labels	Always Never Fun
Associated Acts	Bonecruncher, Bordger
Past Members	Ben Knight (drums) Sarsha Douglas (bass) Sam Thurston (guitar, vocals) Tanya Jeffrey (vocals)

Releases

Title	Date	Label	Type	Format
Demo ’09	2009		demo	tape
Rogernomix	2010, Feb	Always Never Fun	EP	7″/DL
The Trickle Down Effect	2011	Always Never Fun	EP	7″/DL
III	2012, Oct	Always Never Fun	EP	7″/DL
Big Stinking Pile	2014	Always Never Fun	EP	7″/DL
Anthology	2016, May 1	Zero Style	compilation	tape
South East Asian Tour 2016 Aotearoa Annihilation	2016, May 20	Tandang Delusion Of Terror	compilation	tape
Bonecruncher/ Rogernomix	2016	Always Never Fun	split	12″/ DL
Punch A Nazi In The Face	2018, April 27	Always Never Fun	EP	7″/DL