Bill Wilkes

City band giving ‘a voice to the little man’ Southland Express 23 Jul 2026 TAYLER MUTTON are (from left) Simon Carey, Bill Wilkes and Jacob Ambrose. Ronnie Stash & The Resistance are celebrating the physical release of their selftitled album which frontman Jacob Ambrose described as a “multigenre album”. “There’s country rock, hard rock, and reggae fusion … I’ve fused rock and reggae together, I call it roots fusion.” He plays the titular character of Ronnie Stash. The album has themes of war...

There’s something about bands that come from the edge of the map. Not the cities with built-in scenes or industry pipelines, but the places where wind, water, and isolation shape the sound as much as any record collection ever could. In Invercargill, at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island, that edge isn’t metaphorical. It’s literal. And it’s where Ronnie Stash & The Resistance have carved out a debut that feels less like an introduction and more like a warning shot. Their self-titled...

Ronnie Stash and the Resistance is a three-piece that’s been quietly building a loyal grassroots following through high‑energy live shows, and in 2025 they finally released their self‑titled debut. Fronted by Jacob Ambrose (vocals/guitar), Simon Carey (bass), and Bill Wilkes (drums), their sound sits somewhere between gritty rock, reggae vibes, and metal undertones. They hail from rugged Invercargill and have put in the work across Southland’s dive bars and local venues – and you can hear it....