After reading a thinkpiece earlier this week called 'Creative Darwinism' about making music outside of cultural capitals and how it can make for more original and passionate music, I decided I would spend my last blog celebrating music from provincial New Zealand.
I grew up in Whanganui in the mid-2000s, a city (only just) most touring musicians shied away from, given the tumbleweeds rolling down the main street after 5pm, or 2pm on Saturdays. Our saving grace was a room in someone's flat where they had installed a lighting rig and PA. It was called the Eye of Night and it was the best. We went to every show there that our parents would let us, usually one every couple of months, and I saw bands that would become my favourites for years to come. And I learnt something that I wasn't expecting, that the local openers were often more interesting and better performers than the touring act from ~Melbourne~ or ~Nashville~ or ~Auckland~.
Playing a rare run of solo headline sets this October.
2 days ago
