The Transistors are a garage, punk and power-pop trio from Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand, active since the late 2000s and known for a prolific run of self-released and small-label vinyl, cassette and digital recordings across more than fifteen years.
FLASHBACK to July 2022 — Dance Asthmatics and God Destroyer at Darkroom, Christchurch.
Basement bar in the former British Hotel at the corner of Oxford Street and Norwich Quay in Lyttelton, with a history stretching back to 1849. Known through several names including El Santo, it reopened as the Hellfire Club in 2017 after earthquake repairs and later became The Commoners.
Sandra Bell is a New Zealand experimental artist from the West Coast of the South Island whose career spans cassettes, vinyl, and CD releases from 1984 to the present, gaining international recognition through releases on Xpressway, Turbulence Records, and VHF Records.
Zen Mantra is a Christchurch-based project by Sam Perry (Yumi Zouma), releasing atmospheric recordings across underground labels before signing to Flying Nun Records for a self-titled vinyl album in 2016.
Double Happy was an upscale bar and club at 182 Cashel Street in Christchurch, operating from December 2006 until the 2011 earthquakes. With a capacity of 420, it was one of the city’s larger live music venues, booking local and international drum and bass, hip hop and electronic acts.
Doprah were a Christchurch electronic outfit formed in 2013 by producer Steven John Marr and vocalist Indira Force, whose psychedelic trip-hop sound drew international attention via Billboard, CMJ New York, and a support slot for Lorde, before releasing their debut album Wasting in 2016.
His Lordship’s Hotel stood at 105 Lichfield Street from 1876 until an arson fire destroyed it in October 2000. Over more than a century it carried several names and many owners before becoming a live music venue through the 1990s, when Christchurch’s SOL Square precinct was at its most active.
Churchill’s Tavern is a Sydenham live music pub operating on the site of the 1882 Club Hotel. One of the few live music rooms to survive the Canterbury earthquake sequence, it hosts international touring acts in rock, punk, and metal alongside local shows.
Golden Axe are an Auckland duo — CJ Cudby and Daif King — whose keyboard synthesis, waveform manipulation, and saxophone created some of the most inventive electronic music in Aotearoa during the 2000s and early 2010s.
Mermaidens are a Wellington trio formed in 2013 whose decade-long career has spanned self-released beginnings, two Taite Music Prize-nominated albums on Flying Nun Records, and a critically acclaimed self-titled 2023 album recorded independently with producer Samuel Flynn Scott.
FLASHBACK to January 2012 — Day Three at Camp A Low Hum 2012: Sleepy Age, Orchestra of Spheres, Kirin J Callinan, Dan Deacon, BMX Rapists and Tommy Ill at Camp Wainui.
Multi-purpose hall at 277 Kilmore Street that served Christchurch folk, rock and community events from 1968 until the 2011 earthquakes. Home to the Christchurch Folk Music Club for many years, with a capacity of around 120.
Tiny Ruins are an Auckland indie folk ensemble founded in 2009, evolving from a solo project by Hollie Fullbrook into an internationally touring four-piece whose 2014 album Brightly Painted One won Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards and whose four studio albums have each been shortlisted for the Taite Music Prize.
