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Thought Creature performing live

Thought Creature

Wellington psychedelic rock trio formed in 2005 by Will Rattray (guitar, vocals) and Danny Brady (bass, synth), with drummer Peter Copeland. Released four records across 2005–2018 including debut LP Teleport Palace (2008) and Ocean Dream (2018, Fantasy Fiction Records), recorded in the hull of Wellington’s iconic Tug Boat.

Plains FM

Plains FM (later Plains Media) has broadcast on 96.9FM from Christchurch’s Ara campus since 29 February 1988, serving Canterbury as one of New Zealand’s twelve community access radio stations. Governed by the Canterbury Communications Trust and part-funded by NZ On Air, it produces over 100 programmes a week in 15 languages, representing communities largely absent from mainstream media. In April 2025, after 37 years, the station rebranded as Plains Media to reflect its expanded reach across digital platforms.

Coolade

Biography Coolade (not to be confused with later group Kool-Aid) were a young trio from Christchurch who performed in and around the local All-Ages scene in 2005. Formed by former Hype! members Joe Sampson and Neil Robinson, adding Adam Gosney… Read More »Coolade

Caledonian Hall

Caledonian Hall

Canterbury Caledonian Society Hall at 135 Kilmore Street West, home of the Zodiac Lounge rock and pop dance venue in the 1960s. Hosted Faith No More, Fugazi, and Pavement in the 1990s. Damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and demolished in March 2011.

Calvin Johnson performing at Zebedees, Christchurch, November 2006

Zebedees

Zebedees was Christchurch’s only all-ages, alcohol-free live music venue, operating from a 400-capacity hall at 479 Blenheim Road, Sockburn from approximately 1998 to 2014. Run by Steve and Jennie White as a charitable trust for sixteen years, it hosted hundreds of local and touring bands for teenage audiences and was widely regarded as one of the best youth music venues in the world.

kRkRkRk cassette label, Christchurch

kRkRkRk

kRkRkRk is a Christchurch experimental and industrial cassette label founded in 1992 by TMA-1 members James Robinson and Peter Wright. Operating on a DIY ethic, the label grew to over one hundred and thirty releases, documenting a generation of Christchurch underground artists across cassette and digital formats. After Wright moved to England in 2003, David Khan took over as label head, continuing as a portable studio engineer until health issues brought its active phase to a close.

CRY TV

CRY TV was New Zealand’s first dedicated music television channel, broadcasting on UHF 56 from the Port Hills above Christchurch between July 1993 and April 1997. Founded by Christian Birch and Chris Clarkson, it pre-dated Auckland’s MAX TV by three months and launched the careers of Petra Bagust, Jason Fa’afoi, Francesca Rudkin, D’Arcy Waldegrave, and Dave Yetton (Jean-Paul Sartre Experience), who met Jason Fa’afoi at the station and went on to form The Stereo Bus.

Carb on Carb

Carb on Carb

Auckland emo/pop-punk duo Nicole Gaffney and James Stuteley toured seventeen times around New Zealand and fifteen times through Australia over twelve years, releasing three LPs of mathy, heartfelt punk before calling it a day in 2024.

Riccarton Hotel on the corner of Riccarton Road and Deans Avenue, Christchurch, circa 1885

Riccarton Hotel

One of Christchurch’s oldest licensed premises, the Riccarton Hotel on the corner of Riccarton Road and Deans Avenue can trace its origins to an 1853 Canterbury Almanack advertisement for “The Traveller’s Home.” Over 150 years it traded as the Plough Inn, the Riccarton Hotel, DB Riccarton, and — most memorably — Nancy’s, named for the beloved publican Annie (Nancy) Hancock who ran it from 1930 until the 1960s. In its final chapter it became the Fat Ladies Arms student bar before being demolished and replaced by a fast food restaurant.