Formed in Christchurch, but soon moved to Auckland hard-rock outfit from the mid-late 90s. Led by guitarist / vocalist Tony Hallum and a procession of supporting players including drums Jason Young (Loves Ugly Children) and Dave Toland (They Were Expendable).
Released a self-titled EP and an album on Felix Records – a sub-label of well-known Auckland-based hard-rock indie Wildside Records. The single and music video ‘Big Dumb Future’ featured a guest rap by MC Rhythm Slave.
Cartel was a tiny, hidden away cocktail bay crammed into His Lordship’s Lane, what was (along with the adjacent SOL Square) a very hip art of Christchurch prior to the Canterbury Earthquakes. Run by Johnny Moore there were regular performers just about every night it was open, despite there not being enough room for a stage.
Auckland-based rock group from the mid 1980’s with an atmospheric sound. Put out an EP on Jayrem and a 2nd on Hip Singles. The members would later resurface in Hoi Polloi
Miltown Stowards were a short-lived Auckland pop group with ska, jazz and funk overtones that featured Fiona Anderson (who later became the head of Vodafone NZ), Brent ‘Sid’ Pasley, Kelly Rogers, Grant Hewson, Mark Dansey and Benny Staples. Known for fantastic live energy.
Auckland black metal group lead by bassist/vocalist Rigel Walshe. From 1997 till 2017 the group went through several line-ups and produced a number of well-received, polish albums; touring across the world.
Totally under-the-radar stoner rock band that formed in 1992 in Hamilton.
They were a trio comprised of Craig Williamson (bass and vocals – now performing in a solo capacity as Lamp of the Universe), Brent Middlemiss (guitar) and Jon Burnside (drums), and that they released 2 albums of drawn-out stoner-psych jams on the unknown Cranium label, and actually reissued on U.S. label Brainticket.
Roy Montgomery is an exceedingly prolific artist with a deep catalogue of music; solo, in collaboration or as part of several groups. His music has varied from deep-throated post punk to glacial guitar drones and seen release by over 15 labels around the world.
Before Dimmer, before Straitjacket Fits, before even the Doublehappys, Shayne Carter was in a Flying Nun Records-type punk band called Bored Games, who opened for the likes of the Clean and Toy Love before the lads had even left high school.
Studio-based five piece funk outfit formed in Christchurch by Nava Thomas (aka Confucius / Soul Providah) and Ariel White, and featuring contributions from erstwhile members in Melbourne and all over the globe, the band did play locally in the late 90s, reforming with the release of their debut album in early 2004.
Desperate Measures were Christchurch’s answer to pop punk, a couple of years after the whole Sex Pistol thing, but they were fun and had a few good songs for all the punk posturing. They had a reasonably heavy following, or it seemed so at the time.
– Rob Mayes
Fantastic DIY record label formed by Dylan Herkes in 1999. Originating in small town Manawatu, Stink Magnetic released hand-made Cassette Tapes by a diverse array of underground New Zealand acts: “NZ garage, surf, Hawaiian industrial, experimental country disco, Spaghetti Western, esoteric trash, rap and stone-age punk bands”.
Tiny bar upstairs from the well-known Honeypot Cafe that functioned as a low-key performance space under the venue names Metropolis (1990s) and the Green Room (2000’s), before falling victim to the Christchurch Earthquakes of 2010/2011.
The Otautahi Social Centre was a mid-sized old hall on Barbados Street in Central Christchurch which ran for a couple of years as an All-Ages-Friendly live music venue.
Being an unlicensed youth center, there was no bar or much in the way of formal organization, just a space set up with a small PA system, a few couches and a small kitchen and toilets out back. On occasion some kids would bring alcohol to shows (it was even openly endorsed at some punk gigs), but generally things got along in a friendly, community-orientated kind of way.
The very wayward guitar/electronics duo that eventually gave birth to Birchville Cat Motel.
Beguiling atonal plonkery and profound multi-stringed shingle slides by two irrepressible young guns utterly oblivious to the fact that most people wanted to stone them to death with spare change. I can’t believe we did this in public.
Not to be confused with the Auckland punk venue of the late 70s, or the Suburban Reptiles song of the same name, Coup D’Etat were a tight trouser new wave outfit of the early 80s formed by Hello Sailor’s Harry Lyon.
Well-remembered for their catchy upstroke white-boy reggae-lite single ‘Doctor I like your medicine’ which got to number 9 on the NZ charts in 1981.