an eternal sagaI’ve been thinking a lot about the biggest stress when organising events in Christchurch. I’ve done my fair share, 4 craft fairs down, all in different venues, and dozens of all ages shows, you’d think by now I would have figured out good venues to hire for events. The key thing with most of the events I’ve been involved with, it means ruling out using bars. They mostly have been all ages, and therefore alcohol free. Lovecraft/Craftwerk is a craft fair, so the people are generally fairly mellow, tidy and just there to hang out. The first we did was in the Linwood Community Arts Centre in Stanmore Rd. It was a nice enough venue, and dirt cheap to hire, but very difficult to deal with due to it being run by volunteers. We never spoke to the same person twice about things and on the day we even had trouble finding someone who was in the city to let us into the venue. I’d love to use these guys again, just with a different way of contact with the people involved. The second was in SOL Square, which was fun, but it lacked the communication factor again, we had one person as our contact, but we got the feeling the contact wasn’t fully communicating with the venue. The third fair was brilliant, at the Ya Ya Teahouse. The venue was lovely, clean, and very welcoming to people. The vendors couldn’t sell food which was a bummer, but that was a small price to pay for an otherwise awesome space. Then when organising Lovecraft in September this year, we found out that Ya Ya had closed down its tea house. Due to rent rises they couldn’t afford to keep their cute little space, so we went on a search again. Luckily for us, Ashlin works for High Street Project and the overall venue was welcoming and very helpful. The only thing about working in a gallery, is that galleries by nature are very sterile spaces. I didn’t feel the crowds who came, felt comfortable hanging out. We have some methods by which we plan to improve this though. The All Ages show issue is completely different. The main issue is people not wanting us, and the cost of hire. All Ages shows barely ever break even. You just can’t charge kids too much to come to a show, and they shouldn’t have to pay a fortune to see good music. Most of our successful events have basically cost us a fortune to hire decent places. Most venues charge a lot because they reckon kids will be a mess. Generally we’ve found that this isn’t a problem. They very rarely show up drunk or are a pain… and as responsible hosts we have management plans for that stuff. I just wish there were more centrally located, good venues who want to help people out who are doing things for people, who don’t have a lot of money, but care a lot. There was an article in the weekend press that kind of said Youth venues wouldn’t work, and the council dismissed the chance for any involvement.
I think there is a lot wrong with statements like that. Internet phenomena cannot be created by people thinking that youth will latch on. Youth create their own thing. And that’s how a venue should work. That too is a little dissapointing. Perhaps an invitation needs to be sent to people like this, who are frankly out of touch with the reality of what’s going on. I can imagine too, that they wasted a large sum of cash on a website some person convinced them was a winner, rather than looking at what already exists out there and offering to invest into something that has already grown naturally. I guess this is what it’s going to take to get a venue too. The problem then falls back on the lack of money in youth events.Somehow the funds need to be raised so there can be a cheap to hire, centrally located, easily accessible facility. So that organising anything from craft fairs to live music events which are aimed at all ages can be organised without having it feel like pulling teeth
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Time to recognize the supressed writer within…For the past decade I have managed to keep a part of myself quietly tucked away in a dark corner. Slowly but surely this silenced self has begun to emerge… I have finally started to feel the flow of long forgotten prose. Bare with me as I start to delve deep + rediscover writing. My posts may not always make sense. My sentences may not be grammatically correct. But I hope the intent will be obvious I am excited + a little nervous about this foray into citizen journalism! I will post the follow on story from my SXSW 2008 post soon (for those waiting). But first let me play with some other content, beginning with my ‘review’ of Synergy 2008- a Fashion + Music Event on the 5th of September 2008 @ the Civic There will be descriptions of the gigs + frivolity I have been enjoying in the last few weeks, my fun filled experience @ the APRA Silver Scrolls + the ensuing madness that is Air New Zealand Fashion Week. I am currently preparing for my coverage (as a citizen journalist) of ANZFW where I will be utilizing video blogging as a way of conducting candid interviews with some of the hottest designers, stylists + people involved in this exciting fashion event. I am working with global publication Lucire magazine on this project- www.lucire.com, so look out for my content on their online publication in the following weeks too Last but not least expect lots of new photos, links + videos as I introduce you to fun new people of interest, Time for me to stop being a scardy cat + start sharing my thoughts + experiences more freely
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Busy BeeIts busy bee time, Lovecraft is a week and a half away. Its going to be a good time, The Enright House, Ed Muzik, Gearloose and Auckland’s Trees Climbing Trees will be playing. Its a diverse line up… which we reckon will be fun for people to see, Also that there are going to be some amazingly good Christchurch crafters showing off their wares.
So while trying to organise the circus that is Lovecraft, I somehow decided that Bang! Bang! Eche! needed a music video, and I knew people with the skills… so now, this Saturday, I am producing a video for them, and hoping that a decent crowd shows up to be my mad crowd. By the way, this video isn’t the kind of video where people watch a band play… (how boring)… the band will be having hopefully… much more fun. And somewhere in all of this I’m still on RDU a couple of Wednesday nights a month, still dancing up a storm at swing dancing, and in the planning stages of the Linwood LYFE festival, and Red Panda’s Halloween show. Phew.
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Who is she?I don’t know where to start, and sometimes I don’t know where to stop, and perhaps that’s my problem, which has somehow turned into my passion. This is where I begin to introduce myself and the many facets of what actually makes me who I am. I am one third of Lovecraft, once known as Craftwerk Chch. When I’m not making the crafts, I’m out there promoting other young craft artists and providing them with a forum to meet, and have a bit of a party with some music and bring along their friends. I can’t help but want to have a go at everything… a budding knitter, embroider, felter, painter, sketcher, carver, printer, sewer, jeweler and anything else you can throw in my direction. I’ll give it a go, and if i don’t get the desired result I’ll still enjoy the learning that crafts as an art form provide. Some nights I am also the voice on the radio. I’m the one pimping out New Zealand “guitar” music on RDU every few weeks on a Wednesday night. Sometimes I like to think about people and what they do when they listen. Are they in the car, singing along loudly to themselves, hoping no one in the car next to them at the lights is watching? (like i often do myself) Are they snuggled on the couch with my selections playing in the background, or at work and listening to music to help pass the hours? I have a passion for music and I’m not afraid to admit it borders on obsession. I genuinely believe in good local music, and think if i can create one new fan every few weeks of something I like, I’ve done my job… Its this kind of way of thinking which has encouraged me to take the next step with New Zealand music. The Red Panda Trust is an all ages group who want to put on awesome, exciting and quality music based events for Christchurch folk. I reckon that all ages, is really that, everyone be they 10, 20, 30 or whatever in between. If someone wants to see live music there should be no barrier. That is why I spend far too much of my time devoted to the cause of the Panda. These are just a few of the things that keep me busy. Its a hard thing these creative endevours, I work a regular job, and these things were meant to be hobbies, but they’ve become more than that. I live and breathe these things, and strangely, with so little time, I am always looking for the next challenge. I don’t know where to stop… but this is where I’ve started.
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SXSW Artist SubmissionsAfter grading about 700 submissions for the 2009 SXSW I wanted to a) let Christchurch artists know that submissions for the festival are now open and b) give some tips on creating a realistic submission Due to a sponsorship deal with Sonicbids (an EPK hosting website) - www.sonicbids.com - this site is currently offering a month’s free subscription if you apply for the festival using them. Sonicbids are becoming the main EPK hosting site for the international industry. Very easy to use and very easy for people to recieve your information Many of the artists who’s submissions I’ve graded obviously have no idea what it means to pitch themselves internationally - siting influences like Radiohead, Oasis, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Coldplay will go against an artist - it’s seen too many times. I’m not knocking any of those bands, but it gets really fucking tedious and usually means that the artist in question has still to find their own ’sound’ and ‘direction’ Make sure your bio is concise and to the point, listing key facts…people don’t want to know who your bassist was before he/she left and was replaced by another one, who then left to be replaced by your current one Don’t necessarily pick your latest song, if an earlier one is a better, stronger one…and for the love of God, don’t submit a live track (unless you’re Shapeshifter) Right, the chavs are outside creating merry bloody hell, I’m finishing my cider, and heading off to bed Submissions cost US$25 - submit online: www.sxsw.com
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The Enright House: planning our South Island Acoustic Tour - Part 2/3A lot of people have been interested to learn more about our Stewart Island adventure, so, as promised, here’s a little more about our experience:
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LA Mitchell Live at the Matterhorn - Part 6/6 (The Show)
I don’t know how to explain the show in real terms, but as a feeling ,it was what it was! My understanding of my craft is that though you can rehearse and set up the things you want to hear, but the feeling of any performance comes from the subliminal communication that goes on between the ears and senses of the musicians on stage, working within the structures of the music.
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The Enright House: planning our South Island Acoustic Tour - Part 1/3Recently, The Enright House completed the following 10-day tour of New Zealand’s South Island:
Here’s how I went about organizing it:
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My SXSW 2008
I have been struggling with how to put into words the amazing, life changing experience I have just lived. Now again I find myself mute staring at Cherry with words dancing on the tip of my tongue… I arrived in Austin at the end of a twenty seven hour journey, three hours after I left. My newly appointed Austin family whisked me away to a yummy dinner before delivering me into my suite in their home in Lakeway, Texas. A very lovely area about forty minutes out of Austin. I rested, regrouped, went through a cold, jetlag + the symptoms associated with an excess of shopping (sore feet, dizzy head, empty wallet etc).
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LA Mitchell Live at the Matterhorn - Part 5/6 (My Band)Without my band none of this would have happened, and it is to their credit that it sounds as good as it does. With this style of music I know that it only sounds good when its polished, when every member feels as comfortable in the music as I do as the writer. The only person we didn’t have that much time with was our guitarist - not that you would know! Thankfully, he’s a very intuitive player, and I knew that he, as much as anyone, was into the project and respected what we were trying to achieve.
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Be part of our community!Not yet registered? Are you part of Christchurch's creative community and would like to become a contributer to our blog? We're excited to connect with you! Signing up is easy: just create an account of your own and sign in to start blogging! About this blog:Creativesoulchristchurch.com is meant to provide readers and contributers with a virtual window into the heart and soul of our creative community. This is not a place where you will be inundated with press releases, but rather we wish to be a forum for ideas and solutions. Here fellow artists and everyone working in the creative sectors can converge to draw inspiration from each other, share their knowledge and blunders, discuss exciting ideas and projects, and forge new working relationships. It is our goal is to encourage collaboration and bring people together, not to form an elitist clique. Whether you are an actor, a musician, a lighting technician, a make-up artist, a writer, a seasoned event coordinator... in other words, if you are a part of Christchurch's creative community, then you can also be part of creativesoulchristchurch.com. Contributers:
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