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It’s always interesting to find out what others think of us here in Tauranga.
I chat to musically-minded people all over the country and I can confirm that the answer is: not a lot.
Actually, that comes across as a little harsh. I don’t mean they don’t think much of us; rather that they don’t think of us much. Tauranga is not a bright shining light on New Zealand’s music scene with a tradition like Dunedin or even, dare I say it, Hamilton.
Music festivals
However, there are two festivals in Tauranga that everyone is jealous of and which draw praise and admiration all across the land. They are Easter’s National Jazz Festival and August’s alternative music festival Loserpalooza. I can’t decide which I like most.
One thing that a great festival needs is a mission. Both festivals have that. And both festivals have an inclusiveness to them. I remember, years back when the jazz festival moved downtown, a local reporter wrote about experiencing “an outbreak of community”. And that, in its own way is what unites them.
In Loserpalooza’s long and most entertaining mission statement for this year, after noting “the world continues to grow into an uglier, scarier place”, promoter Austin Cunningham talks about community in these terms:
“Luckily here, in our own little Tauranga music microcosm, we now largely escape this due to a word largely lost elsewhere: COMMUNITY. We, as we can affectionately call ourselves, are the Losers... Those who have been battling dark thoughts for a lifetime, but who have found solace in music and now with each other.
“Look around, you will struggle to find an alternative music scene as united and bonded as the one we have. From the ridiculously old like Stuntclown, to the enviable youth of Pipeline Punks, we all find unity in the one this thing we love – music, Music, MUSIC. And with this we all try to bring each other up to a high consciousness. No Loser left behind.”
The deets
If you don’t know about Loserpalooza, now in its eighth iteration, here are the deets: Saturday August 15; 12 Loser hours; 25 Loser bands; 2 Loser stages; 1 Loser venue – Totara Street. All proceeds go to Lifeline to help with their efforts in suicide awareness and prevention.
I will obviously be returning to this in the near future since I haven’t even mentioned the 25 bands or the new Juniorpalooza event at Grey Street’s Ōkahukura on August 14.
This Is How We Die. Photo / AnotherJKing
But the build-up has already begun. Hardcore Katikati outfit, This Is How We Die – John Sutherland, Jacob Ormsby and Ben Cowman – has just released a new single, the exotically-titled Seo Mar A Gheibh Sinn Bàs, recorded at The oZone in Waihi. The title means “this is how we die” in Scottish Gaelic and there’s an energetic video on YouTube. Seems to me the band are adding melodicism while losing none of its aggression. Good work.
You can find it on this week’s playlist with a host of other Loser bands.
Hear Winston's latest Playlist: