Something Elsewhere
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MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET REVIEWED (2017): Don't knock this rock
10 Jun 2017 | 3 min read
Here's the thing: ignore the nay-sayers, the smarter-than-thou critics and those who haven't seen this stage show but will be prepared to be dismissive in advance. Of course this isn't what it was like in late '56 when Elvis Presley and his girlfriend, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis joined in on a Carl Perkins' session in Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis. But to criticise... > Read more
THE 2017 VODAFONE PACIFIC MUSIC AWARDS: And the winners are . . . all of us
2 Jun 2017 | 4 min read
The stars seemed to be in a particularly auspicious alignment for this year’s Pacific Music Awards, held at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau: the 55th anniversary of Samoan independence, Samoan Language Week, the global success of the film Moana which put Pacific faces on the screen for young Pasifika to celebrate and the sound of the region into the ears of its global audience... > Read more
THE VODAFONE PACIFIC MUSIC AWARDS FINALISTS (2017): The envelopes please . . .
24 Apr 2017 | 3 min read
The finalists for the 2017 Vodafone Pacific Music Awards have been announced and the awards – now in their 13th year – include a wide range of new artists and established legends. As you may see below, there are 18 finalists across 11 categories representing a strong line-up of Pacific artists set to be honoured at the awards ceremony on 1 June at the Vodafone Events... > Read more
THE MUSIC MANAGERS FORUM AWARDS (2017): Hats off to those behind the scenes
24 Apr 2017 | 1 min read
This time a year ago Elsewhere interviewed Teresa Paterson about the work of the Music Managers Forum, an industry organisation of people dedicated to improving the professionalism of music management and to guide artists, managers and venues into creating a better musical environment for all. Well, it is that time of year again when the MMF holds it annual awards and -- with support... > Read more
Decently and in Order: Necessary surveillance of civilians
4 Mar 2017 | 3 min read | 1
A bill in the government's programme of proposed legislation has already won widespread public support despite drawing fire from civil liberties groups. The Urban Protocols (And Safety Standards) Bill is intended to make for better living environments and a more polite populace say Labour MPs. The bill's principal sponsor Phil Ryan (List, Westharbour) says the bill will "make for... > Read more
THE TAITE MUSIC PRIZE 2017: Turn and face the change . . .
9 Feb 2017 | 2 min read
The annual Taite Music Prize recognises outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album. Named after the late Dylan Taite, one of New Zealand’s most respected music journalists, nominations are now open for the 2017 awards. The winner receives a cash prize of $10,000 to be spent as they wish, thanks to Taite Music Prize founding... > Read more
MUSIC, AND THE PRICE MUSICIANS PAY (2016): The New Zealand Music Foundation Wellbeing Service.
5 Nov 2016 | 2 min read
So, until he published his recent autobiography, who knew Bruce Springsteen had been suffering massive anxiety issues for over a decade? The man who seems to stride the world confidently has been on anti-depressants. Those of us who read the biographies or autobiographies of musicians, or just encounter them as real people in the nature of work, are often aware that with some... > Read more
THE LANEWAY 2017 LINE-UP: Who and what you need to know
9 Oct 2016 | 16 min read
The now-annual St Jerome Laneway's Festival has put itself about a bit, and next year drops into a new home once more. This time it will be at Albert Park n the centre of Auckland on Monday, January 30 . . . which is conveniently a holiday, Auckland Anniversary Day. Elsewhere has offered preview and review coverage in the past but for next year's event has elicited the help of Elena... > Read more
THE 2016 APRA SILVER SCROLL AWARDS: The shortlist
1 Sep 2016 | 2 min read
If you pick up the Business section of the New Zealand Herald you start to wonder if there isn't anyone in those offices who hasn't been given some kind of award. The music world in New Zealand is a little more sparing in its prize-giving which makes awards nights like the annual APRA Silver Scrolls – where the best song is selected by the writer (or writers') peers -- very... > Read more
THE ORANGE BALLROOM (2016): The dance begins again
22 Jul 2016 | 2 min read
The actual name of the place is the Orange Coronation Hall and it was the lodge for the Irish Protestant Orangemen in Auckland. But everyone knows it as the Orange Ballroom, the name apparently bestowed on it by the late Bill Sevesi who – with his band the Islanders – played there from 1954 until the early Seventies. The old building on Newton Rd – which opened in... > Read more
THE FINALISTS, 2016 APRA SILVER SCROLL AWARD: And those in contention are . . .
21 Jul 2016 | 1 min read
The annual Silver Scroll award for songwriitng is considered one of the most -- if not the most -- prestigious awards the New Zealand music world can bestow. That's because it is the songwriters themselves (APRA members) who vote for the winner from a huge number of songwriter entries. The shortlist of 20 finalists has just been announced and we are pleased to publish it because someone... > Read more
VOLUME: MAKING MUSIC IN AOTEAROA (2016): Songs from us for us
2 Jul 2016 | <1 min read
The exhibition of New Zealand popular music at the Auckland War Memorial Museum is now open. It is entitled Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa and runs until May 2007. And it is free. It covers seven decades of music in Aotearoa New Zealand, from the days of rock'n'roll rebels in the Fifties to contemporary pop, hip-hop and r'n'b. There are literally hundreds of artefacts and... > Read more
THE GRANT GILLANDERS COLLECTIONS (2016): For the love of it
11 Jun 2016 | 5 min read
In the course of research for the Auckland War Memorial Museum exhibition Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa (opens October), it was a pleasure to go back and listen to so much New Zealand popular music of the past six decades. Elsewhere has a considerable collection – more Flying Nun that seems readily available, despite their on-going and admirable reissue programme – but... > Read more
Mod Bod by Gary Bayer
THE VODAFONE PACIFIC MUSIC AWARDS (2016): Can you see yourself, under a coconut tree . . .
10 Jun 2016 | 4 min read
This year's Vodafone Pacific Music Awards – held at Vodafone Events Centre in Auckland on June 9 – acknowledged (among many others) one of the country's longest running and most influential Pacific performing arts groups, Pacific Underground. The PU collective was awarded the MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for their work over more than two decades. PU formed in... > Read more
TERESA PATTERSON INTERVIEWED (2016): The business end of the music business
6 May 2016 | 7 min read
No one has ever been in much doubt that the music business is very much a business. It revolves as much around money and contracts and management and copyright as it does the songs at the heart of it. For young musicians — and even some senior players like Billy Joel who has been burned numerous times — negotiating a pathway through it is like breakdancing in a minefield.... > Read more
MAD ABOUT THE BEATLES (2016): John, Paul, George, Ringo and Alfred
21 Apr 2016 | 2 min read
Of course Mad magazine -- which had been skewering popular culture since its inception in the early Fifties -- would take an interest in the Beatles. Their hairstyles and distinctive appearance alone, not to mention their enormous popularity in America, made them an enjoyable target for satire, parody and cartoons by the magazine's in-house wits. Ringo was ripe for caricature. ... > Read more
MUSIC MANAGERS AWARDS (2016): And the envelope, please
18 Apr 2016 | 1 min read
In the past two decades a very clear music business has emerged in New Zealand. Being a musician is a viable career option these days – it's still going to be struggle however – but around the songmaker are circles of support, notably band managers who negotiate the minefield of contracts, record companies, distribution and touring. And then some. Getting a manager... > Read more
THE TAITE MUSIC PRIZE FINALISTS (2016): Money don't get everything it's true, but . . .
15 Apr 2016 | 1 min read
The old awards' show line is, "It's an honour just to be nominated . . ." But in the case of the annual Taite Music Prize it most certainly is because just to get onto the shortlist means you will be in illustrious and often innovative company. Every year since 2010 the Taite Music Prize – named for the late journalist and music aficionado Dylan Taite – goes... > Read more
RANDOM RADIO (2015- ): Archived radio spots
9 Apr 2016 | 1 min read
Because Elsewhere is so eclectic in its taste, Graham is frequently invited on to various radio programmes to discuss music, great concerts and the passing of some greats (and there have been a few lately) as well as introduce new and often different music to audiences. In 2015 he was interviewed by Jesse Mulligan on RadioNZ National about his background and the Volume exhibition at the... > Read more
FRANK ZAPPA RESURRECTED (2016): The floorboards creak and out come the freaks
4 Apr 2016 | 3 min read
The importance and impact of some musicians far outstrips the sales of their albums or concert tickets. The late Frank Zappa – who died in '93 at just 52 – was one of those. Listen to just three or four of his albums chosen at random and you couldn't help but conclude that here was a musician unconstrained by style or genre, indifferent toward and, indeed aggressively... > Read more