Hi,
I am considering moving to New Zealand for a year. My concern is whether I'll be able to continue my music career, as far as performing at bars and pubs and other venues of the sort. Assuming I have some sort of talent, is the New Zealand culture usually receptive to Americans performing there? Also, would anyone be able to recommend a good region where the music scene is particularly strong?
Thanks,
-Jesse-
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Wellington's the best place for ...
Wellington's the best place for starting up.
I dunno abuot Wellington - i think any ...
I dunno abuot Wellington - i think any of hte major centres - auckland, wellington or Christchurch would be good. There's different things in each centre. If you're just looking for performance i think any of them - if you're looking to get noticed, auckland has the major record labels up here. Not sure what's available in them. Go to www.bignightout.co.nz and you'll find some info. I know Auckland is definitely in there - anyone got any more info on well and chch?
i don't know about the other centres ...
i don't know about the other centres so much - it seems in a few places you have to do a bit of support work to actually get a gig of your own, but in Dunedin pretty much anything goes and people will just wander along to see new stuff they have never heard of before. only thing is that the audience numbers are lesser than other centres, but it's actually quite cheap to live here and get around - this is reflected in the fact that it is really easy to run a gig (PA is provided for free for instance) but it's sometimes hard to make a lot of money if 'career' is what you are into.
Hi, Thanks everyone for the great ...
Hi,
Thanks everyone for the great info. Iam getting the feeling that live original music is very well received in New Zealand. In New York City, it's rare that someone will stop to check out a new band/artist that they have never heard of. It seems like NZ may offer a lot of opportunity for artists to perform original music! Do you agree, or do most audiences usually consist mostly of friends/fans of the performers?
-JF-
[ http://www.jessefree.com ]
//It seems like NZ may offer a lot of ...
//It seems like NZ may offer a lot of opportunity for artists to perform original music! Do you agree, or do most audiences usually consist mostly of friends/fans of the performers?
High-profile mainstream musicians do pretty well over here (which takes a few years, and usually involves selling their souls to Sony/Universal/Warner), but in general it's rather difficult to make decent money out of playing just because we don't have a large enough population to provide solid support for newer, lower-profile and niche genre artists. Don't let that stop you though - if you're willing and able to develop a reasonable word-of-mouth fan network, and you're happy to hold down a day job for a while, then you'll be able to carve out a nice spot for yourself.
It may give you an idea of the money-making capabilities of a good artist if I told you that to achieve gold record status in NZ you only need to sell 7500 albums.
and NZ is so small and *connected* that ...
and NZ is so small and *connected* that you might be playing to strangers for the first few gigs, but sooner or later you will get to know most of these people and after a while you will kind of run out of strangers to play to. in the end, in NZ, you usually end up playing to people who know you, friends, other musicians, etc.
CHIRSTCHURCH IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR ...
CHIRSTCHURCH IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR KICKASS BANDS, I WOULD GO THERE
I have much to learn...thanks guys and ...
I have much to learn...thanks guys and gals.
I hope ur not one of those ignorant fat ...
I hope ur not one of those ignorant fat hill billy fuckers whos gonna try to get us to like foot ball and convert us to use force as the first option to problem solving!
You sound like a very intelligent ...
You sound like a very intelligent person, kittenslayer.
That i am sxity. ANyway, im sorry ...
That i am sxity. ANyway, im sorry jessefree, i was kidding before :P cause all da yanks who i met in NZ are all quite cool :D
well kittenkiller, I do have a song ...
well kittenkiller, I do have a song called "Bungalow Hillbill", but no I'm not a hillbilly myself. I never knew we Americans were referred to as Yankees...I learn something new everyday
how can you be a hillbilly (theyre ...
how can you be a hillbilly (theyre generally found in the south right?) and a yankee at the same time???
kittenslayer seems to know, but then ...
kittenslayer seems to know, but then again, he is an idiot, so it's probably imagined
sounds like everyone is recommending ...
sounds like everyone is recommending their patch, which might give you the reasonable impression that everywhere is great - in fact, put it all together, NZ is very small and easy to travel around - why limit your musical exposure to one city in other words? NZ lends itself to low budget tours - but of course you won't make a million dollars from it.
sorry, i'm a bit fragmented due to coffee overload. hope that makes sense despite.
It all helps. I'm not even looking to ...
It all helps. I'm not even looking to tour. It would be nice, but all I really want to do is work a full time job and play a few gigs during the week for some extra fun and money.
It sounds like I should be able to do that. I guess what I really want to know is whether Americans have any sort of advantages/disadvatages as far as getting paying gigs. Is it special to see a foreigner playing versus seeing a local, or is it really common?
I'm sure I'll learn all this first hand but it's still interesting to get your POV.
-JF-
Can't think of many (if any) ...
Can't think of many (if any) foreigners on the local circuit, but I seriously doubt anyone will begrudge you an audience just because you're American. To the contrary, you'd probably be quite a novelty.
...as a matter of fact I'm struggling ...
...as a matter of fact I'm struggling to think of any difference at all between going to see an American-resident-in-NZ and seeing a kiwi act. Probably you could just come over, meet a bunch of other musicians, talk to a few pub owners, start throwing around a few flyers, play some gigs, and noone would even notice any difference, except you'd probably get "so how long have you been in NZ?" a lot more than your average kiwi.
// foreigners on the local ...
// foreigners on the local circuit
There's a few about.
* Hera (Iceland), although I think she's headed (or is) back overseas
* Murk 108 (aka Imon Star of Rhombus - USA)
* Beau Redding (USA)
* Michelle Kazor (USA)
Those are the ones that spring to mind, anyway. Probably a few more lurking about in bands that aren't so obvious (Indicator Dogs?).
And yes, I can't see it affecting the way people perceive you. If anything it'll give you a bit of an 'in' with the venue owners, who might see you as bit of a novelty, bus as far as the public goes, you're just another muso.
i guess it kinda depends on what kind ...
i guess it kinda depends on what kind of music you play. for example there is not much of a punk scene in chch. I don't really know much about which cities have which scenes, but perhaps someone else does?
Wow, great responses... I guess you ...
Wow, great responses...
I guess you can say I do the solo-acoustic- singer/ songwriter thing. I'm also big into loopping. I use a Boss RC20 pedal on my guitar and another on my voice. By looping, I act as a one man band, with bass guitar (octave pedal), drums (percussive hits on the body of the guitar), guitars, and even vocal harmonies. It's pretty fun when I get it right.
-JF-
I hope ur not a hippie....
I hope ur not a hippie.
and if i am? but i'm not to ...
and if i am?
but i'm not to answer your question. I hope you don't slay kittens
Hand over ur kittens now!!!...
Hand over ur kittens now!!!