I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this whole argument and say I think evryone has valid points but everyone is also somewhat misguided. Let's start with the tall poppie syndrome - I believe that needlessly attacking that which is successful just because it is successful is a huge problem in NZ - Probably because it reminds everyone who is not the flavour of the month at any given time that hard work and perseverance and sacrifice does not necessarily add up to success and that in some cases being in the right place at the right time with the right song is all that is needed. There's actually nothing unusual about that in the rest of the world - In fact overnight musical sucesses are a symptom of ALL major music markets like the US and UK etc. The Fact that we are starting to see this in NZ means good things not bad - people often get all wound up and worry about how underground music scenes will survive the current onslaught of Tadpoles and Zeds but just remember that Sonic youth and Nirvana came out of the same musical climate as Belinda Carlise and Poison - the more successful artists we have the more we all have to go round - the rest of the world proves it - No matter how much we all may hate an artist we should all support their success - it helps us all.
However the otherside of the coin over here is the some times blind acceptance that because it is kiwi it is good - this attitude is equally full of shit - a good band is a good band - full stop - Regardless of where their from - Do they cut it? Breathe are by international standards not that great a live act, they can play reasonably but they don't have a star/frontperson like say HDU or Stellar* or Crowded house - we can all go hey ease up they've 'Worked Hard' but does this help? - Breathe would probably be better served by knowing what they need to work on so they can IMPROVE - and improvement won't happen in a climate of outright abuse or a climate of lavish praise - they are both equally destructive if we all want to see NZ music gain more international success.
And on that subject - there HAS been genuine success after Crowded House internationally, People are wrong to say that that was it - But equally an inclusion on a compilation CD or just living in a country does not constitute success - Selling Large amount of records like Paul Fuemana does! But NZ has light years to go before we will start to be recognised for our music as oppossed to the All Blacks and sheep population internationally - Bottom line is we're on the cusp of seeing some really cool shit happen for NZ music over the next 5 years - But everyone out there needs to contribute by either supporting things that they may not love but doing it to see the entire NZ cause lift, or by pulling their heads out of Nationalistic blindness and letting our artists get some POSITIVE critisism.
Hello All!
I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this whole argument and say I think evryone has valid points but everyone is also somewhat misguided. Let's start with the tall poppie syndrome - I believe that needlessly attacking that which is successful just because it is successful is a huge problem in NZ - Probably because it reminds everyone who is not the flavour of the month at any given time that hard work and perseverance and sacrifice does not necessarily add up to success and that in some cases being in the right place at the right time with the right song is all that is needed. There's actually nothing unusual about that in the rest of the world - In fact overnight musical sucesses are a symptom of ALL major music markets like the US and UK etc. The Fact that we are starting to see this in NZ means good things not bad - people often get all wound up and worry about how underground music scenes will survive the current onslaught of Tadpoles and Zeds but just remember that Sonic youth and Nirvana came out of the same musical climate as Belinda Carlise and Poison - the more successful artists we have the more we all have to go round - the rest of the world proves it - No matter how much we all may hate an artist we should all support their success - it helps us all.
However the otherside of the coin over here is the some times blind acceptance that because it is kiwi it is good - this attitude is equally full of shit - a good band is a good band - full stop - Regardless of where their from - Do they cut it? Breathe are by international standards not that great a live act, they can play reasonably but they don't have a star/frontperson like say HDU or Stellar* or Crowded house - we can all go hey ease up they've 'Worked Hard' but does this help? - Breathe would probably be better served by knowing what they need to work on so they can IMPROVE - and improvement won't happen in a climate of outright abuse or a climate of lavish praise - they are both equally destructive if we all want to see NZ music gain more international success.
And on that subject - there HAS been genuine success after Crowded House internationally, People are wrong to say that that was it - But equally an inclusion on a compilation CD or just living in a country does not constitute success - Selling Large amount of records like Paul Fuemana does! But NZ has light years to go before we will start to be recognised for our music as oppossed to the All Blacks and sheep population internationally - Bottom line is we're on the cusp of seeing some really cool shit happen for NZ music over the next 5 years - But everyone out there needs to contribute by either supporting things that they may not love but doing it to see the entire NZ cause lift, or by pulling their heads out of Nationalistic blindness and letting our artists get some POSITIVE critisism.