Windy City Struggle

Rip It Up, Issue 120, 1 July 1987, Page 14

Windy City Struggle

Steve Cochrane is the man behind Skank Records. He sits opposite, and over a beer tells me the story. In many ways it’s the usual yarn of getting by with a little help from friends.

We have seen over the last six or seven years an explosion of people who care enough about the thing they're into to go out and do it themselves. The nationalist or patriot calls it Kiwi ingenuity. It's also the “don't take no for an answer” idea (“you've got nothing to lose”). But being independent does mean you lose. Cochrane talks of the jobs he's lost — “We were on tour” — and if you don't tour you don't get exposure. Then there's the money: a little from the Arts Council, but mostly it's “pay for it yourself” Why let ideals languish in the dust?

It's bands like the Glass that prompted Cochrane to get Skank going. Bands that will disappear forever because there’s no vinyl offering left behind; such a waste.

So put your money on the line and get it going. The knocks and the knockers will always be there, you just have to ignore them and try to get on with it. But the real point is that Wellington now has another independent label. Far from the world of big bucks, with a sincerity that makes you believe that it can, and will work. The label has just released a compilation of Wellington music and a debut EP for Skank Attack. Coming up are EPs from the Glass and Wazzo Ghoati, plus distribution of the Wild Poppies’ Heroine. And Skank looks set to continue with the aim of improving its distribution network, and improve communications between other networks. They are on the lookout for other bands as well, indigenous to the Wellington scene or anywhere else, to help through the hassles of recording and releasing records. Skank’s commitment is to the bands: let them express their own direction. One can only admire the commitment of the few people who have stayed with getting this label up and running.

Tim Byrne