Come Together

Rip It Up, Issue 212, 1 April 1995, Page 11

Come Together

Of the three commentators Robyn Pett interviewed for her Christchurch report (RIU March), I found Simon McLaren’s comments to be the most positive, and I’d like to hope the majority of people in the Christchurch music scene share his views.

Grant McDonagh needs to get his head out of his bum — the Christchurch music scene as a class system? Puh-leease!?! The majority of musicians who played Avalanche/Good Things, whatever, are on the bones of their arses like the rest of us. Any ‘flash amplifiers’ were either borrowed from the likes of the Rock Shop, or are being paid off on drip feed. I don’t know of any original bands in Christchurch who are earning a living from their music, but if there are any, good luck to them — the notion of suffering for your art is an antiquated cliche, which should have been tossed away years ago. A salute to Rob Mayes and what he’s been doing with Failsafe over the years, but let’s face it, Failsafe is never going to be any more than a small in-city label without more aggressive marketing. That’s too much for one person to handle and any bands doing stuff with Failsafe need to get off their bums themselves, rather than stretching Rob’s patience and resources to the limit. However, there are two sides to every story and maybe Rob needs to take a good look at his motives too.

I’ve been involved with Christchurch music since the late 70s/early 80s, and we have a huge pool of talent in all avenues of music in this city, but it seems so bloody disjointed at the moment. I don’t see much hope for the scene here until all the dissing and back stabbing stops, and people make a conscious effort to support one another. John Greenfield’s funeral and wake made me realise what an incredibly small and fragile community we are and that we’ve gotta learn to work together, not against each other. We have to remember that all music (from the most banal pop to the wildest shit imaginable) is valid and serves a purpose, which is to make people feel, rather than rationalise and that enjoyment of music (as with any art) is dependant on personal taste, nothing more. Thanks for the article Robyn. Hopefully it will inspire a bit of debate/discussion in the local music community. Kristy, Christchurch.