On the floor: Sora Shima relishing chance to play Otago

Hamilton band Sora Shima has been making music since 2006, and is about to play its first gig in Dunedin.

Front man Jason Lurman and I made contact via email, and he begins by explaining what's finally dragged the band this far south.

"Well the true impetus was when Rob [Shirlow, original bass player] suddenly quit last year ... We were going to sink the last of our scarce band money into ridiculous and unreadable T-shirt designs. When Rob left, Gavin and I got together and thought, 'If we find a great new bass player, why don't we do something really crazy with that money, like go to the South Island?'."

He regrets it's the band's first time in Dunedin.

"It's a sad fact that I've never been there [to Dunedin] in my life. I'm not proud of that. Though Gavin used to live there, so it's quite homely to him. I kind of feel like we'll be more appreciated down there - that you guys will be more in tune with our approach and what we do with sound ... We're very sorry we couldn't make it down sooner actually."

He says people can expect a variety of sounds from the band's set and hopefully a tight performance and mesmerising experience: "Have to play it by ear! A large chunk of what we do is based around a core of dynamics. That contrast between really dense, overwhelming walls of sound - against much more restrained, delicate stuff. Minimalist and repetition are neat tricks to really get a vibe going. That's what we thrive on and it never gets old to us.

"Since we don't have vocals, we try to build an interesting sound or melody and develop it from there.

"It should be a lot of fun and we hope you guys will be into it."

Sora Shima translates literally as "sky island" from Japanese. The band is: Gavin McDermott drums, Liam Clancy bass, Nick Johnston keys, Jason Lurman guitar and sounds.

• Be there
Sora Shima play at 12 Below with Mountaineater and others next Saturday, February 5.