Fifteen high school acts, which had all been coached and nurtured through the project by Nadia Reid, played and left no doubt in my mind that the future of Dunedin music is looking good.
I spoke to one of the bands that participated, Sugarcoated Bullets. It stands out as being one of the punkier ones to come out of the project, driven by vocalist Jack Munro's high-energy stage presence.
"Ayden [Crowther (bass)] and I, it was like the start of 2017, we started doing music," Munro explained. "And I wasn't planning to sing, I got thrown into that.
"But we're learning and stuff. It's crazy because we're just like a very recent band and we've managed to become friends with all these amazing musicians we've learnt from and been inspired by, like The Rothmans."
This wouldn't have been possible without the project's efforts to help foster these connections. High school bands are inherently isolated from the rest of the gig scene due to alcohol laws. The courses throughout the year give keen musicians the chance to learn from established locals.
Not to mention the invaluable gigs Amped puts on at the end of each year which, for some bands, is the only chances they get to play to an audience due to the live music scene's reliance on alcohol sales.
"I feel like Dunedin, we like to portray ourselves as like artistic, like we embrace art here, but it's like, `You're not 18? You can't do that because I'm here to sell alcohol, not listen to your music'," Munro said.
"And I know this is businesses, but I think the council should look into this, because some places put their back out for musicians like us but the risk is so high ...
"That's what makes stuff like Amped very nice, because they allow you to play gigs."
I asked Crowther what attracted the band to punk.
"You can do it the way you want, there's not many rules, I guess. In another genre, you kind of have to fit, in a way, a formula. I feel like what we do we don't really have to, if that makes sense."
Munro chips in. "Also I guess it's kind of just the anti-ness of it. Punk was a rejection for the rock era, it was like `I don't like you talking about pointless stuff when there's serious issues going on so I'm going to make disgusting music to make people confused'. And I kind of like that it's just rebelling."
The gig
Sugarcoated Bullets' Numbskull EP Release Gig TONIGHT (Saturday September 22), with Soy Milk, Saurian and Sheep, Dee's Cafe and Venue, 403 Princes St. Entry by gold coin, 8pm.
- Fraser Thompson
