4EPs, a collection of four individual releases by Dunedin bands Sivle Talk, Sogg, U-No Juno and Vagina Dry, debuted at No. 1 on the Official Aotearoa Music Charts’ Top 20 Aotearoa Albums, on Friday.
It also landed at No. 10 on the Official Top 40 Albums, putting it ahead of releases by Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Bieber.
Dun Records founder Natasha Griffiths said the results were ‘‘mind-blowing’’ and quite rare.
‘‘I think it’s the biggest seismic shift for independent Dunedin music since The Clean topped the charts in the 1980s,’’ Ms Griffiths said.
The charts are based on data from a range of physical and digital retailers, audio and video streaming services and other outlets, and are updated each Friday at 4pm.
4EPs was officially released on July 3 under Dun Records and has so far only been available physically on double vinyl and CD at stores including Relics, Flying Nun Records and JB Hi-Fi.
Ms Griffiths said the industry had a ‘‘stranglehold’’ on how bands made music, so this was a rare and massive win for musicians and showed what could be achieved independently.
The music was raw, real, honest and had not been changed to tick any boxes.
‘‘Bands get told that if you don’t have the right distribution or the right label, you won’t get into JB Hi-Fi; if you don’t have the right song for radio, you won’t get on the charts.
‘‘This has just proven all of that wrong and it’s a very Dunedin way to do it.’’
‘‘I feel like it’s been so long since an independent release has made it so high up on those charts.’’
Rue Tulloch, of Sogg, said the band still seemed small, so reaching the national charts felt weird, but impressive.
4EPs was a launchpad for everything that was yet to come for Dunedin music.
‘‘It’s going to hopefully make sure Dunedin music’s momentum just keeps on going and it doesn’t stop until people have to start noticing us once again.’’
El Checketts, of Vagina Dry, considered it a ‘‘massive win’’.
When the band wanted to go on tour in the North Island, their attempts at funding were rejected.
‘‘I think it’s awesome to just show them that ... the sound here is alive and there’s a big community backing us and we can just do it ourselves.’’
According to Recorded Music NZ, which compiles the charts, 4EPs was also the second-biggest physical selling album in the country from July 2-8, behind Madonna’s Confessions II.
Data and analysis director Paul Kennedy said for most major commercial releases, streaming was a big part of how they got to No 1 on the charts.
‘‘So to have done that on sales alone, it’s quite unusual these days.’’
