A council spokeswoman contacted the Otago Daily Times late yesterday to say a curator would pay the band by end of this week.
SEEK HELP!, of Queen’s High School, performed alongside a host of young artists at the event in the Octagon, including Deaf Raccoon.
The Otago Daily Times understands neither of the bands have been paid yet.
SEEK HELP! guitarist and vocalist Lucy Hughes said the band had been through the various council channels, but to no avail.
‘‘It’s disappointing having our work undervalued in that way.’’
Lucy said she had seen footage of some of the councillors ‘‘devaluing’’ the band’s performance in a recent meeting about the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
‘‘I reckon inviting up these youth bands who stand to make a statement and then being told off when a statement is made is a very big criticism of the voices that we are trying to put out in the community.’’
SEEK HELP!, who finished third in last year’s Smokefree Rockquest national finals, will support the Foo Fighters at Christchurch’s Te Kaha One New Zealand Stadium on January 19.
Lucy said she would like to see issues around being paid being taken far more seriously.
‘‘Valuing the artists that have been a very big driving force of the Dunedin music scene and the sound that is always coming out of it is hugely important.’’
Deaf Raccoon guitarist and vocalist Noelle Hill said the band were also waiting to be paid.
The council’s behaviour towards them post-New Year’s Eve had been ‘‘weird’’, Noelle said.
‘‘We sent the invoice pretty much immediately after we played, and we’ve asked pretty much multiple times at this point.
‘‘I had issues with how we were going to be paid, but not to be paid at all is really bad.’’
He said he had heard the band’s swearing was found to be inappropriate by some councillors, but ‘‘we were never told beforehand not to swear’’.
A council spokeswoman said the council employed a curator who invoiced the council, and they held the commercial arrangement with the bands.
‘‘We understand the curator will be paying the bands this week.’’
