Q What is WarPossumTV?
A WarPossumTV is an independent creative studio that currently produces a series of live sessions of local performing musicians — Live on WarPossumTV (and other stuff at some point). It was founded by me (Tane Cotton) so I can consolidate my body of video work under one banner, as a separate entity from my music project Sivle Talk.
Q What are your qualifications?
A I have years of experience in video production and editing as well as organising and promoting live music. I also pretty much only care about film and music and at this point I have dedicated my life to just making stuff for the love of it. I also hold myself to unrealistically high standards and am constantly striving to improve at my craft — which is bad for my brain but great for my work! And when it comes to "Live on WarpossumTV" I truly just want to make the artist I’m recording look and sound as cool as I can possibly make them.
Q Given the multiplicity of platforms built for sharing content, why do we need a dedicated portal for local music?
A Loads of people are getting turned off of these platforms, partly because of their exploitative nature, partly because they fund awful organisations and partly because they’re reducing art and personal expression — or even just fun entertainment — into "content", something that only exists to be consumed. Small artists aren’t s....... out written-by-committee nepo-baby anthems or coasting on their success from the ’90s when they put out their 12th compilation album. When people do something difficult for zero/negative money, you know they’re truly passionate — it’s a labour of love and doesn’t fit into the slop trough of "content". These artists create some truly amazing work that deserves to be encouraged, celebrated and given a platform. I hope WarPossum can contribute to this in a positive way.
Q You talk about preserving legacies, but does everyone need a legacy, or is it sometimes better if bands recede into fondly-remembered myth and legend?
A I’m sure some artists like the allure of a mythical and mysterious status, and many artists definitely think that being perceived as caring too much is lame — but I don’t. When I hear about a mythical band that has barely any recordings or any other kind of lost media, it just makes me feel sad that myself and/or other people will never get to share that experience. And being overly nonchalant makes no sense to me — why pretend not to care about something you love doing?
Though it’s all probably got something to do with me being 22 and existential about being forgotten.
Q Are these music videos that you’re making?
A While I do make music videos and plan to make more under the WarPossum banner, the Live on WarPossumTV series is about capturing raw performances in a genuine way — just in a visually stylish manner.
Q What’s the aesthetic here (I’m getting Max Headroom flashbacks)?
A It’s kind of an ambiguous retro-digital style, borrowing aesthetic elements from Y2K home video and ’80s/’90s live music broadcasts. I like the warm colours and softness that comes from the CRT, I like that it’s unique for the live session format, but also very familiar to anyone who watches live concerts on DVD or online. I also like that it’s a very cheap visual style to produce, so I can focus my limited budget on making the bands sound really good.
Q Why start with U-NO JUNO?
A They’re my favourite band in Ōtepoti and they look great on camera!
Q Any chance we’ll see new Sivle Talk material on there any time soon?
A There will definitely be plenty of Sivle Talk stuff happening this year, though how much of it crosses over with WarPossum remains to be seen.
The channel
• WarPossumTV can be found on YouTube.
