Issue 20 | August 13,2012 | critic.co.nz

music
I
have become obsessed with the idea of
musical collaboration. Possibly because
of my incredibly fan-boyish nature that
renders me incredibly nervous and awkward
whenever I encounter one of my idols, e.g.
Grayson Gilmour, I have a massive love for a lot
of artists and the music they produce. That’s why
I make music, that’s why I write about music,
that’s why I live for music, because I am inspired
and challenged by so many other musicians who
do it so painfully well. It is the same for everyone
— the ambition to create or do something
to equal your inspiration drives you to improve.
While this musical nature of mine pushes me to
at least try to create music that I can be happy
with, it also compels me to try find something
new for my ears — a different style, a different
sound. This usually happens when you work
with someone else. Another brain with different
and interesting thoughts forces you to adapt,
creating a necessary and exhilarating evolution.
I am musically ADHD. I consume and discard
music at an incredible rate, frothing over
a couple of bands, albums, or genres and then
moving onto the next. I am forever in search of
that new sound, or a new version of the same
sound. And what could be better than two interesting
bands or artists coming together to make
42
COLLABORATE BITCHES!
a whole new sound for you to consume? The
results can be astounding and surprising. You
love both artists so you love the idea of them
together, and the music they make must surely
be the amalgamation of everything you love.
That’s the hope anyway, unless they fuck it up.
But hey, you’ll still have their old stuff to keep.
So why doesn’t it happen much in New
Zealand? Maybe the smaller number of artists
in each centre and limited studio access make
it too hard or expensive to get enough proper
studio time to fulfill the artists’ vision. Maybe
NZ musicians are hopelessly self-conscious,
and the thought of trying and failing to make
something good with someone else out of your
comfort zone is a horrifying and paralysing
thought — now that I really get. Or perhaps we
are stupidly counterintuitive, and get lost in
the “take it seriously to make it” mentality that
everyone else is competition. I really hope that’s
not the case. New Zealand is way too small for
anyone to single-handedly “make it” in a music
“competition”. I subscribe whole-heartedly to
the idea that the “boat rises with the ocean”.
We are small, but we have strength in numbers.
If we all work together to push creativity,
not individuals, we all have a better chance at
collectively enjoying whatever “success” is. But
Music Editor | Isaac McFarlane | music@critic.co.nz
more importantly, music is fun. And in my eyes,
nothing could be more fun than new music from
musicians I already love.
Locally there are encouraging signs. Maybe
because of our smaller pool of musical talent,
people are mixing and matching band members,
putting new names on things, and pushing their
creative limits. In my opinion this is being driven
by a community called The Attic, which is run
by intelligent and generous people who, like
me, just want to take the latest and greatest
new sounds flowing out of our local bands, get
them recorded, and get them out there. Why?
Because we feel safer as a community than as
individuals — we build relationships and crave
friendships because we love the security; we
love the feeling of not being alone. It Came From
The Attic is a compilation that will be released
exclusively through undertheradar.co.nz by the
Attic and Auckland’s Muzai Records, and it will
be the best thing to happen to our music scene
for a long time. Not only will it feature the first
ever release one of the best young bands around,
Astro Children, but it will showcase the team
efforts of local musicians and double-barrelled
father figures to the world. It will say that we are
good at what we do, but together, we are great.