Issue 10 ✦ Music

The News ✦

Kawe Pūrongo

14. Live Through This: Courtney Love's Term at Nelson College for Girls Bridget Scott

17. Music, Money & Mental Health Jia Sharma

22. In boygenius, We Trust:

A Review of 'the record' Kat Rowan

24. The Breakbeat Resurgance: Breaking Open

Pop's Future Cornerstone Xavier Farrow-Francis

26. Sea Shanties and Ceilidhs with Vicfolk Pippi Jean

Arts & Culture ✦

30. Ngāi Tauira

31. Aunty Vic

32. Fruit Salad

33. Manawa Ora

Salient is published by, but remains editorially independent from, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA). Salient is funded in part by VUWSA through the Student Services Levy. Salient is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA).

The views expressed in Salient do not necessarily reflect those of the Editors, VUWSA, or the University.

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Complaints regarding the material published in Salient should first be brought to the Editors in writing (editor@salient.org.nz).

If not satisfied with the response, complaints should be directed to the Media Council (info@mediacouncil.org.nz).

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PASS US THE AUX

MMusic is a core part of the Salient office. Whether it’s in our headphones during work cramming mode, or blasted throughout the office in our manic hours, it’s a constant for us. It amps us up when we need an extra boost before print, when we’re sleep deprived and Red Bull fuelled. When Maia and Bella insist on blasting The 1975 or Harry Styles, you can catch Fran knee deep in her musical guilty pleasure of lofi jazz. As early 2000s babies, we also love a good VUWSA van roadie sing-along to the Jo Bros, Britney, or Nelly Furtado, or ABBA.

Music is an expansive experience, combining poetic lyrical text with a mix of vocal and instrumental sound. The artists that opt into creating music videos bring us further into their inner worlds, using the video medium to bridge multimedia. And we can’t forget how music physically moves us. Whether you’re a trained dancer or not, it’s hard to deny the power of a good bop and boogie.

As writers, music not only supports us to meet our deadlines, but it can be an excellent source of inspiration. Music makes us know the importance of telling a story, sparking visuals and rhythmic flow, and creating an experience for the reader. If our words leave the page and create a swirling sensation of ideas then we know we’re doing something right!

In Wellington, we are blessed by a thriving live music scene. Live music is one of those most cathartic experiences, creating moments that make you remember that this is why you are alive.

At the back of the crowd at CubaDupa, we stood together on a ledge between friends, watching an experimental band (the glorious Recitals) play music like we had never heard. In the DARTZ mosh, we jumped and writhed to their unique rock sound. Screaming “ONE OUTS CAPTAIN COOK” is a truly purgative experience. And at Homegrown, we swayed with the crowd as Dave Dobbyn sung his Kiwi anthems into the dark.

This is why we are alive. The euphoria of live music, of jamming to a song you love by an artist you adore, is ecstatic and unlike any other emotion. What better way to spend our years of being young (and what little disposable income we have) than to join in with the highs and lows of live music.

In 2023’s “Music” issue, our writers dive deep into exploring all facets of musical creativity, artists and trends. We bring you more photos from our Rolling Stone inspired cover shoot and introduce you to the featured artists: Girl Best Friend, Milktooth, Maiden Name, and Sheboy. Our feature section starts off strong with Bridget’s exploration of the three months enigmatic rockstar Courtney Love spent at

Nelson College for Girls in the 70s'. Jia asks Wellington musicians what it’s like to be a student breaking into the music biz. Xavier tracks the resurgence of one of pop music’s biggest trends: breakbeat. Finally, Kat explores the emotional damage caused by boygenius, reviewing their debut album, the record, and Pippi introduces us to the wholesome Vic Folk Club.

The Salient News team has had a busy week. Niamh tracks down a missing bus shelter amidst biblical rain. Ethan and Elliot find that while Chris Bishop is certainly a renter, he denies that his in-laws are family members. Zoë investigates the accessibility of VUW Halls of Residence, and Ethan is on the Vice Chancellor’s case, reviewing his announcement of Senior Leadership Team restructuring. And Maia, it seems, is angry at some greenhouse gas emitting pipes (again).

May is NZ Music Month, so there’s no excuse not to support our music industry. Follow our featured artists on social media, listen to our Intro to Welly music playlist, or attend one of the gigs in our gig guide. Get in there and have a fucking good time.

Ngā manaakitanga, Maia and Fran xoxo

Salient is fuelled by:

National MP Tells Twitter Porky Amid Rental Policy Debate

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him) and Elliot Davis (he/him)

National Party housing spokesperson Chris Bishop has been pointing to his status as a renter to defend the party’s recently announced housing policy, but his claims don’t seem to paint the full picture.

When asked if he was renting off a family member on Twitter, Bishop claimed he was not.

“Are you renting off yourself, a family member or a trust or company you have an interest in?” a Twitter user asked. Bishop responded “no on all counts”.

Despite this, after checking publicly available property records, Salient can confirm that the property is owned by his in-laws.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter was seemingly aware of the circumstances, attempting to call Bishop out by asking “is the house that you are renting owned by your inlaws?” on the same Twitter thread, but Bishop did not respond.

When questioned by Salient, Bishop confirmed his in-laws do, in fact, own the home. “My wife’s parents own the rental property that we have been renting,” he said.

Despite this, Bishop maintains he wasn't fibbing by denying the in-laws are his family members. “That's not my family, [...] I'm not related to them, only by marriage,” Bishop said.

He confirmed that he is paying rent on the Miramar property. “Of course we’re paying rent, that’s why I said I’m a renter,” he said.

The confusion around Bishop's claims has some accusing the MP of being “misleading”. Eimhín O'Shea from Renters United told Salient, “Yes, Chris Bishop is a renter [...] but equally, that form of relationship [where you have familial relationship with your landlord] is very different to the one

experienced by most renters, especially when we talk about the power dynamics that exist between most renters and the landlords.”

“It's a bit cynical to use a renting situation of that [kind] to justify your own policies which are harmful for renters,” O’Shea continued.

“Just because you are a renter doesn't mean you necessarily know what's best for renters,” he said.

Bishop and his family are currently building a home in Days Bay, and have been renting while they wait for it to be completed. “We're gonna move into the house in two and a half [to] three weeks,” he said, signalling the end of his renting era.

Chris Bishop photo by Mark Mitchell, NZ Herald.

“Accessibility Is More Than Just Wheelchair Access”: Accessibility Concerns Raised with Halls

Words by Zoë Mills

(they/she)

Former Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington student Taiming Zhang is suing the university for $35,000, alleging that the age-limit policy at the halls of residence meant that he was left in severe pain commuting to and from the university.

The case has sparked discussion around current accessibility issues at the halls of residence, raising questions as to whether the current accommodations are enough to support disabled students.

Zhang, a 22-year-old arthritic student, was rejected from halls of residence on the basis that he is “too old”. The age-limit policy, which excludes residents over the age of 20 from first year accommodation, was changed in 2021. Zhang had applied for the halls to be closer to the university as his arthritis caused him pain when walking to and from classes. The case is currently before the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Hope, a student currently residing at Boulcott Hall, says that although she has struggled with accessibility issues, her hall has overall been “very accommodating”. Hope is deaf and has dyspraxia, which made it difficult for her to understand what was happening during O-Week. “Things like trying to communicate in the dining hall and understand what was going on during our O-Week hall meetings have been difficult,” she told Salient

“I think the university needs to [understand] that accessibility is more than just wheelchair access,” Hope explained. “I’ve had a lot of issues [when] trying to explain to staff that I need to lipread or have things written down if people are wearing masks. Often they will continue to talk at me and not register this.”

Liam*, a resident of Weir House in 2021, lives with chronic pain and autism. He describes some aspects of his experience at the hall as “really positive”, such as being assigned an accessible room. But he found difficulty in other aspects of the hall. Echoing similar issues to Hope, Liam says that the dining hall was “always insanely over-stimulating, and there were little to no communicated options for getting meals on days where I couldn't walk to the dining hall.”

“Getting around the other buildings was also difficult as the layout was not designed to be easy to navigate when physically disabled, and the elevators that there were were not always the most functional,” Liam explained.

Spokesperson for the Disabled Students Association (DSA), Kavish, describes the current state of accessibility at the halls as “[not] adequate for disabled students”. The university’s halls of residence and campuses currently have some accessibility-friendly adaptations, such as wheelchair bathrooms and lifts, but Kavish says that more support is needed for students with disabilities.

“Something we rely on with the accessibility suites at the university [a lot] is ergonomic furniture, which can really help [to] support disabled individuals,” she explained, “[as well as] sensory friendly environments […] like quiet rooms, dim lighting. […] The university should be providing more support to help with that”.

A spokesperson for the university told Salient that when the university is made aware of disability related needs of an incoming resident, Accommodation Services works closely with Disability Services and the student to understand their specific needs. Meeting those needs in the halls “may include placement in a room designed with accessible features, strobe lighting that makes the fire alarm accessible for deaf people, a supported emergency evacuation plan, access for a disability assist dog, or other relevant service,” the university said.

Kavish wants able-bodied students to know that “not all disabilities are visible, not all disabilities are diagnosed. I think it's just an important message to be showing empathy to each other.”

Kavish encourages students who are facing accessibility issues at their halls to reach out to the DSA for support and advocacy.

*names have been changed

Soggy Students Promised Shelter and a Sexy New Asphalt Ramp

Words by Niamh Vaughan (she/her)

The relocation of the Kelburn Parade bus stop has proved to have devastating effects after last week’s stormy weather.

Construction of the Living Pā caused the bus stop to be moved further down the street about a month ago, and ever since, students have endured bus wait times without a shelter.

“Everyone was absolutely dripping. No, they were soaking. My shoes were full of water. It was basically just glorified swimming,” said a disappointed eyewitness, who was forced to catch the number 18 in torrential rain. VUWSA made a desperate attempt to save drowning students by erecting a tent, Noah’s Ark style, that saw tens of students cramming themselves under at a time in order to escape the torrents.

But still, no one was safe. Even the tent erected in good faith was not enough to cover the forlorn students. “We had a lot of students under the shelter. We only had one tent,” stated a distraught Jess Ye, VUWSA President.

“The first time we talked to Metlink and Greater Wellington Council about needing a bus stop was a year ago. They were just…slow. They’ve known a bus stop was needed from the start of the Living Pā construction. [They] don’t seem to care about students’ wellbeing,” said Jess.

However, Tamatha Paul, Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward councillor, has unexpectedly swooped in, like the hand of God, and intervened. “It was a really rainy day about a month ago [when] I was going past the uni and I noticed a massive group of students standing in the rain.” Paul took it upon herself to approach Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, the Council, and Metlink, demanding that the students of Wellington be saved, or at least, respected.

Paul is disappointed in the time it has taken for the situation to be dealt with. “It’s been at least a month since [I initially got] in touch with Metlink, and with the Regional Council and their public transport spokesperson, [...] to try and get temporary shelter in place,” she stated.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for anybody to be stuck out in the rain, particularly students who are gonna get absolutely saturated, and then get sick, and then return home to their damp, cold flats. If it were a different demographic being affected in this way, there would have been a solution found much sooner,” continued Paul.

VUW has finally announced its solution for the cold and wet students. The university excitedly told Salient about its imaginative plans for a temporary solution: a shelter that will be set back from the footpath and accessible via an asphalt ramp at its front side.

This was expected to be done by the end of last week. A new, permanent bus stop is promised to be erected outside of the Murphy building by August.

As Paul said, “The situation has not been met with the seriousness it should have been met with. [...] It fits into the narrative that as students, you have to struggle and suffer, that it's a rite of passage.”

Senior Leadership Shakeup: Are Senior Staff Changes the Answer to University Woes?

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)

The Vice Chancellor is working on a shakeup to the Senior Leadership Team, introducing three new positions and scrapping the current Pro Vice Chancellors.

Salient attended a closed-door staff forum on Thursday, 4 May, where Vice Chancellor Nic Smith detailed the new plans to an enthused crowd.

Under the changes, the university will create three new roles: a Provost, Chief of Staff, and an Executive Director of Enrollments and Admissions Management. Smith said the changes would “reduce bureaucracy and increase clarity in our collective responsibilities, accountabilities, and delegated authorities.”

In addition to the now confirmed roles, the Vice Chancellor announced a two-week consultation process for an additional, newly proposed role: a Deputy Vice Chancellor for Students. The DVC Students was proposed in response to feedback from staff that students should be the centre of the university's thoughts. The proposed role will have a wide-ranging portfolio across Tītoko, experience and wellbeing, international students, scholarships, marketing, and future students.

The new Provost role would act as a “chief academic officer”, working with all the university’s deans instead of the current reporting lines between deans and the Pro Vice Chancellors.

Re:

The establishment of an Executive Director of Enrollments and Admissions Management comes after a dramatic fall in student enrollments for 2023 which has caused a $15m financial deficit for the university. This role would be “focused on the entire student journey”, the Vice Chancellor explained at the forum, in charge of student enrolment and retention.

The recruitment process for the three confirmed positions has already begun, but it is unclear when we can expect each position to be filled.

When asked by a staff member in the forum if applicants for the new positions will be required to have a good understanding of Te Ao Māori, Smith said he “won't require them to” but is instead more interested in a “willingness to engage”.

The changes will see 11 roles within the university disestablished in favour of the creation of seven new positions, including executive assistants.

A university spokesperson told Salient that the leadership portfolio realignment will “enhance our student experience” and that VUW “needs a strong leadership team with the right structure in order to ensure a financially sustainable future.”

The university refused to release the salaries for the new positions to Salient due to privacy reasons.

OPINION : VUW’s Natural Gas Boilers Cannot Be Replaced Fast Enough

Words by Maia Ingoe (she/her)

Climate Change Minister James Shaw recently announced that public hospitals and tertiary education institutions would be included, along with public schools, in the goal to replace all coal boilers by 2025.

In total, the government invested $78 million to 38 decarbonisation projects across the state sector. “This means […] students will be going to work at a place with cleaner air,” Shaw said earlier this month.

So, what does Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington get out of this investment?

VUW has committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its campuses by 2030. But it’s not coal boilers that are the problem for this university—it’s natural gas combustion.

Natural gas is a greenhouse gas that, like coal, is fucking terrible. 2017’s Zero Carbon Plan reported that natural gas emissions make up 19% of VUW’s total emissions—the second largest source after air travel (42%). In 2022, VUW emitted a total of 12,363.778 tonnes of CO2. Of this, 3,389.098 tonnes were from natural gas combustion. Most of this was from oncampus natural gas boilers (2,649.087, with the remainder being from student accommodation).

VUW’s natural gas fired boilers provide hot water to buildings and are used for heating radiators, air conditioning, and tap water. Those of us who have sheltered from freezing flats in the top floors of the library during winter nights will know how toasty those radiators can be, but they aren’t a sustainable choice.

The university plans to move to electric alternatives as the boilers reach the end of their life, or as part of “large building refurbishments”, said Andrew Wilks, director of the university’s Sustainability Office. “In the meantime,

there has been a lot of work done to improve the energy efficiency of the boiler operations to reduce natural gas consumption.”

Through the government’s decarbonisation fund, VUW received two lots of investment. First, $125k to install efficient LED lighting in the Cotton and Laby buildings, which, alongside $376k of VUW’s own budget, is estimated to reduce emissions by 670 tonnes over 10 years. The second investment of $112k is to replace a fossil gas boiler in the Von Zedlitz building, with a “low emissions alternative”, which, paired with $268k from VUW’s budget, will reduce emissions by 1,487 tonnes over 10 years.

Coal boilers are outdated method of heating that is too prevalent in Aotearoa public institutions. Although it’s great that they are being phased out, the emissions caused by natural gas boilers are just as unsustainable. Waiting for boilers to expire simply isn’t the urgent action we need to reduce emissions.

HOT TAKES

Who is your favourite Aotearoa music artist and why?

Ngarangi (she/her)

Arts

Her name is

Georgia (she/her)

Law

Probably her [gestures to Ngarangi]. She wakes me up every morning in song, so she’s probably the New Zealand artist I hear all the time.

Coco-Rose (she/her)

Engineering (Honours) Pippa (she/her)

Media Studies and Linguistics

Definitely the band Kora, because I like how they do both te reo [Māori] and English versions of the songs.

I really like their music, it's good stuff.

At the moment, I might have to say Corduroy. They’ve got a really cool lead singer and they’re fantastic live!

A.GIRL and she’s just really good. I like the way she raps, she’s all about female empowerment.

HEADLINE

STAFF REDUNDANCIES MAY BE LOOMING FOLLOWING HOLE IN VUW FINANCES

Uncertainty is growing over whether Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington will follow Otago in announcing a suite of staff cuts. The university is still not ruling out redundancies, as they are “looking at a range of cost-saving options”. It comes after the university found themselves in a $15 million financial hole after a dip in enrollments. Vice Chancellor Nic Smith told staff earlier this month that the university is “currently not sustainable and we need to move the institution into a sustainable footing.” Meanwhile, the VUW branch of the Tertiary Education Union held a protest last Tuesday on Kelburn campus to show “solidarity with our colleagues in Otago and spread the message that job cuts damage our public universities.”

SINGING SOULMATES TAYLOR SWIFT AND MATTY HEALY REKINDLE RELATIONSHIP

Eras tour international superstar Taylor Alison Swift recently called it quits with longtime lover Joe Alwyn, and it has not taken long for rumours to swirl about Swift's new potential love interest: The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Swift and Healy were embroiled in a rumoured romance back in 2014, but the current situationship seems much more solidified, with a source close to Swift claiming the pair are “madly in love”. Not long after, Healy was spotted at the Nashville leg of the Eras tour schmoozing with Swift's bestie Gigi Hadid and performing alongside Phoebe Bridgers and supergroup boygenius. Both singers have also been spotted mouthing the words: “This is about you, you know who you are. I love you” to the camera at their respective concerts, with fans speculating it's a subtle message between the singers.

UPCOMING GOVERNMENT BUDGET LOOKS TO LEAVE STUDENTS HIGH AND DRY

MYSTERY CAT PAYS VISIT TO SALIENT

The Salient team gained a new staff member last week after a sleek, black feline followed one News Co-Editor through the student union building from the bushes outside Mauri Ora. The playful puss quickly made themself at home, parking up on the office floor. Before a blissful hour could pass with the new feline friend, a staff member connected the dots to reveal the kitty was a missing pet of their flatmate. The cat was safely escorted from the Student Union Building, and after gleefully running into the bushes to chase a bird, it was confirmed the puss finally made its way back home.

On Thursday, Grant Robertson will drop a hefty document detailing the government’s planned spending over for the next 12 months. Despite being an election year budget, hopes are low for any tantalising tidbits of student support, as the Prime Minister has labelled it a “no frills budget” due to the economic uncertainty. Students’ associations have long been calling on the government to extend student support in the form of a universal student allowance or rental relief. Last year’s budget offered the three-time $116 cost of living payment, and an extension to half-price public transport fares. VUWSA said the ‘22 budget didn't go far enough, accusing the government of “condemning our national student body to poverty and debt.”

PONE K E IS

THIS THE SCENE

MUSIC

Words by Maia Ingoe (she/her)

Photos by Bella Maresca (they/them) and Ruby Millichamp (she/her)

For the 2023 Salient "Music" issue, we wanted to highlight local musicians changing the scene in Pōneke. Wellington has a thriving music landscape, from staples like Meow, Moon, San Fran, and Valhalla, to annual central city festivals like CubaDupa and Homegrown, to the student culture that finds its life with live music. But we know that the music scene in Pōneke and Aotearoa has been dominated by male artists. So for the cover, we chose to highlight the women, non-binary, and gender fluid artists who are making themselves heard locally. Enter Girl Best Friend, Milktooth, Maiden Name, and Sheboy: this IS the Pōneke music scene.

MILKTOOTH

Milktooth are a five-person band made up of Stella (she/her; vocals and keys), Eve (she/ her; guitar and vocals), Estelle (she/her; keys, eventually vocals, eventually clarinet), Lian (she/her; keys, ableton and vocals), and Eli (they/them; drums and sometimes bass). A dominance of keys players (“Some may say too many”, Stella says) makes a sound that combines electronic elements with acoustic. It’s jazzy at times, ethereal, and crosses into rock and dreampop. “It’s really fun to fuse different elements and create something interesting,” says Eve.

They’ve got room for more, too. “We were thinking of having a groupie set where we allow groupies to come on and they play the triangle,” said Stella.

Their musical inspirations as a band include Eartheater, Hiatus Kaiyote, Wolf Alice, and FKA twigs. “Electronic, dreamy vocals, and we like the jazzy element too,” Eve explained.

Milktooth formed three years ago, and started playing gigs last year. You might’ve seen them at Eyegum Wednesdays or 121 Festival. The band met while studying music at Massey and came together through a livestream assignment. “It was really cool to just find women and non-binary people to play with. We can all kind of relate to being that harder side of the music industry, ya’know, because it’s a male dominated field,” Eve said.

The support they’ve experienced in the band has been heartening during times when the industry has been tough. “[There’s a] feeling like you’re not a part of it all sometimes,” Eve says. “It feels very open and welcoming, and every idea of welcome [when we’re playing together]. I don’t have to be perfect on my instrument, I can just have fun.”

Their first gig was in August 2022, and the nerves haven’t gone away since. Before a gig, the band likes to huddle up and take a breath together. “I’m working on immersing myself fully in the music, but I think with each performance we all become more comfortable and able to move around on stage a little more,” Eve says. They find a lot of support from each other, the industry, and university tutors who’ve been helping them record.

Milktooth's debut single will be out on 6 July— catch them at their release gig at San Fran, alongside Sheboy and Maidenname. They want to record and release more, making use of the studios at university while they are doing one final course. And later this year, they’ll be hitting the road with their North Island tour.

Follow Milktooth on Instragram at @milktooth___music

Girl bEst friend

Tessa (she/they), one-half of Girl Best Friend, describes working with Char (she/her) as “mimicking a relationship”. The duo combines Tessa on drums with Char on guitar and vocals to make an experimental, alternative R&B, and neosoul sound. “It’s always developing,” Char says.

When they first started playing together, the name Girl Best Friend stuck out. “There’s just so much irony layered in the name. Like, the idea of a girl best friend is always just like a bit of a pisstake, because you know when you’re dating someone, and they have a girl best friend, it’s just so much more nuanced,” Char explained. The combination of feminine and mysterious energy makes the name fit for the duo.

Inspirations from neo-soul, jazz, and R&B are a big part of their music. “Whenever we’re songwriting, we’ll just take those references from artists that we love and just flip it,” Tessa says. Those influences include English singer-songwriter Eloise (“She’s the blueprint,” says Char), Anderson.Paak, and other R&B artists to influence their vocals, drumming style, and groove.

Tessa is currently doing music technology at Massey, in their third year, while Char studies Law and Music at VUW. “I think Law is just a bit like my ‘need to bow to capitalism’ moment,” Char says.

Tessa started playing drums when they were 15. “I was getting really into rock bands, and I would just go and play drums all lunchtime.” When they moved from Gisborne to study in Wellington, it was a “wake up call”, and the pressure of being in a specialty music school motivated them to get practising.

University enabled Char to find herself and connect with music as a creative outlet. Girl Best Friend’s first gig was her first time singing in front of people. Despite learning music since she was 15, this was the first time she’d felt capable. “I thought there’d be like 15 people there. But by the time we went out the whole place was packed, [with] people right up to the back barricade.

We were so happy to be there and everyone was so happy for us,” Char says.

“Everyone’s been so supportive—it was unexpected, but it was definitely surreal and exciting,” Tessa says.

Girl Best Friend is unique in their genre, Char explains, with R&B artists very new on the Pōneke scene. “I think the Wellington music scene at the moment, at least from my perception, [is] very predominantly alternative indie. [...] In terms of R&B, especially like neo-soul, there's really not that much in the scene, even from dudes.”

“We often find in our [Music Technology] classes that we were one of the only, if not the only, girls doing the classes, and sometimes we don’t find ourselves taken too seriously,” says Char. But, she adds, there is more support for girl bands doing something new and rare to see in the Aotearoa industry. “Sometimes you can’t help but think that you don’t know whether you deserve it or whether you’re just getting it because you’re a girl,” Tessa muses.

Despite this, Girl Best Friend has received lots of ground support from friends in the Wellington scene. After being active and performing gigs last year, the duo is prioritising their creative energy to focus on recording music.

“It’s honestly been a bit of a realisation for us recently that it’s so hard to not compromise your creative integrity [while] trying to make money off of it,” said Char. After a trip to Raglan in February to record, working with Casual Healing, they’re “definitely” going to have music coming out this year.

The future of breaking into the industry can be unknown, Tessa says, but as long as they are both making music, that’s the goal. “Whatever happens, we’ll both be doing music, and we’ll both have each other as girl best friends.”

You can catch Girl Best Friend at Eyegum later this year, and follow them on Instagram (and everything else) at @girlbestfriendmusic

S

heboy is the stage name of Izzy (they/them), a Wellingtonbased DJ. They started playing to crowds through the music program at Massey University, after practising for a few years and playing to friends. They’d always been a music lover, and didn’t always intend to be performing— behind the scenes was originally their gig.

They describe their sound style as “fun”. “When it comes to dubstep, you could say its sounds that make you feel. I like to go for stuff that’s minimal and dark, but always love to pull out some silly tunes as well.”

Their sound inspirations include Sicaria Sound, an electronic duo from the UK (“They are so amazing, just two boss babes”), and local acts such as Half Queen, Lady Shaka, and BBYFACEKILLA. “They’re all so swaggy and so good at what they do,” Sheboy says.

They chose the stagename ‘Sheboy’ because it didn’t feel right to use their first or last name, like a lot of DJs do. “I wanted to put some representation in there about who I am and my identity,” they say. “I was also going through the journey of understanding my own identity, and coming out of feeling like I need to be a woman. […] I was coming into acceptance

of being gender fluid.” Sheboy became a way to have some fun with it. “I’m not a woman, I’m not a man, I’m neither.”

Sheboy grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau, before moving down to Pōneke and feeling the identity change many students experience. “Just growing up [in Tāmaki Makaurau], I felt very boxed in. […] Whereas down here, the queer community is huge and accepting.”

Having found support in the Wellington scene after picking up DJing, they encourage anyone who has an interest to give it a go. “If you wanna DJ, you should really just pick it up, and reach out to the people around you and learn. I think anyone can DJ and it’s so much fun.”

Sheboy will be playing at Valhalla on 26 June, and appearing at some more gigs yet to be announced through the rest of the year. You can find some of their music on SoundCloud.

Finally – while they hadn’t heard of boygenius before this shoot, they do know Nirvana (who doesn’t?). Their favourite track is ‘Something In The Way’. Follow Sheboy on Instagram at @__sheboy

maiden name

Sibel Atalay (she/they) is the drummer of Maiden Name, a five-peice, altrock, trip pop band that’s fresh on the scene. They are shy, with the outward personality of a teddy bear, but their smiles come out through the photoshoot.

The band chose the name Maiden Name because “it fit our aesthetic of like sapphic rage, sort of reclaiming femininity,” Sibel says with a laugh. “It’s a sign of the times. We’re all queer, like she/theys. So we’re trying to reclaim a space in the music world.”

Sibel is a self-taught drummer, having started playing in Year 10 with their first drum kit. School jazz band and a little bit of music study later, they’ve finally found a band with Maiden Name. Their drum style came from jazz, hip hop drummers, inspired by the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD, Toro y Moi, and Yussef Dayes. Sibel says they’ve merged their style into a new form. “It’s interesting, because I honestly hadn’t really listened to much trip pop.

Trip pop is like, I guess you could call it shoegaze-ey, mixed with almost, like, reggae and hip hop beats. So that style was perfect for the drums.”

The band met through connections in the Wellington music scene and mutual friends. “We have a lot of support from other female and non-binary artists, and the Wellington scene, because it’s a small group of us,” Sibel says.

When asked what is next for Maiden Name, being so fresh on the scene, Sibel says, “Well, we’re gonna start playing gigs.” You can find them opening for Milktooth in on 6 July at San Fran. They’re also working on recording some demos, and are hopefully on track to release some music in the next few months.

And considering this was a boygenius inspired shoot, I asked Sibel what their favourite boygenius song is. “I find ‘$20’ stuck in my head the most.”

Follow Maiden Name in Instagram at @dontchangeyourmaindenname

When Courtney Love Cobains’s teacher at Nelson College for Girls introduced her to her new class as Courtney Menely, she stopped and declared in a Californian accent, “Just call me Cookie. That’s what everybody does.”

Whether she was Cookie or Courtney, that child grew into an icon. As frontwoman of the band Hole, she was the lead singer on the 1994 Rolling Stone number one album. An enduring member of the 90s rock scene, she has publicly battled drug addiction, defined grunge fashion, endured vile misogyny, and suffered the devastating loss of her late husband, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, to emerge in 2023 as a legendarily controversial figure.

Yet little is known of her few months spent boarding at one of New Zealand’s oldest schools. Wikipedia and the (technically) unauthorised biography Courtney Love: The Real Story place her time in Nelson between 1972 and 1973. During a December 2022 interview with Marc Maron, Courtney mentions “fourth form in New Zealand”. Among former classmates and teachers, however, consensus is that she arrived midway through first form (Year 7), around 1976, where she stayed across two terms.

Courtney’s mother Linda Carroll describes the whimsical decision to move their family to Aotearoa in 1973 in the autobiography Her Mother's Daughter: A Memoir of the Mother I Never Knew and of My Daughter, Courtney Love She writes they were drawn to Nelson, “filled with young people of many cultures searching to find a new meaning in life”, and arrived planning to “develop a self-sustaining life on a farm.” Linda despaired about Courtney’s troublesome and fighting behaviour, so sent her to live with a local Nelson woman. This woman “held little faith that therapy or most

education systems could nurture [Courtney’s] personalities”, but thought she could “bring out what [Courtney] had to offer.” After this failed to tame Courtney’s wild ways, Linda enrolled her in boarding school.

All my friends are embryonic

All my friends are dead and gone

All my friends are microscopic

All my friends wake up alone

Hole—‘Gutless’

As one of very few boarding students younger than Year 9, Courtney shared a room with one other girl, a Year 8 named Andrea Devaux. Andrea’s journals from the time record her excitement at the arrival of her new roomie. Highlights include Andrea being irritated as Courtney pesters her for attention and teases her about boys. “Courtney keeps saying I am in love each time I don’t answer [her] questions, or am moody or quiet.” She remembers Courtney as worldly, and more experienced with love and sex than the other sheltered students, but also standoffish and likely unhappy, focussing on all the “better” things she had left behind in America. Andrea’s journal changes tune toward the end of Courtney’s stay, and she’s relieved by Courtney’s swiftly impending departure.

Classmate Sue Barker describes how Courtney’s arrival at school made a “strong impression” on her young self. Having emigrated from England with family just four years earlier, and attending Nelson’s closest equivalent to a private school, Sue was generally surrounded by “quiet, shy girls”. Together, tucked away in two classrooms behind the school’s art department, the “reserved” class studied hard. So the arrival of Courtney Love—confident, brash, and refusing to smile— struck a chord with the self-described “goodie two shoes”.

Words by Bridget Scott (she/her)

Fellow student Julie Thorn affirmed the sentiment that Courtney was “loud, out there, and certainly no shrinking violet”. Julie and Andrea both recall a production of Oliver Twist, in which Andrea played the lead and Julie a pauper. Courtney publicly credits her own performance in this play as leading her to fix her childhood lisp, which she describes as “really good” in conversation with Marc Maron.

Courtney’s charismatic and dramatic nature led her to “holding court during recess”, eventually assuming control, and “running the class straight out”. Julie recounts one incident when the teacher popped out of class to grab something from the staff room. In the absence of an adult, she found herself sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor with Courtney, watching as everyone was drawn in together. Courtney led the students in a hypnotic attempt to levitate another girl with the combined power of their minds channelled through one sharply pointed finger. Considering this college, cult-esque following, Julie wasn’t surprised to discover Courtney’s eventual fame; “She looked like she does now—most people change when they get older, she just grew.”

Geeks do not have pedigrees

Or perfect punk rock resumes

Or anorexic magazines

It smells like girl, it smells like girl

Hole—‘She Walks On Me’

Courtney’s departure from Nelson College for Girls is shrouded in mystery. Most sources report that she was expelled or asked to leave in 1976, after about three months. Fellow students struggle to recall the particulars, and many assumed she had simply returned to America with her parents, following the conclusion of their ‘business’ in New Zealand. Yet Linda Carroll’s book reveals that the family stayed in Aotearoa, after Courtney was sent back to the States, until 1978. Julie speculated that the school worked hard to keep Courtney’s troubles quiet to protect its own posh reputation. Andrea wasn’t surprised that Courtney was expelled. “She wasn’t a rule follower even back then”, and had a “careless demeanour” which led her to behave inappropriately, frustrating a young Andrea as she tried to make the most of boarding school’s opportunities.

Of course, the evolution from Cookie Menely to famed rock star Courtney Love took decades to unfurl. Andrea heard rumours that Courtney had been hit by a bus and killed in Portland. It wasn’t till she moved to America as an adult that a friend tipped her off to who Cookie had become. After Andrea saw Courtney in the award winning 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, her trajectory from cheeky youngster to troubled celebrity became clear. Despite later attempts to reconnect with her, Andrea was unable to break through the protective layers a large following bestows upon celebrities like Love.

In interviews, Courtney has made fleeting mentions of her time here. In February this year, she told Interview Magazine that she “briefly went to boarding school in New Zealand in the 70s”. “I got two years before I was expelled from a British Commonwealth education.” Playing with Hole in 1995 at an Auckland concert, she declared that Nelson Girls “screwed her up”. At the infamous 1999 Big Day Out, she screamed to an elated crowd that “New Zealand debauched me” before stripping off her top and throwing her guitar away to a fan in the mosh.

After repeated, rueful proclamations that Nelson College for Girls “made her what she was”, Courtney reached out to the boarding school. She asked for an opportunity to address the students, not long after the notorious 1992 Vanity Fair profile which accused her of using heroin while pregnant with daughter Frances Bean. Then principal Alison McAlpine is quoted in Desert News saying “we didn't know of her existence until her rise to fame” and that the school had “been embarrassed by her in the last little while.” Although, by 2009, McAlpine's stance had softened, as she told Stuff, “I spoke with her [at the time] and said school wasn’t open until January, and even if it was, your values, and the school’s values, are not in tandem.” But she mentioned that once fully matured, Courtney “would be fine” to come back for a chat.

When I went to school in Olympia

And everyone's the same

We look the same, we talk the same Hole—‘Rock Star’

A mere three months spent at the College at 11-years-old was enough for Courtney ‘Cookie’ Love Cobain to develop mythic status. While most details about how she spent her days here have been lost to the corrosive forces of time and memory, this only adds to her powerful mystique.

A determined, boundary pushing child, her time in New Zealand illustrates that by 1976, Courtney Love’s pathway towards a scandalous, provocative, and idolised adulthood was already in motion.

Often referred to as the ‘cultural capital’ of Aotearoa, Wellington undoubtedly has a powerful musical presence. While the guidebooks mostly focus on coffee culture, the unique music scene is the unsung core of the city. If you want to be a musician, Wellington is the place to be—at least, that is what I was told. The music scene is a drawing point for many aspiring musicians, and it’s the reason many of them chose to come to Wellington.

Wellington’s underground scene is unrivalled. With Courtenay Place and Cuba Street littered with bars and clubs, there is sure to be a place that caters to every musical taste. You might not even have to touch your precious student allowance to experience it, with free events like Eyegum Wednesdays at San Fran. The strong musical presence extends far beyond clubs, with buskers and street performers being a common find throughout the CBD.

I was pleasantly surprised that during my first month in Wellington, there was a different music festival taking place each weekend. Records stores such as Flying Nun, Slow Boat Records, and Creeps Record Parlour are a danger to our bank accounts, and a great place to acquire our favourite local and international artists on vinyl.

Wellington is a great place for any music lover, but what is it like to pursue music as a career? Wellington-based musician Vera Ellen says, “Wellington is unique and eclectic, in terms of being a musician it’s very warm and uplifting.”

Unlike other cities that are typically dominated by one outstanding genre, Wellington’s scene features a wide array of subgenres and crossovers ranging from indie rock to death metal. There’s a very strong community of musicians across the city that are willing to help build each other up. Vera Ellen observes, “Everyone is really supportive. It’s not transactional here.”

The variety of music being created and the large network of musicians is a big reason why Wellington appeals to emerging artists. According to founder and director of Flying Nun Records, Roger Shepherd, “Names often get spread simply by word of mouth, that’s why live shows are so important.” What’s most essential is that you have the ability to drive the action yourself. While there are people who will help you along the way, it is up to you to put yourself out there.

Words by Jia Sharma (she/her)

Victoria University students are an important component driving the scene in Wellington. Students form a large percentage of the people who go to gigs, mostly because of the university’s proximity to town. More than just numbers, students and young people are a large component of the scene and environment.

The holy grail that is a ‘record deal’ is one of the most common associations with a career in music. Signing with an established label can be helpful in building a career, especially if you are able to find someone that is truly passionate about the music you make. Being signed under a label makes it financially easier to produce music and book shows, but that doesn’t mean success can’t be gained working independently. Roger Shepherd says, “The main difference is how many records you’re going to sell. A label will do a lot for you, as well as manufacturing. I suspect for a young band you’ll probably learn a lot through the process of a label.”

Perhaps the biggest downside of a career in music, and the fact that discourages many aspiring musicians, is the lack of financial security. True for any artistic career, the uncertainty and lack of promise around a stable income or schedule is a big disadvantage. There is a strong lack of security while starting out, often with a fluctuating income. You could be

booked solid for a week and then go months without being able to play another gig. Because of this, many artists also have other jobs and sources of income to help with the general costs of living. Danz, lead singer of punk-rock band DARTZ, emphasises, “While the band is able to fully fund itself, we all have careers outside of the DARTZ.” It may also take a long time to start making a profit. While streaming may seem like the most efficient way to have your music heard and make money from it, musicians make most of their profits from live shows and selling merch. Sorry SoundCloud rappers.

Living off your passions can be a lot of pressure, especially with the stigma around artistic careers. After a while, the trope of the ‘starving artist’ might not be so fun, and it can start to affect you mentally. Danz says, “The music you create is a reflection of who you are, and so it can definitely take a toll on your mental health.” It’s easy to take your lack of success personally and project negative feelings onto yourself and your art. Roger Shepherd echoes that this has “always been a problem. Musicians often throw themselves into their art and are then disappointed when it doesn’t work out.”

Internal pressure is often reinforced by the external judgments of those around us, whether from parents who want you to have a secure future, or that random family member you met once who thinks they have a say in your life. Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Bails says, “Whenever I tell somebody I’m a musician I always get the spiel of ‘you know that’s not going to bring in the money, right?’ I think that’s so reinforced into musicians that most don’t even try to pursue it further than a hobby.” Your biggest supporters will often be in the same boat as you—that’s why a musical community is so important.

Guidance from people who have been through the business can be incredibly helpful when trying to kickstart your own career. One important piece of advice is to play as many shows as you can, as even the most experienced artists learn through performing. It’s all about trial and error. According to Danz, it’s important to treat it like a career. “Learn how to present yourself and establish a recognisable brand for you or your band.” Surround yourself with people who build you up and make friends. It’s most important to be yourself and stick to your own intuition. All artists doubt themselves and the risk comes with the job. In Vera Ellen’s view, “The risk is worth it. When it comes to your passion and what you want to do with your life, there’s no choice but to make it work.”

Pursuing a musical career is more than a creative outlet— it gives you the opportunity to build a life based around what you love. The feeling of being able to connect with other people through your art is unparalleled. I was recently fortunate enough to see Vera Ellen perform live and it was an incredible experience. You can tell when someone is passionate about what they do and that increases the value of the art they create. DARTZ’s connection to Wellington as a city is vividly clear in their music. While passion doesn’t always equal success, it can greatly enhance your chances of it. At the end of the day, your career or passion depends on you and how far you are willing to pursue it.

For some, the struggle and uncertainty are undoubtedly worth it. For others, it might not be, and that is completely okay. Artistic success cannot be defined by fame or monetary value. It’s entirely what you make of it.

in boygenius, we trust. a review of the record

Words by Kat Rowan (they/them)

”If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy.”

CW: Suicidal Thoughts.

do you like emo women? Deliciously alty lyrics? The spine-shivering blend of three artists harmonising whilst performing indie folk that will crush your soul but simultaneously heal you? …. Meet boygenius.

Described by Vogue as “the Infinity War of female-led indie-rock outfits”, boygenius is comprised of musicians Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. Their name is a satirical reference to “little boys who are taught to believe they’ll one day rule the world” (Vogue). Fans affectionately refer to the members as ‘the boys’ or ‘our boys’.

The band met in 2016 whilst touring their respective albums. Bridgers describes their connection as instantaneous, saying “The first time we were in the same space is the first day… we were a band” (Music Connection). The three have a deep, genuine friendship, illustrated by their interviews as a group and in their music as solo artists. boygenius garnering visibility and musical success as three openly queer women is also something to be celebrated.

All three artists have written about their friendship in their solo work, including intimate tracks from Bridgers and Dacus concerning Baker’s mental health struggles. Bridgers’ ‘Graceland Too’ and Dacus’ ‘Please Stay’ give poignant recognition to Baker’s experiences and her personal growth, both within and beyond the band.

the record does not stray away from the themes each musician has explored in their past works. Illustrations of abuse, trauma, and heartache in tracks like ‘Revolution 0’ (one of my personal favourites) and ‘Cool About It’ are coupled with tracks that explore the group’s growth with hope and poignancy, such as ‘Satanist’ and ‘$20’. The album captures the hopefulness of youth and coming-of-age struggle, the bonds made during these times, and the makings of these women as individuals, musicians, and friends.

I’m always a sucker for a bridge, and boygenius never disappoints. The bridge in ‘Not Strong Enough’ culminates in a spine-chilling build-up towards the outro, their three voices layered in harmony. Dacus steps in for the outro with pure, delicious vocals. Her voice is strong, clear, and utter magic, delivering a line which, though repeated throughout the song’s choruses, feels like a punch in the gut nonetheless— “I don’t know why I am the way I am.”

Track 11, ‘Anti-Curse’, is a vulnerable account helmed by Baker, almost like a love song to herself—though it may be, as she sings, “the worst love song you’ve ever heard”. Baker portrays this experience as a learning curve, “Sounding out the foreign characters”. The song deals with the real impact of wanting to die but also trying so hard to want to live. Knowing, at the end of the day, you have to do it for yourself—“ I never listened, I had to see it for myself”. ‘Anti-Curse’ demonstrates the path to self-acceptance and a genuine will to live must come from within. Baker doesn’t stray away from the darkness of her experiences, but she is working hard to recognise the moments of light and joy which exist alongside them.

‘Letter For An Old Poet’ closes out the record, and is arguably one of the most emotionally intricate tracks of the LP. Bridgers takes a lead on this track, providing a raw perspective on the lingering effects of trauma. Fans of boygenius reading this will likely be aware of the track ‘Me & My Dog’ from their self-titled debut EP. Lyrics include, “ I wanna be emaciated / I wanna hear one song without thinking of you”. In 'LTAOP', boygenius reprise the melody of ‘Me & My Dog’, but Bridgers sings instead: “ I wanna be happy / I’m ready / To walk into my room without looking for you”. Bridgers’ experiences in abusive relationships have been well documented. To hear her express not only her anger, but also her work towards acceptance and happiness—whilst still recognising the impact of her past experiences—is touching to listen to as a fan.

the record is a 42-minute experience which tells stories with universal themes through articulate, poetic lyricism specific to boygenius’ own connections and relationships. The album gives opportunities for each band member to shine, whilst also showing the power of their collective talent. the record, above all else, feels like an ode to boygenius’ friendship. The support each member has for each other is shown in an outpouring of musicianship and solidarity. I cannot help but STAN.

- Satanist, boygenius

which member of boygenius

Pick one:

A. Flannel shirt

B. Flowy, witchy dress

C. Skeleton onesie

What song would you listen to on the way to uni?

A. ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’- Al Green

B. ‘If This Was a Movie (Taylor’s Version)’- Taylor Swift

C. 'money machine' – 100 gecs

What is the state of your camera roll or documents folders?

A. I have 200 photos of my dog and I couldn’t tell you what else.

B. Organised into neat folders. I love knowing where everything is! I have a folder for photos of my shadow.

C. Don’t ask me how many photos are in my camera roll…. or where anything is…

are

you?

Who are you most likely to be at a party?

A. You spend the entire evening talking to one person about Scientology conspiracy theories.

B. The social butterfly, you are in five spaces at once. There is so much to catch up on!

OMG I haven’t seen you in so long <33 vibes.

C. In the smokers area or whatever adjacent area there is. You might not even be smoking, the people are just cooler there.

Pick a colour:

A. Soft lilac

B. Midnight blue

C. Brakelight red

Finally, your friends would describe you as…

A. Introspective and intelligent

B. Considerate and friendly

C. Always down for a laugh

Mostly A’s You are… julien!

Just like Julien, you’re most yourself in an understated outfit—comfort over all else!

You keep it real, but there’s a lot of emotion under the surface. Laying on the grass with a friend, staring up at the sky, sharing secrets, and talking about the world for hours sounds like your ultimate happy place. Also, you’re probably gay.

Mostly B’s You are… lucy!

Soft and gentle hearted, your friends love you for giving great advice and being the peaceful sage we all aspire to be. No one would be surprised if you were missing for several days and found frolicking in the forest with the woodland creatures. Despite being our dreamy darling, you know exactly how to get everyone on track when it comes down to it.

Mostly C’s You are… phoebe!

Like Phoebe, you love the existential. Death is definitely a favourite first-date conversation topic. You may not always be the most organised, but with the right support, your ideas have the power to be world-changing. If you haven’t showered in the past three days, don’t worry, we’re not judging you.

THE BREAK BEAT RESURGENCE Breaking Open Pop’s Future Cornerstone

Words by Xavier Farrow-Francis (any/all)

We all know that pop loves to revive and revamp old trends. There’s nothing like the rush of nostalgia you get when hearing an 80s-esque synth in a song from 2017, giving you the warm fuzzies for a time we weren’t even around for. In the last few years, I’ve started to notice a trend where alternative-pop trailblazers have begun incorporating a really specific dance sound, which I would later come to know as breakbeat, into their music.

The first time I remember noticing it in a track was in 2019 with The 1975’s ‘Frail State of Mind’. Its vocal chops and skittering rhythms that were almost off-beat piqued my curiosity in a way that their music, while I’d loved it for much of high school, had never quite done before. I’d hear this again here and there in other alt-pop jams over the next year and a bit, and around 2021-2022, it became clear that breakbeat was back in spades! I knew I had to delve into the genre’s archives now that it’s gotten to this bubbling point in popularity, so I could get to the root of how this resurgence came about.

MID-LATE 90S

Garage and 2-step music, with their signature broken beats, came about in the mid-90s. By the late 90s and early 2000s, they were two extremely prolific genres in the UK dance scene. The genres have gone on to influence and inform much of what we’ve heard in their contemporary electronic subgenres. Some of the biggest tracks include Shanks & Bigfoot’s ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ and Bomfunk MC’s ‘Freestyler’, which came in at 22nd and 29th on the NZ year-end charts for 1999 and 2000 respectively.

1999: Gabrielle— ’Sunshine (Wookie Main Mix)’

1999: Shanks & Bifoot— ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’

1999: Bomfunk MC’s— ‘Freestyler’

1 9 90 2 0 00

EARLY 2000S

2000: Sweet Female Attitude— ‘Flowers (Sunship Edit)’

2000: Craig David —‘Fill Me In’

2001: Mis-Teeq— ‘All I Want (Sunship Radio Edit)’

2001: The Streets— ‘Has It Come to This?’

1996: Everything But The Girl— ‘Before Today’

1998: MJ Cole featuring Nova Caspar & jaydee— ‘Sincere (Re-Cue’D)’

It didn’t just bleed in electronic circles though—it bled everywhere. It started with remixes of pop songs by Wookie and Sunship, two of the sound’s key figureheads, and then some of pop and rock’s most iconic songs of the early 2000s had elements of breakbeat in them. Craig David’s classic 2000 single ‘Fill Me In’ is a staple of the genre, with Craig’s silky, trademark-00s-R&B male vocals acting as a vehicle for the sharp, skipping beats. The track was the lead single to his Born to Do It album, which came in at 31st on NZ’s top selling albums of 2000. All the singles are still blasted on R&B and pop airwaves across the country today. Linkin Park’s single ‘Breaking the Habit’ off their second album Meteora is another song that used breakbeats significantly, and was played on both alternative and rock stations circa 2004.

2002: Frou Frou— ‘A New Kind of Love (Demo)’

2003: Linkin Park— ‘Breaking the Habit’

2007: Burial— ‘Archangel’

RESURGENCE Cornerstone

MID 2000SMID 2010S

The genre lay dormant for a good chunk of time after this, only really showing up in indie darling albums for a few years. This includes Burial’s 2007 album Untrue, which is often hailed as a crown jewel in the world of garage and dubstep music. Electronic duo Disclosure perhaps helped get the ball rolling again though with the release of their debut record Settle, which was a success in the UK, US, and Australia. Singles like ‘You & Me’ particularly leaned into that garagey, 2-step sound and allowed for the style to get reintroduced into the mainstream again. 2 0 10

LATE 2010S

BREAKBEAT’S SIGNATURE SOUND

Breakbeat is a pretty broad space. Over the years, it's found homes in 2-step, jungle, IDM, UK garage, drum and bass, dubstep, big beat, house, and many, many other genres. Its defining characteristic is its minimal yet non-conformist production. Breakbeat often utilises jittery triplet beats that stray as far from traditional four-onthe-floor kicks as possible. It’s also well-known for its dominant and prevailing basslines.

THE FUTURE

2017: Jorja Smith x Preditah— ‘On My Mind’

2017: Vince Staples —‘Crabs In A Bucket’

2013: Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle —‘You & Me’

2022: Shygirl —‘Firefly’ 2 0 20

2022: Charli XCX featuring Rina Sawayama —‘Beg For You’

2021: PinkPantheress —‘Just for me’

2020: Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande— ‘Rain on Me’

Since PinkPantheress’ come-up, breakbeat has begun appearing even more frequently. Contemporary artists that she’s listed as sonic inspirations, like Kelela, have created bodies of work heavily featuring the style. So have fellow danceheads and pop experimentalists like Shygirl, Namasenda, and even Lady Gaga.

I think my favorite thing about breakbeat’s return is its versatility. There’s a bounty of records I’ve heard recently that adopt the distinguishing beat style in so many ways. Erika de Casier’s 2000’s R&B, Caroline Polachek’s ethereal downtempo, Lolahol’s trip hop… and I’m constantly discovering more! There’s so much life and opportunity in this type of music, and it’s being utilised in such creative and dynamic ways right now.

Huge thanks to Tasha and all of the DJs at RadioActive.FM for aiding my research into the genre! I’ve created a Spotify playlist that tracks these breakbeat records from the 90s onwards and I’m constantly adding both new and old tracks to it. You can check it out by scanning the Spotify code at the bottom of this page!

2 0 23

Another song that could be responsible for breakbeat’s recent resurgence is Frou Frou’s ‘A New Kind Of Love’, a leaked demo from around 2002. Fans begged for an official release of the song, but due to the Frou Frou project (consisting of musicians Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth) disbanding shortly after their sole album’s release, it was left floating around the internet for almost two decades. In December 2019, Australian producer Vierre Cloud released what was essentially a remix of Frou Frou’s song, titled ‘moment’. It went viral on TikTok and currently sits at over 258 million streams on Spotify. Last year, Frou Frou released an EP of demos from the sessions of their Details album for its 20th anniversary, meaning ‘A New Kind Of Love’ finally got a release, and quickly jumped up to be their most popular song.

This brings us to The 1975, circa 2019-2020, and their Notes On A Conditional Form album. The tracks that leaned more into the dance and electronic side of their palette were the ones I loved most about this ambitious, though bloated and disorderly, album. Frontman Matty Healy would later go on to say that UK garage musicians like Burial and The Streets served as a major influence on the band during the making of the album. And upon discovering Burial’s much-adored Untrue album, this type of music became very clear to me.

2020S

TikTok has had a big part to play in the resurgence from this point onward, and PinkPantheress is the shining example of this. Currently the 64th most listened to artist on Spotify, PinkPantheress’ songs are pure 2-step, jungle, and garage worship. From ‘Just for me's quaint triplet beats, to ‘I must apologise's relentless jungle breaks, to her breakout single ‘Pain's sample of classic breakbeat track ‘Flowers (Sunship Edit)’, her success and virality have caused the resurgence to boom.

2019: The 1975— ‘Frail State of Mind’

Sea Shanties and Ceilidhs with VicFolk

The first time I saw my flatmate lead a folk dance, I was convinced I was living with Peter Pan. They stood on a chair in this enormous green shirt like a happy leaf, made jokes over the mic, and called the steps for over a hundred people. Students, kids, Lambton Quay commuters, grandparents—people of all ages joined in. The hall at the back of St Peter’s was so packed you couldn’t spin around without nearly stepping on somebody.

“We want to welcome people new to the folk scene,” says Maia O’Connell, President of VicFolk, third-year NZSM Classical Performance student for the French Horn, owner of fun socks and a freakin’ mandolin, my flatmate, and one of my best friends. The week I first met them, they took me to Alistair’s to buy a tin whistle. Then we learnt the whistle together at VicFolk for half a Tri (best way to bond fr).

VicFolk was founded in 2017. They’re now a landmark in the wider Wellington folk scene, which is mostly made up of other groups holding sessions and concerts. A ‘trad’ session is where a group of folk musicians gather—often in a pub—to play tunes or sing songs. Unlike an improvised jam session, the tunes are part of a Celtic aural tradition and are usually played in unison. As you might imagine, the trad folk crowd can be pretty ye-olde, pirate-leg, boy-scout, backin-the-good-ol-days-of-Ireland. I personally kinda spiral at the sound of bagpipes and I have zero idea about the potato famine. But I have never met a group of people kinder, funnier, and more chill than the crew at VicFolk.

The club meets weekly on Thursday evenings, 7-9 p.m., in EA120. They begin by doing a round of names, pronouns, and anything else people want to share—something like a favorite bird or kind of boat. Meetups include a mix of learning trad tunes (for those who bring an instrument), group dancing

(accompanied by live tunes played by others in the room), and singing trad songs (and sea shanties). Some people bring along crochet projects or art materials. “You don’t have to dance, or even play music,” Maia says. “It’s just a really friendly and fun atmosphere.” All meetups are open to beginners and casual attendees, as well as members who attend more regularly.

First a social space for musicians to share cool trad tunes, VicFolk regularly organises public dances or ‘ceilidhs’. Held in community halls around central Wellington, people wear pretty dresses, take their shoes off, and get to dance under fairy lights with all their friends. You don’t have to be a good or even adequate dancer (me) to attend. Meanwhile, the more lowkey version, ‘dance weeks’, are held a few times per Trimester at the usual club-meet.

You don’t have to be a musician, or a student at VUW, to attend a VicFolk meetup. Dance weeks are especially attractive to people who aren't interested in learning an instrument. Celtic ceilidh dances are taught by ‘callers’, so there’s no freestyle (thank fuck!). Nobody’s on their own—everybody learns together. (And you get to feel like you’re in one of those period drama movie balls where everyone is dancing in unison!)

Find out more and get in the know about what’s going on with VicFolk by searching ‘VicFolk’ on Google to find the website, Facebook page, and page on the university clubs directory. Or get in touch by email: vicfolkmusic@gmail.com

Words by Pippi Jean (she/her)

P ODCASTS

THE SEARCH FOR JINGLES

Words by Alex Marinkovich-Josey (he/him)

Picture this.

You’ve got a banging idea for a new podcast.

Everyone’s telling you they’re dying to hear it for real. You’ve pitched it to Salient Podcasts, they love it. Next thing you know, you’re in the studio, recording with your new co-host, and it's all coming together. Then, your producer asks you the fatal question. Have you thought about intro music? It all comes crashing down.

Podcast jingles are hard, y’all.

We know a good one when we hear one. Let’s Make a Rom-Com’s banging, floral track screams romance, Worlds Beyond Number gets you in that fantasy, RPG mood, and the German podcast Decades From Home has a popping, bavarian tune that’s guaranteed to stick in your head. I have a strange taste in podcasts, I know.

As much as we can fall in love with a good podcast’s mood setting music, a bad jingle can turn a great listen sour.

As a beginner in the podcast world, that battle between harmony and ick is a real struggle. Just because you’re keen to work with the audio medium, it doesn’t automatically mean you know how to make music. The obvious answer is to look through music directories and find something that suits your show. I wish I’d tried that.

I knew how to play the guitar long before I started podcasting, but I wasn’t gifted enough to ever really compose anything on my own. My first podcast jingle was out of my control. I was 14, and my dad made it for me. I was super cool, can’t you tell? It was a great tune for my geeky, mostly Star Wars podcast. But when I left for Aotearoa, I wanted to keep podcasting and I knew I’d need to do it myself. I launched my first new podcast while I was at Weir House, and I took to the world’s greatest music making tool: GarageBand.

With GarageBand came loops, an amateur’s best friend. The loops gave me a solid structure that was composed by someone of actual talent, so I felt assured that I could come up with something. It took an embarrassingly long amount of time.

I wanted to find out what other podcasters at Salient did for their jingles, so I reached out in the group chat. Georgia, who’s the host of one of our upcoming Salient Podcasts, was quick to reach out with their story of meeting a composer friend. “We sat down in the Hub together to make [the track]. I have zero understanding of music, or pitch, or sound, so the process involved many exasperated sighs and music 101 sessions on the difference between percussion and the other instruments.”

It seems all podcasters share the same burden.

Georgia’s story is reminiscent of my journey with Stranger at Home. I wasn’t happy with the loops I'd assembled for the show’s theme, and wanted a refresh. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, so I sought out a classmate who could help me compose it. I’d made sure to commission them properly for the work, but that meant paying a hefty sum for about 30 seconds of music! I’m glad I did it, but maybe I should just teach myself how to write a short tune for my wallet’s sake.

There are definitely costs when it comes to making any sort of podcast, but maybe it's worth it when it comes to making a tune that’ll stick in your head forever.

UR INTRO TO WELLY MUSIC

Flakey

Tahini Bikini

Hoons

DARTZ

Blink Macho Macho

Coming Forth Through the Night

HEAVY CHEST

Dirty Dishes

ONONO Dream of Me

Wiri Donna

Oh Baby!

Munkhouse

Unwind

Retrospect

Soft Energy

Mermaidens

Sundown

Miss Cressida

You Know You’re

Cool Me Down The Black Seeds

Arrow Recitals

Not Alright

nicholas Franchise

Spice Dream

nic and reuben

TOP FIVE

It’s pretty obvious that I love music, simply from the amount of time I have my AirPods in. I bet a lot of you guys feel the same way I do—there's nothing quite like getting lost in your own world with your favourite playlist in your ears. It's amazing how music can transport you to a different place and time, and help you forget about all of the stresses and worries of the day. I'm glad that I have my AirPods with me most of the time to help create my own little sanctuary of sound, where I can listen to the music that speaks to me, makes me feel alive, and keeps me focused l on what I’m meant to.

This is my top five playlist to help you create your own sanctuary of sound.

‘Love Yourz’ by J. Cole is a beautiful song that reminds me to be grateful for what I have in life, rather than always striving for more. It's a great message that we could all use a reminder of from time to time.

‘She's Mine Pt.1 & 2’ is another J. Cole song that speaks to my desire to have a loving family, a wife, and kids to take care of. It's great that I can find inspiration in music that reflects my values and priorities in life.

‘I Gotta Find Peace in My Mind’ by legendary artist Ms. Lauryn Hill is a great reminder to take care of our mental health and find ways to stay grounded in a chaotic world. It's important to have songs that help us relax and clear our minds, and Lauryn Hill's music is definitely a great choice for that.

‘First World Problem / Nobody Carez’ by Brent Faiyaz is a thoughtful and introspective song that puts things into my perspective. It's easy to get caught up in my own problems and forget about the bigger picture, so it's great to have music that helps us step back and see the world from a different perspective.

‘Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing’ by Stevie Wonder is a fun and uplifting song that always brings me happiness. Stevie Wonder is a classic artist who has created so many amazing songs over the years. Above was my favs from the goat playlist—deja vu’ Scan the QR code and hope you enjoy it.

Ngā mihi x, Tūhei

Words by Tūheitia Young (he/him; Ngāti Maniapoto)

Dear Aunty Vic

One time, my ex-boyfriend invited me over to his flat. We were navigating a period where every time we hung out, there would be a passive aggressive comment of, “You’re always on your phone! Quit scrolling TikTok and actually talk to me!” Reality was, we weren’t spending enough quality time together. Anyway, I went over that evening and joined the flat in the living room. My boyfriend said 'hello' and proceeded to play on the new PS5, which seemed to mesmerise every man in the room beyond speaking. I sat there for 1.5 hours and nobody said a word to me. I got up, went down stairs, and got into bed. Two hours later there was an argument. I wanted to throw that machine out the window. The situation highlighted an issue within our relationship: our ideas of quality time did not align.

Look, I’m going to be real here. Video games have captivated the world since they were invented. They’re a form of accessible escapism. Flick the switch and you’re immersed. It is not abnormal for your partner to be engrossed in a video game—that’s the whole point of them.

Nevertheless, if your partner values the presence of a game on an electronic screen more than you, I would kick ‘em to the curb. This is about understanding your version of ‘quality time’, how much you value that quality time, and consequently, how much you value your self-worth.

A .You really need to think about what you consider to be quality time. Quality time may not be the top necessity for every couple, but I wouldn’t really call a partnership a romantic relationship if you failed to spend quality time together.

So think, what is quality time for you? How would you like to spend time with your partner? Does it involve an in-depth discussion of international politics? Partaking in an outdoor activity together? Being intimate? Whatever it may be, you need to be able to articulate it to your partner, listen to what they have to say in return, and figure out how you can both meet in the middle.

I do not mean to compromise your standards and allow the other person to be a lazy prick or put no effort in. It means recognising the needs of your partner and making a concerted effort to meet them.

Your partner may think joining him on the couch whilst he plays on his PS5 is quality time. If this is not the same for you, let your partner know and suggest alternative options. If they fail to listen, I have bad news for you. They are evidently incapable of understanding your basic needs in a relationship. Ignoring someone’s needs in a relationship is not love, it is laziness. If someone genuinely cares about you, they will be concerned that you are unhappy and figure out how to solve the problem.

Remember, it is one thing to enjoy video games, but it is another to use this as an excuse for not giving a fuck about your partner.

Q.

My partner just got a PS5. He now spends more time playing with it than me. What should I do?

WELCOME TO THE (PRIDE) PARADE

Zia Ravenscroft (they/he)

It’s the day after Halloween, 2019. I cry for hours because my literal favourite band ever, Gods of emo, My Chemical Romance (MCR), has reunited, and I’ve persuaded my parents to buy concert tickets for my 16th birthday. Then the pandemic hits, the show is postponed, and I start thinking I’ll never see them live.

The band formed after singer Gerard Way witnessed 9/11, saying later, “The world changed that day, and the next day we set about trying to change the world.” For listeners, their sound was ground-breaking and revolutionary. Their melodramatic songs attracted dedicated eyelinerwearing, emotion-feeling fans: predominantly women and queer people (a rarity in rock scenes). MCR were a formative band for teenagers worldwide, but their music has resonated especially within the queer community—their candour unifying us all.

I grew up in a shitty small town. I felt alone in my shame and guilt about my nascent queerness. I craved an outlet for self-loathing, a community I could relate to, and somewhere I felt accepted. Following in the footsteps of every good social outcast, I turned to emo music, finding solace in its theatrical sorrow. MCR spoke to the kids who felt they had no one else, who felt the world was against them. That’s the core of emo music’s confessional expression, and no one understands that feeling like queer youth.

Where so many emo bands glorified pain and suffering, MCR sought to uplift their audience. They told us that you can actually move beyond the hurt. They made us believe that we were capable of creating a life worth living, and I believed them. In my lowest teenage mental health moments, listening to The Black Parade on repeat was the only thing that made me feel less alone. With their sonar support, I promised myself one day I wouldn’t be afraid to keep on living. They taught me that being different is a strength, and I was allowed to be myself authentically.

The world and music industry may not have been ready for MCR in 2002, but they sure are now. Looking back at their legacy, the band’s bravery in exploring androgyny and queer lyrical themes is even more important, considering the societal leaps and bounds in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights since they disbanded. From deeply transgender lyrics such as “You should’ve raised a baby girl / I should’ve been a better son” in ‘Mama’, or the campy glory of Danger Days (more like Danger Gays), to wearing dresses and band members actually making out on stage, they’ve always defied cishet norms and celebrated being yourself. They risked their entire career in a time where being queer was the punchline, standing up for what they believed in when very few bands did.

In March, I finally saw MCR live in concert, and it was a truly religious experience. The second Frank Iero stepped on stage, I felt like I’d come home. The show was a love letter to my 13-year-old self, and I finally knew I was okay (I promise). I started crying during ‘Famous Last Words’, hugging my best friend and my boyfriend tight.

When they came out for the encore of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’, Gerard said, “Be the fuck who you are.”

Thank you.

And I will. I’ll carry on.

Manawa Ora

PRACTICING MINDFULNESS THROUGH MUSIC

At the risk of revealing how old I actually am, I personally feel like our wellbeing, friendships, relationships, and general vibes would be considerably improved by bringing back mixtapes.

Maybe that’s what playlists are for us now, but they aren’t mixtapes. How many of us have playlists with absolutely incoherent vibes, a temporary name that we never went back to change, and about 300 songs on them, half of which we’ve forgotten were there in the first place? Besides, playlist listening—where new songs aim to be on official playlists as quickly as possible for as long as possible—has muddled the purpose and value of albums. What I’m trying to say is that we need to make listening to music intentional again.

Music plays such an enormous part of our wellbeing—from mood-booster bops to start a day when you really don’t want to get out of bed, to late-night kitchen dance parties with your flatmates, to a sad girl hours playlist for feeling your feelings.

A friend of mine has started a list of albums that she wants to listen to from start to finish. These are albums she’s found, had recommended to her, are well-loved, musically complex, or tell a phenomenal story. When she listens to them, she’s putting them on for that sole purpose: to hear the music. Not as background noise, but as an activity itself to make loving music more mindful, and have more personal value.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not an ‘album listening or bust’ purist or anything. I’m a playlist girlie too.

(One of my most listened to playlists was once called kid from 90s movie staring at the ceiling throwing a baseball in the air. Now it’s just called nostalgic vibes.) But I think that the mindfulness behind seeking out albums is a worthwhile practice, even in playlists. Embrace those mixtape vibes!

Pretend you’ve got a 30-minute-per-side cassette. Your playlist can only be an hour long—what songs are you going to pick? What story do they tell? Make your mixtape for somebody—friends, your partner, your parents as a cute (and cheap) gift! Give it a proper name, handwrite a funky little track-list as your cover art, and voila! Chuck on some headphones and listen to it lying on your bed staring at the ceiling like a true 90s kid. Throw a baseball in the air if you’ve got one to complete the look.

Surrounded by such a fast-paced, instantgratification, consumerist world, so many things have dissolved into being a background part of our lives, music included. Music streaming services have given us access to infinite amounts of music at our fingertips. No way am I complaining, but we all know that being oversaturated by something can cause us to lose sight of its value.

For how important music is to so many of us, it’s worth considering how you personally can be more intentional around your music consumption. A physical vinyl or CD is a fun option, but also very expensive nowadays. Curating your playlists, finding albums to listen to in full, and making mixtapes for people you love are not only cheap alternatives (and a good uni distraction), but they’re a great lesson in mindfulness that will go on to benefit other areas of your life.

Words by Cileme Venkateswar (she/her)

Wooden Castle

Words by Flynn Rodger (he/him)

The kid who lives upstairs Is playing the piano again. When I walk out for breakfast in the morning, Nimble fingers somewhere above my head Fill in the gaps of silence.

I go about my routine, Feeling like the lord of this wooden castle Creaking doors that fall open and shut Swollen, jammed windows Overlay the faded ambience. I bask in the soot with a cup of tea.

At some point the black mould in the shower Tells its own story Of a failure to ever get clean. With guilt I remove it; death By bleach or white vinegar

Now the sun has eloped from our window, Eager to touch

The kid is playing jazz now, And I’m roasting garlic In an oven that doesn’t close The last tenants

Screwed bits of MDF to the sides That you can turn to hold the door in; It’s a touch of home.

The music my parents played Before winter dinners

The scrappy cupboards my dad built From the same material, same fixtures.

Issues with your friends are fucking with your creativity. In fact, it’s kinda fucking with everything. Work, money, romantic partners—you name it. Rise above it. The bullshit won’t last forever.

Something happened that’s making you feel so lucky, and it’s shaking up the negative perception you’ve always had of yourself. Ride that sudden burst of confidence for all its worth and don’t let your toxic friend, self-doubt, get in the way.

Gemini is moving into their vape-free era. No more coughing up black tar whenever you’re sick. I, as your horoscope guardian angel, couldn’t be more proud of you—so long as you stick to it. This is the fifth time you’ve quit, after all.

Nostalgia has ensnared you big time. You’ve been scrolling through your old Tumblr. I have to admit, you’ve got bigger balls than I do. Your old blog is nothing but old Lana Del Rey and The 1975 edits and it's putting you in the best mood.

Fuck me Leo, I don’t envy your week. Your partner will accidentally give you a black eye, you’re jealous of a friend’s career which challenges your sense of self, and the consequences of last week's workplace rebellion are still playing out.

Aw, your week is actually gonna be so wholesome. I see you really enjoying uni and just getting up to cute lil activities. I’m seeing picnics (weather permitting) and you getting an A on that assignment you worked real hard on.

Libra, you’re falling down the hole of clout chasing. You got a bunch of likes for something and now you’re an addict. Online attention is now the only way you can find validation. The addiction is real. smh.

Someone is coming after your reputation, but you low-key have nothing to worry about. Your friends and family, and even randoms, are not gonna give two-shits because, tbh, the person running this smear campaign has a lot of respect.

Many a blessin’ is coming your way, but one of your friends isn’t very happy about it. Someone has turned into a green-eyed monster watching you thrive. You friend wouldn’t happen to be a Leo would they?

A Capricorn got annoyed at me last week because apparently my horoscope was ‘too specific’, so I’ll just leave you with three words: Hot. New. Thang.

Your significant other is mad because you’re not moving fast enough. They want you to move in with them, or even just commit to the title of ‘couple’. Your commitment issues are activating your fight or flight.

One of the people closest to you, maybe a best friend or a sibling, is really pissing you off. They’re in a cycle of self destructive behaviour, and it's starting to encroach on your friendship. Reckon it’s time to stage an intervention?

brain boozled

WORD OF THE WEEK: MUSIC

NZ Sign Language

pūoro

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I can't see a way in which we would be working with the Māori Party. You know, our values are just not aligned, we believe in very different things, they believe in a separate Parliament, they believe in the co-governance of public services and they have a much more separatist agenda, and that is just something that we don't, we're not aligned with.

National Party Leader Christopher Luxon speaking to RNZ’s Morning Report on 10 May, ruling out a coalition with Te Pāti Māori after the next election.

Love Handles

ACROSS

1. Starter size, at Starbucks (4)

3. 'Criminal' singer-songwriter with the 2020 album 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters' (5,5) *

10. Cheese whose name means 'recooked' (7)

11. Count Orlok or Esme Cullen, for example (7)

12. TV chef and OSS agent who wrote 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' (5,5) *

13. Horned mammal that gives its name to a horned beetle (4)

15. Oscar winner for 'The Silence of the Lambs' (5,6) *

19. Naming word (4)

20. Ex-presidential daughter born on Independence Day, 1998 (5,5) *

24. Rattle; knock one's courage (7)

25. Mark caused by gathered melanin (3,4)

26. Creator and star of the webseries 'The Guild' (7,3) *

27. Attention, or a word that can follow the surnames of the women in this puzzle (4)

DOWN

1. Henson of 'Empire' and 'Hidden Figures' (6)

2. Word that can precede 'area' or 'anaesthetic' (5)

4. Walter Scott epic romance published in 1819 (7)

5. New; longish book (5)

6. Cartoon company that produces Earthquake Pills and Iron Birdseed (4)

7. Peripheral that always seems to be jammed when I need it (7)

8. What Monster and Rockstar drinks provide (6)

9. Maroons; threads (7)

14. Caresses; brushmarks (7)

15. Diary (7)

16. Japanese prefecture where karate originated (7)

17. Inundate; swamp (6)

18. Building that keeps a keep in it (6)

21. Site for gladiators (5)

22. First of twenty-four letters (5)

23. Clapton in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (4)

THE TEAM

STAFF WRITER

CONTRIBUTORS

Elliot Davis (he/him)

Xavier Farrow-Francis (any/all)

Flynn Rodger (he/him)

Zia Ravenscroft (they/he)

Tūheitia Young (he/him)

Cileme Venkateswar (she/her)

Ella Hoogerbrug (she/her)

Jia Sharma (she/her)

Kat Rowan (they/them)

Puck (cross/word)

CENTREFOLD ARTIST

Bella Maresca (they/them) @cupids.kiss

Francesca Pietkiewicz (she/they)

CO-EDITOR

Maia Ingoe (she/her)

CO-EDITOR

Bella Maresca (they/them) @cupids.kiss

DESIGNER

Willem Koller (he/they)

VIDEO CONTENT CREATOR Seren Ashmore (he/him)

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Alex Marinkovich-Josey (he/him)

PODCAST MANAGER

Ethan Manera (he/him)

NEWS EDITOR Zoë Mills (they/she)

NEWS EDITOR Niamh Vaughan (she/her)

CHIEF REPORTER

Bridget Scott (she/her)

SENIOR STAFF WRITER Tessa Keenan (she/her)

SUB-EDITOR

Pippi Jean (she/her)

STAFF WRITER

Phoebe Robertson (she/her)

ARTS & CULTURE WRITER Kiran Patel (he/they)

Joanna Fan (she/her) EDITORIAL SUPPORT

Maia Armistead (she/her)

POETRY EDITOR