Beats + Pieces Vol. 96

Introducing: the Pōneke Promotion Crash Course, Neck of The Woods, etc

Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately, along with some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken, plus some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes, it takes completely different forms.

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:

Over the last few months, I’ve been working with Young Gho$t from Ghost Media on a new education initiative. Pōneke Promotion Crash Course is a forthcoming free weekend seminar focused on promoting small- to medium-sized music events in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand).

Here’s the promotional blurb: Have you ever wanted to throw a musical event but aren’t sure how to do it? We have an educational initiative for you. Introducing: the Pōneke Promotion Crash Course.

Presented by Casper de Wit (Ghost Media), Martyn Pepperell and a selection of special guests, this 2-day educational seminar at Vogelmorn Bowling Club on July 18/19th is designed to empower you and arm you with the tools to organise your own gigs, parties, shows, club nights, shindigs and raves.

Drawing on a deep tradition of DIY culture in Aotearoa’s music scene, Martyn and Casper will share experience, insights, and knowledge, alongside a deep bench of music industry specialists from a range of backgrounds. In line with the Wellington City Council’s objective of galvanising the city’s well-established live music scene, our goal from this seminar is to inspire a new generation of event runners and inject even more life and confidence into the capital’s thriving musical ecosystem.

If you live in Wellington and you like to attend, you can RSVP by emailing ghostmedianz@gmail.com with a short note about who you are, what you do, or what you’d like to do. Likewise, if you know someone who might be interested in this, please let them know. Attendance numbers are limited.

SAVE NECK OF THE WOODS

For the last eleven years, Tāmaki Makaurau’s Neck of the Woods venue has been a key part of many of Karangahape Road’s creative communities. As a nightclub and performance space, they have provided a nurturing ground for countless musicians, bands, DJs, performers and collectives.

Last week, they posted on Instagram to announce they were closing. I’ve paraphrased it below.

Kia ora whānau. We have some heavy news to share. Like a lot of music venues, we’ve been struggling since Covid, and this year has just gotten harder. We see sold-out shows and think a club is doing well, but we live or die by our bar sales. That’s fine when the economy is up, but unsustainable in the current climate, as people are drinking and spending less.

We’ve been fighting hard to stay open under ever-increasing debt. We’ve tried everything, but today we’ve had to face the hard truth that after 11 amazing years, we’ve come to the end of our journey. We’re closing our doors next week, making this weekend our last.

After they made this announcement, something interesting happened. The NYMPHO collective, a crew of dance party promoters and DJs from Tāmaki Makaurau and Naarm, Australia, set up a Givealittle page to crowdfund $150,000 to help Neck of the Woods clear its debts, restructure, and keep going. At the time I wrote this newsletter, they’d raised over $140,000 toward the total.

If you’re interested in chipping in, you can head over to the Givealittle page here.

LUME UPDATE:

Have you heard about Lume? They’re a New Zealand-based album-centric music platform that focuses on bringing boxed-set-style content, demos, live tracks, extra artwork, and behind-the-scenes footage to app stores. Rather than following the subscription streaming service model, you buy your albums (Lumes) one by one. 80% of net revenue goes to the artists and their partners.

Earlier in the week (or maybe last week), Duncan Grieve from Lume emailed to let me know they’re launching on July 17 with an initial list of recent projects and reissued classics from the likes of Fables, Fazerdaze, Geneva AM, Troy Kingi, Lontalius, School fair, Bic Runga, Womb, Tiki Taane and plenty of others. Right now, it’s a very New Zealand-focused affair, but depending on how things go, all of that could change.

Anyway, if this is something you’re interested in, head over to their site for more info.

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

Absolutely magical to hear Jamaica’s mid 20th century Doo Wop, R&B and pop generation beginning to lean away from American influences and focus on their own voices, sounds and sensibilities. It’s music like this that laid the foundations for rocksteady, ska, roots reggae, dub and beyond.

Shoegaze/dream-pop from Jordan? Say less.

After smashing it out the ballpark with his last masterful album, Into The Doldrums (2025), Melbourne producer, singer-songwriter and general jack of all trades guy Xavier Bacash aka Now Always Fades is back in the mix with a second record of hazy, dream-pop influenced trip-hop and downbeat. Due for release September 18, 2026 through Northern Underground Records.

I’ve mentioned this one before, but I have to plug it again. ‘The Yellow Place’ by Apiento & Tepper is just one of those truly addictive dancefloor tunes. I can hear fragments of the past, present and future coming together in this one.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

The Short-Lived Heavy Psych Band Who Accidentally Created Southern Rock: “We were about loud, psychedelic rock,” says bassist Richard Price, remembering the mind-bending fuzztone glory days of his ‘60s band The 2nd Coming. But their history is tightly intertwined with the origins of the Allman Brothers Band and the birth of the rootsy rumble the world came to know as Southern rock. Their only album, Evaluations, went unreleased, and their story’s been somewhere between secret and myth for the last six decades…until now. Jim Allen for Bandcamp Daily.

Mincy: Punter, Promoter, Producer, Pioneer: Gadigal Land/Sydney-based DJ, producer, Extra Spicy label head & Dayshift organiser is Mixmag ANZ’s latest Cover Artist. Jack Colquhoun for Mixmag ANZ.

At Home With: The Illustrious Blacks in Brooklyn: Far from your average DJ duo, The Illustrious Blacks have made it their mission to spread an uplifting message of liberation, freedom and togetherness — not only through their music, but through their entire aesthetic. DJ Mag pays a visit to the duo at their Brooklyn abode to find out more. Bruce Tantrum.

FIN.