This past week I spent a few late evenings and early mornings chasing around The Beatniks (if you haven't heard their music then give them a listen here on Spotify). The Beatniks is fronted by singer songwriter Sam Charlesworth, with Logan Edwards on lead, Alex Kendall on bass and Seth Sinclair on the drums. They're one of the bands that is breathing new life into the Dunedin Sound.
They wanted to collaborate on some filming for a new track. They were keen to juxtapose Dunedin's incredible nature with its grungy, edgy urban alleyways.
That process saw us lighting up a forgotten city alley and belting out some unreal solos into the night. Visually it looked stunning with a crowd of the band's supporters adding that extra buzz to the whole scene. A huge thanks to Hannah Molloy, of the Dunedin Arts Festival, and Paul and Karen, of Steamer Basin Brewery, for immediately jumping in to support the project and make access to No Name Alley super easy and fun. A huge thanks also to the many residents of No Name Alley who got to hear Seth in full flight ... well into the wee hours.
Working with the band was pretty cool – they're such an amazing collection of musicians and all really good humans as well. That made the late nights and early starts totally worth it.
Once we have the film completed we'll share a link with you all.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The Dunedin Arts Festival kicks off on March 26 and runs through to April 6. It features a stacked lineup with acts ranging from a high voltage comedic take on living with ADHD, to Te Radar highlighting New Zealand's absurd obsession with ridiculous cookbookery, to a comical, daring and crazy circus straight out of the funny farm. There's a lot to like ... full details and full programme right here: https://www.dunedinartsfestival.co.nz
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