Making Moves: A Musician’s Shift From Small Town to Big City
Words by Darcy Shaw (She/her)
Wellington is home to many of us who moved from rural towns and found ourselves small fish in a very big pond. For young musicians, this move is pretty intimidating, and it’s hard to know how to gain footing in the ever-growing Wellington music scene.
I chatted about this with Sam White, the bassist for two of Wellington’s up-and-coming bands King Fish and Burnt Out Graduate. You can see them perform weekly at venues such as Meow, SanFran, Valhalla, and more.
Sam moved from Nelson to Wellington in 2019, and formed King Fish with fellow Massey students Hannah Davenport, Freyja Appleyard, and Brandon Gill in the same year:
“We got together for one of the university assessments in first year and have just kept playing together since.”
Sam describes the sound of King Fish as indie pop, inspired by Aotearoa bands such as Daffodils and The Beths. I first saw King Fish play at the 2021 CubaDupa and was captivated by their music's upbeat tempo combined with heavier rock instrumentals. Any fan of The Wombats has to give King Fish a listen.
Burnt Out Graduate (BOG) was formed later in 2021, by members Brandon Gill, James Lindsay, and Billy Bathgate. “Since then we’ve just been practising and writing new tracks with getting the opportunity to play The Performance Arcade and Eyegum which have both been super sick,” Sam tells me.
Sam describes BOG as inspired by a mix of midwest emo and shoegaze music. I had never heard of either genre and had no idea what to expect until I had a beer in my hand at San Fran. BOG’s music combines gravelly guitar riffs with dreamy instrumentals, the sound creating an electric atmosphere at gigs. Whilst based in the sphere of alternative/indie rock, BOG’s mixing of genres gives their music a distinct edge.
King Fish and BOG were both formed through uni, which can be the perfect environment for students to get together and collaborate. However, for many musicians like Sam, their careers began back home.
I first watched Sam play back in our hometown, Nelson, and saw the distinct difference in how each city's music scenes supported local artists. “In Nelson there were a few council gigs put on each year, which was quite cool to give you the live performance experience,” Sam explains.
Whilst Nelson laid the groundwork, Wellington encouraged Sam's progression as an artist: “You’re supported by promoters who put you on the bill for gigs and venues, as a lot of the time they supply the backline which helps out so much […] I believe that support really is the main reason for the scene doing as well as it is.”
King Fish’s style stayed consistent due to Sam's love of indie music, but moving to Wellington allowed him to branch out: “I’ve always been intrigued by more technical and heavier music but wouldn’t have considered making anything like it till moving up to Wellington [...] the scene is so alive in Wellington it makes you want to work harder to create better songs so that you are able to be compared to all the other rad bands in Wellington.”
Young musicians face many challenges when moving into a larger-scale music scene. From forming a band, gaining recognition, and booking gigs, there are many potential obstacles in getting started.
Despite this, Sam recommends those entering the Wellington music scene dive straight in: “When I moved up it was more just trying to get amongst the scene asap because I was just so excited to meet people and be involved. Because our first gig we did [for our assessment] was fairly successful we got offered a couple more gigs from there and kept on going.”
King Fish has already released multiple singles such as “Cigarettes,” “39 Days,” and “Hannah's Big Week,” and are working towards producing more music. “I know in King Fish we have a couple of tracks that are recorded and just need to be mixed and mastered, so getting on to that and getting back to playing some gigs would definitely be the move,” Sam says.
For the more recently formed BOG, plans for the future are also underway: “With BOG we’re pretty much just writing new tracks and have been spending the last couple weeks in the studio getting some tracks recorded for our first release hopefully sometime later this year.”
If you’re a small-town musician moving to a larger city like Wellington, meeting like-minded musicians is the way to go. Doing music courses at uni, going to local gigs, and reaching out on social media could be the best way to get your name out there to other artists.
“Get stuck in and go to as many gigs as possible, get talking to people and mention that you’re looking to play gigs. There’s always something going on so let it be known that you’re keen to get involved.”
When asked for any tips he would give to young musicians starting out in Wellington, Sam encouraged, “If you have some mates that play instruments, have them over for a jam! Take every opportunity that comes your way and have fun! If you aren’t enjoying yourself then why do it at all, right?”
