thebigcity

Entry 01,407 · Est. 2002

thebigcity

New Zealand Music and Christchurch Culture

Venues

The Physics Room

The Physics Room is a non-commercial contemporary art gallery in Christchurch, founded in 1996 from the South Island Art Projects organisation, and one of New Zealand’s most significant spaces for experimental and contemporary art. Operating from 209 Tuam Street for most of its history, it regularly hosts music, sound art, and performance events alongside its visual arts programme.

i artists

Idiot Prayer

Dunedin noise rock trio active 2010–2012, who played 45 shows and released free recordings of every one via Bandcamp. Their sole studio EP Falconer (2011) appeared on MUZAI Records and Monkey Killer Records.

m artists

Model Home

Christchurch indie rock quartet, formed in Woolston. Released debut album …And Nobody Made A Sound in 2023 through Papaiti Records and False Peak Records.

Venues

Christchurch Polytechnic Students Association

Post-earthquake Christchurch live music venue, operated by Wendy Alfeld at 126 Madras Street (the CPSA/CPIT student association building). Capacity approximately 1,000. Hosted Carl Cox, Shapeshifter, Katchafire, Ladyhawke and others from 2012 to around 2016.

h artists

Human

Christchurch disco/death metal with a long history and a vast array of albums. Formed by brothers Paul and Scott Harrison and Vaughn Richardson the…

h artists

How to Kill

Instrumental post-rock group from Christchurch, formed in 2003 by Robert McLean, Stephen Mateer, Campbell Johnson and Simon Leigh-Mackenzie. McLean, Mateer and Johnson had previously played together in the post-hardcore group Disgraceland way back in the mid 1990s. #nzmusic #howtokill

Studios

Nightshift Studios

Nightshift Studios is a recording studio at 27 Whittington Avenue, Woolston, Christchurch, founded and operated by Dutch-born engineer Arnie van Bussel and in continuous operation since approximately 1976. Built around a custom-built console in a converted outbuilding at the rear of van Bussel's home, Nightshift became one of the key spaces of the New Zealand independent music scene — capturing Flying Nun's debut release (The Pin Group's Ambivalence, 1981), The Clean's Tally Ho, and a string of Bats albums across three decades, while remaining open to every genre from death metal to choral music.

Radio Stations

Rotten Radio 107.7FM

Rotten Radio 107.7FM is a volunteer-run, low-power community radio station broadcasting from Lyttelton on the guard band frequency since 2013. Spiritual successor to Volcano Radio 88.5FM — which closed when its Lyttelton studio was demolished after the Canterbury earthquakes — Rotten Radio operates under a General User Radio Licence at 1 watt, keeping the port town's community radio tradition alive with eclectic, underground programming.

i artists

indi

Indi is the solo moniker of musician and composer Indira Force, formerly co-writer and lead vocalist of Christchurch neo-trip-hop duo Doprah. Following Doprah’s disbandment in 2016, she relocated to Berlin and released her debut album Precipice (2018, Flying Nun Records), fusing electronic production with orchestral arrangements of trombone, violin, saxophone, and flute. Force has since released music as Aridni Orca.

h artists

HDU

Dunedin noise-rock/post-rock trio formed in 1994. Signed to Flying Nun Records through manager Natasha Griffiths, HDU built a fearsome reputation with their intense, dynamic soundscapes blending dense noise with atmospheric beauty. BBC presenter John Peel once called them "one of the 10 best bands in the world you've never heard of."