ARTICLES

PICK6 - Scott Muir

22 May 2012

It's a brilliant four weeks and believe me, we're all for it, but to be honest, it can be hard to know just how to actually celebrate NZ Music Month, when our daily/weekly/monthly/yearly focus is NZ music!

This year we decided we'd ask a bunch different local music industry participants to give their thoughts on the current state of play. We wanted to cast the net wide, and that turned out to mean a whole heap of questions and lots of pollsters – which all threatened to get right out of hand.

A quick refinement of the concept and we came up with PICK6, in which six commentators/players/opinion holders, from a variety of industry backgrounds, will get given a dozen questions and asked to pick the six that they are most keen to answer. We've asked promoters, bloggers, musicians, journalists, record company types, retailers – all sorts really.

We'll be posting their answers up here throughout the weeks of NZ Music Month and reckon PICK6 should make for some interesting reading.

Representing the South Island - Scott Muir

Scott Muir is based in Dunedin. He co-founded Dunedinmusic.com, sits on the boards of IMNZ and the MMF, as well as the Dunedin Fringe Arts trust and manages several acts including The Chills, Delgirl, Two Cartoons and Manthyng. He also runs the Refuel student venue on the Otago Uni campus. He is passionate about Dunedin and its people and in his spare time collects weird stuff.

Are you doing anything special this NZ Music Month?

I'm really, really pleased to say we have been busy moving our business into new premises overlooking the Octagon in the centre of the city. We are lucky to be sharing the 10th floor with a very cool mobile app company. It’s been quite the mission moving the furniture in though...

What has been your favourite local album release to date in 2012?

Hmm tough question... There is no one answer. Tono's ‘Up Here For Dancing’ album and Two Cartoons’ ‘Jelly Tip Lips’ EP are my faves so far this year. It was really great to see Tono and band live recently and see how far he has come stylistically. With Two Cartoons it’s the freshness of the sound and the tension they bring as equal songwriters and musicians to the music they make. Chaos meets structure. Good stuff. (Disclaimer – I co-manage Two Cartoons, but hell, it IS that good.) I also have to say I really, really like Homebrew’s album because it is the voice of disaffected NZ and I only wish great things for them and hope that somewhere the powers that be are listening – the message is THAT important and they have totally connected with NZ youth.

Do you think the popularity of social media now makes individual band websites unnecessary?

No, no, no... A thousand times NO. Social media is NOT your home on the web. Social media is a channel to connect with your fans – it’s like the pub, great place to meet and interact but you wouldn’t want to live there. (Well, maybe some would – but, just sayin’…)

How has the movement of music into the online markets affected your own roles in the biz?

The areas I work in have never been busier. Online is a great place to be – it’s made the world a village and connecting has never been easier. It’s also leveled the playing field in so many ways.

A piece of advice for bands/artists starting out in 2012…

Ask questions – there is no such thing as a dumb question. By and large, people like to help and it really is just that easy… so just ask!

The one question we really should have asked you is…

What’s your strategy? To enjoy and revel in every moment of what I do. It’s only ever about the experience, and unless I am mistaken we only get to do this once…