Today, in our ongoing exploration of New Zealand creative culture, we speak to incendiary punk three-piece Die! Die! Die! about Dunedin, their South Island hometown. The band are about to embark on an Australian tour but before you see Die! Die! Die! frontman Andrew Wilson destroy your town, let him give you a tour of his.
You formed guys formed in 2003. How have you seen the music New Zealand Music scene change since then?
There are maybe 10 times more bands now than in 2003. New Zealand was stuck in some horrible garage rock phase then. I think a lot more DIY communities have sprung up all over the country since 2003 as well.
What is your New Zealand?
Aotearoa to me is like living on a Giant Farm. With some weird cities in between, oh and complete isolation.
Tell us about which part of the country you grow up in.
I grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is a small city at the bottom of the South Island.
What do you love about New Zealand?
Dunedin, the Maori and Pacific Culture and that’s sorta it.
What is the biggest misconception about Dunedin?
Biggest misconception of Dunedin is that it is still a bustling music capital.
Tell us about where you live now.
I spend half my time between Auckland and Dunedin. But I also spend a lot of time on tour in other countries!
If you had a friend visiting from out of town, where are some of your favorite spots in Dunedin to take them to?
The castles and all the old abandoned buildings, which have amazing practice spaces in them. Also the beaches are beautiful but fucking freezing.
Who are some of your favourite homegrown creative inspirations?
As far as bands there’s Piece War, The Coolies, Pumice, The Dead C, David Kilgour. I can’t really think of many artists right now! There are a lot in Dunedin, I don’t wanna piss anyone off.
Tell us what is coming up for Die! Die! Die! this year.
We are releasing our new album!
NATALIE SMITH IS WELLINGTON
BANG BANG ECHE ARE CHRISTCHURCH
KAREN WALKER IS AUCKLAND
WHICH NEW ZEALAND ARE YOU?
And if too much NZ music is never enough you can download Modular’s stellar all NZ mixtape (featuring Die! Die! Die!) here
