Behind The Music
Live music symposium
28th to 30th September 2026
Monday 28th September
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single band in possession of a good set of songs must be in want of a grassroots venue (with apologies to Jane Austen). It seems that the local music venue (whether situated in Wellington, Bogota, Reykjavik, Sydney, Denver or Edinburgh) has been in a state of perpetual crisis since the 1990s. Noise complaints; building redevelopment; business costs; High Street gentrification; audience behavioural shifts; landlord/council disputes: all have been singularly or collectively responsible for venue closures (cf. Homan (2002); Behr, Brennan and Cloonan (2016); Mulder and Hitters 2025)).
In this presentation I examine how ‘market failure’ (Behr, Brennan and Cloonan (2014)) is being addressed in the UK via a case study of Liverpool derived from interviews with a range of players in the city (musicians, regional authority figures, industry organisation leaders and venue owners) and national live music organisations.
Drawing on older conceptual discussions of ‘music ecosystem’ / ‘music ecology’ (e.g. Schippers (2015); Holden (2015); de Bernard, Comunian and Gross (2022)), I examine how meanings of the interdependence of private/public and business/culture relationships are being re-thought amidst the complexity of wider macro (national) policy contexts.
With Shane Homan. Shane is an expert on live music scenes and the culture industries. His academic work is significant, as well as his role as an Advisor and contributor to cultural policy in Australia including being a part of the NSW Live Music Taskforce, the Victoria Live Music Roundtable and the Music Council of Australia.
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Te Korokoro o te Tūī social space. With performances from School of Performing Arts music students. Nibbles and drinks provided.
Tuesday 29th September
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Fostering Non-violent Resistance through Protest Music: An Ethnographic Study of The Dee Street Band – Ele Mustari
#planfornoise – Hugh Harlow and Fairleigh Gilmour
Recording Studios in Tertiary Education: Visions, Tensions and Opportunities – Mike Holland
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Green room
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AI Way: An Exploration of AI Song 'Covers' of Frank Sinatra's "My Way – Grace Shaw
AI, Creativity and Live Music – Neil Pickering
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Green room
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Explore the amazing studio facilities in Te Korokoro o te Tūī
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Zac Nicholls (Koizilla, AMPED project), Keira Wallace, and members of SEEK HELP! explore the local youth music scene, looking at the successes and challenges facing the community.
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Music scenes around the world are seemingly in a constant battle for survival—whether it's the gentrification of the spaces where they exist, new laws and regulations that change how they have to operate, or the chilling effect that local and national issues can have on the audiences and musicians who keep these special places alive. Local governments often become the battlegrounds where music scenes and other competing interests collide. When these factors become existential for a music scene, what does that look like from both sides of the conversation? When tensions, emotions, and stakes are all running high, how do music scenes keep advocacy effective, keep the work collaborative, and ensure representative outcomes that protect and build music scenes? This panel discussion hopes to explore all those questions from a variety of viewpoints and a scope ranging from the local to the international.
Panellists: Shane Homan, Louise Kewene-Doig, Craig Monk, Dave Bennett
Chaired my Fairleigh Gilmour
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A nice early gig for a Tuesday night, with:
Mōta, Cuck, Hystera, and Francisca Griffin & the Bus Shelter Boys
Bands start 7:30pm
Wednesday 30th September
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Ōtepoti Dunedin is home to some of the most incredible festivals in Aotearoa. Your host Aaron Hawkins will lead a panel conversation with Lana (Dankfest), Peter Porteous (Lines of Flight), Pip Laufiso (Polyfest), Katie Peppercorn (Waitati Music Festival) and Stephen Stedman (Whare Flat Folk Festival).
The panel will explore their experiences of running their festivals, the challenges festival organising faces in the contemporary era, and what makes festivals so magical.
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Green room
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OAR FM’s Jeff Harford leads three key figures from Dunedin’s 1970s music scene on a journey back in time. Garry McAlpine (vocals, percussion) and Graham Wardrop (vocals, lead guitar), both members of Lutha, the band making waves across New Zealand a decade before the Dunedin Sound, join pianist and musical director Tim Hazledine to revisit the legendary 1972 Otago University tribute to Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Together, they reflect on the songs and the performances that captivated audiences in both Dunedin and Auckland, contributing to a new era of Music in Dunedin.
Note: this event is being held at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum and requires separate registration: https://events.humanitix.com/the-cocker-concert-and-lutha
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Green room
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Tuning into te taiao: live improv with taonga pūoro - Jen Cattermole
Kaleidoscope Worlds: Sonic Traces in the Archive - Amanda Mills
Ngā Oro Māori: the sounds of generations, for generations more – Tomuri James Spicer
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Green room
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Francisca Griffin (chair of the Music Advisory Panel), Hugh Harlow and Fairleigh Gilmour (from Save Dunedin Live Music) will unpack some key aspects of the Ōtepoti Live Music Action Plan (OLMAP) as it relates to live music, local venues and current issues.
We will then invite group discussion and feedback around key priorities in the coming years – this will be a relaxed, interactive, workshop. All are welcome.Upstairs in Te Korokoro 2, room 1.06
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Panellists: Sean Norling (Otepoti Hou), Fraser Thompson (dunedinsound.com), Alex Huber (Ōtepoti music compilation, Syrup Bois).
Hosted by Lily Knowles (Radio 1 91FM).
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Another early gig! With:
Talking Furniture, Seek Help!, Euthanasia Rack and OMMU
Natasha Griffiths (DUN Records, Pioneer Hall) will speak on the vibrant youth scene in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Photo: Death and the Maiden at Pearl Diver. https://dunedinsound.com/