The Other Dunedin Sound. Vol#1 The Hardcore Years

The eighties were not just about leg warmers, big hair, and the Human League, in Dunedin there was a large underclass, largely on the dole and disaffected of society. This led to the existence of an ‘underground’; i.e. there was a large number of people with little else to do but really express themselves and with time and the inclination to rebel and run counter to the mainstream culture of the time.

 The ‘Dunedin Sound’ has been well documented elsewhere but there was (and is still) an enormous amount of original music of myriad styles being produced in Dunedin. This documentary focuses on the late eighties and into the early nineties, really a post punk and also post ‘Dunedin Sound’ period. This counterculture had its epicentre around a venue called ‘The Nerve Centre’ a non profit, do it yourself collective organization that fostered a sense of community for those who really found little on offer for them in mainstream society. Formally the Pitz in the early eighties where bands like The Clean and The Chills started out, this underground basement in Bond St, as The Nerve Centre, was home to a long list of quite extreme bands; The Mind Fuckers, Gorse, Survivors of the Plague, The Strap Ons, Spermicide, Big Eds Used Farms, Moral Fibre, Cirrhosis, Nervosa and many more cut their teeth and sometimes owed their existence to The Nerve Centre.  Also the winter solstice parties at Seacliff started as early as 1984-5 with this scene. It was only in 1995 that they became Eudaemony dance parties with a very, very different form of music but with some similar cultural traits.

 The out there nature of this ‘hardcore’ scene was fuel for some extreme behaviour as well. Not everyone survived this period; all involved in that era had people they know die through suicide or drugs. This could be viewed as a direct result of ‘maladjustment’ to society but how can these people adjust to a world that holds such different and unacceptable values? Some, perhaps more functional individuals took direct action against the growing threat of multinational exploitation of the individual but also of animals. The awareness of vivisection, battery hen farming and corporate chain stores really has its roots in some of these marginalised peoples, not just in Dunedin but also worldwide.

The bond St. building and basement that housed The Nerve Centre burned out 5 days after being filmed for this documentary perhaps echoing the closure that such a documentary can provide.'

 In the future other volumes may cover; The Alchemical Tradition, The Expressway/Port Chalmers and Art Noise Scene, The Forgotten Bands of the Early Nineties and Eudaemony Tribe. If anyone has any photos, audio recordings and most especially Video/Film that may possibly be included then please get in touch with petegorman@gmail.com or txt/call 0273023747