Camp A Low Hum 2009
The Music 101 team were camping over Waitangi weekend.
With rucksacks full of microphones and laptops, sleeping bags and the Radio New Zealand luxury tent, we trundle over the hill for our favourite little music festival, Camp A Low Hum 2009.
The venue is Camp Wainui - A Boys Brigade campground set in a massive 240 hectares of native bush, adjacent to an area where native Brown Kiwi are released back on to mainland New Zealand, which sets the scene for three days and nights of music, parties, renegade shows, old school games, a talent quest, and surprises.
Over sixty acts from NZ, Australia, Germany and America attend - folkies, punks, electro-kids and noise artists. Most are pretty much unknown (at this stage).
About 800 people attended, and around quarter of those are musicians, so everyone gets to know each other and it’s a friendly, party atmosphere.
The Music 101 team arrive on Friday morning to find that - in sound engineer Shannon’s words “Nothing is working. Except the internet connection. At this stage there will - quite literally - be A Low Hum. Perhaps you could blog about it instead…”
By lunchtime on Friday we’d found an idyllic spot in the native bush to do some (battery-powered) four-track acoustic recordings - Cute girl trio ‘The Teacups’, Grayson Gilmour, and a few very nice Aussies: Rand & Holland and Ned Collette were accompanied by a deafening chorus of cicadas, which Shannon stoically attempted to EQ out that evening, with varying success.
By dusk, we’d collected a couple of hours worth of interviews and vox pops, and set up two laptops for some extreme audio editing action on the Arts and Crafts table at the back of the dinning hall - in preparation for the broadcast the next day.
We got approximately six hours sleep between us.
Saturday - Camp M101 was all action stations, setting up the O.B. point + live performance space in a sun-drenched courtyard, collecting audio, chasing musicians, tracking down band gear, and editing pre-recorded bits for the show.
At four minutes to two, having given up on getting a stable ISDN connection and gone with the Vector, producers and engineers are putting up a gazebo, to shelter white Welly skin (and expensive, rapidly heating gear) from the blazing hot sun.
At four minutes past two, there is sixteen seconds dead air, and six racing heartbeats. Then, we’re off!
Music 101 presenter Kirsten Johnstone has further tested the tolerance of her lovely engineers by inviting a seven piece rock band to play live-to-air first up.
The Family Cactus – and the sound engineers - are awesome.
The three hours raced by pretty smoothly, with a further 3 live-to-air music performances: Bachelorette, Darren Hanlon and Over The Atlantic, interviews and field-recorded/produced packages and Forest Sessions.
- Camp A Low Hum 2009 Music 101 Live Hour 1 (duration: 52′35″)
- In the first hour of the live Music 101 broadcast: the Teacups Forrest Session, We follow organiser Blink around and compare his stress levels to those at previous Camps, catch up with Actor/Model, & The Family Cactus play Live to Air.
- Camp A Low Hum 2009 Music 101 Live Hour 2 (duration: 54′40″)
- The second hour of the Music 101 live broadcast featured: Ruby Suns interview, the Mix Tape Swap with Matt from The Brains, Bachelorette Live to Air, Ned Collette’s Forest Session, Darren Hanlon Live to Air
- Camp A Low Hum 2009 Music 101 Live Hour 3 (duration: 55′14″)
- Music 101’s final hour included: Interviews with Liam Finn and EJ Barnes, Bonaparte, Darren Keen of The Show is the Rainbow; & Over The Atlantic Live to Air.
After wrapping several hundred meters of cable, and pretending to help carry gear back to the van with the boys, it was time for a ‘cup of tea’ and a quick lie down, then we were off to see much music, make friends with musicians, and keep recording the event.
The big surprise on Sunday night was the debut of The Finn Family Band – Liam, little brother Elroy, dad Neil (you might have heard of him..?), & family friend E.J. Barnes (daughter of Jimmy). They rocked a set of classic kiwi hits – many from their own back-catalogues.
- Camp A Low Hum 2009 Music Mix Special (duration: 48′10″)
- Kirsten Johnstone and Emma Smith report on what else happened after the Music 101 Live broadcast on Saturday afternoon at Camp A Low Hum 2009 . 19 February 2009
Index
An overview of Camp a Low Hum.
Held on a large rural campsite close to Wainuiomata, 30 minutes drive north of Wellington. The inaugaral 'Camp a Low Hum' was attended by an intimate 350 campers. 49 bands performed on February 3rd, 4th and 5th, making it among New Zealand's largest music festivals.
Check out the 2007 Gallery.
Over fifty acts – most with a strong D.I.Y. ethos - played over four days, performing on stages, around campfires, and up trees. There’s a ‘Noisy’ stage and a ‘Nice’ one, as well as fun and games more reminiscent of school camp than a music festival.
Check out the 2008 Gallery.
60 acts with something for folkies, punks, electro-kids, noise artists, and a debut performance from a famous family. While half the line-up was local, there was a large Australian contingent this year, as well as some from further a field.
Check out the 2009 Gallery.
The fourth incarnation of camp a low hum saw the festival graduate from a camp to campus... Set in an historical agricultural college on the outskirts of Bulls.
Check out the 2010 Gallery.
The fifth annual festival of indie music is again staged at Flock House - a historical agricultural college on the outskirts of Bulls, but promises more, better - and its own TV station.