Friday, June 27, 2008

Rip it up and start again
Go read Chris Bourke looking back on Rip It Up magazine... "Each year as New Zealand Music Month comes round, it feels good to see the bulls-eye T-shirt so widespread on our streets. But May isn’t the right month to celebrate New Zealand music: it should be June. It was in June 1977 that Rip It Up first appeared, and more than any other factor it changed the way New Zealanders perceive their own music.

Rip It Up only survived because of the tenacious, stubborn Murray Cammick, who founded it with his friend Alastair Dougal. Music journalism in print has never created a hit record – reading about music doesn’t make thousands beat a path to their store – but the impact of Rip It Up has been slow-burning and effective.

While persuading the public that its music was worthwhile, Rip It Up has also inspired many to choose journalism or photography or graphic design as a career. That comes down to the astute judgement of Cammick. Whenever any former staffers meet, we agree on one thing: Murray is the smartest editor we have ever worked for..."
More here. Hat tip to Idealog.


Also spotted at Idealog... as featured in their March/April issue, now online too...

How to turn sex, drugs and rock’n’roll into peace, love and a tidy campsite

Brian Ruawai is used to not being taken seriously. With his faded jeans, well-worn t-shirt, and thick, authentically unkempt dreadlocks, he looks more like the singer in a reggae band than a successful businessman.

In fact, he’s both. Ruawai is the frontman of Cornerstone Roots, the promoter of Raglan’s Soundsplash music festival and the driving force behind three limited liability companies. For Ruawai, business and roots music go together like surf wax and sand.

“I just enjoy it all, the whole thing,” Ruawai says. “Some people say music is the filthiest business in the world, but I kinda like it.” Link.

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